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Aston Villa have failed in their attempt to have Jhon Duran ’s red card at Newcastle overturned on appeal. The 21-year-old Colombia international was sent off 32 minutes into a 3-0 Boxing Day defeat at St James’ Park by referee Anthony Taylor after appearing to stamp on defender Fabian Schar, prompting a furious reaction from head coach Unai Emery , who later indicated that the club would appeal. However, their bid has proved unsuccessful and Duran will now serve a three-match ban for violent conduct. A statement on Villa’s official X account read: “Aston Villa can confirm that our decision to appeal Jhon Duran’s red card in our match with Newcastle United has been rejected. The player will now miss our next three matches.” Emery insisted after the game that it was not a red card offence, adding: “I think he didn’t kick him on purpose. Of course we are going to appeal and hopefully it’s not three matches because it’s a very big punishment for this action.” The frontman will sit out Premier League fixtures against Brighton and Leicester around the turn of the year as well as the FA Cup third round clash with West Ham on January 10. PA
The role of Azerbaijan as a growing exporter of fossil fuels has forced a debate at this month’s climate conference in Baku over which countries are most responsible for worsening climate change — the producers or the countries that buy and burn those fuels. Climate activists have cited a slew of new contracts signed by Azerbaijan’s state oil company in the past year, a development that President Ilham Aliyev has defended as a “gift from God” and a realistic response to market demand. Oil and gas account for more than 90% of the southern Caucasus country’s exports, boosted by the discovery of the Shah Deniz gas field in the early 2000s, according to the International Energy Agency . The main buyers of its petroleum are Croatia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine, among others. After imposing sanctions on Russian gas in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union turned to other sources, including Azerbaijan. This prompted Baku to begin planning a major expansion of its oil and gas production, according to Ufuk Alparslan, regional lead for Turkey and the surrounding regions at energy research group Ember. “Azerbaijan’s expectations are that the EU will have higher fossil fuel demand,” Alparslan told VOA. “Their target market will always be the EU, especially after the Ukraine war.” Asked whether the buyer or the seller of fossil fuel should take the blame, Alparslan said both share the same responsibility. “It’s not fair to blame the producers. There’s demand for it [fossil fuels]. ... I think they should share the blame together,” he said. Myrto Tilianaki, senior advocate of environment and human rights at Human Rights Watch, said all countries should double down on their transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources. Tilianaki said Azerbaijan has not set a good example as the host of this year’s U.N. climate change conference, COP29. “As a COP president, you are meant to be galvanizing and gathering countries around higher [climate] ambitions for this COP,” Tilianaki told VOA. She said Baku’s stark support for fossil fuel expansion while calling for more ambitious climate goals is “contradictory.” But Fadhel Kaboub, senior adviser with Kenya-based research group Power Shift Africa, told VOA it is “hypocritical” to place the blame for rising carbon emissions on producers like Azerbaijan. “The problem is the countries of Global North that caused climate change and exceeded their carbon budget by far. And they are in a situation where they owe climate debt they need to pay to the Global South,” he said. Azerbaijan has set a goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from 1990 levels in the next 25 years, provided it receives international support. The country has several planned solar and wind projects that would generate 2 gigawatts of renewable energy. It is said to own “considerable” potential to develop renewable energy from solar, wind, hydropower, biomass and geothermal resources. As the EU seeks to reduce its own demand for fossil fuels, Alparslan said Baku’s current strategy to boost oil and gas production might not be ideal. He said discussions on how to diversify its energy sources will be inevitable. “The EU won’t be a good market in the future, and demand reduction will affect it. They are already at maximum capacity, and if they need to produce more, they have to develop more gas fields, which need financing,” he said. Other developing nations in the fossil fuel-rich region will also need to develop alternatives both for domestic use and export, Alparslan added. He cited the case of Uzbekistan , which exported more than $2 billion worth of gas in 2019 but has seen its production dry up and now is a net gas importer, according to local media reports. While it relies on gas from Russia and other countries for now, Uzbekistan has shifted its energy investment into developing renewable sources with an eye to future exports. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said at the COP29 talks this month that he expects to sign a multilateral deal to that effect with the EU “in the coming days.” Kaboub said developing nations with huge renewable potential like those in Africa have been denied manufacturing technology from the Global North due to perceived “geopolitical risk.” ”It’s a question of power. The Global North is not interested in disrupting the colonial geopolitical hierarchy,” he argued. Climate finance to Africa reached $44 billion in 2021-2022, but more than one-third of that was in the form of loans to already debt-ridden nations, according to a report from the Climate Policy Initiative . Alparslan suggested that developing countries that are highly reliant on generating and exporting fossil fuels should begin their transition by seeking to boost regional cooperation and share renewable energy through improved grid connectivity. “These projects can attract international and external funding,” he said. “Green energy projects are more appealing than fossil fuel.”NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers formally asked a judge Monday to throw out his hush money criminal conviction , arguing that continuing the case would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the Presidency.