jili org
Romanians cast ballots in presidential race that could pit nationalist against leftist in a runoff
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Robbins LLP reminds investors that a class action was filed on behalf of persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ZETA) securities between February 27, 2024 and November 13, 2024. Zeta is a marketing technology company. For more information, submit a form , email attorney Aaron Dumas, Jr., or give us a call at (800) 350-6003. The Allegations: Robbins LLP is Investigating Allegations that Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (ZETA) Failed to Disclose it was Artificially Inflating Financial Results According to the complaint, on November 13, 2024, market research group Culper Research published a report entitled "Zeta Global Holdings Corp (ZETA): Shams, Scams, and Spam.” The report alleged that the “integrity of the Company’s data collection and reported financials” is severely undermined by two factors. First, the report alleged that “Zeta has formed ‘two-way’ contracts with third party consent farms wherein the Company simultaneously acts as both a supplier and a buyer of consumer data,” allowing the Company to “flatter reported revenue growth” and indicating possible “round-tripping” of revenue. Second, the report alleged that Zeta’s collects the majority of its customer data from a network of “sham websites that hoodwink millions of consumers each month into handing their data over to Zeta under false pretenses.” For example, the report alleged the Company and its subsidiaries operate a number of fake job boards which are designed to trick individuals into submitting personal data under the pretense of job applications. The report further alleged that the Company’s “most valuable data” comes from these predatory websites, dubbed consent farms, which are “responsible for almost the entirety of the Company’s growth.” On this news, the Company’s stock price fell $10.46, or 37.07%, to close at $17.76 per share on November 13, 2024. Plaintiff alleges that during the class period, defendants failed to disclose that: (1) Zeta used two-way contracts to artificially inflate financial results; (2) Zeta engaged in round trip transactions to artificially inflate financial results; (3) Zeta utilized predatory consent farms to collect user data; and (4) that these consent farms have driven almost the entirety of Zeta’s growth. What Now: You may be eligible to participate in the class action against Zeta Global Holdings Corp. Shareholders who want to serve as lead plaintiff for the class must submit their application to the court by January 21, 2025. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. You do not have to participate in the case to be eligible for a recovery. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. For more information, click here . All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses. About Robbins LLP: Some law firms issuing releases about this matter do not actually litigate securities class actions; Robbins LLP does. A recognized leader in shareholder rights litigation, the attorneys and staff of Robbins LLP have been dedicated to helping shareholders recover losses, improve corporate governance structures, and hold company executives accountable for their wrongdoing since 2002. Since our inception, we have obtained over $1 billion for shareholders. To be notified if a class action against Zeta Global Holdings Corp. settles or to receive free alerts when corporate executives engage in wrongdoing, sign up for Stock Watch today. Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a9e62a12-06db-424e-a9a1-12ca4ed447d5
NEW YORK — There's no place like home for the holidays. And that may not necessarily be a good thing. In the wake of the very contentious and divisive 2024 presidential election, the upcoming celebration of Thanksgiving and the ramp-up of the winter holiday season could be a boon for some — a respite from the events of the larger world in the gathering of family and loved ones. Hours and even days spent with people who have played the largest roles in our lives. Another chapter in a lifetime of memories. That's one scenario. For others, that same period — particularly because of the polarizing presidential campaign — is something to dread. There is the likelihood of disagreements, harsh words, hurt feelings and raised voices looming large. Those who make a study of people and their relationships to each other in an increasingly complex 21st-century say there are choices that those with potentially fraught personal situations can make — things to do and things to avoid — that could help them and their families get through this time with a minimum of open conflict and a chance at getting to the point of the holidays in the first place. DO assess honestly where you are with it all For those who feel strongly about the election's outcome, and know that the people they would be spending the holiday feel just as strongly