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The Louisville Cardinals host a ranked team for the second time this week when the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils pay a visit on Sunday, and the Cardinals hope for a better outcome in the teams' Atlantic Coast Conference opener. Louisville (5-3) has lost two straight, including an 86-63 thrashing at home by No. 23 Ole Miss in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Tuesday. The visiting Rebels shot 56.7 percent and dominated inside with a 48-26 edge on points in the paint. Tuesday's game was the first for coach Pat Kelsey's team without Kasean Pryor, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Oklahoma in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game. The 6-foot-10 senior wing, a transfer from South Florida, was a key player early on for Louisville, averaging 12 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and blocking eight shots in seven games. Pryor is the latest Cardinals player to go down with an injury. Before the season started, the school announced center Aly Khalifa and guard Kobe Rodgers would redshirt due to injuries. Then just two games into the season, Aboubacar Traore broke his arm and Koren Johnson injured his shoulder. Traore is expected back this season, but Johnson announced earlier this week that he would also redshirt this season and undergo surgery. Besides the injuries, the Cardinals are also struggling to hit 3-point shots, a key facet to Kelsey's offense. Louisville entered Saturday 340th nationally in 3-point shooting percentage at 27.3 percent and seventh nationally averaging 31.6 attempts per game. Despite the woes, Kelsey told reporters after the Ole Miss loss that he doesn't plan to change his offense, adding that he believes in his players. "The percentages even themselves out," he said. "This has happened before. I just don't want our guys to lose confidence, because I really, really believe in them. They'll bounce back and be better on Sunday." The Blue Devils (6-2) won their SEC/ACC Challenge game on Wednesday, beating No. 2 Auburn 84-78 in Durham. Duke overcame a 13-2 deficit to get the Quadrant 1 victory on its resume. Coach Jon Scheyer's team shot 50 percent from the field and committed just four turnovers. It was just the 14th time in program history the Blue Devils had four or fewer turnovers in a game. Freshman Cooper Flagg, a preseason All-American and a contender for national player of the year awards, leads the Blue Devils in scoring (16.6 ppg), rebounding (8.6 rpg), assists (4.1 apg) and blocked shots (1.4 per game). He scored 22, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out four assists in the win against the Tigers, but it was another freshman who stole the show. Isaiah Evans came off the bench to score 18 points and hit 6 of 8 3-point shots. The guard averages 9.4 points per game but has only played in five games and has yet to play more than 17 minutes in a contest. Scheyer told reporters after the win that Evans provided a "special moment" when his team needed a lift. "To have that amazing courage to come into this game and do what he did -- I'm not sure if I've ever been a part of something like that in my years here," Scheyer said. --Field Level MediaOuma Health, a maternity telehealth platform, announced it is entering into a strategic partnership with Marani Health, a digital prenatal and postpartum care company. The aim of the alliance is to offer an integrated solution that joins Ouma's 24/7 telehealth access to expert maternity clinicians with Marani's M•care platform for maternal remote management. The combination would create an end-to-end virtual maternity care model. Currently, Ouma Health partners with more than a dozen Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) across the country. Some of those MCOs serve members in regions with restricted or no access to maternity care. Ouma provides prenatal and postpartum care working to ensure individuals get services without having to travel long distances. Marani offers maternal technology aimed at playing a key role in managing pregnancies that could be complicated by comorbidities. According to Marani, its tools enable monitoring, data-driven risk profiling and proactive interventions with the aim of improving maternal and neonatal outcomes in underserved communities. "Our partnership with Marani Health marks a pivotal moment in the fight to eliminate disparities in maternity care," Dr. Sina Haeri, CEO of Ouma Health, said in a statement. "With Ouma's comprehensive maternity services and Marani's cutting-edge remote patient monitoring, we are equipping clinicians with the tools they need to deliver proactive, continuous care to the most underserved populations. By democratizing access to highly attentive and comprehensive maternity care, this partnership ensures that every pregnant person, regardless of their circumstances or location, receives the support they need and deserve." Ann Holder, CEO of Marani Health, said the company is what ideal maternity care looks like by ensuring that every pregnant person has on-demand access to a team of clinicians and advanced remote monitoring. "Our partnership empowers MCOs and other government programs to offer comprehensive, patient-centered maternity services that are scalable, cost-effective, and truly impactful, delivering a level of care that was once only available in major metropolitan areas," Holder said in a statement. THE LARGER TREND In October, Marani Health and Ouma Health announced that their joint submission to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fund critical research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Prevention Research Center, resulted in a $5 million grant being awarded. In 2023, Ouma Health partnered with MedArrive to expand MedArrive's mother and fetal in-home care offerings to women on Medicaid. Through the partnership, MedArrive added Ouma Health's maternal healthcare services to its offerings for managed Medicaid health plan members. In 2021, Marani Health completed a $7.6 million seed funding round that included strategic investor OneAlphaNorth Capital and the addition of OneAlphaNorth Managing Director Brady Lipp to Marani's board of directors. One Alpha North joined existing investors SWL Healthcare Ventures and TFX Capital as investors in the round. That same year, Marani Health raised another $3.7 million in seed funding in a round led by SWL Healthcare Ventures, with participation from TFZ Capital. The funds were used towards clinical research and development and to enhance a go-to-market plan.
