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SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nutanix, Inc. (“Nutanix”) (Nasdaq: NTNX), a leader in hybrid multicloud computing, today announced its intention to offer, subject to market conditions and other factors, $750 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2029 (the “notes”) in a private placement (the “offering”) to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Nutanix also expects to grant the initial purchasers of the notes an option to purchase up to an additional $112.5 million aggregate principal amount of the notes within a 13-day period from, and including, the initial issuance date of the notes. The notes will be unsecured senior obligations of Nutanix. Interest will be payable semi-annually in arrears. The notes will mature on December 15, 2029, unless earlier converted, redeemed, or repurchased. The notes will be convertible at the option of holders, subject to certain conditions and during certain periods. Upon conversion, the notes may be settled in cash, shares of Nutanix’s Class A common stock or a combination of cash and shares of Nutanix’s Class A common stock, at Nutanix’s election. The interest rate, initial conversion rate and other terms of the notes are to be determined at the time of the pricing of the offering. Nutanix intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to (i) repurchase a portion of its outstanding 0.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2027 (the “2027 notes”) concurrently with the pricing of the offering in separate and privately negotiated transactions with certain holders of its 2027 notes (the “concurrent note repurchases”) effected through one of the initial purchasers of the notes or its affiliate, acting as Nutanix’s agent, and (ii) repurchase up to $200.0 million of shares of Nutanix’s Class A common stock in privately negotiated transactions with institutional investors effected through one of the initial purchasers of the notes or its affiliate, acting as Nutanix’s agent, at a price per share equal to the last reported sale price of Nutanix’s Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on the date of the pricing of the notes (the “Share Repurchase”). Any such Share Repurchase would not reduce the amount available for future repurchases under Nutanix’s existing share repurchase program. Nutanix intends to use the remaining net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, capital expenditures and potential acquisitions. From time to time, Nutanix evaluates potential acquisitions of businesses, technologies or products. Currently, however, Nutanix does not have any understandings or agreements with respect to any acquisitions. The terms of the concurrent note repurchases are anticipated to be individually negotiated with each holder of the 2027 notes participating in the concurrent note repurchases, and will depend on several factors, including the market price of Nutanix’s Class A common stock and the trading price of the 2027 notes at the time of each such concurrent note repurchase. Certain holders of any 2027 notes that Nutanix agrees to repurchase may have hedged their equity price risk with respect to such 2027 notes and may, concurrently with the pricing of the notes, unwind all or part of their hedge positions by buying Nutanix’s Class A common stock and/or entering into or unwinding various derivative transactions with respect to Nutanix’s Class A common stock. Any repurchase of the 2027 notes, and the potential related market activities by holders of the 2027 notes participating in the concurrent note repurchases, together with the repurchase by Nutanix of any of its Class A common stock concurrently with the pricing of the notes, could increase (or reduce the size of any decrease in) the market price of Nutanix’s Class A common stock, which may affect the trading price of the notes at that time and the initial conversion price of the notes. Nutanix cannot predict the magnitude of such market activity or the overall effect it will have on the price of the notes or its Class A common stock. No assurance can be given as to how much, if any, of the 2027 notes or the Class A common stock will be repurchased or the terms on which they will be repurchased. Neither the notes nor the shares of Nutanix’s Class A common stock potentially issuable upon conversion of the notes, if any, have been, or will be, registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction, and unless so registered, may not be offered or sold in the United States, except pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, such registration requirements. This announcement is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any of these securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation, or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale is unlawful. About Nutanix Nutanix is a global leader in cloud software, offering organizations a single platform for running applications and managing data, anywhere. With Nutanix, companies can reduce complexity and simplify operations, freeing them to focus on their business outcomes. Building on its legacy as the pioneer of hyperconverged infrastructure, Nutanix is trusted by companies worldwide to power hybrid multicloud environments consistently, simply, and cost-effectively. Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding Nutanix’s financing plans, Nutanix’s ability to complete the offering, the timing and size of the offering, the concurrent note repurchases and the Share Repurchase, Nutanix’s intended use of the net proceeds of the offering. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to, whether Nutanix will be able to consummate the offering, the final terms of the offering, the satisfaction of customary closing conditions with respect to the offering of the notes, prevailing market conditions, the anticipated use of the net proceeds of the offering of the notes, which could change as a result of market conditions or for other reasons, and the impact of general economic, industry or political conditions in the United States or internationally. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of the words “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions by Nutanix’s management that, although believed to be reasonable, are inherently uncertain and subject to a number of risks. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated or predicted by Nutanix’s forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to other risks detailed in Nutanix’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2024, and the risks discussed in Nutanix’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and Nutanix undertakes no obligation to revise or update this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, except as required by applicable law. © 2024 Nutanix, Inc. All rights reserved. Nutanix, the Nutanix logo, and all Nutanix product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or unregistered trademarks of Nutanix, Inc. (“Nutanix”) in the United States and other countries. Other brand names or marks mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder(s). This press release is for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes a warranty or other binding commitment by Nutanix. Investor Contact: Richard Valera ir@nutanix.com Media Contact: Lia Bigano pr@nutanix.com
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As any deep pocket client of Alex Spiro will tell you, the high-profile trial attorney often executes a maximum impact strategy of very targeted attacks on the case against said client, as well as the planting of legal landmines to blow up the other side down the line. That combination is exactly what the Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner just did for Jay-Z today in the Jane Doe underage rape case against the ‘Empire State of Mind’ singer and the currently imprisoned Sean “Diddy” Combs. Now, with big blowback from a lawyer representing potential victims of Combs and others, Spiro may have overplayed his hand or gotten precisely the reaction he wanted. A day after Spiro and Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) strongly sought to have the refiled rape action against the ’99 Problems’ superstar and Combs either tossed out of court or have the name of the then 13-year-old plaintiff from the alleged 2000 assault by the two rappers and a still unnamed female “Celebrity B” unmasked, a two-page letter and declaration from colleague Mari Henderson has been sent to Judge Analisa Torres casting the other side as far far worse than mere Ambulance chasers. “After detailing her experiences to an attorney at Mr. Buzbee’s firm, he pressed for a connection to Mr. Combs, asking ‘at what point did you meet Diddy,’ even though she made clear that her case was unrelated to Mr. Combs,” Henderson’s declaration states of the law firm of Tony Buzbee, who is currently representing dozens and dozens of anonymous alleged victims of sexual abuse by the ‘Al About the Benjamins’ performer. The unnamed Texas resident here had reached out to Buzbee’s firm after seeing the media savvy lawyer on TV earlier this fall talking about Combs, who had been charged with sex trafficking in his NYC arrest on September 16. The woman in question sent into the firm’s website some information about a sex trafficking incident she said had occurred to her – again, not including Sean Combs . “After not hearing from Mr. Buzbee’s firm for weeks, during which this woman tried to contact the firm multiple times, she spoke again with a member of the firm who pressed her to confirm false details regarding her experiences as a victim, including that she was drugged, held down, pushed, and physically assaulted,” the declaration adds, and the letter from Spiro notes too. “She felt directed and coached by Mr. Buzbee’s firm to say that someone held her down and put drugs in her mouth when that was not her experience. She felt forced to lie.” “When the woman made clear she was unwilling to adapt to the narrative Mr. Buzbee’s firm laid out and wanted only to speak her truth, she was dropped as a client and told that Mr. Buzbee’s firm was unwilling to represent her any longer. Just hours after Jay-Z surprisingly appeared Monday at the LA premiere of Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King with the film’s voiceover stars Beyoncé and daughter Blue Ivy, the dual filing by his defense team has Buzbee preparing to go scorched