Stock market today: Wall Street drifts to a mixed close in thin trading following a holiday pauseA metaphor for sacrifice for the country and the people

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Dovydas Butka had 18 points in Pepperdine's 85-46 win over UC Davis on Saturday. Butka had 10 rebounds for the Waves (6-7). Jaxon Olvera scored 15 points and added three steals. Stefan Todorovic went 4 of 10 from the field (1 for 5 from 3-point range) to finish with 11 points. Carl Daughtery Jr. led the way for the Aggies (7-5) with 11 points. Ty Johnson added nine points and two steals for UC Davis. Niko Rocak had seven points. Pepperdine took the lead with 18:20 remaining in the first half and did not give it up. Olvera led their team in scoring with 11 points in the first half to help put them up 43-19 at the break. Pepperdine pulled away with a 13-0 run in the second half to extend a 29-point lead to 42 points. They outscored UC Davis by 15 points in the final half, as Butka led the way with a team-high 10 second-half points. Both teams next play Saturday. Pepperdine visits Santa Clara and UC Davis squares off against Cal Maritime at home. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .All Times EST Memphis 34, Tulane 24 Navy 34, East Carolina 20 Army 29, UTSA 24 North Texas 24, Temple 17 Rice 35, South Florida 28 UAB at Charlotte, 3:30 p.m. FAU at Tulsa, 3:30 p.m. Army vs. Tulane, American Athletic Conference Championship at West Point, N.Y., 8 p.m. San Jose St. 34, Stanford 31 Georgia 44, Georgia Tech 42 Duke 23, Wake Forest 17 South Carolina 17, Clemson 14 Louisville 41, Kentucky 14 Pittsburgh at Boston College, 3 p.m. NC State at North Carolina, 3:30 p.m. California at SMU, 3:30 p.m. Miami at Syracuse, 3:30 p.m. Florida at Florida St., 7 p.m. Virginia at Virginia Tech, 8 p.m. Colorado 52, Oklahoma St. 0 Utah 28, UCF 14 Baylor 45, Kansas 17 Texas Tech 52, West Virginia 15 Arizona St. at Arizona, 3:30 p.m. TCU at Cincinnati, 6 p.m. Kansas St. at Iowa St., 7:30 p.m. Houston at BYU, 10:15 p.m. Abilene Christian 24, N. Arizona 0 FCS First Round - Game 5 at Missoula, Mont.: Montana vs. Tennessee St., 10:15 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 1 at Bozeman, Mont.: Montana St. vs. UT Martin, 3 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 3 at Davis, Calif.: UC Davis vs. Illinois St., 4 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 2 at Moscow, Idaho: Idaho vs. Lehigh, 9 p.m. Illinois St. 35, SE Missouri 27 UT Martin 41, New Hampshire 10 FCS First Round - Game 5 at Missoula, Mont.: Montana vs. Tennessee St., 10:15 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 1 at Bozeman, Mont.: Montana St. vs. UT Martin, 3 p.m. Minnesota 24, Wisconsin 7 Iowa 13, Nebraska 10 Michigan 13, Ohio St. 10 Illinois 38, Northwestern 28 Notre Dame at Southern Cal, 3:30 p.m. Maryland at Penn St., 3:30 p.m. Rutgers at Michigan St., 3:30 p.m. Fresno St. at UCLA, 3:30 p.m. Purdue at Indiana, 7 p.m. Washington at Oregon, 7:30 p.m. Rhode Island 21, CCSU 17 UT Martin 41, New Hampshire 10 Lehigh 20, Richmond 16 Villanova 22, E. Kentucky 17 FCS Second Round - Game 7 at Macon, Ga.: Mercer vs. Rhode Island, 2 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 6 at San Antonio: Incarnate Word vs. Villanova, 2 p.m. Sam Houston St. 20, Liberty 18 FIU 35, Middle Tennessee 24 UTEP at New Mexico St., 4 p.m. Jacksonville St. at W. Kentucky, 4 p.m. Kennesaw St. at Louisiana Tech, 4 p.m. Jacksonville St. vs. Team TBD, Conference USA Championship at Jacksonville, Ala., 8 p.m. Jacksonville St. vs. Team TBD, Conference USA Championship at Jacksonville, Ala., 8 p.m. Boise St. vs. Team TBD, Mountain West Championship at Boise, Idaho, 8 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 5 at Brookings, S.D.: S. Dakota St. vs. FCS First Round - Game 5 (win), 2 p.m. Jacksonville St. vs. Team TBD, Conference USA Championship at Jacksonville, Ala., 8 p.m. Boise St. vs. Team TBD, Mountain West Championship at Boise, Idaho, 8 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 5 at Brookings, S.D.: S. Dakota St. vs. FCS First Round - Game 5 (win), 2 p.m. Akron 21, Toledo 14 Buffalo 43, Kent St. 7 Miami (Ohio) 28, Bowling Green 12 Ohio 42, Ball St. 21 W. Michigan 26, E. Michigan 18 Cent. Michigan at N. Illinois, 3:30 p.m. Miami (Ohio) vs. Ohio, MAC Championship at Detroit, Noon Jacksonville St. vs. Team TBD, Conference USA Championship at Jacksonville, Ala., 8 p.m. Boise St. vs. Team TBD, Mountain West Championship at Boise, Idaho, 8 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 5 at Brookings, S.D.: S. Dakota St. vs. FCS First Round - Game 5 (win), 2 p.m. Illinois St. 35, SE Missouri 27 FCS Second Round - Game 5 at Brookings, S.D.: S. Dakota St. vs. FCS