Domo ( NASDAQ:DOMO – Get Free Report ) and Xiao-I ( NASDAQ:AIXI – Get Free Report ) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership. Profitability This table compares Domo and Xiao-I’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Risk & Volatility Domo has a beta of 2.43, meaning that its share price is 143% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xiao-I has a beta of 3.38, meaning that its share price is 238% more volatile than the S&P 500. Insider and Institutional Ownership Valuation and Earnings This table compares Domo and Xiao-I”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Xiao-I has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Domo. Analyst Recommendations This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Domo and Xiao-I, as provided by MarketBeat. Domo currently has a consensus target price of $9.60, suggesting a potential upside of 1.59%. Given Domo’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Domo is more favorable than Xiao-I. Summary Domo beats Xiao-I on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks. About Domo ( Get Free Report ) Domo, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a cloud-based business intelligence platform in North America, Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan. Its platform digitally connects from the chief executive officer to the frontline employee with the various people, data, and systems in an organization, as well as giving them access to real-time data and insights, and allowing them to manage business via various browsers and visualization engines accessible across laptops, TV screens, monitors, tablets, and smartphones. The company was formerly known as Domo Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to Domo, Inc. in December 2011. Domo, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in American Fork, Utah. About Xiao-I ( Get Free Report ) Xiao-I Corporation, through its subsidiary, Shanghai Xiao-i Robot Technology Co., Ltd., provides software services in the People’s Republic of China. It offers conversational AI platform that uses deep learning, data enhancement, active learning technologies for dialog management, context processing mechanisms, and driven by a learning system; knowledge fusion platform which integrates Q&A, documents, multimedia, information forms, business processes, knowledge graphs, and multimodal; intelligence voice platform to enhance intelligent speech solutions, realizing the macro processes of intelligent IVP, intelligent outbound calls, speech analysis, agent assistance, and human-computer interaction; and hyperautomation platform that integrates technologies, such as OCR, NLP, and visualized data mining and analysis that enables users to realize business and process automation. The company also provides data intelligence platform which integrates data assets, manages the entire life cycle of data that realizes the entire cycles of data integration, processing, transformation, analysis, and mining; cloud platform that integrates NLP, speech recognition, image recognition, and data analysis capabilities; and intelligent construction support platform which offers parsing, reconstruction, visualization, and multi-dimensional analysis of construction drawings. In addition, it offers vision analysis platform that uses various computer vision-related technologies to apply OCR, detection, video, and image analysis; intelligent hardware support platform which provides the framework of signal collection, processing, analysis, prediction, and others; and metaverse platform that develops virtual digital human. It serves its products to large and medium-sized contact centers, financial institutions, communication operators, government services, industrial manufacturing, medical care, and others. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Shanghai, China. Receive News & Ratings for Domo Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Domo and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
Covestor Ltd lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. ( NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report ) by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,401 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,458 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 0.5% of Covestor Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Alphabet Stock Down 1.7 % GOOGL opened at $164.76 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $167.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.90 and a 52 week high of $191.75. Alphabet Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%. Insider Transactions at Alphabet In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website . Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders have sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90. Read Our Latest Report on Alphabet Alphabet Company Profile ( Free Report ) Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube. Further Reading Five stocks we like better than Alphabet Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Pulls Back After Shaky Guidance Vertiv’s Cool Tech Makes Its Stock Red-Hot Unveiling The Power Of VWAP: A Key Indicator For Traders MarketBeat Week in Review – 11/18 – 11/22 What Do S&P 500 Stocks Tell Investors About the Market? 