in the other direction, take the time to honestly assess if you're ready to spend time together in THIS moment, barely a few weeks after Election Day — and a time when feelings are still running high. The answer might be that you're not, and it might be better to take a temporary break, says Justin Jones-Fosu, author of “I Respectfully Disagree: How to Have Difficult Conversations in a Divided World.” “You have to assess your own readiness,” he says, “Each person is going be very different in this.” He emphasizes that it's not about taking a permanent step back. “Right now is that moment that we’re talking about because it’s still so fresh. Christmas may be different.” DON’T miss the bigger picture of what the holiday is all about Keep focused on why why you decided to go in the first place, Jones-Fosu says. Maybe it’s because there’s a relative there you don’t get to see often, or a loved one is getting up in age, or your kids want to see their cousins. Keeping that reason in mind could help you get through the time. DO set boundaries If you decide getting together is the way to go, but you know politics is still a dicey subject, set a goal of making the holiday a politics-free zone and stick with it, says Karl Pillemer, a professor at Cornell University whose work includes research on family estrangement. “Will a political conversation change anyone’s mind?" he says. “If there is no possibility of changing anyone’s mind, then create a demilitarized zone and don’t talk about it.” DON’T take the bait Let’s be honest. Sometimes, despite best efforts and intentions to keep the holiday gathering politics- and drama-free, there’s someone who’s got something to say and is going to say it. In that case, avoid getting drawn into it, says Tracy Hutchinson, a professor in the graduate clinical mental health counseling program at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. “Not to take the hook is one of the most important things, and it is challenging,” she says. After all, you don’t have to go to every argument you’re invited to. DO think about what will happen after the holiday If you risk getting caught up in the moment, consider engaging in what Pillemer calls “forward mapping.” This involves thinking medium and long term rather than just about right now — strategy rather than tactics. Maybe imagine yourself six months from now looking back on the dinner and thinking about the memories you'd want to have. “Think about how you would like to remember this holiday,” he says. “Do you want to remember it with your brother and sister-in-law storming out and going home because you’ve had a two-hour argument?” DON'T feel you have to be there uninterrupted Things getting intense? Defuse the situation. Walk away. And it doesn't have to be in a huff. Sometimes a calm and collected time out is just what you — and the family — might need. Says Hutchinson: “If they do start to do something like that, you could say, `I’ve got to make this phone call. I’ve got to go to the bathroom. I’m going to take a walk around the block.'" Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Yogi urges youth to contribute to nation building
It’s social media decision time for state and local governments: follow the post-election masses to Bluesky or sit tight and see what happens. The Washington Metro — the district’s public transit system — . So does the , which had 743 followers and 12 posts as of Friday afternoon. That compares to more than 214,000 followers on X and a seemingly endless list of posts. And now New York City is getting into the Bluesky game. Mayor Eric Adams — dealing with , and on bribery and other charges — recently told agencies under his command to . Those accounts would join the more than 20 million Bluesky users, . More than 2.5 million people have joined since the election, reportedly annoyed at the politics of Trump-supporting Elon Musk, the owner of X, which was previously known as Twitter — along with what many new Bluesky users have described as the “toxic” feel at the Musk social media platform. Bluesky was born from Twitter in 2019, but these days, the two platforms are not only competitors but offer people a way to signal their political stance just via the decision about which one to use. Now state and local governments face their own choices about how to respond — and added risk from people bent on using the rising service for mischief or crime. In Minneapolis, officials are “establishing a city primary account and do not have immediate plans outside of that,” Allen Henry, the city’s media relations coordinator, told via email on Friday. As Bluesky grows and changes, the city will keep its eye on it, he said, and take a “larger approach” if that proves necessary. “Ultimately, our goal is to communicate to and inform the public,” Henry said. “For communications to be most effective, we need to communicate in the spaces our audience is and in ways that resonate with them.” In Austin, Texas, known for its tech-heavy economy and