Tom Brady has thoughts on , and they might arrive as a surprise, considering the source. Brady thinks quarterbacks should shoulder more of the blame when it comes to hits deemed late on quarterback slides. The former Patriots and Bucs quarterback spoke about the topic during an appearance with "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" on Tuesday. Brady told Cowherd that he has "mixed emotions" on the topic, then told the story of a lesson his teammates taught him early in his career when he got his helmet knocked off after sliding late. "If you're gonna slide, you better get down," Brady said his teammates told him. "These guys are coming to get you." He then expressed sympathy with defensive players when they're in a position of making split-second decisions on whether to hit a quarterback. "Defensive players have to be aggressive," Brady said. "That's their nature." Brady continued matter of factly that quarterbacks are responsible for their own safety, which shouldn't be strictly up to defenders tasked with stopping them. . discusses late hit on Trevor Lawrence: "If we don't want these hits to take place, we've got to penalize both the offense and the defense." — Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) "The quarterbacks need to take better care of themselves," Brady said. ... "When you run, you put yourself in a lot of danger. And when you do that, I don't think the onus of protecting an offensive quarterback who's running should be on a defensive player. I don't think that's really fair to the defense." Brady didn't make that comment directly about Lawrence and Al-Shaair, nor did he directly declare that Lawrence slid late. But he reached his conclusion in a conversation about and sparked a brawl between the Jaguars and Texans. Al-Shaair , but hedged on whether his hit was actually late. His coach, DeMeco Ryans, in a message similar to Brady's that put the onus on Lawrence to protect himself. The NFL has since issued its ruling. It deemed Al-Shaair's hit illegal and . The suspension, which cited by Al-Shaair, came with a stark message from NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan. "Your lack of sportsmanship and respect for the game of football and all those who play, coach, and enjoy watching it, is troubling and does not reflect the core values of the NFL," Runyan's statement reads. "Your continued disregard for NFL playing rules puts the health and safety of both you and your opponents in jeopardy and will not be tolerated.” So there's plenty of disagreement here. But Brady's stance was clear. A traditional pocket passer who became one of the game's all-time greats despite limited mobility, Brady also has thoughts on who's responsible for protecting quarterbacks who do frequently run. "Are we really trying to protect quarterbacks?" Brady continued. "Because if you are trying to do it through the rules, then why are the offensive coordinators not protecting their quarterbacks by keeping them in the pocket and not designing as many quarterback runs?" As for how to fix things? Brady suggested penalizing quarterbacks when they don't get down in time for a defender to pull back. "Maybe they fine or penalize a quarterback for sliding late, and say, 'Look, if we don't want these hits to take place, we've got to penalize the offense and the defense rather than just penalize a defensive player for every single play that happens when there's a hit on a quarterback.'"panalo999 。

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NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees slugger Aaron Judge wins his second AL MVP award after leading MLB with 58 home runs.A thoughtfully organised school assembly creates a welcoming start to the day, motivating students and building a strong sense of community. This guide covers all you need to make your assembly dynamic and meaningful: the latest news updates, uplifting thoughts for the day, and a carefully designed anchoring script. Let’s explore the key elements for hosting an unforgettable assembly. Mumbai: A well-structured school assembly sets a positive tone for the day, fostering unity and enthusiasm within the school community. This guide offers a detailed approach to organizing and delivering impactful assemblies, incorporating key elements such as current news updates, motivational thoughts for the day, and a flexible anchoring script. With these resources, creating a vibrant and meaningful event becomes a seamless endeavour. School assemblies are integral to students’ overall growth, providing a platform to nurture leadership skills, boost self-confidence, and strengthen community bonds. More than just routine gatherings, they offer invaluable opportunities for collaboration, learning, and inspiration, serving as a cornerstone of a dynamic educational environment. The success of an assembly depends on thoughtful planning and a creative touch. By blending educational, inspiring, and entertaining components, educators can design sessions that engage students and leave a lasting impact. The process begins with choosing a theme that resonates with students, aligns with the school’s values, or highlights significant events and upcoming celebrations. A well-chosen theme sets the focus and intent for the assembly. Kicking off with a warm and energetic welcome creates an inviting atmosphere and encourages active participation. Introducing a Thought of the Day provides an opportunity for introspection, inspiring optimism and self-awareness. This can be followed by succinct updates on school happenings, notable achievements, or global news to keep students informed and connected. Incorporating interactive or creative activities, such as performances, role-plays, or quizzes, brings excitement and encourages student participation. These activities not only showcase talents but also help students develop public speaking abilities and teamwork skills. As the assembly concludes, acknowledging contributions, sharing essential announcements, and ending with a collective gesture—like singing the national anthem, reciting the school pledge, or delivering an encouraging message—fosters pride and unity. To make the assembly memorable, ensure each segment is concise and engaging, maintaining the audience’s attention. Promoting inclusivity and valuing every student’s presence enhances the experience, leaving a positive and lasting impression. With careful planning and effective execution, school assemblies can become transformative experiences, sparking inspiration, strengthening bonds, and creating cherished memories for all involved. Tips for hosting a successful school assembly Thought for the Day for school assembly “Etiquette is not about being perfect, but about treating others with respect and kindness in every situation.” School assembly news headlines today Refer to the top school assembly headlines covering national, international, and sports news: National news for school assembly International news for school assembly Sports news for school assembly Anchoring Script for School Assembly Here’s a lively and engaging anchoring script for a school assembly—a perfect blend of warm greetings, inspirational messages, news highlights, motivational moments, and an exciting performance. Designed to captivate and energise, this script ensures a memorable and impactful session for everyone involved. [Opening remarks] Anchor 1: Good morning, everyone! A heartfelt welcome to our esteemed Principal, dedicated teachers, and amazing students. I’m [Anchor Name], and I’m delighted to lead you through today’s assembly. Let’s make it a fantastic start to the day! Anchor 2: Good morning! It’s wonderful to see so many bright and enthusiastic faces ready to kickstart the day with positivity and purpose. We’ve got a wonderful lineup ahead, so let’s get started! [Thought for the Day] Anchor 1: To set a positive tone, let’s begin with a thoughtful message. [Student Name], please share today’s thought. Anchor 2: Thank you, [Student Name], for sharing such inspiring words. Let’s embrace that thought and carry its message with us throughout the day. [News and Announcements] Anchor 1: Now, let’s turn our attention to the latest updates. Here are some important school news and global highlights. [Provide relevant updates and announcements.] Anchor 2: A gentle reminder to all participating in the Annual Day celebrations—please complete your event registrations by the end of this week. We’re excited to see your amazing performances! [Motivational Segment] Anchor 1: It’s time for a dose of motivation to fuel our minds and inspire our efforts. Let’s remember, that every day is a new opportunity to grow and achieve our goals. Anchor 2: Absolutely! Each challenge we face strengthens us, and every effort brings us closer to success. Let’s embrace today with enthusiasm and determination. [Special Performance] Anchor 1: Now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for! Please give a warm welcome to [Student/Group Name], who will present a [type of performance, e.g., skit, song, or dance]. Let’s applaud as they take the stage! Anchor 2: Enjoy the performance and let’s cheer for their effort and creativity! [Closing remarks] Anchor 1: What an incredible performance! A big thank you to [Student/Group Name] for sharing their amazing talent with us. Anchor 2: Absolutely! As we conclude today’s assembly, let’s carry forward the positivity and lessons we’ve learned. Anchor 1: Let’s continue to support one another, face challenges with confidence, and make the most of every opportunity. Anchor 2: Thank you all for your energy and participation. Wishing everyone a productive and fulfilling day ahead! Both Anchors: Goodbye, and have a fantastic day! This script is designed to make your school assembly engaging and impactful, fostering positivity, community spirit, and a sense of excitement. This guide provides everything needed to design a school assembly that resonates with both students and staff. By incorporating relevant news, uplifting messages, and a thoughtfully prepared anchoring script, it helps inspire the audience, foster positivity, and turn the assembly into an event everyone looks forward to. Click for more latest Events news . Also get top headlines and latest news from India and around the world at News9. Chhaya Gupta, a lifestyle sub-editor specialising in fashion, food, relationships, travel, well-being, and spirituality, is a dedicated fashion enthusiast and avid traveller. With meticulous attention to detail, she stays abreast of the latest developments in major events across Indian cities and internationally. From life to style, she derives immense pleasure in covering a variety of subjects. With 1.5 years of experience, she has honed her skills while working at The Free Press Journal.

The Ducks climbed to No. 2 after beating Texas A&M and San Diego State, but Gonzaga held down the top spot. Subscribe to continue reading this article. Already subscribed? To login in, click here.The surprise twist in new cashless gaming system

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Legendary NRL and has made a heartwarming admission about his role alongside friend and co-host Peter Sterling having also detailed why he chose to step away from television. Vautin is one of the most loved Australian TV icons and sadly announced his retirement from broadcast after 33 years. Vautin made his name as a loveable larrikin on Channel Nine's The Footy Show back in 1994 and went on to win 11 Logies as part of the program. The premiership winning captain is loved within the community and has been showered with praise since his announcement having promoted the product of rugby league in a unique way. Vautin was rivals with Sterling on the field during their Manly and the Eels clashes. However, the pair became a much-loved duo during their time as hosts of The Footy Show and commentating on the NRL. 'Fatty' Vautin has revealed he called Sterling and legendary commentator Ray Warren before announcing his decision to step away from television. This comes three years after Sterling stepped away. And Vautin appeared on SEN Radio with fellow and Penrith legend Greg Alexander to reveal the influence Sterling had on his career and why he adopted the role of entertainer. and Voss have both detailed how Vautin had an excellent footy brain, but also managed to play the entertainer in commentary alongside more serious analysts. And Vautin admitted it was because of his respect for Sterling that he opted to take a different route to his commentary career when he first joined. "I got that I was a third wheel. I am happy to take a backward seat here," Vautin said on Wednesday about when he first joined the team. "Peter is a better commentator than I am, I am going to let him do all that. I am not going to say the same stuff, it was not a match. It was not a battle. He was the expert. "There was no reason for me to be like Sterlo. He was the best. I am not the greatest, ball-by-ball. But I played the game for a long time and I learnt. Here is the thing, my thing was don't try and sound smarter than you actually are, ever." Voss and Brandy were full of praise for Vautin's commentary career and questioned why the NRL icon was calling it time. This was because the 65-year-old was only covering Brisbane Broncos games close to his home. However, Vautin admitted he didn't want to hang on to his commentary career for too long and sound like the old player that had lost touch with the modern game. "It has nothing to do with the money," Vautin said when he revealed friends questioned to him why he was giving up the Channel 9 job. "The era I played in, it is so far removed from what we have now. What we have now is a really polished product. The players have never been better. These guys are fitter, bigger, stronger. "I think Peter V'Landys has done a great job. Some of the rules get me a bit perplexed. I don't like a couple of them. But I don't want to be that guy who ended up being the cranky guy. From the 80s going, 'Oh, back in my day'. "There was a game, Roosters played Brisbane. The second-half came along and I was looking at Lang Park and I said to myself, 'Geez I am bored'. That had never happened before. That was a red light. In the end, my career has been a massive surprise." Vautin admitted his career came as a surprise because he was quite shy when he was a teenager. And it's incredible Vautin has become one of the most loveable characters ever to appear on Aussie television. His retirement prompted NRL supremo Phil Gould to label Vautin a 'champion' and praise his character. Gus wrote: "It takes a smart man to play the fool. Paul had the smart football brain, but was able to entertain the masses with his humour and unique personality." The legendary Fatty Vautin tells Joel and Fletch what he thinks is the funniest moment from his career | — SEN 1170 (@1170sen)Laurene Powell Jobs-Backed Org Shifts Mission to Suppress Immigration Debate — ‘Dangerous Online Disinformation'ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden's administration announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Energy will make a $6.6 billion loan to Rivian Automotive to build a factory in Georgia that had stalled as the startup electric vehicle maker struggled to become profitable. It's unclear whether the administration can complete the loan before Donald Trump becomes president again in less than two months, or whether the Trump administration might try to claw the money back. Trump previously vowed to end federal electric vehicle tax credits , which are worth up to $7,500 for new zero-emission vehicles and $4,000 for used ones. Rivian made a splash when it went public and began producing large electric R1 SUVs, pickup trucks and delivery vans at a former Mitsubishi factory in Normal, Illinois, in 2021. Months later, the California-based company announced it would build a second, larger, $5 billion plant about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Atlanta, near the town of Social Circle. The R1 vehicles cost $70,000 or more. The company plans to produce R2 vehicles, a smaller SUV, in Georgia with lower price tags aimed at a mass market. The first phase of Rivian’s Georgia factory is projected to make 200,000 vehicles a year, with a second phase capable of another 200,000 a year. Eventually, the plant is projected to employ 7,500 workers. But Rivian was unable to meet production and sales targets and rapidly burned through cash. In March, the company said it would pause construction of the Georgia plant. The company said it would begin assembling its R2 SUV in Illinois instead. CEO RJ Scaringe said the move would allow Rivian to start selling the R2 sooner and save $2.25 billion in capital spending. Since then, German automaker Volkswagen AG said in June it would invest $5 billion in Rivian in a joint venture in which Rivian would share software and electrical technology with Volkswagen. The money eased Rivian's cash crunch. Tuesday's announcement throws a lifeline to Rivian's grander plans. The company said its plans to make the R2 and the smaller R3 in Georgia are back on and that production will begin in 2028. “This loan would enable Rivian to more aggressively scale our U.S. manufacturing footprint for our competitively priced R2 and R3 vehicles that emphasize both capability and affordability,” Scaringe said in a statement. The Energy Department said the loan would substantially boost electric vehicles made in the United States and support Biden’s goal of having zero-emission vehicles make up half of all new U.S. sales by 2030. “As one of a few American EV startups with light duty vehicles already on the road, Rivian’s Georgia facility will allow the company to reach production volumes that make its products more cost competitive and accelerate access to international markets,” the department said in a statement. The loan includes $6 billion, plus $600 million in interest that will be rolled into the principal. The money would come from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which provides low-interest loans to make fuel-efficient vehicles and components. The program has focused mostly on loans to new battery factories for electric vehicles under Biden, but earlier helped finance initial production of the Tesla Model S and Nissan Leaf, two pioneering electric vehicles. The loan program, created in 2007, requires a "reasonable prospect of repayment" of the loan. Under Biden, the program has announced deals totaling $33.3 billion, including $9.2 billion for massive battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky for Ford’s electric vehicles. Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff , who has been a vocal supporter of electric vehicle and solar manufacturing in Georgia, hailed Tuesday's announcement as “yet another historic federal investment in Georgia electric vehicle manufacturing.” Ossoff had asked Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to support the loan in July. “Our federal manufacturing incentives are driving economic development across the state of Georgia,” Ossoff said in a statement. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says his goal is to make Georgia a center of the electric vehicle industry. But the Republican has had a strained relationship with the Biden administration over its industrial policy, even as some studies have found Georgia has netted more electric vehicle investment than any other state. Kemp has long claimed that manufacturers were picking Georgia before Biden's signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, was passed. Efforts to bring Rivian to Georgia predated the Biden administration and "our shared vision to bring opportunity to Georgia will remain no matter who resides in the White House or what party controls Congress,” Kemp spokesperson Garrison Douglas said Tuesday. The loan to Rivian could rescue one of the Kemp administration's signature economic development projects even as Biden leaves office. That could put Rivian and Kemp in the position of defending the loan if Trump tries to quash it. State and local governments offered Rivian an incentive package worth an estimated $1.5 billion in 2022. Neighbors opposed to development of the Georgia site mounted legal challenges. State and local governments spent around $125 million to buy and prepare the nearly 2,000-acre (810-hectare) site. The state also has completed most of $50 million in roadwork that it pledged. The pause at Rivian contrasts with rapid construction at Hyundai Motor Group’s $7.6 billion electric vehicle and battery complex near Savannah. The Korean automaker said in October that it had begun production in Ellabell, where it plans to eventually employ 8,500. Associated Press writer Matthew Daly in Washington contributed to this story.

NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Gross Law Firm issues the following notice to shareholders of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW). Shareholders who purchased shares of EW during the class period listed are encouraged to contact the firm regarding possible lead plaintiff appointment. Appointment as lead plaintiff is not required to partake in any recovery. CONTACT US HERE: https://securitiesclasslaw.com/securities/edwards-lifesciences-loss-submission-form/?id=113425&from=3 CLASS PERIOD: February 6, 2024 to July 24, 2024 ALLEGATIONS: According to the complaint, defendants provided investors with material information concerning Edwards’ expected revenue for the fiscal year 2024, particularly as it related to the growth of the Company’s core product, Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (“TAVR”). Defendants’ statements included, among other things, strong commitment to the TAVR platform, confidence in the Company’s ability to capitalize on a subset of untreated patients through scaling of its various patient activation activities, and continued claims of significant demand in allegedly lower-penetrated markets. On July 24, 2024, Edwards unveiled below-expectation financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2024 and, in particular, slashed its revenue guidance for the TAVR platform for the full fiscal year 2024. The Company attributed the TAVR setback on the “continued growth and expansion of structural heart therapies ... [which] put pressure on hospital workflows.” Investors understood this to mean that developments in new procedures, including defendant’s own Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies (“TMTT”), put significant strain on hospital structural heart teams such that they were underutilizing TAVR, despite the Company’s continued claim of a significantly undertreated patient population. Moreover, the Company announced three acquisitions during the second quarter designed to embolden their treatments alternative to TAVR, suggesting further that the company was aware of the potential for the TAVR platform’s decelerated growth. Investors and analysts reacted immediately to Edwards’ revelations. The price of Edwards’ common stock declined dramatically. From a closing market price of $86.95 per share on July 24, 2024, Edwards’ stock price fell to $59.70 per share on July 25, 2024, a decline of about 31.34% in the span of just a single day. DEADLINE: December 13, 2024 Shareholders should not delay in registering for this class action. Register your information here: https://securitiesclasslaw.com/securities/edwards-lifesciences-loss-submission-form/?id=113425&from=3 NEXT STEPS FOR SHAREHOLDERS: Once you register as a shareholder who purchased shares of EW during the timeframe listed above, you will be enrolled in a portfolio monitoring software to provide you with status updates throughout the lifecycle of the case. The deadline to seek to be a lead plaintiff is December 13, 2024. There is no cost or obligation to you to participate in this case. WHY GROSS LAW FIRM? The Gross Law Firm is a nationally recognized class action law firm, and our mission is to protect the rights of all investors who have suffered as a result of deceit, fraud, and illegal business practices. The Gross Law Firm is committed to ensuring that companies adhere to responsible business practices and engage in good corporate citizenship. The firm seeks recovery on behalf of investors who incurred losses when false and/or misleading statements or the omission of material information by a company lead to artificial inflation of the company's stock. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. CONTACT: The Gross Law Firm 15 West 38th Street, 12th floor New York, NY, 10018 Email: dg@securitiesclasslaw.com Phone: (646) 453-8903

You knew it was coming, didn’t you? Baseball’s reigning Evil Empire took the initiative this week, signing another high-profile starting pitcher and giving its fans something additional to be grateful for during Thanksgiving week (besides, of course, those shots of the Commissioner’s Trophy being shown off here, there and everywhere throughout Southern California). And after the bombshell announcement Tuesday night, that the Dodgers had signed Blake Snell , the howls could be heard throughout the land. The Dodgers are making a mockery of the sport. The rest of baseball can’t compete. They’re signing everybody! And how are the Cincinnatis and Pittsburghs and Colorados of the sport able to compete with an organization that not only brings in boatloads of money – and has created a second source of runaway revenue through its ties to Japan – but isn’t interested in hoarding it? Shouldn’t the next step be a salary cap to restrain this franchise’s runaway spending? Oh, stop it. Competitive balance is not an issue in baseball, period. Four different teams have won the last four World Series, and nine different fan bases have celebrated championships in the last 12 years. There hasn’t been a repeat champion in ... checks notes ... a quarter of a century. (That would be the New York Yankees, the first Evil Empire, in 1999-2000.) Meanwhile, Kansas City, Detroit and Baltimore have all risen from rebuilding to contention in the last couple of seasons. Milwaukee and Cleveland, both smaller markets, were legitimate threats as this past postseason began. And the Padres, long squeezed between Mexico to their south, the Imperial Valley to their east, the Pacific to their west and L.A. to their north, just might have been the second-best team in baseball in 2024 and, may we remind you, had the Dodgers by the neck going into Game 4 of their National League Division Series . Nor are they going away, even with some payroll retrenching in the wake of controlling owner Peter Seidler’s death. (But, nope, still no parade.) Most of the caterwauling, of course, comes from those whose favorite teams were either outbid or declined to spend. Trust me, no ownership in Major League Baseball can claim poverty, even with the cable TV issues that have scrambled some teams’ finances. Yes, big-market teams start with a financial advantage. Yes, Diamond Sports’ bankruptcy and the cord-cutting revolution have factored in. And yes, the Dodgers and Yankees have insulated themselves to a degree by owning their own cable networks. So, maybe, give them some credit for intelligence and foresight? Front Office Sports reported that deferrals on Snell’s reported five-year, $182 million deal, said to be $60 million, would push the Dodgers closer to the $1 billion mark in deferred money owed to five players. Shohei Ohtani’s whopping $680 million deferred on a $700 million contract signed last winter enabled the Dodgers to add additional pieces. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts also have chunks of deferred money in their contracts – as does, interestingly, Teoscar Hernández on his one-year 2024 deal with the Dodgers. That would make that contract even more of a bargain than we thought. And this is an undisputable fact: Salary caps and other payroll-limiting mechanisms put no limits on front office creativity and ingenuity. It’s been pretty well established that in Guggenheim Baseball’s 13-year ownership of the Dodgers, especially after Mark Walter’s organization corrected the problems of the Frank McCourt era and particularly after Friedman arrived from Tampa Bay in 2015, the Dodgers have a smart, savvy organization whose advantages go way beyond their cash on hand. (And yes, as I noted on social media Tuesday night, we do tease them about sometimes trying too hard to be the smartest guys in the room. But most of the time they are, anyway.) Assuming everyone stays healthy – and as we saw throughout baseball in 2024, that’s a tall ask – what will the Dodgers’ rotation look like in 2025? They’ll have left-hander Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who was one of the victims of a soft free agent market last spring and didn’t sign with the San Francisco Giants until March 19. He got off to a dreadful start as a result but was lights out from the start of July. In 14 starts he was 5-0 (and his team 12-2 in those starts), with a 1.23 ERA, an opponents’ batting average of .123, an 0.78 WHIP, five double-digit strikeout games and a 3.8-1 strikeout to walk ratio, and a complete-game no-hitter, an achievement for someone denigrated as a five-and-dive pitcher. Maybe those final three months spurred him to sign early this time. It’s almost certain the Dodgers will use a six-man rotation from the start of the season, and right now they have seven possibilities and who knows what they do from here. They’ll have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Shohei Ohtani as a pitcher. Tyler Glasnow, Snell’s former teammate in Tampa Bay, will be back, as will Tony Gonsolin in his return from Tommy John surgery. Dustin May, essentially inactive since May of 2023, will return, and Clayton Kershaw is expected to re-sign and has indicated he plans to retire a Dodger. Is there room for free agent Jack Flaherty, last season’s major trade deadline acquisition? Or fellow free agent Walker Buehler, who closed out Game 5 of the World Series against the Yankees, following a sometimes spotty comeback from injury? And the wild card might be Roki Sasaki, who will be posted by his Japanese team this winter. The Dodgers had long been considered the favorites to land him, and even Snell’s signing might not change that. Then again, the way the 2024 Dodgers went through pitchers because of injuries – 40 for the season, including 12 starting pitchers – shouldn’t they be tempted to grab every reasonably healthy arm they can and sort it out as they go along? But this is, and should be, the bottom line: Every fan in every sport wants the people running their favorite team to care as much about winning as they do. In a lot of cities, with a lot of teams, that’s really hard to envision. In Dodger Stadium, it’s not hard at all. And if they’re going to be the new Evil Empire, why not just lean into it and have Dieter Ruehle play “The Imperial March” (i.e., Darth Vader’s Theme) before every game? jalexander@scng.com

No. 14 BYU (9-1, 6-1 Big 12, No. 14 CFP) at No. 21 Arizona State (8-2, 5-2, No. 21), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) League newcomer Arizona State has a three-game winning streak and BYU is coming off its first loss. The Cougars, after losing at home to Kansas, still control their own destiny in making the Big 12 championship game. They can clinch a spot in that Dec. 7 game as early as Saturday, if they win and instate rival Utah wins at home against No. 22 Iowa State. Arizona State was picked at the bottom of the 16-team league in the preseason media poll, but already has a five-win improvement in coach Kenny Dillingham's second season. No. 16 Colorado (8-2, 6-1, No. 16 CFP) at Kansas (4-6, 3-4), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (Fox) Coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes are in prime position to make the Big 12 title game in their return to the league after 13 seasons in the Pac-12. If BYU and Utah win, Colorado would be able to claim the other title game spot with a win over Kansas. The Buffs have a four-game winning streak. The Jayhawks need another November win over a ranked Big 12 contender while trying to get bowl eligible for the third season in a row. Kansas has won consecutive games over Top 25 teams for the first time in school history, knocking off Iowa State before BYU. Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht has thrown a touchdown in a school-record 14 consecutive games, while receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel both have more than 800 yards receiving. San Jose State is the only other FBS team with a pair of 800-yard receivers. Becht has 2,628 yards and 17 touchdowns passing for the Cyclones (8-2, 5-2), who are still in Big 12 contention. Oklahoma State goes into its home finale against Texas Tech with a seven-game losing streak, its longest since a nine-game skid from 1977-78. The only longer winless streak since was an 0-10-1 season in 1991. This is Mike Gundy's 20th season as head coach, and his longest losing streak before now was five in a row in 2005, his first season and the last time the Cowboys didn't make a bowl game. ... Baylor plays at Houston for the first time since 1995, the final Southwest Conference season. The Cougars won last year in the only meeting since to even the series 14-14-1. ... Eight Big 12 teams are bowl eligible. As many as six more teams could reach six wins. The Big 12 already has four 1,000-yard rushers, including three who did it last season. UCF's RJ Harvey is the league's top rusher (1,328 yards) and top scorer with 21 touchdowns (19 rushing/two receiving). The others with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons are Texas Tech career rushing leader Tahj Brooks (1,184 yards) and Kansas State's DJ Giddens (1,128 yards). Cam Skattebo with league newcomer Arizona State has 1,074 yards. Devin Neal, the career rushing leader at his hometown university, is 74 yards shy of being the first Kansas player with three 1,000-yard seasons. Cincinnati's Corey Kiner needs 97 yards to reach 1,000 again.

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The investigation team on the death of featherweight boxer Ubayd Haider has already interviewed all the local individuals involved in the fight. This was confirmed to SUNsports yesterday by the Minister of Youth and Sports Jese Saukuru. “We still have the last six people from overseas left to be interviewed and the investigation will be finishing this week,” Saukuru said. “Once the interviews are completed (compiled) and together with the findings on the (submitted) report a decision will be made.” It is understood that South Pacific Boxing Promotion (SPBP) director Mohammed Shameem, promoter Fred Chand, IBO (International Boxing Organisation) Fight Commissioner Justin Kennedy, referee Ignatuis Missailidis and a few overseas experts are left to be interviewed. Haider collapsed after his ninth round TKO (technical knockout) loss to Sydney-based boxer Runqi Zhou for the IBO Asia Pacific super featherweight title fight at Nadi’s Prince Charles Park on Saturday, October 26. He was taken to Zen’s Medical and transferred to Lautoka’s Aspen Hospital where he underwent head surgery as he was in a coma. He failed to recover and died on November 10. Haider was buried at the Raralevu Cemetery in Tailevu on November 12. He is the fourth Fiji boxer to have died from head injuries sustained in the fight. The other three boxers were heavyweight Semi Galoa in 1953 at Suva’s Lilac Theatre, then in 1975 was welterweight boxer Waisea Tavusa at Suva’s Old Town Hall and in 1990 middleweight boxer Filimoni Takayawa at the National Gymnasium in Suva. Saukuru said what is paramount here is the welfare of the athletes. This was after questions were raised on why the fight was not stopped earlier. In an earlier interview with Boxing Commission of Fiji (BCF) chairman Adi Narayan indicated that only two people are authorised to stop the fight, which is the referee and the boxer’s corner man. Saukuru said the public should expect an answer after this week. He added that at the moment there is an unclear view on how the investigation would shift as there are a lot of things that have to be taken into account. “The investigation has the power also to find some criminal offenses. At the moment, we will leave it with them (Board for Enquiry) before they make a submission,” he said. Feedback: josua.buredua@fijisun.com.fjROME (AP) — Robert Lewandowski joined Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the only players in Champions League history with 100 or more goals. But Erling Haaland is on a faster pace than anyone by boosting his total to 46 goals at age 24 on Tuesday. Still, Haaland's brace wasn't enough for Manchester City in a 3-3 draw with Feyenoord that extended the Premier League champion's winless streak to six matches. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.

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Percentages: FG 54.000, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 8-20, .400 (L'Amoreaux 3-7, Andersen 2-6, Selimovic 2-2, Nicoletti Leite 1-2, J.Brown 0-2, McGruder 0-1) Blocked Shots: 3 (Coe 3) Turnovers: 17 (L'Amoreaux 4, Selimovic 4, J.Brown 3, Nicoletti Leite 2, Andersen 1, Beach 1, R.Brown 1, Team 1) Steals: 3 (Beach 1, J.Brown 1, Selimovic 1) Technical Fouls: None Percentages: FG 45.614, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 7-26, .269 (Theuerkauf 2-8, Williams 2-4, Jones 1-5, Jordan 1-5, Andrews 1-1, Conley 0-1, Sørbye 0-2) Blocked Shots: None. Turnovers: 15 (Hinds 4, Cowles 3, Williams 3, Conley 2, Andrews 1, Jones 1, Team 1) Steals: 8 (Jones 3, Williams 3, Cowles 2) Technical Fouls: None A_788 Officials_Whitney Armstrong, Tom Danaher, Dee KantnerLess than a month after winning the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers are spending big again to add one of baseball's best pitchers to their star-studded roster. Blake Snell and the Dodgers agreed to a $182 million, five-year contract, according to a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday night because the deal is subject to a successful physical. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.ETSU shuts down Charlotte for third straight win

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — After losing to San Francisco in the playoffs three of the last five seasons, the Green Bay Packers wouldn’t mind seeing the 49ers get left out of the postseason entirely. The Packers (7-3) could damage San Francisco’s playoff hopes Sunday by beating the 49ers at Lambeau Field. San Francisco (5-5) dropped to .500 after losing at home to the Seattle Seahawks, though the 49ers remain just a game behind the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West. “I think we’re motivated to keep winning more than anything,” Packers center Josh Myers said. “Obviously, they have knocked us out quite a bit. There’s that extra motivation behind it, but at this point, we’re just trying to churn out wins.” The 49ers will be playing this game without starting quarterback Brock Purdy, who injured his right shoulder in the Seahawks game. Although an MRI showed no structural damage, Purdy's shoulder didn't improve as the week wore on. Brandon Allen will start in Purdy's place. Green Bay is third in the NFC North and two games behind the Detroit Lions, but the Packers appear on track to at least earn a wild-card playoff berth. History suggests their path to a potential Super Bowl would get much clearer if the 49ers aren’t standing in their way. The 49ers trailed 21-14 in the fourth quarter before rallying to beat the Packers 24-21 in the divisional playoffs last year on Christian McCaffrey’s 6-yard touchdown run with 1:07 left. Now, it’s the 49ers who are struggling to protect late leads, as they’ve blown fourth-quarter advantages in three games against divisional opponents. “You could look at, ‘Hey, we’re three possessions away from being 8-2,’ but you can’t really live like that,” 49ers tight end George Kittle said. “Those are the mistakes that we’ve made to be 5-5. It’s not exactly where we want to be. It is frustrating. The nice thing is we have seven games left to go out there and play Niners football and take advantage of those opportunities.” Green Bay’s recent history of playoff frustration against the 49ers also includes a 13-10 loss at Lambeau Field in the 2021 divisional playoffs and a 37-20 road defeat in the 2019 NFC championship game. Even the Packers players who weren’t around for last season’s playoff loss realize what this game means. “I think one of the first meetings that I was in here, we had a conversation about the Niners beating us,” said Green Bay safety Xavier McKinney, who joined the Packers this season. “So I understand how important it is, and we all do.” Both teams must figure out how to convert red-zone opportunities into touchdowns. The 49ers are scoring touchdowns on just 48.8% of their drives inside an opponent’s 20-yard line to rank 27th in the NFL. The Packers are slightly worse in that regard, scoring touchdowns on 48.7% of their red-zone possessions to rank 28th. In their 20-19 victory at Chicago on Sunday, Green Bay drove to the Bears 5 without scoring on two separate series. Purdy isn't the only notable player who won't be participating in Sunday's game. San Francisco won't have four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Nick Bosa available after he hurt his left hip and oblique against the Seahawks. Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander (knee) and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (hamstring) also have been ruled out. Kittle expects to play for the 49ers on Sunday after missing the Seahawks game with a hamstring injury. 49ers left tackle Trent Williams (ankle) is questionable. Green Bay’s defense feasted on turnovers the first part of the season, but hasn’t been as effective in getting those takeaways lately. The Packers have 19 takeaways – already exceeding their 2023 total – but haven’t forced any turnovers in their last two games. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan hasn’t eased McCaffrey back into the lineup in his return after missing the first eight games with Achilles tendinitis. McCaffrey has played 91% of the 49ers’ offensive snaps the past two weeks. Jordan Mason, who rushed for 685 yards during McCaffrey’s absence, has just five snaps on offense the last two games. Shanahan said he’d like to get Mason more opportunities, but it’s hard to take McCaffrey off the field. Green Bay nearly lost to the Bears because of its third-down struggles on both sides of the ball. The Packers were 1 of 5 on third-down opportunities, while the Bears went 9 of 16. The Packers’ defense could have a tough time correcting that problem against San Francisco, which has converted 45.4% of its third-down situations to rank fourth in the league. AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow contributed to this report. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFLOrlando citizen board may preserve part of Pulse nightclub for memorial

GREG JOHNSON: Saints game proves Giants assembled historically bad quarterback room

'Ten out of ten' Netflix film is dubbed 'the best movie ever' by fansHow to Watch Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Games – Thursday, November 28Villa came into the game winless in eight matches in all competitions but they jumped back into the top half of the Premier League with a scintillating performance in the opening 45 minutes. Unai Emery has never gone nine matches without a win as manager but Brentford never posed a threat to prolong that run as Villa cashed in on a dominant first period with goals from Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash. Brentford have only managed one point away from home all season and Mikkel Damsgaard’s effort after the break proved to be in vain as their miserable run on the road continued. Tyrone Mings made his first start in the Premier League since August 2023 in place of Pau Torres while Leon Bailey was brought into the side following their heavy loss to Chelsea. Bees boss Thomas Frank opted for Vitaly Janelt and Yehor Yarmoliuk over Christian Norgaard and Mathias Jensen. Kevin Schade completed his first career hat-trick at the weekend and showed his confidence six minutes in when his drilled shot was deflected narrowly behind. It took a quarter of an hour but Villa began to knock the ball about and Watkins bent an effort towards goal but Mark Flekken was brought into action for the first time to collect. The tension inside Villa Park alleviated as the hosts took the lead in the 21st minute. Boubacar Kamara’s beautiful turn in the middle of the park set Watkins on his way and he teed up Rogers outside the box who whipped into the far corner in magnificent fashion. The hosts almost added a second straight away as Bailey got in behind the Bees back line but blasted straight at Flekken. Villa had another opportunity to go two in front when Ethan Pinnock dragged Watkins down inside the area and the penalty was eventually given by referee Lewis Smith. And England striker Watkins dusted himself down and snuck his spot-kick into the bottom right corner from 12 yards. Emery’s side showed no mercy and added a third 11 minutes before the break as Lucas Digne’s cross fell to Cash who was waiting at the back post to slam home. Things threatened to get worse for Brentford after the interval when Flekken came to punch Youri Tielemans’ corner away but almost diverted it into his own goal before he got back to push behind for a corner. The Bees got themselves on the scoresheet in the 54th minute as Bryan Mbeumo’s cross was diverted into the path of Damsgaard who cut back and lashed high into the net. Watkins wasted an opportunity to restore Villa’s three-goal advantage as he pounced on a loose pass but aimed straight at Flekken. The visiting goalkeeper was again called on to deny substitute Jhon Duran but Villa settle dfor three goals as they returned to winning ways.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he wants , father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France. Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, calling Charles Kushner “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker." Kushner is the founder of Kushner Companies, a real estate firm. Jared Kushner is a former White House senior adviser to Trump who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka. by Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations. Charles Kushner arrives July 20, 2022, for the funeral of Ivana Trump in New York. that after Charles Kushner discovered his brother-in-law was cooperating with federal authorities in an investigation, he hatched a scheme for revenge and intimidation. Kushner hired a prostitute to lure his brother-in-law, then arranged to have the encounter in a New Jersey motel room recorded with a hidden camera and the recording sent to Kushner's own sister, the man’s wife, prosecutors said. Kushner eventually pleaded guilty to 18 counts including tax evasion and witness tampering. He was sentenced in 2005 to two years in prison — the most he could receive under a plea deal, but less than what Chris Christie, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey at the time and later governor and Republican presidential candidate, sought. Christie blamed Jared Kushner for his firing from Trump’s transition team in 2016, and called Charles Kushner’s offenses “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted when I was U.S. attorney.” Trump and the elder Kushner knew each other from real estate circles and their children were married in 2009. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Trump has chosen former New York Rep. to serve as his pick to lead the . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. “In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice. “He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role.” Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as National Security Advisor to Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump's first administration, and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee's election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign. In a statement, Trump called McGinley “a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda, while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement.” Trump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. He promoted the idea of herd immunity during the pandemic, arguing that people at low risk should live normally while building up immunity to COVID-19 through infection. The National Institutes of Health funds medical research through competitive grants to researchers at institutions throughout the nation. NIH also conducts its own research with thousands of scientists working at its labs in Bethesda, Maryland. Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team. He announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy. Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.” Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Taurus Monthly Horoscope for December, 2024 predicts a major shift in love