2 Finance Stocks With Competitive Advantages You Can’t Ignore Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOGL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. ( NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Alphabet Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Alphabet and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .West Palm Beach (US), Dec 27 (AP) An online spat between factions of Donald Trump's supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump's movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump's Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer, a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump's selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the US. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer's comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks, whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. and Crypto Czar." Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with finding ways to cut the federal government, weighed in, defending the tech industry's need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire US workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump's world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift, and his presidential transition team did not respond to a message seeking comment. Musk, the world's richest man who has grown remarkably close to the president-elect, was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump's movement but his stance on the tech industry's hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut US citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry's need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent," he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Trump's own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the US illegally but he has also sought curbs on legal immigration, including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for US workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order, which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Trump's businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club, and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the the H-1B programme for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country" and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in US history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump told a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from US colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," he told the “All-In" podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump's budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes. (AP) PY PY (This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)
'Scumbag' Florida realtor had client taken off life support, stole assets: sheriffNvidia's stock dips after China opens probe of the AI chip company for violating anti-monopoly laws
NEW YORK, Dec. 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, continues to investigate potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Joint Stock Company Kaspi.kz (NASDAQ: KSPI) resulting from allegations that Kaspi.kz may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public. SO WHAT: If you purchased Kaspi.kz securities you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses. WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the prospective class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=29172 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email case@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. WHAT IS THIS ABOUT: On September 19, 2024, Culper Research issued a report entitled “Kaspi.kz (KSPI): The NASDAQ-Listed Fintech Moving Money for Criminals and Kleptocrats.” In this report, Culper announced it was “short Kaspi, the operator of the largest payment network and second largest bank in Kazakhstan. We believe Kaspi has systematically misled U.S. investors and regulators in its repeated claims – especially ahead of the Company’s January 2024 [NASDAQ] listing – that the Company has zero exposure to Russia.” Further, Culper announced its “research exposes this grave deception: we believe that not only do Kaspi’s relationships with Russian partners permeate every segment of its business, but that in the wake of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and into 2024, Russia has contributed materially to Kaspi’s reported growth. Our research further unmasks Kaspi’s history of shadowy dealmaking, which raises not only related party and self-dealing concerns, but also exposes the Company’s vast, longstanding ties to bad actors including sanctioned oligarchs and Russian mobsters. We believe that Kaspi’s premium valuation and US listing are at risk, and shares are headed lower.” On this news, Kaspi.kz American Depositary Shares’ (“ADS”) fell 16.1% on September 19, 2024, and a further 2.7% on September 20, 2024. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company at the time. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs’ Bar. Many of the firm’s attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm , on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/ . Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. ------------------------------- Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 case@rosenlegal.com www.rosenlegal.comMatvei Michkov doesn't turn 20 for a couple of weeks, but he continues to play well above his years for the Philadelphia Flyers. Fresh off his second overtime goal in the last five games, Michkov leads the Flyers into Monday's home game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Peggy Slappey Properties and Vision Home Crafters invite you to Old Town Estates, where easy country living meets the convenience of great local amenities and top-rated schools. These elegant single-family homes are situated on large lots (up to four acres) and showcase open floor plans, spa... Click for more. ON THE MARKET: Escape the City at Old Town Estates in Monroe