Earth with some very very serious accusations of his own. Declaring that it is “patently ridiculous” that his Houston-based firm tried to strongarm a woman into anonymously pursuing a civil case against the Bad Boy Records founder even though “her experiences as a victim of trafficking by celebrities” was “entirely unrelated to Mr. Combs (or Mr. Carter),” Buzbee told Deadline the allegations made by Spiro in a letter to a federal judge Monday are pure BS “We don’t pressure people nor do we need to,” the openly aggressive attorney said after Spiro’s correspondence on behalf of Jay-Z (a.k.a. Shawn Carter) appeared in the docket in New York earlier today. (See Tony Buzbee’s full statement below) “I’m growing weary of responding to this kind of trash,” Buzbee went on to say. “Jay Z’s team is desperate and seemingly out of control. Their investigators have recently been caught on tape offering current clients of our firm one thousand dollars to sue our firm. This conduct is reprehensible and illegal. There will be consequences coming soon.” In just the past few minutes, Buzbee took to social media to offer even more information on the supposed payoff attempts he alleges. “These guys are on tape offering to pay clients to sue our law firm,” he writes with apparent transcripts. “That’s a crime.” Longtime Elon Musk attorney Spiro, who has also been very successfully representing Alec Baldwin in his now dismissed Rust fatal shooting case , did not respond to a request from Deadline on Buzbee’s apparent bribery allegations. If they do, this post will be updated. In this case, the brutal attack on the then teen Jane Doe is said to have occurred on September 7, 2000 during one of Diddy’s drug fueled so-called “freak offs” just after that year’s MTV VMAs. A very graphic October 20 filed lawsui t named Combs for the rape, but merely mentioned a male “Celebrity A” and a female “Celebrity B” who also carnally participated. Jay-Z was named as the “Celebrity A” in a December 8 refiling by Buzbee following a separate suit from an Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan-represented anonymous “celebrity and public figure who resides in Los Angeles” went after the Texan lawyer for extortion. “These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one!!” Jay-Z said in a handwritten statement after the refiling, with Spiro seeking the case to be dismissed or the alleged victim revealed in paperwork filed on December 8 in federal court. On social media on Sinday Buzbee called Jay- a “bully” and basically told him to go screw himself. As for Sean Combs: After failing in late November in his third attempt at getting a proposed $50 million bail approved , the one time music mogul is scheduled to stand trial for racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution starting on May 5, 2025. Incarcerated at Brooklyn’s grim Metropolitan Detention Centre since his arrest almost two months ago, the 55-year-old Combs, who has entered a not guilty plea, faces life in prison if found guilty. Read Jane Doe attorney Tony Buzbee’s full statement on Jay-Z’s legal team’s most recently filings here: This allegation is patently ridiculous. If someone calls our intake group and has a viable case that we believe has merit and we can pursue we will pursue it. We are currently pursuing hundreds of cases against individuals and entities other than PDiddy. What we won’t do is pursue a case that we don’t believe has merit. Without telling me the woman’s name I can’t speak specifically to what she told the intake folks to even tell you what this woman claimed if and when she called. I can tell you we haven’t “dropped” any person like this. We don’t pressure people nor do we need to. What we have done is reject potential cases from people we find to not be credible. Understand we get a lot of prank calls. And we get a lot of calls from people who claim they are aggrieved but we just can’t help them. We certainly don’t need to “pressure” anyone to pursue a case. We have plenty of cases. What we can’t and won’t do is pursue a case we perceive to be weak or insupportable. I’m growing weary of responding to this kind of trash. Jay Z’s team is desperate and seemingly out of control. Their investigators have recently been caught on tape offering current clients of our firm one thousand dollars to sue our firm. This conduct is reprehensible and illegal. There will be consequences coming soon.
Award winning Nigeria singer, David Adeleke, better known as Davido has taken to his social media page to mark his late mother’s posthumous birthday with a touching tribute. This is coming few days after the singer celebrated his 32nd birthday, a milestone that also celebrated Afrobeats’ global impact, with fans worldwide marking the occasion in grand style. However, in a tweet via his verified X handle on Saturday, Davido honoured his mother’s posthumous birthday, pouring out his emotions accompanied with love-filled emojis. He tweeted:”Happy birthday Mommy. love and miss you ❤️”. His fans and followers have taken to his comment section to resonate with him expressing concern over his posts. See post below:
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NoneNoneEbonkoli 0-0 0-0 0, Diallo 1-1 0-0 2, Grady 4-7 5-9 16, Petty 7-15 2-4 18, Faas 3-7 0-2 7, Kopp 4-11 9-10 20, Ijeh 0-0 0-0 0, Nyeri 0-3 1-2 1, Hall 0-1 0-0 0, Ammons 0-0 0-0 0, Gob 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 19-45 18-29 65. Adewale 1-1 0-1 2, Klaczek 2-4 1-1 7, Joshua 3-9 1-2 7, Langford 7-8 2-4 16, Marshall 6-16 4-6 18, Neely 2-4 6-7 10, Briggs 1-3 0-0 2, Reddish 1-3 2-2 5, Strand 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 16-23 67. Halftime_Albany (NY) 34-31. 3-Point Goals_UMKC 9-27 (Grady 3-5, Kopp 3-7, Petty 2-8, Faas 1-4, Hall 0-1, Nyeri 0-2), Albany (NY) 5-19 (Klaczek 2-4, Marshall 2-8, Reddish 1-3, Briggs 0-2, Joshua 0-2). Rebounds_UMKC 35 (Ebonkoli 8), Albany (NY) 16 (Langford 6). Assists_UMKC 14 (Diallo, Kopp 4), Albany (NY) 11 (Joshua, Neely 3). Total Fouls_UMKC 19, Albany (NY) 22. A_100 (12,000).
MIDTOWN ASSASSIN: NYPD inspector talks ghost gun found on Luigi Mangione, and possibly tracing the murder weaponRenuka Rayasam | (TNS) KFF Health News In April, just 12 weeks into her pregnancy, Kathleen Clark was standing at the receptionist window of her OB-GYN’s office when she was asked to pay $960, the total the office estimated she would owe after she delivered. Clark, 39, was shocked that she was asked to pay that amount during this second prenatal visit. Normally, patients receive the bill after insurance has paid its part, and for pregnant women that’s usually only when the pregnancy ends. It would be months before the office filed the claim with her health insurer. Clark said she felt stuck. The Cleveland, Tennessee, obstetrics practice was affiliated with a birthing center where she wanted to deliver. Plus, she and her husband had been wanting to have a baby for a long time. And Clark was emotional, because just weeks earlier her mother had died. “You’re standing there at the window, and there’s people all around, and you’re trying to be really nice,” recalled Clark, through tears. “So, I paid it.” On online baby message boards and other social media forums , pregnant women say they are being asked by their providers to pay out-of-pocket fees earlier than expected. The practice is legal, but patient advocacy groups call it unethical. Medical providers argue that asking for payment up front ensures they get compensated for their services. How frequently this happens is hard to track because it is considered a private transaction between the provider and the patient. Therefore, the payments are not recorded in insurance claims data and are not studied by researchers. Patients, medical billing experts, and patient advocates say the billing practice causes unexpected anxiety at a time of already heightened stress and financial pressure. Estimates can sometimes be higher than what a patient might ultimately owe and force people to fight for refunds if they miscarry or the amount paid was higher than the final bill. Up-front payments also create hurdles for women who may want to switch providers if they are unhappy with their care. In some cases, they may cause women to forgo prenatal care altogether, especially in places where few other maternity care options exist. It’s “holding their treatment hostage,” said Caitlin Donovan, a senior director at the Patient Advocate Foundation . Medical billing and women’s health experts believe OB-GYN offices adopted the practice to manage the high cost of maternity care and the way it is billed for in the U.S. When a pregnancy ends, OB-GYNs typically file a single insurance claim for routine prenatal care, labor, delivery, and, often, postpartum care. That practice of bundling all maternity care into one billing code began three decades ago, said Lisa Satterfield, senior director of health and payment policy at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists . But such bundled billing has become outdated, she said. Previously, pregnant patients had been subject to copayments for each prenatal visit, which might lead them to skip crucial appointments to save money. But the Affordable Care Act now requires all commercial insurers to fully cover certain prenatal services. Plus, it’s become more common for pregnant women to switch providers, or have different providers handle prenatal care, labor, and delivery — especially in rural areas where patient transfers are common. Some providers say prepayments allow them to spread out one-time payments over the course of the pregnancy to ensure that they are compensated for the care they do provide, even if they don’t ultimately deliver the baby. “You have people who, unfortunately, are not getting paid for the work that they do,” said Pamela Boatner, who works as a midwife in a Georgia hospital. While she believes women should receive pregnancy care regardless of their ability to pay, she also understands that some providers want to make sure their bill isn’t ignored after the baby is delivered. New parents might be overloaded with hospital bills and the costs of caring for a new child, and they may lack income if a parent isn’t working, Boatner said. In the U.S., having a baby can be expensive. People who obtain health insurance through large employers pay an average of nearly $3,000 out-of-pocket for pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care, according to the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker . In addition, many people are opting for high-deductible health insurance plans, leaving them to shoulder a larger share of the costs. Of the 100 million U.S. people with health care debt, 12% attribute at least some of it to maternity care, according to a 2022 KFF poll . Families need time to save money for the high costs of pregnancy, childbirth, and child care, especially if they lack paid maternity leave, said Joy Burkhard , CEO of the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, a Los Angeles-based policy think tank. Asking them to prepay “is another gut punch,” she said. “What if you don’t have the money? Do you put it on credit cards and hope your credit card goes through?” Calculating the final costs of childbirth depends on multiple factors, such as the timing of the pregnancy , plan benefits, and health complications, said Erin Duffy , a health policy researcher at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics. The final bill for the patient is unclear until a health plan decides how much of the claim it will cover, she said. But sometimes the option to wait for the insurer is taken away. During Jamie Daw’s first pregnancy in 2020, her OB-GYN accepted her refusal to pay in advance because Daw wanted to see the final bill. But in 2023, during her second pregnancy, a private midwifery practice in New York told her that since she had a high-deductible plan, it was mandatory to pay $2,000 spread out with monthly payments. Daw, a health policy researcher at Columbia University, delivered in September 2023 and got a refund check that November for $640 to cover the difference between the estimate and the final bill. “I study health insurance,” she said. “But, as most of us know, it’s so complicated when you’re really living it.” While the Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover some prenatal services, it doesn’t prohibit providers from sending their final bill to patients early. It would be a challenge politically and practically for state and federal governments to attempt to regulate the timing of the payment request, said Sabrina Corlette , a co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University. Medical lobbying groups are powerful and contracts between insurers and medical providers are proprietary. Because of the legal gray area, Lacy Marshall , an insurance broker at Rapha Health and Life in Texas, advises clients to ask their insurer if they can refuse to prepay their deductible. Some insurance plans prohibit providers in their network from requiring payment up front. If the insurer says they can refuse to pay up front, Marshall said, she tells clients to get established with a practice before declining to pay, so that the provider can’t refuse treatment. Related Articles Health | Which health insurance plan may be right for you? Health | California case is the first confirmed bird flu infection in a US child Health | Your cool black kitchenware could be slowly poisoning you, study says. Here’s what to do Health | Does fluoride cause cancer, IQ loss, and more? Fact-checking Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claims Health | US towns plunge into debates about fluoride in water Clark said she met her insurance deductible after paying for genetic testing, extra ultrasounds, and other services out of her health care flexible spending account. Then she called her OB-GYN’s office and asked for a refund. “I got my spine back,” said Clark, who had previously worked at a health insurer and a medical office. She got an initial check for about half the $960 she originally paid. In August, Clark was sent to the hospital after her blood pressure spiked. A high-risk pregnancy specialist — not her original OB-GYN practice — delivered her son, Peter, prematurely via emergency cesarean section at 30 weeks. It was only after she resolved most of the bills from the delivery that she received the rest of her refund from the other OB-GYN practice. This final check came in October, just days after Clark brought Peter home from the hospital, and after multiple calls to the office. She said it all added stress to an already stressful period. “Why am I having to pay the price as a patient?” she said. “I’m just trying to have a baby.” ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Red Wings look to build on ‘massive win’ in facing FlyersOn 29 November, after more than four hours of debate, MPs voted to pass the assisted dying bill by 330 votes to 275. Brought by Kim Leadbeater, the MP for Batley and Spen, this bill could see those with six months or less to live given the legal right to end their own lives. The former presenter and journalist, Esther Rantzen, who is herself signed up to Dignitas, led a public charge in support of the bill. But with the NHS and social care systems already buckling under huge pressure, is the UK really ready for such a serious change in the law? Megan Kenyon The new(ish) Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch ascended party ranks at warp speed, having only been elected as an MP in 2017. The gaffe-prone former Spectator employee once admitted to illegally hacking into Harriet Harman’s website to alter content to “say nice things about Tories”. Nonetheless she has wooed the party selectorate with assured performances on culture war issues. That’s an impressive achievement. Badenoch is a first-generation migrant and the first black leader of any major party in the UK. But since she assumed the role, it’s Reform that has capitalised on Labour’s dismal start in government. Jonny Ball I have committed more words to these pages about Charli XCX than I ever imagined possible . But the international superstar (“still a young girl from Essex”) was the cause célèbre of 2024. And her album Brat was proof of a singular creative principle: to last in our culture you must be convention-defying, not zeitgeist-riding. Mainstream music may be dominated by girls with guitars and forlorn Taylor Swift impressions, but Charli’s loud, bass-heavy, Asbo-pop (“should we do a little key?