Early signing day is just a couple of weeks away, meaning the sharks are circling in college football recruiting. Programs across the country are making final surges at recruits committed elsewhere while also fighting off programs doing the same to them. While the Texas Longhorns are among the programs on the prowl to flip some key recruits, they also happen to have a slew of recruits that programs are eyeing, one of which is five-star receiver Jaime Ffrench. The Jacksonville, Florida product is another example of Texas' now-flourishing Sunshine State pipeline, but that doesn't mean programs in the state aren't trying to keep him home. Following the announcement that head coach Billy Napier is returning to Gainsville next season, the Gators have been pushing hard for Ffrench, among others. He took a trip to Gainesville last weekend to watch the Gators take down LSU, which may have concerned some. However, he took to social media on Thursday to announce he'd be taking another trip to Texas for the team's Week 13 game against Kentucky I’ll be back at the CRIB tomorrow 🤘🏾! pic.twitter.com/q35bHCjSY7 While most may not consider a committed player taking a trip to the program where he is already pledged, it certainly doesn't hurt Texas to help ensure that everything is going smoothly. Like last season, the Longhorns are likely to lose a chunk of their receiving corps with players like Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond expected to leave for the NFL. If the Longhorns can keep Ffrench in the fold along with the two other elite receivers in the class, Kaliq Lockett and Daylan McCutcheon, the Texas offense will be in great shape. Related: Quinn Ewers Reportedly 'Expected' to Declare for 2025 NFL Draft
NonePSG beat Salzburg 3-0 to revitalise Champions League campaign
How the stock market defied expectations again this year, by the numbersManhattan police have obtained a warrant for the arrest of 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione , suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson . Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, while carrying a gun, mask and writings linking him to the ambush. Mangione is being held without bail in Pennsylvania on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Late Monday, Manhattan prosecutors charged him with five counts, including murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a forged instrument. Here's the latest: That’s according to a spokesperson for the governor who said Gov. Hochul will do it as soon as possible. Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a healthcare executive in New York City, apparently was living a charmed life: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and with degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities. Friends at an exclusive co-living space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Hawaii where the 26-year-old Mangione once lived widely considered him a “great guy,” and pictures on his social media accounts show a fit, smiling, handsome young man on beaches and at parties. Now, investigators in New York and Pennsylvania are working to piece together why Mangione may have diverged from this path to make the violent and radical decision to gun down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a brazen attack on a Manhattan street. The killing sparked widespread discussions about corporate greed, unfairness in the medical insurance industry and even inspired folk-hero sentiment toward his killer. ▶ Read more about Luigi Mangione Peter Weeks, the Blair County district attorney, says he’ll work with New York officials to try to return suspect Luigi Mangione there to face charges. Weeks said the New York charges are “more serious” than in Blair County. “We believe their charges take precedent,” Weeks said, promising to do what’s needed to accommodate New York’s prosecution first. Weeks spoke to reporters after a brief hearing at which a defense lawyer said Mangione will fight extradition. The defense asked for a hearing on the issue. In the meantime, Mangione will be detained at a state prison in western Pennsylvania. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said Tuesday it will seek a Governor’s warrant to secure Mangione’s extradition to Manhattan. Under state law, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul can issue a warrant of arrest demanding Mangione’s return to the state. Such a warrant must recite the facts necessary to the validity of its issuance and be sealed with the state seal. It would then be presented to law enforcement in Pennsylvania to expedite Mangione’s return to New York. But Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks says it won’t be a substantial barrier to returning Mangione to New York. He noted that defendants contest extradition “all the time,” including in simple retail theft cases. Dickey, his defense lawyer, questioned whether the second-degree murder charge filed in New York might be eligible for bail under Pennsylvania law, but prosecutors raised concerns about both public safety and Mangione being a potential flight risk, and the judge denied it. Mangione will continue to be housed at a state prison in Huntingdon. He has 14 days to challenge the detention. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have a month to seek a governor’s warrant out of New York. Mangione, wearing an orange jumpsuit, mostly stared straight ahead at the hearing, occasionally consulting papers, rocking in his chair, or looking back at the gallery. At one point, he began to speak to respond to the court discussion, but was quieted by his lawyer. Luigi Mangione, 26, has also been denied bail at a brief court hearing in western Pennsylvania. He has 14 days to challenge the bail decision. That’s with some intervention from owner Elon Musk. The account, which hasn’t posted since June, was briefly suspended by X. But after a user inquired about it in a post Monday, Musk responded “This happened without my knowledge. Looking into it.” The account was later reinstated. Other social media companies such as Meta have removed his accounts. According to X rules, the platform removes “any accounts maintained by individual perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist, or mass violent attacks, as well as any accounts glorifying the perpetrator(s), or dedicated to sharing manifestos and/or third party links where related content is hosted.” Mangione is not accused of perpetrating a terrorist or mass attack — he has been charged with murder — and his account doesn’t appear to share any writings about the case. He shouted something that was partly unintelligible, but referred to an “insult to the intelligence of the American people.” He’s there for an arraignment on local charges stemming from his arrest Monday. He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit as officers led him from a vehicle into the courthouse. Local defense lawyer Thomas Dickey is expected to represent the 26-year-old at a Tuesday afternoon hearing at the Blair County Courthouse. Dickey declined comment before the hearing. Mangione could have the Pennsylvania charges read aloud to him and may be asked to enter a plea. They include possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. In New York, he was charged late Monday with murder in the death of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione likely was motivated by his anger with what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain with corporate greed, said a a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press. He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and that the profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of the suspect’s hand-written notes and social media postings. He appeared to view the targeted killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO as a symbolic takedown, asserting in his note that he is the “first to face it with such brutal honesty,” the bulletin said. Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski a “political revolutionary” and may have found inspiration from the man who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology, the document said. A felony warrant filed in New York cites Altoona Officer Christy Wasser as saying she found the writings along with a semi-automatic pistol and an apparent silencer. The filing echoes earlier statements from NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny who said Mangione had a three-page, handwritten document that shows “some ill will toward corporate America.” Mangione is now charged in Pennsylvania with being a fugitive of justice. A customer at the McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested said one of his friends had commented beforehand that the man looked like the suspect wanted for the shooting in New York City. “It started out almost a little bit like a joke, my one friend thought he looked like the shooter,” said the customer, who declined to give his full name, on Tuesday. “It wasn’t really a joke, but we laughed about it,” he added. The warrant on murder and other charges is a step that could help expedite his extradition from Pennsylvania. In court papers made public Tuesday, a New York City police detective reiterated key findings in the investigation he said tied Mangione to the killing, including surveillance footage and a fake ID he used to check into a Manhattan hostel on Nov. 24. Police officers in Altoona, Pennsylvania, found that ID when they arrested Mangione on Monday. Mangione is being held without bail in Pennsylvania on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Late Monday, Manhattan prosecutors charged him with five counts, including murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a forged instrument. Mangione doesn’t yet have a lawyer who can speak on his behalf, court officials said. Images of Mangione released Tuesday by Pennsylvania State Police showed him pulling down his mask in the corner of the McDonald’s while holding what appeared to be hash browns and wearing a winter jacket and ski cap. In another photo from a holding cell, he stood unsmiling with rumpled hair. Mangione’s cousin, Maryland lawmaker Nino Mangione, announced Tuesday morning that he’s postponing a fundraiser planned later this week at the Hayfields Country Club north of Baltimore, which was purchased by the Mangione family in 1986. “Because of the nature of this terrible situation involving my Cousin I do not believe it is appropriate to hold my fundraising event scheduled for this Thursday at Hayfields,” Nino Mangione said in a social media post. “I want to thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and support. My family and I are heartbroken and ask that you remember the family of Mr. Thompson in your prayers. Thank you.” Officers used New York City’s muscular surveillance system . Investigators analyzed DNA samples, fingerprints and internet addresses. Police went door to door looking for witnesses. When an arrest came five days later , those sprawling investigative efforts shared credit with an alert civilian’s instincts. A customer at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania noticed another patron who resembled the man in the oblique security-camera photos New York police had publicized. He remains jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was initially charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. By late Monday evening, prosecutors in Manhattan had added a charge of murder, according to an online court docket. It’s unclear whether Luigi Nicholas Mangione has an attorney who can comment on the allegations. Asked at Monday’s arraignment whether he needed a public defender, Mangione asked whether he could “answer that at a future date.”The standard Lorem Ipsum passage, used since the 1500s "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?" To keep reading, please log in to your account, create a free account, or simply fill out the form below.