progressive culture, city officials are taking a slower approach, according to Memi Cárdenas, Austin’s media relations manager. “Bluesky is a relatively new social media platform, and we have not yet done a thorough review of how it could fit in our communications strategy as a city,” she said. Austin relies on X, especially during emergencies. The city has more than 213,000 followers on Musk’s social media platform, and reaching that mark via a new tool would require “notable resources to establish, which include staff capacity, developing internal usage policies, researching platform rules and regulations, ensuring accessibility and archiving,” Cárdenas said via email. Much like the case in Minneapolis, officials in Austin will monitor Bluesky, which stands as a communications option for the future. Making a change to the new platform — any new platform — would involve a review from the city’s social media committee and a recommendation to the city’s communications director for approval or denial, she said. Even so, the city’s lack of presence on Bluesky hasn’t stopped people bent on fraud from creating “a couple of profiles impersonating the official city of Austin, and we are working to remove those accounts from the platform,” Cárdenas added. More such instances for other agencies seems probable, . In fact, it attracted an onslaught of impersonators after the service in 2022. New targets and updated features always attract criminals, vandals and other such people. Neither Bluesky nor press officials in the New York Mayor’s Office responded immediately to request for comment. Nor did X — since taking over the platform, Musk has . While a count of public agencies so far on Bluesky was not available, at least one social media expert has noticed changes when it comes to government activity there. “I have noticed government agencies and quasi-governments adding Bluesky accounts, especially ones that often need to get updated info to audiences quickly such as transportation authorities,” said Megan Duncan, an associate professor at Virginia Tech who researches digital media and associated topics. She anticipates that as audiences become ever more fragmented, governments might use Bluesky to make sure they are reaching as many people as possible, especially when it comes to information deemed urgent. “But if these [agencies] already had an X account, the good news is that the formatting of information and text is similar enough that it lowers the burden on social media managers,” she told . For those agencies that join Bluesky now, their “early-adopter presence” could bring more engagement and growth than will be the case for latter users. That’s not the only potential benefit of joining now. “It’s also the optimal time to get the prime handles, which simultaneously can signal credibility and prevent bad-faith actors from snagging them and impersonating government agencies and politicians,” Duncan said via email. Bluesky, after all, offers no verified badges as other social media platforms do. Governments that act early enough, though, can set up domains and handles that signal credibility to their audiences, she said. Those audiences, of course, will at the same time be developing their own “literacy skills” for Bluesky, learning its rhythms and players, and figuring out who deserves their trust. Smaller public agencies will probably face the biggest challenges. “The technical skills to set up and host your own government domain may be a barrier for entry for smaller government agencies,” she said. “I’ve noticed even larger agencies like New York City’s MTA is on the common server. Alternatively, Washington’s Metro has established its own domain.” So will Bluesky endure, or will enthusiasm fade as the election recedes? That’s one of the uncertainties that will occupy social media managers and communications professionals at public agencies in the coming months. Some governments have already made up their mind against Bluesky, at least for now: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer that departments under his supervision will stick with X because that’s where people are. Government technology suppliers face the same issue. A spokesperson for industry giant Tyler Technologies said Friday that while the company uses X and not Bluesky, that all depends on where public agency clients and other audiences are. Finances, moderation and having an ample and capable workforce still stand as question marks for Bluesky, Duncan said. “As more opinion leaders and authorities join, Bluesky feels like it’s going to establish itself as the place for microblogging,” Duncan said. “But, I’m not yet ready to call Bluesky the marketplace winner alternative to X because of the revenue piece.”None
Guess which ASX 200 stock is falling amid 'challenging' outlookRedForce blames politicians for stalling debt collection
Young holds 3-shot lead over Scheffler in Bahamasinsightsoftware Receives Top Rating in Dresner Advisory Services' Embedded Business ...