Pay first, deliver later: Some women are being asked to prepay for their babyMach 1 Financial Group LLC Purchases 591 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
NoneSyrian government services come to a 'complete halt' as state workers stay home
Vegas Golden Knights (13-6-2, in the Pacific Division) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (9-10-2, in the Metropolitan Division) Philadelphia; Monday, 7 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: The Philadelphia Flyers host the Vegas Golden Knights after the Flyers took down the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime. Philadelphia has a 5-6-0 record in home games and a 9-10-2 record overall. The Flyers are fourth in NHL play with 92 total penalties (averaging 4.4 per game). Vegas has a 5-4-2 record in road games and a 13-6-2 record overall. The Golden Knights have a 13-2-2 record in games they score at least three goals. Monday’s game is the first time these teams meet this season. TOP PERFORMERS: Travis Konecny has 11 goals and 14 assists for the Flyers. Matvei Michkov has scored goals over the last 10 games. Pavel Dorofeyev has 10 goals and three assists for the Golden Knights. Alexander Holtz has scored goals over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Flyers: 5-4-1, averaging 2.7 goals, five assists, 3.7 penalties and eight penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game. Golden Knights: 6-3-1, averaging 3.1 goals, 5.4 assists, 2.8 penalties and seven penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game. INJURIES: Flyers: None listed. Golden Knights: None listed. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
Syrian rebels say they've entered Damascus as residents report hearing gunfire in capitalSyria’s prime minister said that most cabinet ministers were back at work on Monday after rebels overthrew President Bashar Assad. However, some state workers failed to return to their jobs and a United Nations official said the country’s public sector had come “to a complete and abrupt halt”. Meanwhile, streams of refugees crossed back into Syria from neighbouring countries, hoping for a more peaceful future and looking for relatives who disappeared during Mr Assad’s brutal rule. There were already signs of the difficulties ahead for the rebel alliance now in control of much of the country. The alliance is led by a former senior al-Qaida militant, who severed ties with the extremist group years ago and has promised representative government and religious tolerance. The rebel command said they would not tell women how to dress. “It is strictly forbidden to interfere with women’s dress or impose any request related to their clothing or appearance, including requests for modesty,” the command said in a statement on social media. Nearly two days after rebels entered the capital, some key government services had shut down after state workers ignored calls to go back to their jobs, the UN official said, causing issues at airports and borders and slowing the flow of humanitarian aid. Rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, also met with Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali for the first time. Mr Jalali stayed in Syria when Mr Assad fled and has sought to project normalcy since. “We are working so that the transitional period is quick and smooth,” he told Sky News Arabia TV on Monday, saying the security situation had already improved from the day before. At the court of Justice in Damascus, which was stormed by the rebels to free detainees, Judge Khitam Haddad, an aide to the justice minister in the outgoing government, said that judges were ready to resume work quickly. “We want to give everyone their rights,” Mr Haddad said outside the courthouse. “We want to build a new Syria and to keep the work, but with new methods.” But a UN official said some government services had been paralysed as worried state employees stayed at home. The public sector “has just come to a complete and abrupt halt,” said Adam Abdelmoula, UN resident and humanitarian co-ordinator for Syria, noting, for example, that an aid flight carrying urgently needed medical supplies had been put on hold after aviation employees abandoned their jobs. “This is a country that has had one government for 53 years and then suddenly all of those who have been demonised by the public media are now in charge in the nation’s capital,” Mr Abdelmoula told The Associated Press. “I think it will take a couple of days and a lot of assurance on the part of the armed groups for these people to return to work again.” In a video shared on a rebel messaging channel, Mr al-Sharaa said: “You will see there are skills” among the rebels. The Kremlin said Russia has granted political asylum to Mr Assad, a decision made by President Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Mr Assad’s specific whereabouts and said Mr Putin did not plan to meet with him. Damascus was quiet Monday, with life slowly returning to normal, though most shops and public institutions were closed. In public squares, some people were still celebrating. Civilian traffic resumed, but there was no public transport. Long lines formed in front of bakeries and other food stores. There was little sign of any security presence though in some areas, small groups of armed men were stationed in the streets.