Art Cashin, Wall Street veteran and CNBC regular, dies at age 83
Evan Stewart has not decided whether he’ll return to Oregon in 2025 or enter the NFL draft. The Oregon Ducks receiver, who has 48 receptions for 613 yards and five touchdowns this season, is one of the four most prominent draft-eligible UO players with decisions to make about their future over the next five to seven weeks. “I really haven’t thought about it, honestly,” Stewart told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “Because you got to think about it, the mindset when I was coming in, I’m just trying to better myself man. I’m just trying to put some tape together, put some production out there, do my thing. Show that I’m still the same player, especially after last season, I was injured. “I haven’t really thought about it but I have been seeing a bunch of players (around the country) opting in, a bunch of players getting in the portal. With us being on this legendary run, honestly, I’m just enjoying the legendary run. We’ll see after, I guess.” A transfer from Texas A&M last offseason, Stewart is approaching career bests in receptions and receiving yards as No. 1 Oregon (13-0) enters the College Football Playoff. He has one year of eligibility remaining if he chooses to utilize it and would be Oregon’s top returning receiver if he chose to do so. “The biggest factor is definitely probably just going to be the draft grade,” Stewart said. “If they walk in and tell me I’m a Day 4 (undrafted), well yeah, I’m going to be back in school. I’m a common sense dude. If they come back and give me something I need to go back to school for, shoot I’m going to go back to school. But if it’s in the air, then we’ll just see where this goes all the way out and we’ll have a decision.” The NFL’s College Advisory Committee provides draft-eligibile players an evaluation to aid in their decisions and rate players as either potential first round, potential second round, or neither. The NFL announced a “soft deadline” of Jan. 6 for players whose seasons are complete to file for special eligibility to enter this year’s draft, with the traditional “hard deadline” of Jan. 15. A special “championship” deadline of Jan. 24 has been set for players on the two teams playing in the CFP national championship game on Jan. 20. Stewart claimed to have invites to the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Bowl, if he enters the draft, but was unaware of the various draft declaration deadlines. He said he “could” wait until whichever deadline applies to make his decision. “Of course people have mentioned it,” Stewart said. “But with me being a junior and this is my year of being eligible to be able to do that, I really still don’t know much when it comes to the whole draft process and training and all that.” In the meantime, Stewart is still reaping the benefits of name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities in college. He and Oregon cornerback Jabbar Muhammad are among six college football players, the “MTN DEW Blue Shock Slurpee Squad,” partnering with Mountain Dew and 7-Eleven to promote the launch of the Blue Shock Slurpee at 7-Eleven and Speedways nationwide. CFP quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Who: No. 1 Oregon Ducks (13-0) vs. No. 8 Ohio State/No. 9 Tennessee When: Wednesday, Jan. 1 Time: 2 p.m. PT Where: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California TV channel: ESPN Stream: You can watch this game live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or by signing up for Sling (cheapest streaming plans, $25 off your first month). If you already have cable, you can also watch this game live on Watch ESPN with your cable or satellite provider login information. Oregon Ducks football 2024 season schedule, scores Sign up for The Ducks Beat newsletter -- James Crepea covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter .
How major US stock indexes fared Monday, 12/2/2024Photo: Rob Kruyt, BIV. Holiday shoppers pass a seasonal installation as they walk through Pacific Centre. A combination of factors is set to make this holiday season unlike any other for B.C. retailers. While good news comes from an Ipsos and BMO survey in September, which found that British Columbians expected to spend more money during the holidays than did Canadians in any other province, most dynamics making this year distinctive have the potential to hurt retail sales. The federal government’s mandate that retailers remove the goods and services tax (GST) on some but not all taxable items between December 14 and February 15 is the most unexpected of the challenges merchants must manage. This is because the government has never enacted this kind of tax holiday. Wine is one of the products included in the so-called “GST holiday,” but even wine merchants told BIV they were not impressed with the initiative, which forces them to do more work during their busiest time of year. Marquis Wine Cellars owner John Clerides told BIV he believes the tax change is a haphazard policy and one that was put in place for political purposes. “I had to get my CFO to look into it,” he said. “We have to print new tags and do all sorts of stuff, which the consumer doesn't care about. All they care about is lower prices. If that helps sales, then great. I don’t know if it will as this is unprecedented.” Wine sales spike in the final three months of the year and Clerides called the time a “make-or-break quarter,” and one when he does not want to waste resources on changing price tags and point-of-sale system technology. British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch data for wine wholesales back up his claim that the final quarter of the year by far has the most sales. The province’s monopoly alcohol distributor sold nearly $317 million worth of wine wholesale in October through December last year. That was more than 21.5 per cent above an average of $260.8 million in each of the following three quarters. Canada Post strike adds burden for retailers Clerides’ staff has also shouldered heavier workloads since Canada Post workers went on strike in mid-November. Marquis Wine Cellars provides free delivery for online customers who buy more than $250, he said. Clerides uses Canada Post to deliver orders because its delivery rates are lower than those from Purolator, FedEx and other delivery companies, he said. The strike means that he is getting his staff to make local deliveries. In cases where online buyers purchase less than $250 worth of wine and need to pay shipping fees, the cost has gone up to the point where Clerides said he believes he has lost sales. Some retailers told BIV that they have been frustrated with orders getting stuck in transit. Yaletown retailer Durriya Rehan, who owns Fine Finds, told BIV that she shipped an advent calendar to a customer on November 12. It got stuck somewhere in Canada Post’s distribution network when workers went on strike. The customer cancelled the order and Rehan said she felt compelled to refund his money because he did not receive his purchase. Arkun Durmaz, the Canadian president of Istanbul, Turkey-based Mavi Jeans, told BIV he has five stores in Metro Vancouver but most of his company’s North American business is wholesale. The Canada Post strike has hindered his ability to ship inventory to resellers. It has also caused many payments from his resellers to get stuck in the mail, he said. Durriya Rehan, who owns Yaletown’s Fine Finds, told BIV that she has had to reimburse customers for online sales because the Canada Post strike meant their purchases were lost in transit. | Rob Kruyt, BIV Some of those resellers have shifted to using e-transfers but Durmaz said Mavi Jeans is forced to wait for accounts-receivable payments that were made by mailed cheques until the strike is over. “More consumers are going to be going into bricks-and-mortar stores if they feel like they're not able to get products when they buy online,” said retail consultant and Retail Insider Media owner Craig Patterson. "This could be a year that is a better time for retailers that have physical locations.” Later shopping season could reduce retail sales Retailers are hoping that having a late Black Friday does not crimp overall sales. Black Friday this year fell on November 29—the latest possible date as it follows American Thanksgiving, which falls on the fourth Thursday of the month. Last year, Black Friday fell on November 24, meaning that there were five more shopping days between Black Friday and Christmas. Initial data from Salesforce found that online Black Friday sales in Canada were down six per cent to $309 million when compared with last year. By contrast, global data shows Black