Article content A federation of student associations at Université de Montréal is the latest organization to ink a deal with social economy enterprise UTILE to build off-campus non-profit student housing in Montreal. The Fédération des associations étudiantes du campus de l’Université de Montréal (FAÉCUM) and UTILE announced on Thursday they have signed an agreement to build a project comprising affordable apartments for at least 150 students. “By investing in student housing, FAÉCUM is taking a step toward a future where access to housing will no longer be an obstacle to academic success,” federation secretary general Méganne Joyal said in a statement. “FAÉCUM hopes that today’s announcement will inspire other stakeholders to take action to ensure equitable access to housing for the entire student community.” The federation, which represents 85 student associations and about 40,000 students at Université de Montréal, has committed to investing up to $2 million toward the project, with the exact amount dependent on how many units are built for the Université de Montréal student population. UTILE, which stands for Unité de travail pour l’implantation de logement étudiant, has so far completed 600 units of affordable student rental housing in Quebec. Its first project was the 90-unit Woodnote on Papineau Ave., which got off the ground with $1.85 million in seed money from the Concordia Student Union. New projects include a $63-million, 13-storey building that started construction in downtown Montreal in October. The latter, called Le Méridien, was launched with $1.5 million in seed money from the Students’ Society of McGill University. UTILE was launched more than a decade ago by a group of Université du Québec à Montréal students who wanted to develop an alternative for students to the traditional dorm room and high-rent and overcrowded apartments. UTILE president, CEO and co-founder Laurent Levesque said Thursday that the company is scouting property in the area around Université de Montréal’s MIL campus in Outremont to develop the new project. FAÉCUM’s investment will be injected into the Popular University Student Housing (PUSH) Fund, a non-profit rotating investment fund known as Fonds CLÉ in French that has provided the startup funds for other UTILE projects. UTILE leverages the seed money from student associations to seek other financing. “It is a great source of pride for us to launch a very first project north of the mountain for the student population of the Université de Montréal,” Levesque said in the statement about the partnership with FAÉCUM. The federation’s investment, he added, “will provide a living environment adapted to the needs of at least 150 students and will allow them to fully realize their potential.” lgyulai@postmedia.comNRG Energy Inc. stock underperforms Thursday when compared to competitors despite daily gains
(The Center Square) – President-elect Donald Trump’s new border czar Tom Homan is putting together an extensive deportation plan for when he hits the ground running after they are both sworn into office in January. Homan spoke to The Center Square about his priorities, illustrating a marked difference from President Joe Biden’s border czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, who repeatedly said the border was secure and she didn’t need to go to there. Under the Biden-Harris administration, the greatest number of illegal border crossers, roughly 14 million, were reported in U.S. history, The Center Square reported . “The overarching theme,” Homan said, “is millions of people entered this country illegally, which is a crime.” The Biden administration argued illegal border crossers “have a right to claim asylum” and to go before an immigration judge, he said. “We gave them that opportunity to see a judge. But we know, based on immigration court data, that nearly nine out of 10 of them will get an order for removal because they simply don't qualify for asylum.” The fact that millions of people illegally entered the U.S. and nine out 10 are ordered to be removed necessitates “a mass deportation operation,” he said. “Are these dirty words? No. On the end of historic mass illegal immigration with nine out of 10 getting orders for removal, there has to be a mass deportation program. The only other option is to let them stay,” which nullifies immigration law and the immigration court system, he argues. “It also sends a message to the entire world that you can enter this country illegally and you can go to court and lose your case and you're still not going to go home,” he said. “We'll never solve the southwest border crisis like that. So, you know what? You can’t demand due process and not accept the end result.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “himself has testified numerous times before Congress that for those who don't qualify for asylum, they’d be removed. Well guess what? It's time to do the removal part.” Removal priorities The removal process will prioritize individuals based on their threat to society, he said. “The priorities will focus on public safety threats, national security threats and fugitives,” those who “got due process at great taxpayer expense and the federal judge ordered them removed, but they didn't leave, and they became a fugitive.” Individuals who are on the federal Terrorist Watch List and “Special Interest Aliens,” those from countries of foreign concern, are all priorities, he said. “We'll work very closely with the FBI and intelligence community” to identify and find them, he said. “We know a record number of people on the terrorist watchlist have crossed the border,” he said. Homan