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NEW YORK (AP) — Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa scored 27 points as Columbia beat Fairfield 85-72 on Saturday night. De La Rosa shot 8 of 15 from the field, including 5 for 11 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 6 from the line for the Lions (11-1). Avery Brown shot 5 of 8 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line to add 16 points. Kenny Noland went 5 of 12 from the field (3 for 7 from 3-point range) to finish with 15 points. The Stags (5-8, 1-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) were led by Louis Bleechmore, who recorded 12 points. Fairfield also got 12 points and seven assists from Jamie Bergens. Deon Perry had 12 points and five assists. Columbia's next game is Monday against Rutgers on the road, and Fairfield visits Merrimack on Friday. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

The Prime Minister will this week kick off what he has called the “next phase” of Government, as he announces the markers for his “missions” that Number 10 say will allow the public to hold Sir Keir and his team to account on their promises and will be reached by the end of the Parliament. The milestones will run alongside public sector reform, Downing Street said. This will include a focus on reforming Whitehall, spearheaded by the as-yet-unannounced new chief civil servant the Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet ministers, so it is geared towards the delivery of Labour’s missions, according to Number 10. The same focus will also influence decisions for next year’s spending review, it has been suggested. Writing in The Sun on Sunday, the Prime Minister compared “focusing the machinery of government” to “turning an oil tanker” and said that “acceptance of managed decline” has “seeped into parts of Whitehall”. “The British people aren’t fools. They know a ruthless focus on priorities is essential,” he wrote. The Sunday Times reported that one of the milestones would focus on early education, with the aim to raise the number of children who are ready for school, educationally and socially. Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said that “it’s estimated that more than a million school days worth of teacher time each year is spent dealing with” children who are not prepared for school. Labour’s missions, as laid out in their July election manifesto, focus on economic growth, energy security and cleaner energy, the NHS, childcare and education systems, as well as crime and criminal justice. Ahead of revealing the details, Sir Keir said in a statement: “This plan for change is the most ambitious yet honest programme for government in a generation. “Mission-led government does not mean picking milestones because they are easy or will happen anyway – it means relentlessly driving real improvements in the lives of working people. “We are already fixing the foundations and have kicked-started our first steps for change, stabilising the economy, setting up a new Border Security Command, and investing £22 billion in an NHS that is fit for the future. “Our plan for change is the next phase of delivering this Government’s mission. “Some may oppose what we are doing and no doubt there will be obstacles along the way, but this Government was elected on mandate of change and our plan reflects the priorities of working people. “Given the unprecedented challenges we have inherited we will not achieve this by simply doing more of the same, which is why investment comes alongside a programme of innovation and reform.” The so-called “missions” outlined in Labour’s election manifesto focused on five key policy areas: kickstart economic growth; make Britain a clean energy superpower; take back our streets; break down barriers to opportunity; and build an NHS fit for the future. 🚨 New polling with @ObserverUK Keir Starmer has seen an 8 point drop in his net approval rating after a significant uptick in the number disapproving of his performance. 22% approve of his performance vs. 54% who disapprove. This gives Starmer a net rating of -32%. pic.twitter.com/J33nMnwflP — Opinium (@OpiniumResearch) November 30, 2024 The announcement comes after a first five months in office that has seen anger over Budget proposals and reports of tension in Number 10. Polling for The Observer newspaper by Opinium indicates that more than half of the public disapprove of the Prime Minister’s performance. According to the survey of approximately 2,000 adults, 54% of people disapprove of his performance, compared with 22% who approve, leaving him with a net rating of -32%.

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OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Asked if there was any special meaning to playing on Christmas for a second straight season, Lamar Jackson paused for several seconds before answering. That said it all. “I mean, it is,” he finally replied, trying to be diplomatic. “That means we're good, but at the same time, I do want to celebrate at home sometimes with my family now. I don't want to be playing on Christmas all the time — not all the time.” That sentiment seemed common among the Baltimore Ravens players this week as they prepared for their second consecutive Christmas road game. Jackson and his teammates will face the Houston Texans on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the Kansas City Chiefs play at Pittsburgh. Games on Christmas aren't new to the NFL. The Miami Dolphins famously beat the Chiefs in a playoff game on Dec. 25, 1971 — a double-overtime classic that still holds the record for the NFL's longest game. In 2020, New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara tied an NFL record with six touchdowns in a game when the Saints beat Minnesota on Christmas. Lately, however, the league has been much more aggressive about scheduling games on Christmas. There were three last year on a Monday, and this week there are two. The four teams in action this Wednesday all played this past Saturday, giving them a little more time to prepare. But each is still wrapping up a stretch of three games in 11 games. And for Baltimore and Kansas City — the teams spending the holiday on the road — this means a bit of a scramble to find time to celebrate with loved ones. “Santa hasn’t come yet, but as far as my family, we traded gifts (over the weekend),” Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “(His wife) Brittany’s a champ because I’m not there to help build the toys my family got, and the kids have opened up every single one of them.” The Chiefs are playing on Christmas for a second year in a row, although they were at home last season. Baltimore tackle Ronnie Stanley said there is an offensive line Christmas party planned for Friday at center Tyler Linderbaum's house. Jackson’s plan is to celebrate on Thursday. “I already celebrated Christmas with my family this past week," Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton said. "It’s more about the thought of calling people Christmas morning and just going out there and being able to go out in front of my whole family and do what I love. That’s how I’ll celebrate.” The Ravens also have celebrated a bit as a group already. “We actually had a team dinner last night here, which was really neat. And our chefs were incredible (with) what they put out there, so that was fun,” coach John Harbaugh said Monday. "And we are going to have the ability for family members from the Houston area to come over for the team snack after we do a walkthrough (Tuesday) night.” Don't expect Christmas games to go away any time soon. Netflix agreed to a three-year contract in May to carry Christmas Day games. Playing on the holiday certainly gives teams a chance to be in the spotlight, although the Chiefs and Ravens already get plenty of that. The Ravens-Texans game features a halftime performance by Beyoncé. “Wasn't there a time when somebody was out peeking outside the locker room door during the Super Bowl or something like that? Was there some story on that?” Harbaugh said. “He got in trouble for it? There will be big trouble. I like Beyoncé, though. I can't say I'm a huge Beyoncé fan, but I think I like her.” (Harbaugh was referring to Bengals kicker Evan McPherson during the Super Bowl in 2022 when he watched Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar perform at halftime in Los Angeles.) Jackson, seemingly unaware of Harbaugh's attempt to lay down the law about the halftime show, arrived at the microphone immediately after the coach. “I'm going to go out there and watch,” the star quarterback said. “First time seeing Beyoncé perform, and it's at our game — that's dope. I'm going to go out and watch. Sorry Harbaugh, sorry fellas.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflSt. Louis County Clerk faces forgery, misdemeanor chargespanalo 999 。

The major US stock indices all closed higher on the day. The gains were led by the Russell 2000 which rose by 1.47%. However like a selling took the price below the all-time high closing level of 2442.74 by less than one point. Close, but no cigar. The Dow industrial average did close at a new record level. A look at the final numbers shows: Dow industrial average rose 440.06 points or 0.99% at 44736.57. The index has now closed at a record level for two consecutive days. S&P index rose 18.03 points or 0.30% at 5987.37. The high closing levels for the S&P was reached on November 11 that 6001.35. NASDAQ index rose 51.18 points or 0.27% at 19054.84 The small-cap Russell 2000 made a new intraday high price at 2466.48, but could not close at a new record level. The old record level going back to November 2021 was at 2442.74. The high price today close just below that level at 2442.03. Close... but maybe tomorrow. Some winners today included Snowflake +2.3% Shopify +3.78% Amazon, +2.20% Alphabet +1.75% Apple +1.31% Home Depot +2.06% Intel +1.51% SMCI +15.87% Some losers today Walmart -1.04% Nvidia -4.18% Oracle -2.24% Tesla -3.96% Netflix -3.59% Taiwan semi conductors -2.63%Real Madrid's decision to sell the French star is a clear sign of the club's determination to revamp the squad and build for the future. The transfer market is a complex and competitive arena, where clubs must navigate financial constraints, player demands, and fierce competition to secure their desired targets. By placing the player on the transfer list and setting a high price tag, Real Madrid is sending a message to potential suitors that they value their prized asset highly and will only consider serious offers.The arrival of these two new signings has injected fresh excitement and optimism into the Real Madrid camp, with players, fans, and pundits alike eager to see how the new additions will mesh with the existing squad and elevate the team to even greater heights. The pressure will be on the €120 million superstar and the €60 million striker to deliver on the pitch and justify the hefty price tags that accompanied their signings, but with the talent and determination they possess, there is little doubt that they will rise to the challenge and make a significant impact in the famous white jersey.

In conclusion, the retirement of Ragnar Klavan marks the end of an era for a talented and dedicated footballer. As he sets his sights on new challenges in football administration, Klavan looks forward to leveraging his experience and passion for the sport to make a positive impact on Estonian football. With his candidacy for the presidency of the Estonian Football Association, Klavan embodies the spirit of leadership and innovation that will shape the future of football in his homeland.

As Barn Chic continues to gain momentum in the fashion world, it serves as a reminder that beauty can be found in the most unexpected places. By blending the old with the new, the rural with the urban, designers are creating a unique and memorable style that speaks to our longing for connection and simplicity in an increasingly fast-paced world.Grid Dynamics Holdings Set to Join S&P SmallCap 6008 mobile phones seized in Ferozepur jail

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When I think back on what I read his year, on what stuck, and stuck , refusing to unstick, the common denominator was my surprise at my own surprise. A fresh take! A subject I’d assumed I knew! An antidote to heard-it-all-before-ism, that cynicism we develop from having access to every story ever told, every opinion ever voiced and every song ever sung, behind a black mirror in your pocket. Cults? Bret Anthony Johnston’s “We Burn Daylight” found a love story in the old ugliness of Waco. Dystopia? The heroine of Anne de Marcken’s “It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over” is dead, yet still longing for a failed world. Chicago’s Jesse Ball, never at a loss for experimenting, returned with “The Repeat Room,” mashing Kafka, fascism and our courts into a revealing sorta-thriller. And those aren’t even three of my 10 favorite books of 2024. Surely you have your own? Social media is awash in lists of reads from last month, last week, last year, driven by the same shock of recognition that there’s plenty new under the sun. “Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil,” by Chicago’s Ananda Lima, impressively remade the Faustian bargain. James Marcus’ “Glad to the Brink of Fear: A Portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson”; Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ “Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde”; Keith O’Brien’s “Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose and the Last Glory Days of Baseball” — each a cool breeze in the typically formal category of biography. Ian Frazier’s “Paradise Bronx” found a wandering epic in the history of a neglected borough; Tana French continued to retool detective writing in “The Hunter”; and Katherine Rundell’s “Vanishing Treasures” not only brought a strange, hilarious appreciation to endangered animals, her underrated fantasy “Impossible Creatures” invented a world of new ones. Rebecca Boyle’s glowing history “Our Moon” looked into the sky and reminded us that seeing something every day is not the same as knowing it. None of those books are in my top 10, either. That’s how much good stuff there was. What follows then are 10 favorites, the stickiest of stickers, in no order. If you need a stack of fresh takes for 2025, start here: “Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy and the Trial That Riveted a Nation” by Brenda Wineapple: If you’re eager for answers to the presidential election, start here. If you’re merely looking for gripping history you assumed you knew — ditto. Wineapple, one of our great contemporary American historians, recounts the players, causes and events leading to the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. A Tennessee school teacher, accused of teaching evolution, was defended by Chicago’s Clarence Darrow. But as Wineapple shows with impeccable research and accessible storytelling this was never about proving science, but about harnessing intolerance and exploiting the national tension between ignorance and truth. Wineapple doesn’t explicitly lay out the trial’s resonance 100 years later. She doesn’t need to. “Headshot” by Rita Bullwinkel: Debut novel of the year, a sports drama that doesn’t find headlong momentum in triumph but how a group of teenage girls define themselves through competition and each other. Structured around seven bouts at an amateur tournament in Nevada, Bullwinkle’s novel pulls readers in and out of real-time thoughts, pausing over futures. One boxer will be a wedding planner; another won’t be able to hold a cup of tea, her teen boxing reaching out into old age. In their minds is where the action is most brutal: Some can’t shake tragedies; some find themselves fond of violence. Bullwinkle keeps us in the moment, never parsing their psychology, and certainly not leading us toward cinematic bombast. One fighter, as she wins, notices “warmth radiating through her chest.” But it’s a warmth, Bullwinkle writes, “she’ll feel again very few times in her life.” “James” by Percival Everett: I didn’t want to include this. If only because, if you’re up on literary fiction, you expect it. This is the book of the year , an instant classic. What’s left to say? Well, it’s one of the few instances when the hype matches the quality. Everett, whose decades of obscurity are now gone, is on all burners here — humor, pacing, language, making room for a reader to rest. His companion to “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is too alive to be a 21st-century corrective. Reading Twain is not necessary, only knowing that Everett’s James was Twain’s simple and loyal Jim. And James is boundless, turning on and off his intellect to appease white people, noting the irony of having to pretend that he doesn’t understand the word “irony,” always playing the long game to escape from slavery: “I never felt more exposed or vulnerable as I did in the light of day with a book open.” “Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV” by Emily Nussbaum: You’re wondering: Do we need this book? Nussbaum, who won a Pulitzer Prize as TV critic for the New Yorker, asks it herself. Then directs us to a better question: Who knew the development of the most hated TV genre offered so much insight into social experiments, human cruelty, technology and the blur between high and low art? It’s a poke through roots (“The Gong Show,” cinema verite) and a cache of interviews (including Rodney Alcala, the killer subject of Netflix’s “Woman of the Hour”). Nussbaum is such a fun guide you reveal in your own rubbernecking even as you sweat the apocalyptic ramifications of, she writes, “filmmaking that has been cut with commercial contaminants, like a street drug, in order to slash the price and intensify the effect.” “The History of Sound: Stories” by Ben Shattuck: Ever close a book and just ... sigh? There’s nothing overtly gimmicky to the dozen stories in this graceful collection, rooted in New England pubs and logging camps and prep schools, spanning the 1600s to now. Shattuck — whose excellent “Six Walks” retraced the footsteps of Thoreau — is more interested in natural echos of ambivalence, uniting characters across stories without fuss, in sometimes funny ways. One tale, a harrowing account of a lost utopian community in backwoods Maine, is revisited in another tale, but as an academic paper written centuries later that gets the history of that community completely wrong. A (faux) Radiolab transcript about the mysterious photo of an extinct seabird is matched later to a bittersweet response, the story of the struggling husband who snapped the picture. If it sounds like last year’s “North Woods” (also set in New England, spanning centuries), that’s not a bad thing. “The Unseen Truth: When Race Changed Sight in America” by Sarah Lewis: Lewis, a Harvard University cultural historian with a specialty in how visual arts shape the world, is one of a few innovators worthy of that overused title “disruptor.” She works here in the period from the Civil War to Jim Crow, showing how civic leaders (Woodrow Wilson, P.T. Barnum) willfully disregarded evidence that race was a myth, establishing racial hierarchy. It’s a fascinating history of cultural blindness, centered on the Caucasus region in Europe, from which we derive “caucasian,” and where scholars rooted whiteness. Americans sympathized with the Caucasus people as they went to war against Russia — and then photos circulated showing a population far from just white. It’s a handsome, art-filled book about how choosing to ignore facts creates the illusion of truth. “Everyone Who is Gone is Here: The United States, Central America and the Making of a Crisis” by Jonathan Blitzer: Clarity. If there’s something Blitzer, a New Yorker staff writer, brings to the intractable debate on immigration, it’s an accessible, unimpeachable clear-eyed account of how the US came to the assumption that fixing the border crisis was either simple (“Deport!”) or, as he quotes Rahm Emanuel, so broken it’s “the third rail of American politics.” This urgent, sad freight train of reporting doesn’t offer solutions, but rather, a compelling origin tale for why the influx of Central America migrants and the fear of immigration in the United States are pure cause-and-effect, and how the U.S. bears responsibility. We meet families, policymakers, border officials, activists, and get a history lesson full of military actions perpetrated by U.S. corporations, cash and politics. “The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster” by John O’Connor: Ignore the title. This isn’t that book. It’s a tale of how folklore gathers steam, why we believe what we want to believe, and what happens when “the unbelievable is the only thing people believe,” facts be damned. O’Connor, a journalist from Kalamazoo, Michigan, cleverly uses the legend of Sasquatch and those who think too much about him to explore the persistence of hope beyond hope. Along the way, it’s also an entertaining travelogue of local legends, true believers and the sort of dense acreage seen from planes that could hold anything — right? O’Connor himself is skeptical of a massive wildman on the loose, but gracefully honors the metaphor and sacred beliefs required for myths, zeroing with wit and curiosity why it’s an essential fact of humanity that we need mystery to go on. “Lazarus Man” by Richard Price: I think of Price, that great chronicler of city life, author of “Clockers,” screenwriter for “The Wire,” as a community novelist, in the tradition of “Winesburg, Ohio” and “The Bridge of San Luis Rey.” No more so than with this discursive, pointedly meandering novel, his first in a decade. His writing mimics hardboiled noir then settles on the multitudes, the granular detail, staccato dialogue. Loiters are “a languid pride of lions.” A sudden apartment collapse generates a “night-for-day rolling black cloud.” That mysterious implosion of a five-story apartment complex in East Harlem is just a catalyst for a cataloging of the lives transformed in its aftermath: the unlikely media star created by merely surviving, a cop sleeping with her partner, a mortician who wants his card thrust into the hands of whoever watches the rescue. And on. Why the building fell is an afterthought to the ways we doubt ourselves, transcend and move on, imperfectly. “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey: Speaking of rhapsodic community novels. Here is the story of six astronauts on the international space station, circling Earth at 17,000 miles per hour, on an average day, peering down at a seemingly uninhabited planet. Or as Harvey describes, only alive when day goes to night and lights flick on. This is a novel of distance and perspective, with no real plot. Aliens wander past, but don’t invade. The station turns without incident. No one goes nuts. And yet, in lyrical bursts, our travelers soak in cosmic hugeness: “Sometimes they want to see the theatrics, the opera, the earth’s atmosphere, airglow, and sometimes it’s the smallest things, the lights of fishing boats off the coast of Malaysia.” Harvey is out to reclaim wonder itself from everyday lack of interest — and in a way, reclaim the novel as a place for feeling . Mission accomplished.