“ In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that anything short of immediate dismissal would undermine the transition of power, as well as the “overwhelming national mandate" granted to Trump by voters last month. They also cited President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “President Biden asserted that his son was ‘selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,’ and ‘treated differently,’" Trump’s legal team wrote. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, they claimed, had engaged in the type of political theater "that President Biden condemned.” Prosecutors will have until Dec. 9 to respond. They have said they will fight any efforts to dismiss the case but have indicated a willingness to delay the sentencing until after Trump’s second term ends in 2029. In their filing Monday, Trump's attorneys dismissed the idea of holding off sentencing until Trump is out of office as a “ridiculous suggestion.” Following Trump’s election victory last month, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed his sentencing, previously scheduled for late November, to allow the defense and prosecution to weigh in on the future of the case. He also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier. He says they did not and denies any wrongdoing. The defense filing was signed by Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who represented Trump during the trial and have since been selected by the president-elect to fill senior roles at the Justice Department. Taking a swipe at Bragg and New York City, as Trump often did throughout the trial, the filing argues that dismissal would also benefit the public by giving him and “the numerous prosecutors assigned to this case a renewed opportunity to put an end to deteriorating conditions in the City and to protect its residents from violent crime.” Clearing Trump, the lawyers added, would also allow him to “to devote all of his energy to protecting the Nation.” Merchan hasn’t yet set a timetable for a decision. He could decide to uphold the verdict and proceed to sentencing, delay the case until Trump leaves office, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court or choose some other option. An outright dismissal of the New York case would further lift a legal cloud that at one point carried the prospect of derailing Trump’s political future. Last week, special counsel Jack Smith told courts that he was withdrawing both federal cases against Trump — one charging him with hoarding classified documents at his Florida estate, the other with scheming to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost — citing longstanding Justice Department policy that shields a president from indictment while in office. The hush money case was the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial, resulting in a historic verdict that made him the first former president to be convicted of a crime. Prosecutors had cast the payout as part of a Trump-driven effort to keep voters from hearing salacious stories about him. Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels. Trump later reimbursed him, and Trump’s company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses — concealing what they really were, prosecutors alleged. Trump has said the payments to Cohen were properly categorized as legal expenses for legal work. A month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that ex-presidents can’t be prosecuted for official acts — things they did in the course of running the country — and that prosecutors can’t cite those actions to bolster a case centered on purely personal, unofficial conduct. Trump’s lawyers cited the ruling to argue that the hush money jury got some improper evidence, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form, testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made during his first term. Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a sliver” of their case. If the verdict stands and the case proceeds to sentencing, Trump’s punishments would range from a fine to probation to up to four years in prison — but it’s unlikely he’d spend any time behind bars for a first-time conviction involving charges in the lowest tier of felonies. Because it is a state case, Trump would not be able to pardon himself once he returns to office. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
The Minnesota Vikings have 13 wins this season and yet the performance is not enough. The biggest regular season matchup in years is scheduled for Sunday against the Green Bay Packers . A win puts them in play for the NFC’s top seed during Week 18. Thankfully they go into the contest with a clean bill of health. The Demon returns for Minnesota Vikings Brian Flores ’ defense has been without Ivan Pace Jr. since Week 12 against the Chicago Bears . He was placed on injured reserve and just had his practice window opened this week . After logging a week’s worth of full practices, he has been activated for Sunday’s matchup. The #Vikings have activated LB Ivan Pace Jr. from IR. He will enter tomorrow without a game designation. LB Jamin Davis has been waived. pic.twitter.com/CEwqtm4Y9p Last season, as an undrafted rookie, Ivan Pace Jr. quarterbacked the Vikings defense wearing the green dot. This year he has ceded those responsibilities to Blake Cashman, but remains as important as ever. In nine games, Pace Jr. has a career-best three sacks. He has recorded 59 tackles