has long warned that the border crisis created the greatest national security threat since 9/11. Within the last year alone, numerous officials issued “imminent terrorist attack warnings” and Biden extended multiple national emergency orders due to ongoing terror threats since 9/11. Under his watch the greatest number of known or suspected terrorists were apprehended, with the majority caught at the northern border, The Center Square reported . Under the Biden administration, more than 660,000 criminal foreign nationals were recently identified to be deported by ICE, including 435,719 convicted criminals, The Center Square reported . ICE agents arrested more than 387,000 criminals in fiscal years 2021 through 2023, The Center Square reported . The majority were citizens of Mexico, Nicaragua, Columbia and Venezuela. Finding and removing millions of SIAs , those from COFC , criminals released into the U.S. through the CHNV parole program, including members of a violent Venezuelan prison gang, and those identified in national security cases will “last us for a long time,” Homan said. US military role The U.S. military will assist in Trump’s deportation efforts, Homan said. Title 8 enforcement authority will remain with federal agents from U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Homeland Security Investigations. The military will provide air and ground transportation assistance, work on construction building and intelligence targeting, he said. “They can do all kinds of things that don't require immigration authority,” he said. “Those with immigration authority like HSI agents and ICE agents, deportation officers, they'll be making the arrests.” He also pointed out that “the DOD has been used in every administration to help with the border. We're just going to expand that enforcement to help with non-law enforcement duties.” However, “no one's off the table,” he said. “If you're in the country illegally, you got a problem.” He’s previously warned “the millions of the illegal aliens that Joe Biden released in our country in violation of federal law, ‘you better start packing now. Because you are going home.’” Homan also encouraged all foreign nationals in the country illegally to voluntary return to their country of origin because it would be better for them to do so. “If you're in the country illegally and you got an order for removal, or even if you don't have one, if you're in the country, leave on your own. Because when you leave on your own, there's no penalties. But if we actually have to deport you with a formal order for deportation, there's a 20-year ban. That means you can't get a visit visa, you can't get a tourist visa. If you have a U.S. citizen child that lives here, he can't petition for you. So, it's better to leave on your own rather than getting a formal order of removal.” Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, sports, arts & entertainment, state legislature, CFD news, and more.The Onion's bid for Alex Jones' Infowars hangs in the balance as judge orders new hearing
In the weeks since Republicans decisively won the White House as well as both chambers of Congress, Democrats and pundits alike have voiced countless theories for their defeat. However, the even more critical question is, where do Democrats go from here? Do Democrats double down on the “resistance” that has defined the party for the better part of a decade? Or do Democrats try a different approach and return to the center in order to win back millions of voters who have abandoned the party? Ever since 2016, the Democratic Party’s platform can almost entirely be defined by one word: resistance. Whatever President-elect Donald Trump supported, Democrats rejected and organized in resistance to, often at the expense of formulating their own competing policies. Now, with the politics of resistance soundly rejected, if Democrats want to remain politically viable, they need to return to the center and develop policies for actual issues. They need a specific agenda to address inflation, create jobs, and better manage the economy. This should include a strong position on border security with a viable pathway to citizenship for migrants already here, instead of the open border advocacy that the resistance wing, led by the progressive “Squad” loudly called for during Trump’s first term. On the economy, Democrats should reject progressives’ preference for overbearing taxes and an expansive welfare state. Instead, moderate Democrats must work with the GOP to achieve less regulations, agree to job-boosting tax cuts, and cutting inflationary yet wasteful government spending. To be clear, the 2024 election exposed the hollowness of resistance politics. Voters made it clear that they want elected officials who will address the actual issues, not those who are defined solely by what – or who – they oppose. Indeed, rather than articulating an agenda to address voters’ concerns about the economy, cost of living, immigration, or crime, Democrats – and Vice President Kamala Harris in particular – almost entirely campaigned on the need to stop Trump, lest his “fascism” destroy our democracy. Yet as we saw, this was a costly mistake. Trump won because voters felt he had actual solutions to kitchen-table issues, and Democrats’ appeals largely fell flat with moderate and swing voters. Put another way, as Brett Stephens noted in the New York Times, adherence to resistance politics “led Democrats astray...It distracted them from the task of developing superior policy responses to the valid public concerns he was addressing.” Fortunately for Democrats, they should look to the past to develop a