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Snap-On Inc. stock underperforms Friday when compared to competitorsBefore embarking on my today's writeup, full throttle, for preparatory warm up, dear readers, I mention four big names for those readers who have missed my previous four consecutive articles, under this very column. Following the tracks of a number of European travellers, like, the Frenchman Francis Bernier (1664-65); the British explorer Alexander Cunningham(1847); The Morovian missionary August Hermann Francke (1896) who travelled to Kashmir & Ladakh or for that matter Arthur Neve (-author of Tourist Guide to Kashmir, Ladakh and Skardu-1899) and the one that fascinates me nowadays- Edward Frederick Knight ( who toured Kashmir, Ladakh and Baltistaan in 1891) the expedition- lover- grand father of Michaela, namely Otto Honigmann visited Kashmir, Ladakh and Baltistaan in 1911-12. Here he clicked about 200 photographs that he, on returning home in May 1912, got mounted in a bound album. This is the treasure that Michaela's book offers to interested readers, like me. O n page 16 of this book she writes:“Hermann Francke- one of the best- known European Tibetologists, describes how during the building of the new bridge, in 1909, at Khalatse (khalsi)“....THE ANCIENT INDIAN INSCRIPTIONS IN 'KAROSHTHI' (and Brahmi) SCRIPT.... WERE ALMOST BLASTED....” From other sources we know some edicts of king Ashoka (272-231 BC) were in kharosthi Script; including the major Rock Edicts at Mansehra and Shahbazgarhi. [-Former is a city in Hazara; on Karakoram & The ancient Silk-route While the latter is in Mardan district...Both in Khyber Pakhtun Wala, (Pakistan-Afghanistan region); Once-Thriving- Buddhist Cities. Both. ] Hold on, dear readers! Experts say: 'THESE ROCK EDICTS APPEAR TO BE THE FIRST EXAMPLES OF WRITING IN SOUTH ASIA.' Kharosthi script? Wait, please ! First note,it. I prefer the romanized version of this word. Ghandhari, which appears on coins, inscriptions & Buddhist texts was the official language of the Kushan Empire; that was used by various people from North west of the Indian subcontinent i:e present Day Pakistan, Central Asia & Afghanistan. This Gandhari is also known as kharosthi Script. It is an early Middle Indo-Aryan language- a prakrit. Some experts of Linguistics have found evidence linking Ghandhari with the Dardic language and this Script was heavily used by the former Buddhist cultures of Central Asia & Eastern China. It is said The Birch-Bark Scrolls consisting of parts of the Dharma-Pada etc have been discovered in the recent past, in 1994 AD, in Eastern Afghanistan and Western Pakistan, in Hadda- west of Khyber Pass. Modern day experts claim that some manuscripts; including that of Mahayana Buddhism's Pure-Land-Sutras, that are in Kharosthi were brought from Gandhara to China as early AD 147AD AND the Kushan Monk, namely Lokaksema, used for translating it into Chinese. Experts say this Kharosthi Script was alive from 4th century BC to 3rd Century AD. One more interesting angle is the divergent Etymology of the word Qandahar/ Kandahar. We know it is a district of present day Afghanistan AND that it is believed to be 'one of the oldest known human settlements, according to some experts in the field History tells us during 6th Century BC it became an important outpost of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire and in 4th Century BC, around 330 BC Alexander the great is said to have done much for its southern flank. We may also recall that Texila- that is 20 miles north of Islamabad (Pakistan), was also annexed by Alexander in, though Muriyas conquered it soon. In the local Pashto language the name Alexander is rendered as Iskander; that over a period of time is believed to have transformed to Kandahar/ Qandahar because of being a 'Tract Of Sweet Fruits' (like grapes, apricots etc). Kandahar enjoyed strategic location too; it being along the old trade routes of southern, central and Western Asia. Much later in time, as recent as around 1747 AD, the founder of Durrani dynasty, king Ahmed Shah Durrani, even made Qandahar the capital of his Afghan- empire. Other equally strong groups of exponents assert that etymologically the word Gandhara (of the script) transformed, with passage of time, to Kandahar/ Qandahar. Equally interesting is the claim of scholars who say the very word Kharosthi may have been derived from the Hebrew word Kharosheth, meaning writing. As per the English Archaeologist Sir John Marshall, [–1876-1958; who was Director General of the Archeological Survey 0f India from 1902 to 1928 AD, and who is known for his monumental work The Buddhist Art Of Gandhara ], kharosthi Script had relations with a form of Aramaic; that was used in the administrative work during the reign of Darius The Great (550 BC -486 BC); the Super-King whose great Achaemenid; empire(-of Iran) included much of Western Asia, Central Asia, The Indus valley, North-East Africa and even Greek Macedonia. Aramaic was the co-official language of this Achaemenid empire, along with Persian. Readers surely must be knowing that his religion/ faith is called Zoroastrianism (–Indo-Iranian-Religion);wherein Chief God is called Ahura Mazda (wise Lord); wherein figured concepts like Good & Evil as Light and Darkness, Reward etc but not Temples & Statues, just Fire-alter. Hope this much will suffice in today's column. More when health and time permits. Adieu. Poet/Penman/ Columnist, the author has been contributing non-political write-ups, from over two decades, to English Dailies of Kashmir, including Kashmir Observer Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group : Join Now Be Part of Quality Journalism Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. CLICK FOR DETAILS MENAFN30112024000215011059ID1108941996 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. 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Having suffered a loss in their last La Liga 2024-25 match, Real Madrid with hopes of getting their mojo back will visit Catalonia, and clash against Girona on December 8. The Girona vs Real Madrid football match will begin at 01:30 AM Indian Standard Time (IST). Due to the absence of an official broadcaster in India, fans won’t have Girona vs Real Madrid La Liga 2024-25 live telecast viewing options. However, fans will have the option of watching La Liga 2024-25 matches live streaming online. GXR is the new official streaming partner of La Liga 2024-25 in India and fans can watch Girona vs Real Madrid La Liga 2024-25 football match live streaming online for free on its website. Athletic Club 2–1 Real Madrid, La Liga 2024–25: Jude Bellingham's Goal Goes in Vain As Los Blancos Drop Three Points Against Los Leones . 🙌 ¡DÍA DE PARTIDO! 🙌 🆚 @GironaFC_ES 🕰️ 21:00 CET 🏟️ Montilivi #️⃣ #GironaRealMadrid 👉 @HP pic.twitter.com/gDzyUb3Zav — Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) December 7, 2024 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)

You can’t literally gift-wrap health, much less stuff it in a stocking. But a gift that helps someone eat, sleep or exercise better can send a powerful message, said Dr. Laurence Sperling, the Katz Professor in Preventive Cardiology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. Beyond the usual affection a gift demonstrates, something that encourages your recipient to stay well is “an extra comment to somebody about how much you care about them,” said Sperling, founder of the Emory Center for Heart Disease Prevention. So American Heart Association News asked him and other experts for healthy gift ideas. Here’s what they said. Keeping active When purchasing a fitness-related holiday gift for someone, first consider what they most enjoy doing, said Dr. Cindy Lin, clinical professor in sports and spine medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. “Gear that fits into an everyday routine, such as reusable water bottles and comfortable workout clothes, can be a great gift,” said Lin, who also is director of clinical innovation at UW’s Sports Institute. “One-trick gadgets,” or items for activities they don’t do often, are likely to end up in the back of the closet, she said. “If your sister only skis once a year ... that ski gear might end up collecting dust in the garage.” Lin is a fan of gear that’s portable, versatile and doesn’t take up much space, such as a yoga mat, exercise ball, resistance bands or free weights. Other simple gifts include fanny packs or belt packs for carrying a phone or keys while walking or jogging, or a reflective vest or headlamp for evening activities. Joining up Class passes, sports lessons or a few months of gym membership could be a great way to help a family member get started on becoming more active without the financial commitment of a whole year up front, Lin said. Consider online options, too. A few winters ago, Lin’s husband gifted her a subscription to a fitness program that offered workouts that could be streamed on a tablet or TV. “It was perfect because there are a huge variety of 10- to 20-minute classes that I could do any time of day in our own living room, a huge convenience factor as a busy working mom.” Sperling said a consultation with a trainer could help someone focus on specific goals. But be careful, he said: Gym memberships can be tricky to manage for anyone, and signing someone up who doesn’t already have the time or interest to go to a gym might not motivate them. Similarly, paying registration fees for a race might work for someone who is already a runner, said Sperling, a veteran marathoner. But for others, it might be more effective to sign them up for a fundraising walk or other healthy activity – and then promise to join them. “Support and partnership is really important” for people trying to make a healthy change, Sperling said, and a commitment to spend time together could be “priceless.” Getting technical “Fitness trackers are a great way to get started with being active,” said Lin, who has published an analysis on wearable technology in activity promotion. “Monitoring heart rate helps track cardiovascular health and exercise intensity,” she said. “It’s also useful for people who are working on improving fitness levels or training for walkathons or marathons.” Important features to look for, Lin said, include step tracking, calories burned, a long battery life and sweat and water resistance. “Since the idea of most wearables for fitness is to use them daily, look for a lightweight, comfortable band and a style that matches your recipient’s tastes,” she said. Sperling agreed that a tracker can establish how active someone is and help them reach a healthy level. Federal physical activity guidelines recommend adults engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity each week, or a combination of both. Adults also should do muscle-strengthening exercises at least two days a week. Another handy fitness tool, Sperling said, is a digital scale. Although many come with bells and whistles, he said, you can just look for one that’s easy to read. And with nearly half of adults in the U.S. living with hypertension, a blood pressure monitor can be a great gift, he said. “An arm cuff is the way to go versus a wrist cuff,” Sperling said, and “you want to be sure it’s an appropriate cuff size.” The American Medical Association has a list of validated monitors at validatebp.org. He said to follow instructions from the American Heart Association on how to get an accurate reading. Eating well Holiday party gifts can be heavy on sweets and alcohol, but it’s not hard to find alternatives, said Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge, an associate professor of nutritional medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York. “There’s nice food gift baskets you can bring that include dried fruit and nuts that are probably a better option than cookies and cakes,” she said. And nonalcoholic mocktails could make for a fun party, she said. Look for varieties that are low in sugar. For kitchen gifts, St-Onge is a fan of air fryers. Her husband bought her one last year. “I wasn’t thinking I needed one – but now I do,” she said. St-Onge praised the way it cooks up crispy shrimp and tofu and said it helps her make “great” fish tacos, while her husband uses it to make eggplant parmesan with much less oil than the traditional version. A cookbook full of healthy ideas could be helpful, she said. Even basic kitchen tools can lead to healthier eating if they encourage people to make their own food at home, where they have more control over ingredients than at a restaurant, where meals can be packed with excess calories and sodium. Sweet dreams Even if your long winter’s naps don’t include visions of sugarplums, sleep is essential for health. St-Onge, who also is director of her institution’s Center of Excellence for Sleep and Circadian Research, said that avoiding gifts with alcohol would be one way to support it, given that alcohol can interfere with sleep patterns. But sleepwear would work. “Soft and comfortable sleepwear is so, so good for sleep in my opinion,” she said. Look for something that’s not too hot and not too restrictive. Or you can help someone make their sleep space darker and quieter. “If you’re living someplace where there’s a lot of outdoor noise and light pollution, blackout curtains are a good way to go,” she said. For technology fans, sleep trackers can help people see if they’re getting the seven to nine hours recommended for adults. St-Onge recommended checking to make sure the one you choose doesn’t require the recipient to buy a subscription. Some fitness trackers can measure not only sleep time but quality of sleep, which can provide insights into sleep cycles and potential disruptions, Lin said. Being “mindful and thankful” can help support sleep, St-Onge said, so the gift of a paper journal for writing down thoughts would make sense. Stepping out A gift doesn’t have to be about “stuff,” Sperling said. It could be an experience that encourages people to get outside. That could take the form of an annual state park pass, which would let someone enjoy the concept of “forest bathing,” or walks in nature, which can help reduce stress. For families, it could take the form of a membership to the local zoo. Ultimately, when it comes to finding a healthy gift, “you want to focus on things that are simple and sustainable,” Sperling said, because a healthy lifestyle is about making meaningful changes for the long term, not any one item or experience. By thinking along these lines, he said, you could be offering “life-changing gifts that can improve the health of the people you love and care about.”

DOVER, DE — Drone sightings are surging, and Delaware is no exception. The Delaware State Police are urging vigilance, emphasizing public safety as reports multiply of unmanned aircraft operating in unexpected areas. While flying drones is legal, the police warn that suspicious activity should not be ignored. If you spot something unusual, report it immediately to the Delaware Anti-Terrorism Tipline at 1-800-FORCE-1-2 or via email at force12@delaware.gov . The rise in drone activity isn’t limited to Delaware. Across the United States, unexplained sightings have been reported near sensitive locations, including military bases and airports. Advanced technology and relaxed regulations have made drones more accessible, blurring the lines between recreational use and potential security threats. Though drones play an essential role in industries like logistics and agriculture, their misuse can have serious consequences. Recently, drones caused runway closures in New York and airspace restrictions near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. These incidents underscore the potential risks when drones are used irresponsibly—or maliciously—in secure areas. Unusual drone activity in Delaware isn’t just a curiosity—it’s a matter for law enforcement. The Delaware State Police are asking residents to be their eyes in the sky. If you see a drone hovering suspiciously, stay calm, take clear video evidence (if safe), note details such as location, time, size, and movement, and report it promptly. However, don’t intervene directly. Shooting at drones is illegal, and the proper authorities must evaluate whether the activity is a genuine threat. If you find a drone on the ground, keep your distance and call 911. These steps are critical because they allow state and federal experts to analyze and act on credible reports. Public involvement ensures law enforcement can focus their resources where they’re needed most. Experts point to key factors driving the spike in sightings. Advanced sensors, longer battery life, and reduced costs have made drones more prevalent. Federal waivers granted by the FAA have also allowed broader usage, contributing to the uptick in both civilian and commercial activities. But the surge raises questions about misuse. A Chinese national was recently arrested for unauthorized drone recordings at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Closer to home, drones were spotted near critical sites like Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. The implications for national security are significant, with drones posing unique challenges in safeguarding sensitive areas. The Delaware State Police’s proactive approach acknowledges the dual nature of drones. They’re tools of innovation but can also be tools of disruption. To maintain safety, officials stress the value of preventive measures alongside public awareness. Resources, like free tracking apps ( FlightAware , Flightradar24 , ADSBexchange ), can help you identify legal aircraft, reducing false reports. The broader implications of drone sightings extend beyond Delaware. Calls for new counter-drone legislation and enhanced detection systems are gaining traction. Transparency from officials and active participation from the public will be vital as security agencies work to balance safety with technology’s unavoidable evolution. For now, the message is clear. Be alert. Be informed. And most importantly, be ready to act responsibly if you suspect something is amiss. By reporting unusual drone activity, you’re helping law enforcement protect Delaware’s residents and critical infrastructure. For the latest news on everything happening in Chester County and the surrounding area, be sure to follow MyChesCo on Google News and MSN ."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?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" 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Mexico City-based Prima has raised $23 million in funding to expand its offerings as a manufacturing and supply chain integrator across North America. The latest funding brings Prima’s total funding, including previously undisclosed rounds, to $42.5 million, the company said in a Friday (Dec. 6) press release . Prima uses a technology-first model to manage every step of the process of manufacturing custom parts and goods, operating complex industrial projects and sourcing goods from Mexico — including design, engineering, raw material procurement, factory floor operations, quality control and delivery, according to the release. The company does so by orchestrating its ecosystem of vetted service providers, with Prima serving as a one-stop shop and seller of record, the release said. The company serves 150 North American companies and aims to expand its foothold in the United States, per the release. “We are powering Mexico’s industrial renaissance with every partnership we forge, every engineer we train and every project we successfully complete,” Daniel Autrique , co-founder of Prima, said in the release. “With a team of nearly 80 people operating across six countries, robust funding and a track record of serving North America’s largest companies, we are off to a running start.” One of Prima’s customers, Rudy Bambic, CEO of Electrotech, said in the release that Prima has enabled the Illinois-based OEM to streamline its operations. “Its systems give us complete visibility and control for a level of efficiency we didn’t believe was possible,” Bambic said. “As a result, we will be able to make and shop products faster than ever to fulfill market demands while cutting our own costs. This in turn enables us to keep our prices low without compromising quality.” Over half of retailers and manufacturers are investing to modernize their procurement processes, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and Corcentric collaboration, “ Digital Payments: A Changing Economy Sparks New Priorities for Systems Spending .” The report found that 57% of manufacturers and 54% of retailers said the most important reason for their investments in digital procurement systems is to modernize their procurement processes, while 37% of manufacturers and 20% of retailers said the most important reason for investing in working capital and credit systems is to modernize them. For all PYMNTS B2B coverage, subscribe to the daily B2B Newsletter .ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 6, 2024-- Liberty Media Corporation (“Liberty Media”) (Nasdaq: FWONA, FWONK, LLYVA, LLYVK) today announced the appointment of Chase Carey to the board of directors of Liberty Media (the “Board”) effective January 1, 2025. Mr. Carey most recently served as Chairman of Formula 1 from 2016 to 2022 and as its Chief Executive Officer from 2017 to 2021. He will serve on the Executive Committee of the Liberty Media Board. “Chase has been an excellent partner to Liberty for many years, from our investment in DIRECTV in 2008 to Liberty’s purchase of Formula 1 in 2017 where his role as CEO was key to securing the acquisition. He was instrumental in building a successful foundation at F1 from which the business has grown materially,” said John Malone, Liberty Media Chairman. “Chase’s knowledge and expertise across media, entertainment, sports, business and more will be valuable to the board as our companies execute on their next chapters of growth and value creation.” “Liberty is at an exciting point in its storied evolution, with a more focused asset base centered around high-quality, premium sporting assets that I know well. I look forward to contributing to Liberty as a director in partnership with John, Liberty management and the portfolio company leadership teams,” said Mr. Carey. Prior to joining Formula 1, Mr. Carey served in a number of roles at 21st Century Fox, including as President and Chief Operating Officer from 2009 to 2015 and as a Director since 1996. Mr. Carey served as a Director, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of DIRECTV, Inc. from 2003 to 2009, where he led the operations and strategic direction of the DIRECTV, Inc. companies, including DIRECTV, Inc. in the United States and DIRECTV Latin America. Mr. Carey is a graduate of Colgate University and Harvard Business School. He is also a Trustee Emeritus at Colgate University. About Liberty Media Corporation Liberty Media Corporation operates and owns interests in a broad range of media, communications, sports and entertainment businesses. Those businesses are attributed to two tracking stock groups: the Formula One Group and the Liberty Live Group. The businesses and assets attributed to the Formula One Group (NASDAQ: FWONA, FWONK) include Liberty Media’s subsidiaries Formula 1 and Quint, and other minority investments. The businesses and assets attributed to the Liberty Live Group (NASDAQ: LLYVA, LLYVK) include Liberty Media’s interest in Live Nation and other minority investments. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241205627234/en/ CONTACT: Liberty Media Corporation Shane Kleinstein, 720-875-5432 KEYWORD: COLORADO UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SPORTS OTHER COMMUNICATIONS TV AND RADIO MUSIC COMMUNICATIONS GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT MOTOR SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT SOURCE: Liberty Media Corporation Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/06/2024 05:10 PM/DISC: 12/06/2024 05:08 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241205627234/enThe Second Biggest Loser in 2024: Chuck Schumer