and has hit the opposing quarterback six times. His six tackles for loss are four more than he recorded last season in 17 games, and he took a fumble recovery to the house. Ivan Pace Jr. starts in the B gap and makes the tackle on the screen. He beat Andrew Thomas, who had a head start on him by alignment, to the spot to make the play. pic.twitter.com/1kQXdjV7hq The return of Pace Jr. is a significant boost for the Vikings defense. He missed the first game against Green Bay this year and is locked in to help Cashman slow Josh Jacobs on Sunday. Minnesota’s rush defense showed up against Seattle and will need to do so again on Sunday. With Pace Jr. elevated to the active roster, Minnesota waived Jamin Davis. The former 19th overall pick played in four games for Minnesota. He recorded a single sack despite logging just 21 total defensive snaps. Minnesota couldn’t be healthier going into the game against Green Bay. Veteran cornerback Fabian Moreau is the only player ruled out. He had been inactive often until Stephon Gilmore missed time with an injury . This article first appeared on Minnesota Sports Fan and was syndicated with permission.Neighbors express concerns after Detroit teens seen sleeping on porch in freezing temperatures
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Can Trump save TikTok? The ‘Art of the Deal’ President wants to tryNew Delhi: The Madras High Court on Saturday ordered a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the alleged sexual assault of an Anna University student. Pulling up the Chennai Police for revealing the contents of the FIR on its website, including the rape survivor’s identity, a Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and V. Lakshminarayanan ordered the Tamil Nadu government to pay an interim compensation of Rs. 25 lakh to the victim. It clarified that its present order will not prejudice the victim’s right to seek compensation under the criminal law. The Madras HC also asked the state government to consider taking appropriate action against the Police Commissioner for holding a press conference regarding the case without prior permission. A day before, the Justice S.M. Subramaniam-led Bench decided to take up the issue suo motu (on its own) after a letter petition was addressed to the Madras HC raising safety concerns of women in the state. It deferred the hearing till December 28 and in the meantime, called for a status report from the Tamil Nadu government. In her letter, advocate R Varalakshmi demanded that a Special Investigation Committee (SIC) led by a sitting woman judge of the Madras HC should oversee the investigation and ensure adherence to legal protocols. Alternatively, she prayed to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to guarantee a thorough and impartial investigation free from political or institutional interference. The horrific incident occurred when the victim, a 19-year-old engineering student at Anna University, and her male friend were sitting in a secluded area of the varsity’s campus after attending a midnight Christmas mass at a nearby church. Accused Gnanashekaran allegedly attacked the male friend, brutally assaulting him, before dragging the girl to a nearby shrub and raping her. The Chennai Police have faced severe criticism for the lapse in security. Authorities had earlier claimed to have implemented comprehensive safety measures for Christmas celebrations, with over 8,000 officers deployed. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu BJP President, K. Annamalai has alleged that the accused, Gnanashekaran, was not included in the police’s rowdy list despite being involved in several criminal cases. He claimed that this omission was due to Gnanashekaran’s close ties with DMK leaders and provided evidence of the accused’s affiliation with the ruling party. Annamalai also condemned the police for leaking the FIR related to the sexual assault case, which resulted in the identification of the victim. He claimed that the authorities intentionally leaked the details and failed to ensure the safety and anonymity of the survivor. Annamalai also accused DMK of attempting to divert attention from the deteriorating law and order situation in Tamil Nadu by promoting a false narrative of a North-South divide.
WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg man has been extradited to New Jersey to face a murder charge in the death of a woman in 1997. Robert Allen Creter, who is 60, faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of 23-year-old Tamara Tignor, whose body was found on a dirt access road near Washington Valley Park. Officials believe she was strangled. Prosecutors say a break in the long-unsolved case came last year, when evidence originally collected was resubmitted for DNA testing that was not technologically possible at the time. They say that pointed them to Creter, who had moved to Winnipeg in 2002. Creter was arrested in June and held in custody until his extradition. He was transferred last week to the United States Marshals Service at the Winnipeg airport, and officials say he is being held in custody pending a detention hearing. “The arrest of a suspect in this decades-old case is a testament to the unwavering dedication of law enforcement to seek justice, no matter how much time has passed,” Col. Patrick Callahan with the New Jersey State Police said in a news release. Tignor disappeared after getting into a van. The investigation is ongoing and officials would not say whether she and the accused knew each other or comment on a possible motive. A prosecutor told reporters Monday that Tignor's mother had been hoping for a breakthrough. "Tammy's mom called our office on Nov. 4 of every year — the anniversary of Tammy's death — looking for an update," said Somerset County assistant prosecutor Mike McLaughlin. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024. Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Devastated by Botched $75k Bonus Round Despite Big Boost