/Should we have a little line?”) was the soundtrack to the year. Finn McRedmond From fake explicit pictures of Taylor Swift to a fabricated clip of Sadiq Khan telling the British public to “get a grip”, deepfakes have caused havoc this year. These artificially generated images, videos or audio clips fool the viewer in to believing they’re observing the real thing. While they have gained ground in 2024, this particularly nefarious form of misinformation is likely to cause more issues in the coming years. And as the technology used to create them advances, the lines between fiction and reality could become even more blurred. Megan Kenyon 2023 was really Taylor Swift ’s moment in the sun, by 2024 we were used to the act: impossibly famous and beloved woman embarks on the biggest stadium tour of all time, and the crowd goes wild. In December the Eras tour finally ended to little fanfare, after 149 shows across five continents. Has her star burned too bright? I wouldn’t count on it. So long as she continues producing songs to a calibre that’s on a different cosmic plain to her peers, Swift will remain hegemonic. Finn McRedmond Keir Starmer ’s Labour won 63 per cent of Commons’ seats with 34 per cent of the vote. Nigel Farage ’s Reform has less than 1 per cent of seats despite winning one in seven votes. If support for Britain’s ablest political communicator is under-represented in Westminster Palace, it’s manifest on modern life’s truer stages: the streets and the screens. December this year was the first month people asked seriously if Farage will be the next prime minister – it won’t be the last. George Monaghan When Gisèle Pelicot waived her right to anonymity as the victim of France’s biggest-ever rape case, her name was seared into popular consciousness. Over the course of a decade, Pelicot’s husband Dominique drugged her at their home in the town of Mazan, southern France, and raped her, and invited other men from surrounding towns and villages to do so as well. In a gruelling four-month trial, Pelicot revealed her astounding strength of character. By going public, her hope is to change how victims of sexual violence are treated. As she told the court: “It is not for us to have shame – it’s for them.” Megan Kenyon It has been more than a year since the 7 October attack on Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow of “mighty vengeance” against Hamas . This year, the conflict between Hamas and Israel has intensified; the death toll in Gaza has passed 45,000. The group ends the year leaderless and scattered after the death of Yahya Sinwar in October. But recent reports suggest that a ceasefire between the two sides could be imminent. Hamas said in a statement a deal could be possible if Israel stops setting new conditions. Megan Kenyon Half the world’s population went to the polls in 2024. And it wasn’t a great year for the guys in charge. Donald Trump swept back to power, the Conservatives suffered the worst defeat in their history, and figures as politically diverse as Emmanuel Macron and Narendra Modi were deprived of their majorities. As the post-Covid inflationary spiral ate away at take-home pay, voters looked to punish incumbents irrespective of left-right affiliations. Proliferating geopolitical crises have also added to the economic malaise and a gloomy world outlook. At least it isn’t just us. Jonny Ball For the first three quarters of 2024, Jeremy Clarkson was having a relatively quiet year. That was until Rachel Reeves announced the reduction of inheritance tax relief for farming families in the Budget. “Rachel Reeves. I literally daren’t comment,” Clarkson initially posted on X. Two hours later, he couldn’t help but comment: “Farmers. I know that you have been shafted today.” And like the very capable populist he is, the comments spurred action. Farmers twice took to central London to protest , with Clarkson – who previously admitted the tax relief was “critical” to him buying his own TV-famous farm – becoming the de facto leader of the movement. Harry Clarke-Ezzidio Fighting in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, has been ongoing for more than 18 months after a power struggle broke out between the main two factions of the country’s military regime. Since then, the conflict has evolved into what the UN has described as “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history”. Twenty-five million people have been displaced from their homes across Sudan, tens of thousands have died, and