GETTING from A to B on public transport, roads, walking and cycling were the top three issues raised in consultation for a 10-year blueprint for the future of Lake Macquarie. Login or signup to continue reading With 90 suburbs wrapped around the jewel in the crown of the city, locals have limited access to regular public transport services to where they want to go. Community members have clearly told the council they want better-quality roads built to keep up with development and fix bottlenecks. They also want to be able to walk and cycle safely to the local shops. The draft 10-year Community Strategic Plan will go before the council on Monday, put together with the help of feedback from residents who took part in online surveys, forums, pop-up sessions and a community summit between June last year and August 2024. In the document, Lake Macquarie mayor Adam Shultz said the council will strive to develop lively local and strategic centres, balancing new growth with environmental preservation and the relaxed lifestyle the community loves. "We also want to prioritise attracting visitation and investment by ensuring we remain an exciting place to do business and a unique tourism destination," he said. "We will do this by partnering with a range of organisations, community groups and other levels of government. "The community has told us that employment, housing, access to open and community spaces as well as environmental protection are at the forefront in their minds." Access to open and community spaces ranked highly, and community support and safety were both in the top 15 most mentioned themes during public engagement. The plan outlines where the council is now and identifies key challenges and risks for the city over the next decade. Those challenges include a growing population , forecast to go from 220,000 in 2024 to 244,000 in 2035 and 260,000 in 2046. The council will need to plan for infrastructure to support housing, education, health and transport needs. While community members recognised the city needs to embrace development, they said they want it to be appropriate and not at the expense of the environment or lifestyle. The community is also ageing, with a median age 10 per cent higher than the NSW average, and the council expects the trend will drive demand in health services and infrastructure. The city's economy is moving away from mining and manufacturing to services and knowledge-based industries. Social and business services are projected to grow to 52 per cent of jobs by 2035. According to the council, the jobs of the future will require an increasingly skilled workforce with growing opportunities in the circular economy , adaptive reuse of former mining land and renewable energy. In the document, Lake Macquarie council chief executive Morven Cameron said the forward-thinking plan provides a clear blueprint to deliver for the community. "The plan reflects a significant amount of community engagement, and it outlines the position we are in today and key issues which we will need to address to achieve our long-term aspirations as a city," she said. "We are committed to ensuring our community finds it easy to be involved in the decision-making process and are given the chance to have their say." If the council votes in favour of the draft plan on Monday, it is expected to go on public exhibition for 62 days. Madeline Link is a born and bred Novocastrian who started her career as a journalist in the New England North West in 2016. She is an experienced council and court reporter, former deputy editor of the Northern Daily Leader and two-time Kennedy Award finalist. In unrelated incidents, she previously reported on country music in Australia's country music capital and was once flung across Lake Macquarie in a power boat at more than 100 kilometres per hour. Maddie now works at the Newcastle Herald with a focus on Newcastle council. To keep up with my stories, follow my X @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au. Madeline Link is a born and bred Novocastrian who started her career as a journalist in the New England North West in 2016. She is an experienced council and court reporter, former deputy editor of the Northern Daily Leader and two-time Kennedy Award finalist. In unrelated incidents, she previously reported on country music in Australia's country music capital and was once flung across Lake Macquarie in a power boat at more than 100 kilometres per hour. Maddie now works at the Newcastle Herald with a focus on Newcastle council. 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Blake Snell reportedly has joined his former team's biggest rival. After opting out of his Giants contract and entering MLB free agency this offseason, Snell has agreed to a five-year, $182 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers pending a physical, ESPN's Jeff Passan and Jorge Castillo reported Tuesday, citing sources. Snell seemingly confirmed the news with a post on his Instagram account. It's no surprise Los Angeles landed the two-time Cy Young Award winner. The Dodgers have shattered free-agency expectations in recent offseasons, inflating their payroll and even deferring millions of dollars to future years so they can sign stars including Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman -- the list goes on. It paid off for San Francisco's NL West rivals in 2024, as Los Angeles won its eighth World Series title last month when it defeated the New York Yankees in five games. And the Dodgers appear to be taking the deferred money route with Snell, as they did when they signed Ohtani last winter. Snell's lone Giants campaign started off rocky after the ace endured an offseason without spring training while searching for a home in free agency. But after a rough first half to the 2024 MLB season, Snell quickly rounded into Cy Young form, even pitching a no-hitter for San Francisco on Aug. 2 against the Cincinnati Reds. His hot second half led Snell to opt out of the remaining year on his Giants contract, making him the best available pitcher on the open market. This time, negotiations with MLB teams didn't last as long. Because the Dodgers, as usual, swooped in. Download and follow the Giants Talk PodcastPresident of Argentina Javier Milei announced Wednesday that his administration is preparing a structural tax reform that will eliminate 90 percent of existing taxes in 2025. Milei announced the plan, alongside other policies he seeks to implement in his second year in office, while marking the end of his first. Among them was a plan to negotiate a trade deal with President-elect Donald Trump’s administration once he takes office in January. Tuesday marked one year since Milei took office on December 10, 2023, and became Argentina’s first libertarian president, succeeding socialist former President Alberto Fernández. At the time he took office, Argentina faced a severe economic crisis that dramatically worsened as a result of Fernández’s disastrous socialist policies. Milei implemented a series of drastic “shock therapy” measures to avert the collapse of the country’s economy and avoid a hyperinflation spiral. Milei’s policies successfully reduced the inflation rate in Argentina, dropping it from 25.5 percent in December 2023 to 2.7 percent in October 2024 while also allowing the nation to experience ten months of continued trade surplus as of November. Additionally, Milei spearheaded a dramatic overhaul of the Argentine government during his first year, reducing the number of ministries from 18 to nine on his first day and outright replacing other institutions — such as Argentina’s bloated AFIP revenue service, which was dissolved and substituted with a much smaller agency in November . The Argentine president also introduced a series of sweeping reforms that Congress passed in late June. Milei marked his first year in office by delivering a speech in the evening hours of Tuesday in the company of his ministers and members of his administration. He reviewed the results of his policies and announced a series of upcoming measures. In his roughly 35-minute speech, Milei thanked Argentines for electing him and for “having endured, as you did, the hard months we had at the beginning of our administration,” assuring that their sacrifice “will not be in vain.” “There is a saying that says ‘good times create weak men, weak men create hard times, hard times create strong men, and it is strong men who create good times.’ This year, we Argentines have proven to be strong men and women, forged in the heat of difficult times,” Milei said. “We have shown that, when a people touches the bottom of the abyss, its urgency to undertake a deep and irreversible change becomes a true force of nature,” he continued. Milei stressed that his administration will continue with his economic reforms throughout 2025 and to that end, he stated that his administration is currently finalizing a “structural tax reform” that will reduce the amount of national taxes by 90 percent while restoring tax autonomy to Argentina’s provinces. “Thus, next year we will see a real tax competition among the Argentine provinces to see who will attract the most investment,” Milei said. The Argentine president ensured that his administration will also eliminate existing currency control measures inherited by his government next year and stated that there would be a “free competition of currencies” which, Milei explained, will allow “all Argentines will be able to use the currency they want in their daily transactions.” “This means that from now on every Argentinean will be able to buy, sell and invoice in dollars or the currency they consider, except for the payment of taxes, which for now will continue to be in pesos,” Milei said. The Argentine president posited that it is also essential to “break the foreign trade chains that are currently suffocating us” to accelerate the country’s economic recovery. Argentina is a member of the regional Mercosur trade bloc, a group that Milei has fiercely criticized in the past and which he now holds its pro-tempore presidency as of last week . Milei proposed the elimination of tariff barriers among Mercosur members and added that one of his administration’s goals in Mercosur is to “increase the autonomy of the members of the organization vis-à-vis the rest of the world, so that each country can trade freely with whomever it wants as it suits them.” One of those trade deals, he said, would hopefully be a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States next year — something that, Milei said, “should have been signed 19 years ago.” “Imagine how much we would have grown in these two decades if we had traded with the world’s leading power. All that growth was taken away from us with the simple signature of a group of bureaucrats, who refused to accept the benefits of free trade,” Milei said. “In this way, Argentina will stop turning its back on the world and will once again be a protagonist of world trade, because there is no prosperity without trade and there is no trade without freedom,” he continued. Milei said that his administration will continue with the deregularization and reduction of public spending throughout his second year through a “ruthless audit” that will see the elimination of unnecessary agencies, secretariats, public companies, and state institutions. Other upcoming policies announced by Milei include proposing an “anti-mafia” law inspired by the United States’ Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act to fight against organized crime, federal police reforms, the creation of an “anti-narcoterrorism” unit in cooperation with Mercosur to combat drug trafficking in the tri-border area that Argentina shares with Brazil and Paraguay, and the “imminent presentation of a plan to build new nuclear reactors and research small or modular reactor technologies,” among others. Milei observed that 2025 will see Argentina hold midterm legislative elections and stressed that “unlike what politicians usually do, who in election years spend their time squandering the money of all Argentines” his administration would “do something different” and continue implementing his economic reforms. “It is unique in the history of modern democracies that a government begins the election year without an expansionary fiscal and monetary policy, because that is precisely the logic of the past that has sunk us,” Milei said. “We are not going to fall into this temptation that seduced the caste, because we are the future and the prosperity.” “We are going to continue our adjustment program to be able to lower taxes and return money to the private sector, and we are going to put on the table an agenda of profound reforms, developed on the pillars that I told you about today, so that society can legally choose which country it wants,” he continued. The Argentine president concluded by stating that Argentina is heading towards a “future of prosperity” and said 2024 will be remembered as the “first year of the new Argentina.” Milei further stressed that, unlike other moments in the nation’s history where hope was based “on empty words, we have brought results.” “You can see them, you can feel them. That future of prosperity is within our reach. There is nothing you can do to prevent it: you can get on the train of progress or you can be run over by it,” Milei said. Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here .McNeese vs. Illinois State Predictions & Picks: Spread, Total – November 22

GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla., Dec. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MDWerks, Inc. (“MDWerks” or the “Company”) (OTCQB: MDWK) , a forward-thinking company leading the charge in the world of sustainable technology, today announced that the Company’s RF Specialties, LLC (“RFS”) subsidiary has been awarded a new contract from USNR, the world’s largest supplier of equipment and technologies for the wood processing industry, to serve as the global service provider for USNR’s tube based Mann-Russell radio frequency equipment customers. Under the contract, RFS will provide routine maintenance, as well as 24-hour emergency service, for equipment that utilizes Mann-Russell radio frequency solutions across USNR’s global installed base of wood manufacturing companies. Steven Laker, CEO of MDWerks, commented, “This significant new contract win for RF Specialties is testament to the team’s expertise and capabilities in radio frequency technology. We are honored that USNR has entrusted RFS to service their Mann-Russell radio frequency equipment, which is installed across a worldwide customer base. We look forward to providing superior service to USNR and its wood processing customers while building a long, mutually beneficial relationship.” About MDWerks, Inc. MDWerks, Inc. (“MDWerks”) (OTC: MDWK) is a forward-thinking company that is leading the charge in the world of sustainable technology. As a prominent provider of energy wave technologies, MDWerks is committed to developing innovative solutions that help businesses reduce their energy costs and drive business value. For more information, please visit https://mdwerksinc.com/ . MDWerks’ wholly owned subsidiary, Two Trees Beverage Company, is headquartered deep in the Appalachian Mountain country, creating fine spirits, aged sustainably. Two Trees’ fine spirits brands, including Two Trees ® and Tim Smith Spirits ® , have received multiple industry awards, including recent recognition at the 2022 Sip Awards, the 2022 Fifty Best Awards, and the 2023 Best of Asheville. For more information, please visit https://twotreesdistilling.com/ . MDWerks’ wholly owned subsidiary, RF Specialties, LLC (“RFS”) addresses companies’ most pressing challenges by implementing automated radio frequency technology systems in a sustainable way reducing energy costs and increasing speed to market when compared to traditional methods. For more information, please visit https://www.rfspecialtiesus.com/ . About USNR USNR is the world’s largest, most comprehensive supplier of equipment and technologies for the wood processing industry. USNR’s systems produce dimensional lumber, plywood and panels, finger-jointed components and engineered wood products. USNR supplies systems, service and support for plants around the globe including the United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom, Chile, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries. For more information, please visit https://www.usnr.com . Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements also may be included in other publicly available documents issued by MDWK and in oral statements made by our officers and representatives from time to time. These forward-looking statements are intended to provide management’s current expectations or plans for our future operating and financial performance, based on assumptions currently believed to be valid. They can be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “seek,” “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “expect,” “strategy,” “future,” “likely,” “may,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “will” and other words of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements relating to future sales, earnings, cash flows, results of operations, uses of cash and other measures of financial performance. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause MDWK’s actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others such as, but not limited to economic conditions, changes in the laws or regulations, demand for MDWK’s products and services, the effects of competition and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or represented in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking information provided in this release should be considered with these factors in mind. We caution investors not to rely unduly on any forward-looking statements and urge you to carefully consider the risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, which are available on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at sec.gov. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Company Contact: MDWerks, Inc. Steven Laker T: (252) 501-0019 stevel@mdwerksinc.com Investor Contact: The Equity Group Kalle Ahl, CFA T: (303) 953-9878 kahl@equityny.comThe Ducks lugged a four-game points streak in tow as they prepared to welcome the Seattle Kraken for the front half of a home-and-home set. It will begin Monday at Honda Center before migrating northward for its second leg on Wednesday in Seattle. Last season, the teams also faced off twice in three days, with both those games being played in Seattle. The Kraken won both by an aggregate score of 8-2 as part of a four-game season sweep, though neither team ended up qualifying for the postseason. This year, they’re both at exactly .500, thanks to recent surges –– the Ducks are 4-1-1 in their past six games and the Kraken are 5-2-0 in their last seven –– with designs on pushing upward in the Pacific Division standings. They’re also both coming off disappointing losses, with the Ducks blowing a two-goal lead to fall 3-2 in overtime to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday and the Kraken coming up with too little, too late in the way of both offense and energy against the Kings on Saturday. Buffalo was opportunistic, twice dredging up goals from rebounds and scoring another off a turnover. For the Ducks’ part, they missed opportunities to shoot the puck, in some cases from prime scoring areas, once more. “We’ve still got to shoot the puck more,” Coach Greg Cronin said. “In the first period, I think Leo (Carlsson) had a 2-on-1 and the (defenseman) shaded towards (Alex Killorn), and he still passed. I think (Pavel Mintyukov) had one in the slot and he didn’t shoot it. It’s a strange mentality.” While Cronin lamented his team’s unwillingness to shoot yet again, former Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour was flummoxed by his Seattle teammates’ lack of pop in a loss to the Kings that he prevented from being a shutout with a goal in the final two minutes of the match. While Montour liked his squad’s late push, he thought they needed more hunger and consistency alike against the Ducks. “These games, we’ve got to be up for. Anaheim’s up next, we’ve got to come with desperation and get those points,” Montour said. Montour had nearly put the Kraken on the board with a booming one-timer and a second-chance effort that pinged the post in a game where his motor, wheels, and open throttle were on full display. Since his departure via trade in 2019, Montour has established himself firmly in the NHL. After parts of three seasons, including two truncated ones, in Buffalo, Montour moved onto the Florida Panthers. There, he scored a career-high 73 points two seasons ago, when the Panthers’ Cinderella run carried them to the Stanley Cup Final. Last season, they won the Cup in a contract year for Montour, who inked a seven-year, $50 million contract with Seattle as a free agent. He leads Seattle in defensive scoring and Jared McCann is its pace car when it comes to points. Another top offensive talent, Jordan Eberle, underwent pelvic surgery on Friday and was expected to miss around three months of action. Goalie Joey Daccord ranks in the league’s top 10 for both save percentage and goals-against average.