Zuby Ejiofor delivered an early Christmas present to St. John's in the form of a buzzer-beating shot to keep the Red Storm's winning streak alive. St. John's (10-2) beat Providence at the horn back on Dec. 20 to win its fifth straight game and move to 2-0 in the Big East. Back on its campus in New York, St. John's will face Delaware on Saturday for one last tune-up before returning to conference action. In the Red Storm's first true road game of the season, Providence led most of the way before Ejiofor and RJ Luis Jr. steered the comeback. Ejiofor made a jumper in the lane in the final second to secure a 72-70 win. Coach Rick Pitino saw evidence that his team had grown from the start of the season. The Red Storm's two losses came on a double-overtime buzzer-beater against Baylor and by three points versus Georgia. "I think they're mentally maturing," Pitino told the New York Post. "Three weeks ago, with missing all those free throws, all those shots, we lose by 12 to 16 points. But they're maturing mentally and getting tougher because (that night) we didn't have it offensively, and they still found a way to win on the road in a tough environment." Ejiofor had 19 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. On a team stacked with talent, he and Luis have been the main catalysts. Luis averages 17.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, and Ejiofor provides 14.6 points and a team-best 7.8 rebounds per contest. Ejiofor's game-winner came on an offensive board and second-chance look. "My philosophy is, and Coach says, every shot is essentially my rebound," Ejiofor said. "I have pride in getting my team a second chance, and that's exactly what I did." Delaware (7-5) has had a quiet month, with two of its three wins coming against non-Division I teams. But its other win in that time was a 93-80 romp against rival Delaware State on Dec. 3. That night, the Blue Hens shot a red-hot 17-of-31 from 3-point range. The 17 makes were one shy of tying the program record. Cavan Reilly (five 3-pointers) led them that night with 20 points, but three other starters also buried three triples. "That's what I envisioned out of this group," coach Martin Ingelsby told the Delaware News Journal, "to have multiple weapons." Delaware would love to rediscover that shooting touch. It made just 6 of 21 shots from deep in a 72-64 loss to Saint Peter's on Dec. 20. John Camden paces Delaware with 14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Four other players average double-figure scoring: Niels Lane (13.7), Reilly (12.9), Erik Timko (12.4) and Izaiah Pasha (10.7). --Field Level MediaEAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Sam Darnold pinballed around his collapsed pocket to dodge a sack on third-and-8, before slicing through a skinny opening to sprint right in search of more space as Justin Jefferson’s hand shot up downfield. Darnold let rip an on-the-run throw that sailed 45 yards in the air and straight into Jefferson’s arms, where he was stunningly wide open inside the 10. He danced his way into the end zone to give the Minnesota Vikings a 21-13 lead, the harbinger of a fourth-quarter surge past the Atlanta Falcons . “I’m not going to tell you what I told him in regards to my opinion on how many guys make that throw,” coach Kevin O’Connell said with a smile. The 42-21 decision on Sunday not only gave the Vikings (11-2) their sixth consecutive victory but further validated their decision to let Kirk Cousins leave in free agency for a cheaper replacement. With O’Connell directing the quarterback development program and calling the plays and Jefferson leading a dangerous and diverse group of pass-catchers, Darnold has finally found a place he can thrive in after such an environment had long eluded the third overall pick in the 2018 draft — even in this roundabout way after the season-ending injury to rookie J.J. McCarthy. RELATED COVERAGE Cowboys set to host Bengals under open roof after falling debris thwarted that plan against Texans Cardinals’ sudden 3-game tailspin has turned their once solid playoff hopes into a long shot The 49ers’ playoff hopes are still teetering even after get-right game against the Bears Factor in a defense that’s allowing only 18.5 points per game, sixth best in the NFL , and leads the league in interceptions (20), and these Vikings are going to be a tough team to outscore in the playoffs. Darnold became the ninth quarterback in NFL history and the first since Aaron Rodgers in 2019 to hit these benchmarks in a game: at least 325 passing yards, five touchdown passes, a 75% completion rate, no interceptions and a 155-plus passer rating. The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . Jefferson and Jordan Addison combined for 15 catches, 265 yards and five scores. “This is definitely the ball that we want to play every single game,” Jefferson said. “Just the energy, the tempo that we had, just going out there and executing the plays.” None more spectacular than that on-the-run 52-yard touchdown pass from Darnold to Jefferson, who started the play in motion from left to right into a three-man bunch with Addison and Jalen Nailor to set up a favorable matchup with nickel cornerback Dee Alford. Addison ran a clear-out route toward the opposite corner, initially drawing the attention of three defenders. Pro Bowl safety Jessie Bates, who was in a single-high alignment while the other Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons blitzed, diverted from Addison toward an uncovered Nailor on the other side while ignoring Jefferson streaking behind him. Cornerback Clark Phillips left Nailor to try to catch Jefferson, who’d blown by Alford. “He absolutely cooked the dude on the route,” Darnold said. The Falcons couldn’t have played their coverage worse, leaving three receivers open, but that’s the type of stress the Vikings can put on a defense with the way Darnold is throwing the ball. “We already knew what he was about once we got him on our team, that he could throw any pass,” Addison said. “He’s just put it on display for everybody else.” What’s