roadmap for the party’s future. Four decades ago, also in the wake of a devastating election loss – former Vice President Walter Mondale’s in 1984 – Democrats, led by then-Governor Bill Clinton, created the Democratic Leadership Council to bring the party back to the center and push back against the growing influence of the party’s left-wing. The DLC advocated for policies that many leftwing Democrats today would shudder at – balancing the budget, welfare reform, and a tougher stance on crime – but that was what Democrats needed then, and that is what they need now. In that same vein, what made the DLC effective was its focus on commonsense values that appealed to the majority of Americans – smaller government, fiscal responsibility, safe cities, and border security. Comparatively, the resistance playbook seeks to divide Americans via progressive identity politics, promotion of an unpopular “woke” agenda, and a refusal to compromise on solutions to challenges facing all Americans. The fact that Donald Trump won the popular vote with one of – if not the – most racially diverse coalition assembled by a Republican in decades underscores the ineffectiveness of progressives’ resistance platform, as well as its toxicity to the Democratic Party as a whole. To that end, the dangers to Democrats posed by progressive-led resistance politics are backed by the data. Beginning in 2016, progressives have driven Democrats significantly further to the left than the average American voter, risking the overall party’s viability should they continue diverging. An analysis from the Financial Times shows that in the last eight years, Democrats hard left turn on supporting increased immigration has taken them nearly 60-points to the left of the average voter. Related Articles Opinion Columnists | California’s political clout will fade as long as population growth remains slow Opinion Columnists | Here’s to hoping Trump delivers on some of his Libertarian promises Opinion Columnists | Grand DOGE promises of massive cuts to the federal government are unlikely to materialize Opinion Columnists | Republican populism goes all in for the Nanny State Opinion Columnists | After botched Gaetz nomination, Trump should pivot on Cabinet picks As John Burn-Murdoch wrote, the data “suggests that Trump’s election radicalized the left, not the right.” And while this analysis was done prior to the 2024 election, there is little reason to believe Democrats have made up the lost ground. The first step for Democrats’ new approach should be to move back to where the average voter is. They can start by committing to working with centrist Republicans for commonsense solutions to the problems we face. Doing so is also smart politically. Working with – rather than against – Trump, will benefit Democrats if his second term does in fact produce a strong economy, secure borders, a more stable geopolitical environment, and overall prosperity. Ultimately, where Democrats go from here remains to be seen, but the 2024 election was a stinging rebuke of a party with little to offer aside from stubborn opposition to Donald Trump. If Democrats want to avoid being consigned to minority status for years to come, it is critical that they shun calls to double down on the politics of resistance and begin offering genuine, centrist solutions that address Americans’ concerns. Douglas Schoen is a longtime Democratic political consultant.News24 | Patrick Bond | G20 will platform fractured SA politics plus friction-riddled global ideologies
Calin Georgescu was in pole position with almost 23 percent after the first round of voting, a political earthquake in the country of 19 million people that has so far resisted nationalist appeals that have gained traction in Hungary and Slovakia. His victory ahead of centre-right mayor Elena Lasconi -- who scored 19.18 percent -- ended the hopes of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu to compete for the presidency in the December runoff. After coming third at 19.15, Ciolacu said his Social Democratic Party (PSD) won't challenge the narrow result, and announced his resignation as party leader. Experts say the far right's surprise success could affect the parliamentary elections later this week, and even influence the chances of forming a future government. In the runoff ballot on December 8, Lasconi will face Georgescu, a NATO critic who in the past expressed his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Georgescu's popularity surged ahead of the vote with a viral TikTok campaign calling for an end to aid for Ukraine, which shares a 650-kilometre (400-mile) border with Romania. In a first reaction on his YouTube channel, the 62-year-old independent candidate insisted "there is no East or West", stressing that neutrality was "absolutely necessary". "I am not an extremist, I am not a fascist -- I am a Romanian who loves his country," he said in reference to media reports that "tried to portray" him in a wrongful way. For his rival Lasconi, the upcoming runoff represents "an existential battle", "a historic confrontation" between those who wish to "preserve Romania's young democracy" and those who want to "return to the Russian sphere of influence". "We must not allow anger to throw us back into the past," she said to thunderous applause from her supporters, vowing to stand up for Europe and NATO. The political earthquake comes amid soaring inflation and mounting fears of Romania being potentially dragged into Russia's war in neighbouring Ukraine, as the country has emerged as a key player on the alliance's eastern flank. In Sunday's vote, another far-right contender, AUR party leader