NORMAN, Okla. – Oklahoma appears to have borrowed from the past to cure its recent offensive ills. The Sooners , best known this century for a passing prowess that has produced four Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks, took it back to the 20th century against then-No. 7 Alabama. Oklahoma ran 50 times for 257 yards while only throwing 12 times in a 24-3 win over the Crimson Tide that took coach Brent Venables off the hot seat. The Sooners more resembled Barry Switzer’s squads that dominated the old Big 8 with the wishbone offense in the 1970s and ’80s than the more recent Air Raid teams. Recommended Videos Venables said the change was a matter of necessity for a unit that has been besieged by injuries at receiver and offensive line. “I think this staff has done a really good job with trying to figure that out, get better every week, put together a great gameplan but also figure out, ‘OK, what does this group of guys, what does this team — what do we need to do?'” Venables said. To make it work, Oklahoma needed to trust that such a change would work in the modern Southeastern Conference. They had to implement it with an interim play-caller in Joe Jon Finley, who stepped in after the Sooners fired Seth Littrell last month. Oklahoma (6-5, 2-5 SEC) pulled it off, and LSU coach Brian Kelly has taken notice ahead of their game on Saturday. “This is now much more about controlling the football, running the football, playing with physicality," Kelly said. "They've got perimeter skill, but I think it's centered around much more of a run-centric, quarterback run and take care of the football." The Sooners started to see success on the ground against Maine. They ran 52 times for 381 yards in a 59-14 win that got the wheels turning. Jovantae Barnes ran for career highs of 203 yards and three touchdowns that day. Venables said the timing of the opportunity to play that non-conference game against Maine in early November and figure some things out was perfect. “Everybody has some degree of vulnerability and maybe some self-doubt,” he said. “And just developing some confidence and putting something on tape other than practice, like, ‘Man, look, see what you’re capable of?’ And executing against, again, a well-coached team — certainly, we played off of that in all the right ways like you would expect us to. And so there’s a real place for that.” After a bye week, the Sooners tried the same approach against Missouri. It wasn't as successful — they ran 36 times for 122 yards — but they hung tough before losing 30-23 . The Sooners went all in against Alabama. Jackson Arnold — the same guy who threw 45 times in the Alamo Bowl last year, ran 25 times for 131 yards and threw just 11 passes. The Sooners found something in running back Xavier Robinson. With Barnes out with an injury, Robinson carried 18 times for career highs of 107 yards and two touchdowns. Suddenly, a team that had been forcing the pass and getting sacked at an alarming rate was moving the line of scrimmage and controlling the tempo. Oklahoma had the ball for more than 34 minutes against the Crimson Tide, lending support to a talented defense that had been spending way too much time on the field. The new approach could be helpful on Saturday — LSU (7-4, 4-3) ranks 14th out of 16 conference teams against the run. Venables said the Sooners still need to throw the ball well to win, but he's glad to know his squad can run with force when necessary. “I think that’s the art of having a system that’s adjustable, flexible, adaptable, week in and week out, but also has an identity — toughness, physicality," he said. "You’ve got to be able to run the ball at every level of football, but you do have to throw it. You can’t just do one thing. But we need to be efficient.” ___ 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-footballIf planning to get festive with Thanksgiving, Christmas, or other holiday decorations, be aware of this new twist on an online purchase scam. Each year, BBB Scam Tracker receives complaints during the holiday season about false advertisements and phony promises for holiday décor. How the scam works You are searching online for some holiday decorations for your home or lawn. You find the perfect item through a social media ad or a search result. The photos on the website look great! The decorations are larger-than-life with incredible lights and features and, best of all, low prices. The payment is made and then the wait for the decorations to arrive begins. However, when the package is delivered, the product is nothing like what was depicted online. Instead, it’s a poorly manufactured miniature version of what was believed to have been purchased. In many cases, the product is not received at all. There is frequently no way to return the items or receive a refund. In fact, there probably won’t even be a way to contact the company. People are also reading... One consumer reported the following experience: “I ordered some very large Halloween displays at a great price. After more time than expected and several emails they said my order was shipped. I found a tracking # and tracked it to a very small town in NC and the package had been delivered to a mailbox via USPS. These would not fit in a mailbox and the company will not refund until the merchandise is returned." This consumer reported losing $98. How to avoid holiday décor scams • Do research before you buy. Before making a purchase on an unfamiliar website, check out the company. Make sure they have working contact information. This should include a telephone number, email address, and, preferably, a physical address. Look on other websites for reviews of the company and reports of scams. Consumers should always look for business ratings and customer reviews on BBB.org . • Be wary of deals that seem too good to be true. Keep in mind that large decorations involving special lights and technology are expensive and may be costly to ship, too. If finding something amazing for a very cheap price, it could be a scam. • Don’t make quick purchases on social media. Scam advertisers can track a consumer's buying habits from social media ads and target accordingly with specific products they think would be of interest. Don’t buy anything on impulse while scrolling through social media. Do research first to avoid getting scammed. Be realistic when it comes to prices and products. • Always use your credit card for online purchases. Credit card companies allow you to dispute fraudulent charges, a resource that may not be available if making a purchase with a debit or gift card. If asked to pay via wire transfer, a prepaid gift card, or a digital wallet app, it could be a scam. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.Bayern Munich 1 PSG 0 - Paris risk Champions League exit, Dembele's nightmare, 'captain' Kimmich

NEW YORK , Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Paramount Global (the "Company") (NASDAQ: PARA , PARAA) today announced that it would redeem all of its remaining outstanding 4.750% senior notes due May 15, 2025 (the "4.750% senior notes") on December 27, 2024 . The redemption price for the 4.750% senior notes is equal to the sum of 100% of the principal amount of the 4.750% senior notes that remain outstanding, the make-whole amount calculated in accordance with the terms of the 4.750% senior notes and the related indenture under which the 4.750% senior notes were issued, and the accrued and unpaid interest on the remaining 4.750% senior notes up to, but excluding, the redemption date of December 27, 2024 . The aggregate principal amount of the 4.750% senior notes outstanding and the aggregate principal amount of the 4.750% senior notes to be redeemed is as set forth below: Holders owning 4.750% senior notes through a broker, bank, or other nominee should contact that party for information. For more information, holders of the 4.750% senior notes may call the paying agent for the redemption of the 4.750% senior notes, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas at (800) 735-7777. About Paramount Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA , PARAA) is a leading global media, streaming and entertainment company that creates premium content and experiences for audiences worldwide. Driven by iconic consumer brands, its portfolio includes CBS, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount+ and Pluto TV. The Company holds one of the industry's most extensive libraries of TV and film titles. In addition to offering innovative streaming services and digital video products, the Company provides powerful capabilities in production, distribution, and advertising solutions. Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This communication contains both historical and forward-looking statements, including statements related to our future results, performance and achievements. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Similarly, statements that describe our objectives, plans or goals are or may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations concerning future results and events; generally can be identified by the use of statements that include phrases such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "foresee," "likely," "will," "may," "could," "estimate" or other similar words or phrases; and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others: risks related to our streaming business; the adverse impact on our advertising revenues as a result of advertising market conditions, changes in consumer viewership and deficiencies in audience measurement; risks related to operating in highly competitive and dynamic industries, including cost increases; the unpredictable nature of consumer behavior, as well as evolving technologies and distribution models; risks related to our ongoing changes in business strategy, including investments in new businesses, products, services, technologies and other strategic activities; the potential for loss of carriage or other reduction in or the impact of negotiations for the distribution of our content; damage to our reputation or brands; losses due to asset impairment charges for goodwill, intangible assets, FCC licenses and content; liabilities related to discontinued operations and former businesses; risks related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters; evolving business continuity, cybersecurity, privacy and data protection and similar risks; content infringement; domestic and global political, economic and regulatory factors affecting our businesses generally; disruptions to our operations as a result of labor disputes; the inability to hire or retain key employees or secure creative talent; volatility in the prices of the Companyʼs common stock; potential conflicts of interest arising from our ownership structure with a controlling stockholder; business uncertainties, including the effect of the Skydance transactions on the Companyʼs employees, commercial partners, clients and customers, and contractual restrictions while the Skydance transactions are pending; prevention, delay or reduction of the anticipated benefits of the Skydance transactions as a result of the conditions to closing the Skydance transactions; the Transaction Agreementʼs limitation on our ability to pursue alternatives to the Skydance transactions; risks related to a failure to complete the Skydance transactions, including payment of a termination fee and negative reactions from the financial markets and from our employees, commercial partners, clients and customers; risks related to change in control or other provisions in certain agreements that may be triggered by the Skydance transactions; litigation relating to the Skydance transactions potentially preventing or delaying the closing of the Skydance transactions and/or resulting in payment of damages; challenges realizing synergies and other anticipated benefits expected from the Skydance transactions, including integrating the Companyʼs and Skydanceʼs businesses successfully; potential unforeseen direct and indirect costs as a result of the Skydance transactions; any negative effects of the announcement, pendency or consummation of the Skydance transactions on the market price of the Companyʼs common stock and New Paramount Class B Common Stock; and other factors described in our news releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. There may be additional risks, uncertainties and factors that we do not currently view as material or that are not necessarily known. The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date of this communication, and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. PARA-IR SOURCE Paramount GlobalManchester United boss Ruben Amorim dropped points for the first time in any league game he's taken control of this season, with that coming on his debut for the Red Devils against Ipswich Town in the Premier League - and one huge factor he may have to change is the application levels at Old Trafford this season, with statistics revealing that his stars only ran 102km combined on Sunday - the second-lowest tally of any United fixture this season. Amorim won all 11 of his league games for Sporting Lisbon this season prior to making the move to United, though he came unstuck against the Tractor Boys with Omari Hutchinson's goal cancelling out Marcus Rashford 's 81-second opener. It will take his side a long time to fix their problems, owing to work on the training ground, the pitch and in terms of recruitment - but Amorim does like his teams to be physical and that has produced a shocking statistic in which his stars only ran a combined 102km in Suffolk, something they will need to improve. United Mishap Laid Bare That Will Hurt Amorim As per Rich Fay on X (formerly Twitter), Amorim's men weren't at their best in terms of distance against Kieran McKenna's side , and with Amorim preferring physical, dynamic teams who stretch the pitch and show intensity , that may be an issue that needs solving almost immediately. Manchester United's Premier League statistics - Divisional ranking Stats Output Squad rank Wins 4 =12th Goals scored 13 =14th Goals conceded 13 =4th Shots Taken Per Game 13.8 =9th Shots Conceded Per Game 11.2 4th xG 20.05 11th He posted after the game: "United players ran a combined 102km against Ipswich, the second lowest distance they have ran in a match this season #mufc" Bruno Fernandes was the only United player to feature in the top 10 of all distances covered in the Premier League last season, racking up 390.39km - and as a central midfielder in Amorim's setup, how much he runs will set a precedent for the rest of the side. January signings, although needed, may be tough to come by and if Amorim is to - at the very minimum - carry his side into European contention, they will need to work harder for their rewards, with only Crystal Palace , Southampton and Everton scoring fewer goals in the top-flight so far this season. GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim won 164 of his 231 games in charge of Sporting Lisbon. That will give him food for thought going forward - but a lack of application is the first problem that Amorim must look to remedy. The new manager won’t be satisfied after his first game in charge ended in a 1-1 draw. Statistics courtesy of WhoScored . Correct as of 24-11-24.

Rosen Law Firm Announces Investigation of Breaches of Fiduciary Duties by the Directors and Officers of Southwest Airlines Co. - LUV

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Paramount Global (PRNewsfoto/ViacomCBS Inc.) NEW YORK , Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Paramount Global (the "Company") (NASDAQ: PARA, PARAA) today announced that it would redeem all of its remaining outstanding 4.750% senior notes due May 15, 2025 (the "4.750% senior notes") on December 27, 2024 . The redemption price for the 4.750% senior notes is equal to the sum of 100% of the principal amount of the 4.750% senior notes that remain outstanding, the make-whole amount calculated in accordance with the terms of the 4.750% senior notes and the related indenture under which the 4.750% senior notes were issued, and the accrued and unpaid interest on the remaining 4.750% senior notes up to, but excluding, the redemption date of December 27, 2024 . The aggregate principal amount of the 4.750% senior notes outstanding and the aggregate principal amount of the 4.750% senior notes to be redeemed is as set forth below: Holders owning 4.750% senior notes through a broker, bank, or other nominee should contact that party for information. For more information, holders of the 4.750% senior notes may call the paying agent for the redemption of the 4.750% senior notes, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas at (800) 735-7777. About Paramount Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA, PARAA) is a leading global media, streaming and entertainment company that creates premium content and experiences for audiences worldwide. Driven by iconic consumer brands, its portfolio includes CBS, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount+ and Pluto TV. The Company holds one of the industry's most extensive libraries of TV and film titles. In addition to offering innovative streaming services and digital video products, the Company provides powerful capabilities in production, distribution, and advertising solutions. Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This communication contains both historical and forward-looking statements, including statements related to our future results, performance and achievements. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Similarly, statements that describe our objectives, plans or goals are or may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations concerning future results and events; generally can be identified by the use of statements that include phrases such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "foresee," "likely," "will," "may," "could," "estimate" or other similar words or phrases; and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others: risks related to our streaming business; the adverse impact on our advertising revenues as a result of advertising market conditions, changes in consumer viewership and deficiencies in audience measurement; risks related to operating in highly competitive and dynamic industries, including cost increases; the unpredictable nature of consumer behavior, as well as evolving technologies and distribution models; risks related to our ongoing changes in business strategy, including investments in new businesses, products, services, technologies and other strategic activities; the potential for loss of carriage or other reduction in or the impact of negotiations for the distribution of our content; damage to our reputation or brands; losses due to asset impairment charges for goodwill, intangible assets, FCC licenses and content; liabilities related to discontinued operations and former businesses; risks related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters; evolving business continuity, cybersecurity, privacy and data protection and similar risks; content infringement; domestic and global political, economic and regulatory factors affecting our businesses generally; disruptions to our operations as a result of labor disputes; the inability to hire or retain key employees or secure creative talent; volatility in the prices of the Companyʼs common stock; potential conflicts of interest arising from our ownership structure with a controlling stockholder; business uncertainties, including the effect of the Skydance transactions on the Companyʼs employees, commercial partners, clients and customers, and contractual restrictions while the Skydance transactions are pending; prevention, delay or reduction of the anticipated benefits of the Skydance transactions as a result of the conditions to closing the Skydance transactions; the Transaction Agreementʼs limitation on our ability to pursue alternatives to the Skydance transactions; risks related to a failure to complete the Skydance transactions, including payment of a termination fee and negative reactions from the financial markets and from our employees, commercial partners, clients and customers; risks related to change in control or other provisions in certain agreements that may be triggered by the Skydance transactions; litigation relating to the Skydance transactions potentially preventing or delaying the closing of the Skydance transactions and/or resulting in payment of damages; challenges realizing synergies and other anticipated benefits expected from the Skydance transactions, including integrating the Companyʼs and Skydanceʼs businesses successfully; potential unforeseen direct and indirect costs as a result of the Skydance transactions; any negative effects of the announcement, pendency or consummation of the Skydance transactions on the market price of the Companyʼs common stock and New Paramount Class B Common Stock; and other factors described in our news releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. There may be additional risks, uncertainties and factors that we do not currently view as material or that are not necessarily known. The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date of this communication, and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. PARA-IR View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/paramount-global-announces-redemption-of-its-4-750-senior-notes-due-may-2025--302334251.html SOURCE Paramount GlobalNEW YORK , Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces it is investigating potential breaches of fiduciary duties by the directors and officers of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) in connection with Southwest Airlines' information technology infrastructure impacting the Company's business, operations, and stock price. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Top trending stories from the past week. News, Sports, and more throughout the week. The week's obituaries, delivered to your inbox.Middle East latest: Israeli strikes on Gaza hospital wound 3, Netanyahu vows 'iron fist' in Lebanon

panalo999 net MILAN, Italy : Inter Milan secured a 2-0 victory over lowly Como thanks to second-half goals from Carlos Augusto and Marcus Thuram on Monday to remain within touching distance of the Serie A summit. The win lifted third-placed defending champions Inter to 37 points from 16 games. They are three points off leaders Atalanta and one behind second-placed Napoli, who have both played 17. After dominating the first half, Inter finally took the lead with Augusto's towering header at the far post from a Hakan Calhanoglu corner three minutes after the break. Thuram sealed the win two minutes into stoppage time with a powerful shot past Pepe Reina to reach 12 league goals, level with Atalanta's Mateo Retegui in the Serie A scoring chart.