working Though Darnold has been sacked 40 times this season, he has the athleticism and instinct to extend plays and find one of his tough-to-cover receivers on longer-developing routes even if pressure comes. What needs help The Vikings have allowed their two highest rushing yardage totals of the season in the last two weeks for an average of 4.95 yards per attempt, a trend worth watching for a defense that still ranks second in the NFL against the run. Their final two games against division rivals Green Bay and Detroit will pit them against two of the top five rushing teams in the league. Stock up Rookie Jalen Redmond made his first career start and played 39 of 74 snaps, the most among the interior defensive linemen, and had two tackles for loss and two deflected passes at the line. One came on a third-and-goal throw by Cousins that forced Atlanta to settle for a short kick right before halftime. Redmond went undrafted last year out of Oklahoma, was released by Carolina during the preseason and played this spring in the United Football League. Stock down Will Reichard made all six extra point attempts in his return from a four-game absence to let a quadriceps strain heal, but his only field goal try from 47 yards in the third quarter clanked off the left upright. Injury report CB Stephon Gilmore (hamstring) and backup OLB Patrick Jones (knee) were held out on Sunday. LB Ivan Pace (hamstring) must miss at least two more games. Key number .660 — O’Connell’s winning percentage at 31-16 during the regular season is the highest in Vikings history, ahead of Bud Grant (.621). He’s fourth among active NFL coaches, trailing Nick Sirianni (.703), Jim Harbaugh (.682) and Matt LaFleur (.677). Up next The Vikings finish their three-game homestand next Monday night against Chicago (4-9), three weeks after beating the Bears 30-27 on the road in overtime. The Vikings have a two-game edge on the Packers for the first NFC wild card, the No. 5 seed, and will clinch a spot in the playoffs with one more win or one more loss by the Los Angeles Rams, who were the last team to beat them on Oct. 24. The tiebreaker outlook in the NFC North, however, will likely require an additional loss by the Lions (12-1) in the next three games, even if the Vikings were to win their next three, to set up a division title game on the final weekend at Detroit. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Kiama Council has overcharged developers $1.5 million and will have to repay some of it - with interest. Subscribe now for unlimited access . Login or signup to continue reading And developers, and not the council, will have to do the work to claim that refund. In Tuesday night's council papers , it identified that the council had overcharged for developer contributions, with one project - a 39-home development in Kiama Downs - overcharged by $464,000. Developer contributions are amounts paid by a developer of a project to help to pay for associated infrastructure such as parks, roads and footpaths. The business papers stated the overcharging occurred on 20 applications determined between July 2022 and June 2023, when the problem was identified. The papers stated that no developments requiring developer contributions were approved since that time and the calculator has been updated. However, the papers suggested more overcharges could surface; one of the points in the staff recommendation is to use the guidelines in the report "to any other applications or payments found to be calculated using the same calculator". The council will not have to repay the full $1.5 million as the miscalculated contributions on eight of the developments had not yet been paid. The total amount of the repayments would be $623,000, with the council staff recommending 5 per cent interest, calculated monthly, is added to that. The overcharging occurred due to a software problem. The contributions had to be manually calculated via a spreadsheet as the system used for planning applications and contributions did not have that functionality. "The contributions calculator was updated in July 2022 and the formula to calculate indexation on the contribution amounts changed which resulted in an overcharge," the council papers stated. While the council will inform the affected people of the overcharging it will be up to the developers to get their refund. They will need to apply to amend the development consent via the NSW government Planning Portal; that would normally attract charges from both the council and the government. The council will waive its modification lodgement fees, but the portal lodgement fee will need to be paid to the state government. "It is acknowledged that this matter has negatively affected several customers and has been a cause of stress and concern as well as financial burden," the council papers stated. "It is also acknowledged that the process of rectifying the issue will further create a burden for the customer as they will be required to modify the approval and/or submit a refund request." If a landowner at the time of the development approval or contribution payment has has since sold the property, any modification of the approval or refund will need to be requested and paid to the new landowner. The council papers stated this was "because a development approval 'runs with the land'." I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading. I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading. More from Latest News Newsletters & Alerts DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. WEEKLY Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe. WEEKLY Get the latest property and development news here. WEEKLY Find out what's happening in local business. WEEKLY Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. WEEKDAYS Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more. TWICE WEEKLY Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday. WEEKLY Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert, ACM's exclusive motoring partner. TWICE WEEKLY Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily!None