famine and disease have ravaged the population. As 2024 draws to a close, this merciless, consuming war continues to rage. Megan Kenyon After 14 years wallowing in opposition, Labour returned to power in July. Things can only get better, right? Not quite. Though the party’s 174-seat majority is broad, it is also shallow. Just about every type of voter who put their faith in Keir Starmer’s party now seemingly has an issue with the government: farmers on inheritance tax, pensioners on the winter fuel payment cut. This victorious year has ended on a dour note, with Reform closing the gap on both main parties in the polls, and Starmer forced to make what many have termed a “ reset ” of his government, just five months into a five-year term. Harry Clarke-Ezzidio Following June’s legislative elections, France ’s hung parliament has proved to be more than just a headache for Emmanuel Macron . The country is on to its fourth prime minister this year. Macron, only halfway through his second term as president, is batting off pressure from all sides. Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is making gains on the right and calls for Macron’s resignation followed the ousting of latest PM Michel Barnier in December . As the year ends, France’s political turbulence has yet to subside, and there is a question mark over the longevity of its president’s tenure. Megan Kenyon On 21 November, Judges at the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu , Israel’s prime minister. The move was met with outrage across the country. This has been a year in which Netanyahu’s self-styled role as Israel’s protector has been called into serious question. Internally, he faces trial for corruption and bribery charges (which he has emphatically denied) and has been accused of being a danger to democracy. Historically, Netanyahu has proved himself to be a resilient political operator, but are these challenges too much? Megan Kenyon It almost felt like a cultural display of Newton’s third law. As the glitter and glitz of the Eras tour (as Finn writes above) achieved an apogee, something like its musical opposite loomed into view: two dark, feuding, glowering Mancs in cagoules, reuniting for the first time since 2009. Oasis have a rare hold on our collective ear: if something like the Great British Songbook exists, they have made several contributions. To millions, the announcement of their return prompted an equally rare and enviable emotion: joy. Nicholas Harris Although the Post Office scandal came to a head in 2024, its origins go back a quarter of a century. The faulty Horizon IT software, first introduced to postal services in 1999, led to accounting shortfalls that saw 900 subpostmasters convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting through to 2015. This year, the passing of the Post Office Compensation Act gave those affected means of redress, while the ITV dramatisation brought the scandal to an audience of millions, leading to the former prime minister Rishi Sunak describing it as “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history”. Harry Clarke-Ezzidio Donald Trump’s victory on 5 November was so resounding that even the deep blue hue of New York City has begun to fade. The US pollster Nate Silver noted that “almost no place has seen a bigger increase in Trump support than the five boroughs [of New York City]”. In Queens, the city’s easternmost and largest borough – and Trump’s birthplace – 38 per cent of voters cast their ballot for the US president-elect compared with only 21.8 per cent in 2016. Though traditionally liberal, New Yorkers did not escape unscathed from inflation – the crucial issue that drove US voters to re-elect their former president. Queens is just a small example of a cosmic shift taking place in the US in 2024. Megan Kenyon Violent civil disorder is a comparably rare occurrence in Britain. But an unlucky 13 years on from our last spate of rioting, something even uglier reared its head. After the stabbing of three little girls in Southport and a frenzy of misinformation and speculation about the attacker, England faced a week of ethnic-sectarian conflict on its high streets. Politicians and commentators found the events impossible to parse. And, with the alleged murderer still on trial, the anger his actions unleashed is unlikely to fade. Nicholas Harris Following the launch of a major surprise offensive by the Islamist militant group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied rebel factions, more than 50 years of the Assad family’s rule in Syria came to an end. A civil war in the country has been ongoing since 2011, killing over half a million people and displacing millions more from their homes. Though Bashar al-Assad’s reign of terror is over (the toppled president has now fled to Moscow ), Syria’s future remains in flux. A new era for this war-torn nation is emerging. Megan Kenyon An old man was shot in the head, and 84 seconds later was on his feet with his fist raised to his adorers , crying, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”; they screamed “USA! USA! USA!” Come November, the American nation elected him president in the hope it might become strong, safe and great again. In January he will become the most powerful human