Every investor dreams of striking it big with a well-timed investment in a fast-growing company in a red-hot industry. Those who bought Arm Holdings ( ARM -0.38% ) shares soon after it went public in fall 2023 have already benefited from dreamy gains. The stock is up by about 75% this year amid optimism that its tech licensing business could benefit from a surge in demand related to the artificial intelligence (AI) trend. But do the company's fundamentals justify the hype? Let's find out. A dominant niche in the tech industry Founded in 1990, U.K.-based Arm Holdings has become a key player in the global technology industry. It specializes in intellectual property, licensing central processing unit (CPU) architectures to other companies that build upon them, incorporating Arm's designs into a wide range of hardware. Arm-based processors are popular in consumer tech, and can be found in an estimated 99% of smartphones. That said, Arm specializes in CPUs, not the graphics processing units (GPUs) that are used to train and power large language models like ChatGPT. The company will get indirect exposure to the AI space by licensing designs like its Armv9 CPUs, which are geared toward increased performance for more demanding smartphone tasks as more companies add chatbots and other features to their mobile devices. Companies that are built around collecting licensing revenue can be attractive because of its stable, recurring nature and high margins. However, Arm faces several challenges that could hinder its long-term performance. For starters, the company is a victim of its own success. Is this still a growth opportunity? Arm-based processors already have a massive market share in smartphones and other consumer devices, limiting future growth potential. The company estimates that 70% of the world's population uses Arm-based products. Furthermore, many of the core industries it serves are mature. Smartphone sales, for example, are believed to have peaked in 2016. It's hard to see how new, AI-related opportunities can move the needle for a company that does most of its business in large but stagnant verticals. Arm's fiscal 2025 second-quarter earnings highlight this dynamic. For the quarter, which ended Sept. 30, its royalty revenue jumped 23% year-over-year to $514 million, driven by the success of its new armv9 architecture in smartphones. However, this good news was overshadowed by weaknesses in the rest of the business, leading to consolidated revenue growth of just 5% to $844 million. Arm's bottom line wasn't impressive, either. With just $64 million in operating income, its operating margin was just 8%, partially because of its massive research and development spending as it strives to stay competitive. Arm doesn't have an easy solution to these problems. Despite its huge market share, its CPU architectures aren't the only game in town. Rival Intel offers competing architectures like x86. Arm is also threatened by a free, open-source alternative called RISC-V, created by computer scientists at the University of California, Berkeley. These competitors could limit its pricing power and growth potential. Arm's valuation has lost touch with reality At the end of the day, Arm Holdings is a mature, slow-growing business with limited exposure to the AI industry. But its valuation doesn't seem to reflect this fundamental reality. With a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 67, the company's shares are significantly pricier than the Nasdaq-100 's average forward P/E of 27, as well as chipmakers like Nvidia and Intel, which boast ratios of 33 and 22, respectively. For investors, the risks of buying Arm Holdings could outweigh the potential rewards. Shares look significantly overvalued and could give back much of 2024's gains in 2025 and beyond. This stock should be sold or avoided.
Detroit, Dec. 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (NYSE: DTE) — The DTE Energy Board of Directors declared a $1.09 per share dividend on its common stock payable Jan. 15, 2025, to shareholders of record at the close of business Dec. 16, 2024. About DTE Energy DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include an electric company serving 2.3 million customers in Southeast Michigan and a natural gas company serving 1.3 million customers across Michigan. The DTE portfolio also includes energy businesses focused on custom energy solutions, renewable energy generation, and energy marketing and trading. DTE has continued to accelerate its carbon reduction goals to meet aggressive targets and is committed to serving with its energy through volunteerism, education and employment initiatives, philanthropy, emission reductions and economic progress. Information about DTE is available at dteenergy.com , empoweringmichigan.com , x.com/DTE_Energy and facebook.com/dteenergy . For more information, members of the media may contact : Dan Miner, DTE Energy: 313.235.5555 For further information, analysts may call: Matthew Krupinski, DTE Energy, 313.235.6649 John Dermody, DTE Energy, 313.235.8750Florida State continues torrid star with rout of UMass
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Pure Storage rallies 17% after earnings beat, strong guidanceCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns , Spencer Shrader kicked a 31-yard field goal as time expired and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Carolina Panthers 30-27 on Sunday to reach double-digit wins for the 10th straight season. Noah Gray caught two TD passes as the Chiefs (10-1) bounced back from last week’s 30-21 loss at Buffalo and won at the buzzer yet again in a season of narrow escapes. DeAndre Hopkins also had a touchdown catch for the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, who scored on their first five possessions. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.Latin America’s Booming Startup Ecosystem: A Hub for Innovation and Growth