George Simion, secured nearly 14 percent. Already pounding the campaign trail for this week's parliamentary elections, Simion said Romania now has "the chance to have a sovereign government and a sovereign president". Overall, the far right won more than a third of all votes in Sunday's presidential ballot. "The far right is by far the big winner of this election," political scientist Cristian Pirvulescu told AFP, predicting a possible "contagion effect" in the parliamentary vote. Extremist forces and Lasconi's centre-right party now have "wind in their sails", sociologist Gelu Duminica said, though "it remains to be seen if they know how to capitalise" on it. The PSD, which has shaped the country's politics for more than three decades, has never before been eliminated in the first round of a presidential election. The National Liberal Party (PNL) party, with whom the PSD currently governs, also suffered a defeat. While many expressed their disbelief over the poll in the streets of the capital Bucharest, others were enthused. Maria Chis, 70, said she was surprised by Georgescu's lead in the first round but had been impressed after watching his TikTok videos. "He seems a man of integrity, serious and patriotic. He inspires seriousness. I think only someone like him can bring change," said the pensioner, who was planning to vote for him in the second round. Alex Tudose, the owner of a construction company, was gloomy. "There is sorrow, disappointment, that after so many years in Euro-Atlantic structures we voted for a pro-Russian by over 20 percent," the 42-year-old said. "There is clearly a strong fragmentation both in society and in the political class, and I think we saw that yesterday," he said. ani-anb-kym/sbkINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — There's more than just school pride and bragging rights to all that bellyaching over who might be in and who might be out of college football 's first 12-team playoff. Try the more than $115 million that will be spread across the conferences at the end of the season, all depending on who gets in and which teams go the farthest. According to the College Football Playoff website , the 12 teams simply making the bracket earn their conferences $4 million each. Another $4 million goes to conferences whose teams get into the quarterfinals. Then, there's $6 million more for teams that make the semifinals and another $6 million for those who play for the title. Most of this bonanza comes courtesy of ESPN, which is forking over $1.3 billion a year to televise the new postseason. A lot of that money is already earmarked — more goes to the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference than the Big 12 or Atlantic Coast — but a lot is up for grabs in the 11 games that will play out between the opening round on Dec. 20 and the final on Jan. 20. In all, the teams that make the title game will bring $20 million to their conferences, all of which distribute that money, along with billions in TV revenue and other sources, in different ways. In fiscal 2022-23, the Big Ten, for instance, reported revenue of nearly $880 million and distributed about $60.5 million to most of its members. The massive stakes might help explain the unabashed lobbying coming from some corners of the football world, as the tension grows in advance of Sunday's final rankings, which will set the bracket. Earlier this week, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark lit into the selection committee, which doesn't have a single team higher than 15 in the rankings. That does two things: It positions the Big 12 as a one-bid league, and also threatens to makes its champion — either Arizona State or Iowa State — the fifth-best among conference titlists that get automatic bids. Only the top four of those get byes, which could cost the Big 12 a spot in the quarterfinals — or $4 million. “The committee continues to show time and time again that they are paying attention to logos versus resumes,” Yormark said this week, while slamming the idea of teams with two losses in his conference being ranked worse than teams with three in the SEC. The ACC is also staring at a one-bid season with only No. 8 SMU inside the cut line of this week's projected bracket. Miami's loss last week all but bumped the Hurricanes out of the playoffs, a snub that ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said left him “incredibly shocked and disappointed." “As we look ahead to the final rankings, we hope the committee will reconsider and put a deserving Miami in the field," Phillips said in a statement. The lobbying and bickering filters down to the campuses that feel the impact. And, of course, to social media. One of the most entertaining episodes came earlier this week when athletic directors at Iowa State and SMU went back and forth about whose team was more deserving. There are a few stray millions that the selection committee cannot really influence, including a $3 million payment to conferences that make the playoff. In a reminder that all these kids are going to school, after all, the conferences get $300,000 per football team that meets academic requirements to participate in the postseason. (That's basically everyone). ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football Copyright 2024 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Courtland Sutton's surge is helping rookie Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos make a playoff push
Billionaire Owners Force Workers Back To Office 5 Days A Week, AT&T Latest Company To Join TrendCDW Corp. stock underperforms Thursday when compared to competitors despite daily gains