on Earth for a second time, now with a loyal and organised team dedicated to imposing his vision on the world. George Monaghan In February 2025, it will have been three years since Russian troops marched across the border and into Ukraine, sparking a bloody conflict from which there has been little relief. The Ukrainian position has worsened this year, as Russia has, little by little, gained ground . Desertion among Ukrainian soldiers is on the rise and the election of Trump as US president has fuelled concern and uncertainty for president Volodymyr Zelensky. Hopes of a ceasefire in early 2025 are intensifying – but what comes next for Ukraine remains chillingly unclear. Megan Kenyon The Spanish province of Valencia was overcome by apocalyptic flash flooding in October which killed at least 214 people and left dozens unaccounted for. The crisis is one of the worst natural disasters in modern Spanish history and saw towns across the region swept by mud and rubble. Valencian officials have faced criticism after they took 12 hours to respond to a red weather warning, and the King and Queen of Spain were pelted with mud on a visit to the region . The floods’ intensity is a direct result of climate change in the Mediterranean and is a warning of extreme weather events to come. Megan Kenyon This Christmas is to be Justin Welby’s last as Archbishop of Canterbury. On 12 November, Welby resigned after the findings of a report into the Church’s handling of serial allegations of physical and sexual abuse by John Smyth. The report criticised Welby for failing to adequately address the abuse, which he was officially informed about in 2013. So ends the tenure of a consummate Church moderniser (women bishops were finally allowed under him). The race for Lambeth Palace and for Welby’s successor will begin in earnest in the new year. Megan Kenyon If you couldn’t bear the grovelling and fled to BlueSky in 2024, you likely weren’t a direct witness to X owner Elon Musk ’s courtship of Trump. The wooing worked: Trump returned to the platform on his way to winning back the White House, and appointed Musk to co-lead one of his government departments; Musk anointed himself “First Buddy”. “I can’t get him out of here,” Trump recently quipped about the tech billionaire. Will their honeymoon period end on X in 2025? You’ll need to dig out your old login details to find out. Harry Clarke-Ezzidio In case you’re not addicted to X/Twitter, Yimby stands for “yes in my back yard”, and it’s the name for a broad group of wonkish, very online, pro-building policy nerds angry at our complex planning system. They’ve hit the mainstream, with their ideas adopted by the Labour front bench and seemingly the entire think tank world. For the Yimbys, there’s nothing worse than a Nimby, who have, they say, have been given easy vetoes over development, exacerbating the housing crisis and making infrastructure upgrades like HS2 impossibly expensive. Jonny Ball The Zone of Interest , which won best picture at this year’s Academy Awards, exposes Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz, as the father of a relatively conventional bourgeois family. For much of the film the Hösses are celebrating birthdays, squabbling and enjoying their garden. Jonathan Glazer took from Martin Amis’s novel of the same title “the courage to portray the executioners as utterly normal people”. The result, said David Sexton in his New Statesman review , “leaves you feeling both utter dismay and your own implication alongside the perpetrators, rather than the victims.” George Monaghan [See also: The 20 best books of 2024 ] Related
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Florida Atlantic is finalizing the hiring of Texas Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley as its new head coach, a person with knowledge of the decision said Monday. Kittley and the school were working through the remaining details Monday, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school has yet to announce that the hiring is complete. The Owls are replacing Tom Herman, who was fired two weeks ago with two games left in his second year at the school. Kittley had stints as offensive coordinator at Houston Baptist and Western Kentucky before returning to Texas Tech — his alma mater — in 2022 in the same role. The Red Raiders have averaged 435 yards per game over the last three seasons under Kittley, 22nd best among all FBS teams. This season saw the Red Raiders rank among the nation's best offenses: They were eighth in yards per play, eighth in points per game, 10th in yards per game and did all that at a pace nearly unmatched nationally. Texas Tech averaged 78.25 plays per game this season, just behind Syracuse's 78.33 for the national lead. As a student assistant, then graduate assistant and assistant quarterbacks coach at Texas Tech, Kittley helped coach Patrick Mahomes — the Kansas City Chiefs star, NFL MVP and Super Bowl champion — during his collegiate career. The Owls went 3-9 this season, their fourth consecutive losing record. Lane Kiffin went 27-13 with two bowl wins in his three seasons at FAU; the Owls are 22-35 in five seasons since Kiffin left for Ole Miss after the 2019 campaign. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football