By HALELUYA HADERO The emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools that allow people to efficiently produce novel and detailed online reviews with almost no work has put merchants , service providers and consumers in uncharted territory, watchdog groups and researchers say. Related Articles National News | Mega Millions jackpot nears $1 billion ahead of Christmas Eve drawing National News | The Container Store, buffeted by rough housing market and competition, seeks bankruptcy protection National News | An ex-police officer is convicted of lying about leaks to the Proud Boys leader National News | 2 US Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in apparent ‘friendly fire’ incident, US military says National News | Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to state murder and other charges in United Healthcare CEO’s death Phony reviews have long plagued many popular consumer websites, such as Amazon and Yelp. They are typically traded on private social media groups between fake review brokers and businesses willing to pay. Sometimes, such reviews are initiated by businesses that offer customers incentives such as gift cards for positive feedback. But AI-infused text generation tools, popularized by OpenAI’s ChatGPT , enable fraudsters to produce reviews faster and in greater volume, according to tech industry experts. The deceptive practice, which is illegal in the U.S. , is carried out year-round but becomes a bigger problem for consumers during the holiday shopping season , when many people rely on reviews to help them purchase gifts. Fake reviews are found across a wide range of industries, from e-commerce, lodging and restaurants, to services such as home repairs, medical care and piano lessons. The Transparency Company, a tech company and watchdog group that uses software to detect fake reviews, said it started to see AI-generated reviews show up in large numbers in mid-2023 and they have multiplied ever since. For a report released this month, The Transparency Company analyzed 73 million reviews in three sectors: home, legal and medical services. Nearly 14% of the reviews were likely fake, and the company expressed a “high degree of confidence” that 2.3 million reviews were partly or entirely AI-generated. “It’s just a really, really good tool for these review scammers,” said Maury Blackman, an investor and advisor to tech startups, who reviewed The Transparency Company’s work and is set to lead the organization starting Jan. 1. In August, software company DoubleVerify said it was observing a “significant increase” in mobile phone and smart TV apps with reviews crafted by generative AI. The reviews often were used to deceive customers into installing apps that could hijack devices or run ads constantly, the company said. The following month, the Federal Trade Commission sued the company behind an AI writing tool and content generator called Rytr, accusing it of offering a service that could pollute the marketplace with fraudulent reviews. The FTC, which this year banned the sale or purchase of fake reviews, said some of Rytr’s subscribers used the tool to produce hundreds and perhaps thousands of reviews for garage door repair companies, sellers of “replica” designer handbags and other businesses. Max Spero, CEO of AI detection company Pangram Labs, said the software his company uses has detected with almost certainty that some AI-generated appraisals posted on Amazon bubbled up to the top of review search results because they were so detailed and appeared to be well thought-out. But determining what is fake or not can be challenging. External parties can fall short because they don’t have “access to data signals that indicate patterns of abuse,” Amazon has said. Pangram Labs has done detection for some prominent online sites, which Spero declined to name due to non-disclosure agreements. He said he evaluated Amazon and Yelp independently. Many of the AI-generated comments on Yelp appeared to be posted by individuals who were trying to publish enough reviews to earn an “Elite” badge, which is intended to let users know they should trust the content, Spero said. The badge provides access to exclusive events with local business owners. Fraudsters also want it so their Yelp profiles can look more realistic, said Kay Dean, a former federal criminal investigator who runs a watchdog group called Fake Review Watch. To be sure, just because a review is AI-generated doesn’t necessarily mean its fake. Some consumers might experiment with AI tools to generate content that reflects their genuine sentiments. Some non-native English speakers say they turn to AI to make sure they use accurate language in the reviews they write. “It can help with reviews (and) make it more informative if it comes out of good intentions,” said Michigan State University marketing professor Sherry He, who has researched fake reviews. She says tech platforms should focus on the behavioral patters of bad actors, which prominent platforms already do, instead of discouraging legitimate users from turning to AI tools. Prominent companies are developing policies for how AI-generated content fits into their systems for removing phony or abusive reviews. Some already employ algorithms and investigative teams to detect and take down fake reviews but are giving users some flexibility to use AI. Spokespeople for Amazon and Trustpilot, for example, said they would allow customers to post AI-assisted reviews as long as they reflect their genuine experience. Yelp has taken a more cautious approach, saying its guidelines require reviewers to write their own copy. “With the recent rise in consumer adoption of AI tools, Yelp has significantly invested in methods to better detect and mitigate such content on our platform,” the company said in a statement. The Coalition for Trusted Reviews, which Amazon, Trustpilot, employment review site Glassdoor, and travel sites Tripadvisor, Expedia and Booking.com launched last year, said that even though deceivers may put AI to illicit use, the technology also presents “an opportunity to push back against those who seek to use reviews to mislead others.” “By sharing best practice and raising standards, including developing advanced AI detection systems, we can protect consumers and maintain the integrity of online reviews,” the group said. The FTC’s rule banning fake reviews, which took effect in October, allows the agency to fine businesses and individuals who engage in the practice. Tech companies hosting such reviews are shielded from the penalty because they are not legally liable under U.S. law for the content that outsiders post on their platforms. Tech companies, including Amazon, Yelp and Google, have sued fake review brokers they accuse of peddling counterfeit reviews on their sites. The companies say their technology has blocked or removed a huge swath of suspect reviews and suspicious accounts. However, some experts say they could be doing more. “Their efforts thus far are not nearly enough,” said Dean of Fake Review Watch. “If these tech companies are so committed to eliminating review fraud on their platforms, why is it that I, one individual who works with no automation, can find hundreds or even thousands of fake reviews on any given day?” Consumers can try to spot fake reviews by watching out for a few possible warning signs , according to researchers. Overly enthusiastic or negative reviews are red flags. Jargon that repeats a product’s full name or model number is another potential giveaway. When it comes to AI, research conducted by Balázs Kovács, a Yale professor of organization behavior, has shown that people can’t tell the difference between AI-generated and human-written reviews. Some AI detectors may also be fooled by shorter texts, which are common in online reviews, the study said. However, there are some “AI tells” that online shoppers and service seekers should keep it mind. Panagram Labs says reviews written with AI are typically longer, highly structured and include “empty descriptors,” such as generic phrases and attributes. The writing also tends to include cliches like “the first thing that struck me” and “game-changer.”

CMG Deadline Alert: CMG Investors with Losses in Excess of $100K Have Opportunity to Lead Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. Securities Fraud Lawsuit Filed by The Rosen Law Firm

Share Tweet Share Share Email Electrical Solutions, the official representative of EKF in Russia, has been honored with the Breakthrough Brand title in the 2024 Brand of the Year awards. This demonstrates a mission to adapt to market needs and deliver practical solutions. The Brand of the Year awards acknowledge businesses that influence their industries through constant development, and the company stands out for its contributions to advancing electrical solutions. This milestone for Electrical Solutions comes alongside other achievements, including the expansion of its product range and the implementation of sustainability initiatives. Representing the global brand EKF, Electrical Solutions has worked to meet the increasing demands of a growing market while exploring new technologies. Innovation with a Practical Focus Electrical Solutions has focused on providing useful and reliable products. Over the past few years, the company has rolled out several new technologies aimed at simplifying processes for businesses and professionals. For instance, the launch of the TERACOM line of telecommunications equipment in 2023 introduced tools designed to integrate seamlessly with modern industrial systems. In 2024, the company expanded its telecommunications offerings to include active equipment, reflecting a focus on staying ahead of market demands. Another notable development is the EKF Connect Industry platform, which enables businesses to monitor production processes and energy consumption in real time. Tools like this have made it easier for users to manage resources effectively. The Marketing Director for the company commented, “This recognition is a result of our efforts to address real-world challenges with solutions that align with market needs. It’s encouraging to see these initiatives acknowledged at this level.” Electrical Solutions: Progress Beyond Product Innovation This recent recognition extends beyond product development. Sustainability has also been a key focus. One innovative program, launched in 2022, introduced measures to reduce waste and improve energy efficiency while ensuring safe and fair working conditions. These efforts earned them a spot in the ESG index, where it was rated “second level” for meeting high standards in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. The program also supports employee development and community engagement. This broader focus helps balance the company’s goals for business growth with responsible practices that benefit stakeholders. The emphasis on ESG principles aligns with EKF’s broader vision of being a sustainable and forward-thinking brand. Scaling for the Future As a Brand Representative of EKF In addition to continuing with its ongoing initiatives, Electrical Solutions is looking to make major expansions to support its growth. The company is planning to become a joint stock company and will have an initial public offering (IPO) in 2025–2027. The move is expected to draw investments there to fund higher capacity production and new projects. The company has already grown its product range to 427 items, including modular equipment, sockets, and telecommunications solutions. With plans to further expand its facilities and add advanced manufacturing technologies, they aim to meet the growing demand for electrical solutions. Localizing production has been another priority, helping the company streamline logistics and maintain quality standards. A Recognition of Efforts Winning the Brand of the Year award highlights efforts to address challenges in the electrical solutions market. Rather than relying on flashy campaigns, the company has focused on practical improvements and meaningful contributions. The award is a reflection of its ability to grow while remaining responsive to the needs of professionals and businesses alike. That recognition also highlights the need for innovation to achieve the same. Electrical Solutions has been working closely with the brand as the official representative of EKF to bring innovative solutions to the market. The key to success has been sustainability initiatives, product development, and working with industry professionals. Growth and Responsibility Balance As it looks ahead, Electrical Solutions is balancing growth with responsibility. The IPO will help the company expand its operations, but the company will continue to maintain high standards in quality and sustainability. It is localizing production to create a more efficient and reliable supply chain that is beneficial to partners and end users. A central role in the company’s plans is also the company’s focus on sustainability. ESG FAST TRACK is an example of how businesses can put environmental and social goals on the same level as financial goals. A balanced approach ensures that Electrical Solutions and EKF will be able to continue to produce meaningful contributions to the Russian electrical equipment market. Moving Forward While winning Brand of the Year is a great milestone, it’s only one part of the larger story for Electrical Solutions. It’s clear that the company is doing the right things to adjust to changing industry needs and establish a base for long-term growth. The approach it took, which was based on working on practical tools, expanding its capabilities, and human sustainability principles, is thoughtful. The company Electrical Solutions has plans for further expansion, new product launches, and will continue to represent EKF to be an important brand in the electrical solutions industry in Russia. From here forward, we expect the needs of the company’s partners and customers to remain its priority so that growth also serves the interests of all stakeholders. Related Items: Electrical , Industry Share Tweet Share Share Email Recommended for you Top 5 Platforms for Tracking Climate Technologies and Industry News Exploring the Future of Metals | Innovations and Trends in the Industry Augmented Reality in Civil Engineering: Revolutionizing the Industry CommentsLOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani is keeping elite company. The Japanese superstar caps 2024 by winning The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the third time, tying him with basketball great Michael Jordan. He trails only four-time winners Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and LeBron James. "I'm very honored," Ohtani said through translator Matt Hidaka in an exclusive interview with the AP. "Obviously all the hard work has paid off. Maybe next year, I'll get the award again." In balloting by 74 sports journalists from the AP and its members, Ohtani received 48 votes. He previously won the award in 2023 and 2021, when he was with the Angels. "Growing up in Japan, I did follow Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods," he said. "I would see their accolades and how they were successful in the United States." The AP honor has been given out since 1931. Golfer Babe Didrikson won six times, the most by a man or woman. Swimmer Léon Marchand of France, who won four gold medals at the Paris Olympics, was second with 10 votes in balloting announced Monday. Golfer Scottie Scheffler, whose victories this year included the Masters and an Olympic gold medal, was third with nine. The AP Female Athlete of the Year will be announced Tuesday. Moving from the beleaguered Los Angeles Angels to the powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers, Ohtani won his third Most Valuable Player award and first in the National League, led his new team to its eighth World Series championship and created Major League Baseball's 50/50 club by hitting 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases. Ohtani signed a then-record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December 2023. Already a two-way superstar, he embellished his reputation even further despite not pitching all season while he rehabilitated from a second major right elbow surgery he had in September 2023. Ohtani went wild on offense, making every at-bat a must-see moment. The 6-foot-4 designated hitter batted a career-high .310 while easily surpassing his previous career highs in home runs and stolen bases. In September, he reached the previously unheard of 50/50 mark in a performance for the ages. Against the Miami Marlins in Florida, Ohtani went 6 for 6 with three homers, 10 RBIs, two stolen bases and 17 total bases. "It wouldn't shock me if he went 60/60 and 20 wins a year from now," Brad Ausmus, who managed the Angels in 2019 during Ohtani's second season in Anaheim, said recently. "This guy is the greatest athlete to ever play the sport of baseball and there's not a close second." Ohtani said he knew the Dodgers' franchise record for most homers in a season was 49. His previous best was 46, set in 2021. "I kind of wanted to get over that bar," he said. "I was pleasantly surprised I was able to pass that record." Ohtani carried the Dodgers offensively during the regular season, and he stayed healthy until Game 2 of the World Series. He injured his left shoulder trying to steal second base against the New York Yankees and finished the Series playing hurt. He underwent surgery a few days after the Dodgers celebrated their championship in early November. "I don't have full range of motion yet, but it feels a lot better," he told the AP. "There's no pain. There's obviously still a little bit of tightness, but slowly but surely it's getting better." Ohtani recently received an updated rehab schedule, and he's focused on the near-term. "It's the small steps that I think are very important to get me to the ultimate goal, which is to just get back healthy," he said. Ohtani is also throwing in the 70 mph range, which is typical for pitchers early in the offseason. "I'm going to continue to ramp up slowly," he said. The Dodgers' rotation for next season is in flux, and Ohtani is waiting to see how it shakes out. "We may go with a five-man rotation with a bullpen (game), which is what we did a lot during this season or we may have a six-man rotation," he said. "But it's all about balancing out when we can get rest and recuperate. We'll see where that takes us along the playoff chase. I've got to obviously pace myself, but again that situation will guide us to how we get there." The Dodgers open the 2025 season in Japan, where Ohtani is even more closely watched. "My personal goal is to be fully healthy by the time the opening games do start," he said. "To be able to pitch and hit would be great, but the situation will kind of guide itself." Each time Ohtani comes to the plate or steps on the mound, there's great pressure and expectation for him to perform spectacular feats. "I just go out there and try to stay within myself," he said. "I can only control what I can control and that's where you trust your teammates. The guys behind me, you trust they're going to make the plays for you. I don't really try to overthink it." Ohtani generated big bucks for the Dodgers off the field, too. Fans traveled from Japan in droves to see him play around the U.S. At Dodger Stadium, they paid extra for tours of baseball's third-oldest venue narrated by Japanese-speaking guides and to be on the field during pre-game batting practice. A majority of the fans bought Ohtani-branded merchandise, especially his No. 17 jersey. Ohtani's presence also helped the Dodgers land a bevy of new Japanese sponsors. Because Ohtani prefers to speak Japanese and use an interpreter with the media, he is shrouded in a bit of mystique. Asked before his first postgame series if he was nervous, he dropped a one-word answer in English: "Nope," which drew laughter. Japanese-born Dodgers manager Dave Roberts observed Ohtani's behind-the-scenes interactions with his teammates, coaches and staff, and came away impressed. "I really do believe that as good of a ballplayer as he is, he's a much better person. He's very kind, considerate, he cares," Roberts told the AP. "I'm just proud of any fame or glory or award that he receives because he just does it in such a respectful and humble way." Ohtani relishes his privacy and rarely shares details about himself off the field. That's why his February announcement via Instagram that he had wed Mamiko Tanaka, a former basketball player, stunned his new teammates and the rest of the world. The following month, after the Dodgers arrived in South Korea to open the season, he was enveloped in scandal when his longtime interpreter and friend, Ippei Mizuhara, was fired by the Dodgers after being accused of using millions of dollars of Ohtani's money to place bets with an illegal bookmaker. His new teammates rallied around Ohtani, who was found to have no part in the wrongdoing, and publicly it didn't seem to affect him even if he was privately distressed by it. By June, the uproar had subsided. Mizuhara pleaded guilty to federal bank and tax fraud charges and admitted to stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani. The public got a glimpse of Ohtani's softer side in August, when his dog Decoy delivered a first pitch to his owner on their shared bobblehead night. The Nederlandse Kooikerhondje exchanged an endearing high-five with Ohtani at the plate. As a result, Decoy became a celebrity in his own right, with his breed (pronounced COY-ker-HUND-che) making the list of the most mispronounced words of 2024. He and Ohtani were mentioned during the telecast of last month's National Dog Show, where the small Spaniel-type breed was among the competitors. "The number of the breed has kind of dwindled, so by him gaining a little bit of popularity hopefully that brings up the number of his breed," Ohtani said. "I do feel like we were able to, in a small way, contribute to the popularity of the dog and I'm sure Decoy himself would be happy about that." Ohtani will be looking to top himself next year while eyeing a repeat World Series title. "It's almost like right now you can lock in the Most Valuable Player in the National League award because no one has that ability or talent," Roberts said. "I'm just excited to see what '25 has for Shohei Ohtani."

76ers' Paul George to Miss Extended Time With Severe Bone Bruise InjuryElizabeth Mannshardt Joins Westat as VP and Director, Statistics and Data Science

The way that freshman guard Brooke Carlson has started her college basketball career at Colorado State could have been hard to predict by some people. If Carlson were just an average player, perhaps that would be the case. The way that Batavia coach Kevin Jensen knows Carlson, however, her initial success is no shock at all. “I can’t say that any of us are surprised,” Jensen said. “Athletically, she’s so gifted. We were a nice piece to the puzzle with how she developed, but so many times behind the scenes, she was putting in hours and hours of work that very few knew about. It’s paying off now.” Especially since Carlson has emerged as Colorado State’s top option off the bench. Carlson, Batavia’s all-time leading scorer, is averaging 6.2 points in her first taste of college action. She also has 25 assists, 14 steals and 12 rebounds for the Rams (9-4). “It’s been 100% better than what I felt like I was coming into,” Carlson said. “It’s been a lot, but it’s been fun. I was kind of expecting to figure my way out, but I found what I can do already.” The highlight game for Carlson came Dec. 8 against Gonzaga. She scored 18 points in 27 minutes, both career highs. While those statistics are striking, what stands out most is what Carlson accomplished countless times at Batavia. When the game is in the balance, Carlson finds a way to take over. Batavia’s Brooke Carlson (2) drives past Wheaton Warrenville South’s Emily Troia during the Class 4A Bartlett Regional championship game on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (Jon Langham / The Beacon-News) She hit a layup with 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give Colorado State a 66-65 lead against Gonzaga, which eventually forced a tie and sent the game into overtime. With only 2 seconds left in OT, another layup by Carlson gave the Rams a dramatic 74-72 win. “The bigger the stage, the better she’s going to look,” Jensen said. “That’s holding true still.” Colorado State coach Ryun Williams fell in love with Carlson’s game during the recruiting process, but translating that skill to the next level can often be tricky. Carlson, however, has made quick strides with the Rams. Mike Mantucca / The Beacon-News Batavia’s Brooke Carlson (2) goes up for a layup against Geneva’s Leah Palmer (22) during the Class 4A Glenbard West Sectional final in Glen Ellyn on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. (Mike Mantucca / The Beacon-News) “First of all, just an elite competitor,” Williams said. “Her motor really stood out. She’s a fearless player. That really stood out to me and the staff. Obviously, she’s very skilled. She can put pressure on the rim and can shoot it. “We surely hoped we could get her on the floor early in her career. She’s the one that got herself to that floor. We expect that to keep growing. She’s just different than anyone else on our team. I think she’s a kid that can lead us.” Carlson knew that the level of play would jump up significantly in college. Those hours that Jensen talked about behind the scenes helped her build to that level. She’ll experience another level of play Sunday when Colorado State begins Mountain West Conference play at Utah State. “It’s definitely a lot more pressure and more intense, I would say,” Carlson said. “At the end of the day, it’s just basketball, so you have to figure out how to make it like it’s always been.” Jon Langham/The Beacon-News Batavia’s Brooke Carlson (2) scoops in a layup after splitting the defense of Geneva’s Kinsey Gracie (24) and Leah Palmer during a DuKane Conference game in Batavia on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. (Jon Langham / The Beacon-News) Williams also has seen all the traits he observed about Carlson in high school manifest quickly. “She’s got that little swag,” Williams said. “She’s a confident young lady. She believes in her ability, and fearless is the word. She’s had a great first semester for us, and she’s been rewarded for it. “I’m sure there’s more of that to come, but we’re just trying to get her to be really consistent and solid every single day. She’s buying into how she needs to really impact our team.” Carlson has a simple plan for the rest of the season. “I just feel like finding myself, being 100% comfortable in what I’m doing and winning are the goals,” Carlson said. “It’s a lot of hard work, that’s for sure.” Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will chair a meeting of the cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations today, amid increasing calls for his resignation. A mid-day adjustment to Trudeau's itinerary was issued by the Prime Minister's Office and notes he will take part in the meeting virtually, though a specific time wasn't listed. It's been a chaotic week for the governing Liberals, starting with Chrystia Freeland's cabinet resignation just hours after she was set to table the fall economic statement. Freeland and new Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc have previously spoken with the media at the conclusion of these cabinet committee meetings. The committee was reformed following Donald Trump's re-election, and a chief topic of discussion at the meetings has been border security after the incoming president threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian products. Several Liberal MPs publicly called for Trudeau to step down as Liberal leader since Freeland's resignation, and the NDP has joined the other major opposition parties in saying it no longer has confidence in the minority Liberal government. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2024 David Baxter, The Canadian Press