Friday sales increased five per cent year over year to $74.4 billion. Canada’s comparatively sluggish economy and GDP growth may be to blame. Canadian GDP growth last year was 1.1 per cent, compared with 2.5 per cent in the U.S., according to the World Bank. Moneris data released today found that B.C. shoppers were more enthusiastic about Black Friday than were counterparts in the rest of Canada. B.C. shoppers spent 34-per-cent more on Black Friday than they had on the Friday one week earlier, according to Moneris. That compares with a sales bump of 29-per-cent nationally. Canadian retailers in the past decade have learned to count on holiday shopping starting with a bang on Black Friday. That holiday shopping bonanza was historically largely a phenomenon that stayed south of the border, and was not in Canada until the aught years, said DIG360 retail consultant and owner David Ian Gray, who closely tracks Black Friday sales. His company teams up with Angus Reid Group to survey shoppers and issue annual reports. Gray told BIV that last year 49 per cent of respondents bought at least one item that was part of a Black Friday promotion, while 73 per cent of respondents either browsed Black Friday deals or purchased an item that was on sale. Both of those figures were the highest since DIG360 started tracking Black Friday interest in 2010. Gray said he does not expect that the share of Canadians who participated in Black Friday shopping this year to be considerably more than last year’s level because he said he thinks there is a large slice of the population that just buys items when needed, avoids hyped sales promotions and views the consumer frenzy with disdain. “There will be a sizable minority that wants to opt out,” he said. Another phenomenon prompting a later holiday shopping season is the GST’s slated removal from a range of goods starting December 14. Items to be newly GST-free include children’s clothing, children’s toys, books, beer that has up to seven per cent alcohol, restaurant meals and a miscellany of other items. Shoppers may delay their shopping to pay less in tax. Confusion is then likely to reign for many consumers who do closely follow government pronouncements. They may wrongly believe that flat-screen TVs or other products will be exempt from the GST and postpone their purchases of those items for that reason. Undoubtedly, retailers will have to deal with unhappy customers who learn in their stores that the GST continues to apply to many products. Even retail professionals told BIV that the government’s list of exempted items is not clear. While children’s toys, such as board games and dolls designed for children younger than 14 years, are to be exempt, other toys could continue to carry the tax. Patterson added that the timing of the GST holiday is not ideal for some items. Christmas trees will be exempt from the GST starting December 14 even though most Christmas tree shoppers will likely have already bought their trees, he said. One consequence of more consumers procrastinating on their holiday shopping and pushing it into the future is that they may get busy with other things and not complete their purchases by Christmas, hurting retailers in the process.
NoneUS president-elect Donald Trump on Monday threatened to impose a 100 per cent tariff on the Brics group nations if they undercut the US dollar. “We require a commitment ... that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty US Dollar or, they will face 100 percent Tariffs,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website, referring to the grouping that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and others. The statement comes after a Brics summit held last month in Kazan, Russia, where the countries discussed boosting non-dollar transactions and strengthening local currencies. The Brics group has expanded significantly since its inception in 2009, and now includes countries such as Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Altogether the Brics coalition accounts for a significant minority of the world’s economic output. At the Kazan summit in October, Moscow secured a joint declaration encouraging the “strengthening of correspondent banking networks within Brics and enabling settlements in local currencies in line with Brics Cross-Border Payments Initiative”. 02:07 Xi and Putin vow stronger China-Russia cooperation to counter Western-led world order But at the end of the summit Putin indicated that little progress had been made on launching a possible competitor to the Belgium-based Swift financial messaging system.
Norris defies orders to help Piastri and Verstappen loses the Qatar pole to Russell
Government, Opposition should ensure Parliament focuses on nation’s key issues, says Mayawati
Impeach rap filed vs VP gets Akbayan backing