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Calvary Christian came to The Classic with plans to return to Florida as champions. They certainly looked the part on Friday. “That is the goal, one day at a time,” Calvary Christian head coach Cilk McSweeney said. “We are looking forward to it. We are undefeated so far and our goal is to stay undefeated.” Six-foot-8 senior Shon Abaev, who chose the University of Cincinnati over Tennessee among other schools, displayed the ability to go inside for shoot from outside, scoring 22 points, while also pulling down six rebounds in the Eagles’ 79-59 Classic round victory over Webb School from Knoxville on Friday afternoon at Viking Hall. Sophomore Cayden Daughtry, considered one of the top sophomores in the nation, actually led the Eagles with 27 points on 11-for-17 shooting from the field, including a trio of 3s, along five five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Abaev led Calvary Christian with five 3-pointers, going 5-for-8 from long range, while Collin Paul added 11 points and five boards. “They are different. We told our guys, that was kind of a woodshed moment,” Webb head coach Ricky Norris said. “They are really good, we knew they were really good coming in. I think what separates them is they play really hard. They compete at a high level and they are obviously talented. We knew that coming in, but until you get out there and play against them you don’t feel them. “We felt them today. They are really good. We have played a lot of talented teams, especially up here and across the south and I would have to think hard about it, but they are as good as any we have played.” Calvary Christian (8-0), which also has one of the nation’s top eight graders in Draydne McDaniel, who had five points, thee boards and a steal, led 35-20 at halftime and outscored the Spartans 29-18 in the third quarter to build a commanding 64-38 lead with a quarter to play. The Eagles shot 55.4 percent from the field to 38.2 for the Spartans. “Once we got settled in and got the guys moving and just played how Calvary plays I think we were fine,” said McSweeney, who played college basketball at Penn State under former East Tennessee State head coach Ed DeChellis. “We knew we were bigger than them, we had the size advantage early as far as taking it to the rim and playing through fouls. We didn’t know how the Tennessee whistles were going to be, but I thought they did a great job for the most part. As soon as they make their moves and get to the rim and finish there is really nothing they can do.” Cam Swearengen led Webb (14-2) with 17 points, while Alex Leith added 11. The Spartans struggled from long range until late, equally the Eagles with nine 3s apiece, led by Winston Luton, who made three of them. Jaylen Pompey added four assists in the loss. “They have got length at the rim, but they also have length at the perimeter,” Norris said. “We knew we had we to make about 15 3s just to be in the ball park and we didn’t early. We made some late when it was over, but we missed a bunch early to kind of keep it within striking distance. They are just hard to guard, we tried everything we knew defensively.” Abaev, who chose Cincinnati over Tennessee, Syracuse, Arkansas, Auburn and more, has risen up the ranks and credits much of his development to his coaching at Calvary Christian. “It is a great feeling, a lot of hard work every day in practice,” Abaev said. “Our.coach pushes us a lot, sometimes we feel like it is too much, but at the end of the day they do it because they know what they are doing, they played in this sport for a long time. They played themselves so they know what they are doing so we just trust in what they say and what they want us to do and we do it.” Calvary Christian will face St. Michael’s Prep from Texas in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Don’t count them out. “You don’t have any losing teams in here, right,” said McSweeney, in speaking to the media after the game. “We want to be here every day. Get your questions ready tomorrow.” Webb will play Bartlett in a loser’s bracket contest on Saturday at noon. “They are just better. That is just one you tip your hat. They are better than we are,” Norris said. “We don’t have to beat them to reach our goals. They are going to beat to a lot of people, we are not going to be the only ones sitting here. I want to give them credit, I am not incredibly happy about how we played to be honest with you, but I also there were some things that we didn’t do that we typically do. They did have something to do with it, but they are really good.” SLAM DUNK CONTEST Baylor signee Tounde Yessoufou, a top-40 senior prospect in the nation, slammed his way to The Classic slam dunk contest victory and followed that up 20 minutes later by leading St. Joseph (Cal.) to an opening round win over West Ridge. Winning dunk contests is nothing unusual for the native of Africa. "I had no doubt," said St. Joseph teammate Julius Price. "He has been in a lot of dunk contests, I have never seen him lose. We went to Oregon last week and he won it there too." "I don't remember how many I have won, but in my four years every slam contest I have won," added Yessoufou. "Honestly I don't count them. I just play hard. My goal is to win, that is all. That is what I am here to do...Regardless of anything that is going on, my number one thing is to always win at anything that I do. If it is a slam dunk competition I want to be number one. I am obviously excited I got the trophy to go home with." Yessoufou joined Sam Hallas from Calvary Christian, Fla., and Tre McKinnon of Lake Norman, N.C., in the finals and earned the win despite McKinnon jumping over two teammates over varying heights in separate dunks and Hallas, who leaped over 6-8 Shon Abaeu for an emphatic slam in the final round. Among Yessoufou's dunks was catching a pass of the side of the backboard by one of his teammates and then slamming it through the hoop. His final dunk came by leaping into the air, taking the ball between his legs and then slamming it for what proved to be the decider for the five judges watching from mid-court. "I saved the best for last. Everybody was trying to go to the next level and all that stuff so I just felt like my number one thing is consistency," he said. "I wanted to win. I wanted to show everybody what I have got right from the jump. I just wanted to show they what I could do." In addition to that trio, five other entrants included Bo Ogden (St. Michael's Prep), Dylan Bannon (West Ridge), Brandon Graham (Tennessee High), Chamberlain Burgess (Orem) and Matas Siskaukas (St. Joesph).CHICAGO , Dec. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PEAK6 Investments LLC ("PEAK6") today announced that, effective January 1, 2025 , it will move its global headquarters from its current location in Chicago, Illinois to the company's existing office in Austin, Texas , which it established in 2021. PEAK6 affiliates PEAK6 Group LLC, PEAK6 Strategic Capital LLC, PEAK6 APX Holdings LLC and PEAK6 LLC will also relocate their global headquarters to Austin . PEAK6 will maintain its office in Chicago . " Texas has been a cornerstone of PEAK6's growth for over a decade," said PEAK6 Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Matt Hulsizer , who continued, "With the majority of our talented workforce now based in Texas and Austin emerging as our largest office, moving our headquarters was an important decision to be closer to our team. We're excited for the next chapter of PEAK6 that will be written from our new headquarters." Austin's unique blend of creativity, technology and culture provides the ideal environment for PEAK6. The city's highly educated workforce, business climate, and strong entrepreneurial spirit have enabled us to attract top talent and drive innovation. About PEAK6 PEAK6 uses technology to find a better way of doing things. The company's first tech-based solution was developed in 1997 to optimize options trading, and over the past two decades, the same formula has been used across a range of industries, asset classes, and business stages to consistently deliver superior results. Today, PEAK6 seeks transformational opportunities to provide capital and strategic support to entrepreneurs and forward-thinking businesses. PEAK6's core brands include PEAK6 Capital Management, PEAK6 Strategic Capital, Apex Fintech Solutions, We Insure, FOCUS, Zogo, Evil Geniuses and Poker Power. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/peak6-to-relocate-global-headquarters-to-austin-texas-302339437.html SOURCE PEAK6 InvestmentsBoyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith sells $2.16 million in stock

Legendary singer-songwriter Elton John has said he had to delay the release of his upcoming album due to an eye infection that has significantly impaired his vision. Speaking on ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday, the 77-year-old said he has not been able to see out of his right eye for four months, impacting his ability to work. Elton John lost sight in his right eye following a severe eye infection. Credit: AP “I unfortunately lost my eyesight in my right eye in July because I had an infection in the South of France ... And my left eye’s not the greatest,” he said. “I’m kind of stuck at the moment because I can do something like this [interview], but going into the studio and recording, I don’t know because I can’t see a lyric for a start.” During a speech at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame ceremony last year, John revealed he had a new album on the way with lyricist Bernie Taupin. It would mark his first studio album including all original material since Wonderful Crazy Night in 2016. However, his eye infection has delayed its release. “It’s never fortunate for anything like this to happen, and it kind of floored me. I can’t see anything, I can’t read anything, I can’t watch anything,” John said. The pop star is undergoing unspecified treatment and remains optimistic he will recover. “There’s hope and encouragement that it will be OK. At the moment, that’s really what we’re concentrating on.” The interview comes almost three months after he told fans on social media that he had contracted a severe eye infection that left him with limited sight in the impacted eye. “I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process,” he wrote on Instagram in September. Despite his impaired vision, John has made multiple appearances over the past few months, including joining pop star Dua Lipa on stage at her Royal Albert Hall concert in October, where they performed their popular duet Cold Heart .

AP News Summary at 5:36 p.m. EST

Google and the US government faced off in a federal court on Monday, as each side delivered closing arguments in a case revolving around the technology giant's alleged unfair domination of online advertising. The trial in a Virginia federal court is Google's second US antitrust case now under way as the US government tries to rein in the power of big tech. In a separate trial, a Washington judge ruled that Google's search business is an illegal monopoly, and the US Justice Department is asking that Google sell its Chrome browser business to resolve the case. The latest case, also brought by the Justice Department, focuses on ad technology for the open web -- the complex system determining which online ads people see when they surf the internet. The vast majority of websites use a trio of Google ad software products that together, leave no way for publishers to escape Google's advertising technology, the plaintiffs allege. Publishers -- including News Corp and Gannett publishing -- complain that they are locked into Google's advertising technology in order to run ads on their websites. "Google is once, twice, three times a monopolist," DOJ lawyer Aaron Teitelbaum told the court in closing arguments. Presiding judge Leonie Brinkema has said that she would deliver her opinion swiftly, as early as next month. Whatever Brinkema's judgment, the outcome will almost certainly be appealed, prolonging a process that could go all the way to the US Supreme Court. The government alleges that Google controls the auction-style system that advertisers use to purchase advertising space online. The US lawyers argue that this approach allows Google to charge higher prices to advertisers while sending less revenue to publishers such as news websites, many of which are struggling to stay in business. The US argues that Google used its financial power to acquire potential rivals and corner the ad tech market, leaving advertisers and publishers with no choice but to use its technology. The government wants Google to divest parts of its ad tech business. Google dismissed the allegations as an attempt by the government to pick "winners and losers" in a diverse market. The company argues that the display ads at issue are just a small share of today's ad tech business. Google says the plaintiffs' definition of the market ignores ads that are also placed in search results, apps and social media platforms and where, taken as a whole, Google does not dominate. "The law simply does not support what the plaintiffs are arguing in this case," said Google's lawyer Karen Dunn. She warned that if Google were to lose the case, the winners would be rival tech giants such as Microsoft, Meta or Amazon, whose market share in online advertising is ascendant as Google's share is falling. The DOJ countered that it simply "does not matter" that Google is competing in the broader market for online ads. "That is a different question" than the market for ads on websites that is the target of the case, said Teitelbaum. Google also points to US legal precedent, saying arguments similar to the government's have been refuted in previous antitrust cases. Dunn also warned that forcing Google to work with rivals in its ad products would amount to government central planning that the court should reject. If the judge finds Google to be at fault, a new phase of the trial would decide how the company should comply with that conclusion. And all that could be moot if the incoming Trump administration decides to drop the case. The president-elect has been a critic of Google's, but he warned earlier this month that breaking it up could be "a very dangerous thing." arp/dw

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The Texas Board of Education approved a new K-5 curriculum that allows Bible teachings in classrooms. The curriculum includes Biblical and Christian lessons about Moses, the story of the Good Samaritan, the Golden Rule, readings from The Book of Genesis, and more. The accuracy of the materials has come under scrutiny. For example, the curriculum claims "Abraham Lincoln and other leading abolitionists relied on a deep Christian faith," though Lincoln's religion has historically been debated . The instructional materials, called Bluebonnet Learning, are developed by the state, according to the Texas Education Agency. The lessons would be optional, but districts can receive at least $40 per student for using state-approved materials, according to local legislation. Some supporters of instituting religion in the curriculum say that these religious texts are important for the historical context of U.S. history and can instill moral values in the classroom. While some critics said, this violates the First Amendment right to freedom of religion for students and teachers, forcing classrooms to engage in Christian instruction. MORE: Some legislators lean into religion in public education as Supreme Court leans right Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has spoken out in support of the Texas Education Agency's curriculum after singing legislation directing the Texas Education Agency to purchase and develop instructional materials. "The materials will also allow our students to better understand the connection of history, art, community, literature, and religion on pivotal events like the signing of the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Movement, and the American Revolution," Abbott said in a May statement. "I thank the TEA for their work to ensure our students receive a robust educational foundation to succeed so that we can build a brighter Texas for generations to come." The Freedom From Religion Foundation, an advocacy organization centering on the separation of state and church, has criticized the curriculum, claiming leaders are determined to "turn the state's public schools into Christian training grounds." "The curriculum targets the youngest, most impressionable elementary students, starting by introducing kindergartners to Jesus," FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in an online statement ahead of the vote. "Religious instruction is the purview of parents, not proselytizing school boards. This is a shameful ruse by Christian nationalists in Texas who see the schools as a mission field." States like Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and others have been behind the push to enforce Christian-based school requirements, including the implementation of Bibles, the Ten Commandments and other religious doctrines in schools. Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the grades of the proposed curriculum. The new plan would be for K-5 schools.

AP Trending SummaryBrief at 6:09 p.m. EST

The Latest: Matt Gaetz withdraws his name from consideration as Trump’s attorney general

Restoring sanity amid the chaos of contemporary systemsBOZEMAN — For the first time in program history, the Montana State football team finished a regular season unbeaten. The No. 2-ranked Bobcats improved to 12-0 overall (8-0 in Big Sky Conference play) with a 34-11 win over No. 9 Montana (8-4, 5-3) in the 123rd Brawl of the Wild on Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Stadium. The victory gave MSU the outright Big Sky title and most likely secured a top-two seed in the FCS playoffs. Montana running back Eli Gillman is tackled by Montana State linebacker Bryce Grebe (10) and cornerback Andrew Powdrell in the 123rd Brawl of the Wild game on Saturday at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman. It’s the first outright conference championship for the Cats since 1984. MSU is credited with a solo Big Sky title in 2011, although it initially shared it with UM before the NCAA vacated several UM wins due to extra benefits. MSU opened Saturday's game with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that Tommy Mellott capped with a 5-yard touchdown run. The home team has now scored first in six straight Brawls, and the home team has won each of the last five Cat-Griz games by at least 19 points. After both teams traded punts, UM got to MSU’s 25-yard line on a 21-yard run from Xavier Harris. The Grizzlies settled for a 47-yard field goal after an Eli Gillman run for no gain, a false start and an incomplete pass caused by pressure from McCade O’Reilly and Rylan Ortt. On the next drive, Mellott completed a 35-yard TD pass to Rohan Jones on third and 8 to put the Cats ahead 14-3 with about 10 minutes left in the first half. MSU’s Myles Sansted put MSU up 17-3 with a 27-yard field goal at the 1-minute, 40-second mark. UM turned it over on downs with 25 seconds on the clock. MSU set up a 49-yard field goal attempt five plays later, and Sansted drilled it as time expired to give the Cats a 20-3 halftime lead. It’s the longest field goal MSU has made since a 50-yarder from Blake Glessner against William & Mary in the 2022 FCS quarterfinals. Both teams opened the second half with punts. The Griz stuffed Mellott on 4th and 1 at the 5:14 mark, but they went three and out on the next drive after Sawyer Racanelli couldn’t hold onto a 28-yard pass from Logan Fife. MSU went up by 24 points on the next drive, thanks to an 88-yard run from Adam Jones. The Missoula Sentinel grad scored on a 3-yard TD run. The Cats led 27-3 going into the fourth quarter, two seasons after they held a 41-7 lead over UM in Bozeman through three quarters. The Griz scored their only TD of the game with 11:02 left. Eli Gillman scored from 1 yard out and Fife completed a two-point pass to Racanelli after a 17-yard pass to Aaron Fontes on fourth and 8. MSU took a 34-11 lead with 4:49 left on a 2-yard TD run from Adam Jones, who finished with 197 rushing yards. The Cats out-gained the Griz 420 to 234 in total yards, including 326 to 117 on the ground. This story will be updated. Victor Flores is the Montana State Bobcats beat writer for 406 MT Sports. Email him at victor.flores@406mtsports.com and follow him on Twitter/X at @VictorFlores406 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!Trump’s lawyers rebuff DA’s idea for upholding his hush money conviction, calling it ‘absurd’

NoneTHE vaccine expert of the House of Representatives on Sunday urged the public to take extra precautions against respiratory ailments. Iloilo Rep. Jeanette Garin issued the call in the wake of reports of a high number of cases of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in Tondo, Manila. The group Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF), earlier reported that its members diagnosed 1,280 residents with tuberculosis (TB) in the district. “This is alarming. The government must take action against the increasing number of tuberculosis in the country,” the lawmaker pointed out. Garin added that such was also seen in Iloilo during the Bantay Kalusugan, a medical mission that she initiated. Amid the increasing number of TB cases, Garin expressed concern as the medicines for TB are always out of stock in public medical facilities which leads to inaccessible healthcare. “ Nakakabahala na kulang ang gamot para sa ganitong uri ng sakit . Tamang distribution at maaayos na sistema sa pagbibigay ng gamot ang kailangan upang matiyak na makakakuha ng sapat na gamot ang mga Pilipino ,” Garin said, adding that such diseases is preventable and curable. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 10.8 million individuals worldwide contracted TB in 2023. “TB is an infectious disease caused by bacteria that most often affects the lungs. It spreads through the air when people with disease cough, sneeze or spit, WHO said. Based on the data of the US Agency for International Development, the estimated TB incidence in the Philippines in 2021 was 741,000. An estimate of 61,000 people died from the said disease during the same year. TB has been thought to have been eradicated for some years now but it made a recent resurgence. During Garin’s watch as Secretary of Health, the government focused on dengue and even introduced the new vaccine Dengvaxia, that was still on its Clinical Trial Phase IV then, to prevent people especially children from the mosquito-borne disease. Almost a million individuals were innoculated against dengue during that time. Clinical Trial Phase IV is the stage at which while a new drug had been licensed for distribution, those who use it should still be monitored in case they exhibit adverse reactions.