First Round - Game 5 (win), 2 p.m. FCS Second Round- Game 4 at Vermillion, S.D.: South Dakota vs. Tarleton St., 3 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 8 at Fargo, N.D.: N. Dakota St. vs. Abilene Christian, 3 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 3 at Davis, Calif.: UC Davis vs. Illinois St., 4 p.m. Boise St. 34, Oregon St. 18 Colorado St. 42, Utah St. 37 San Jose St. 34, Stanford 31 Fresno St. at UCLA, 3:30 p.m. Wyoming at Washington St., 6:30 p.m. Nevada at UNLV, 8 p.m. Air Force at San Diego St., 10:30 p.m. New Mexico at Hawaii, 11 p.m. Boise St. vs. Team TBD, Mountain West Championship at Boise, Idaho, 8 p.m. Rhode Island 21, CCSU 17 Boise St. 34, Oregon St. 18 Wyoming at Washington St., 6:30 p.m. Lehigh 20, Richmond 16 FCS Second Round - Game 2 at Moscow, Idaho: Idaho vs. Lehigh, 9 p.m. Tarleton St. 43, Drake 29 Mississippi 26, Mississippi St. 14 Georgia 44, Georgia Tech 42 Louisville 41, Kentucky 14 Tennessee 36, Vanderbilt 23 South Carolina 17, Clemson 14 Auburn at Alabama, 3:30 p.m. Arkansas at Missouri, 3:30 p.m. Oklahoma at LSU, 7 p.m. Florida at Florida St., 7 p.m. Texas at Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 7 at Macon, Ga.: Mercer vs. Rhode Island, 2 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 6 at San Antonio: Incarnate Word vs. Villanova, 2 p.m. Alabama St. 34, Tuskegee 6 Florida A&M 28, Alabama A&M 20 Southern U. 24, Grambling St. 14 Jackson St. vs. Southern U., SWAC Championship at Jackson, Miss., 2 p.m. Texas State 45, South Alabama 38 Louisiana-Lafayette 37, Louisiana-Monroe 23 Coastal Carolina 48, Georgia St. 27 Troy 52, Southern Miss. 20 Old Dominion 40, Arkansas St. 32 Appalachian St. at Georgia Southern, 6 p.m. Marshall at James Madison, 8 p.m. Villanova 22, E. Kentucky 17 Tarleton St. 43, Drake 29 Abilene Christian 24, N. Arizona 0 FCS Second Round- Game 4 at Vermillion, S.D.: South Dakota vs. Tarleton St., 3 p.m. FCS Second Round - Game 8 at Fargo, N.D.: N. Dakota St. vs. Abilene Christian, 3 p.m. Uconn 47, Umass 42 Notre Dame at Southern Cal, 3:30 p.m.Black Friday goes digital as American rack up $10bn worth of online purchases

The Commissioner for Economic Development Trade Tourism Industry and Minerals at the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat, Albert Muchanga, has stated that President Akufo-Addo’s decision to grant executive approval for visa-free travel to Ghana by all Africans is a move in the right direction and marks a step forward to the vision of creating a single African Market under AfCFTA. President Akufo-Addo fulfilled a promise delivered last January to international participants, mainly business executives, at the Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2024. His promise was to allow visa-free travel to Ghana for citizens of all other African countries before his term of office expired on January 6, 2025. This will be a major boost for the African Union’s ongoing efforts to allow the free movement of people, goods, and services as the continent works towards implementing the world’s largest single market, involving at least 55 nation-states. “It is most welcome. It is a move in the right direction. We have the Protocol of the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to the Free Movement of People, Right of Residence, and Right of Establishment. The Protocol also provides for mutual recognition of professional qualifications,” Albert Muchanga told Asaase News in an exclusive interview. “The move removes a major nontariff barrier to intra-African trade and takes a step forward in realizing the vision of creating a single African market under the African Continental Free Trade Area, which is headquartered in Accra, Ghana,” Mr Muchanga added. Asaase News exclusively reported on Tuesday, 24 December 2024, that President Nana Akufo-Addo last Wednesday (18 December) gave executive approval for the implementation of the visa-free travel policy for all holders of passports issued by other African countries traveling to Ghana. It will be recalled that President Akufo-Addo, in his keynote address at the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD 2024) on Thursday, 25 January 2024, under the theme “Developing Prosperity in Africa: Produce, Add, Value and Trade,” announced that his administration was committed to the visa-free travel policy for all Africans and that it would be implemented within the year. “Many of you had to acquire a visa to come to this event. We made a special arrangement for this conference, reducing the visa acquisition fee by 50%, and we were thus able to receive your visa on arrival,” the president said in his APD 2024 address. “The government of Ghana is committed to ensuring visa-free for all Africans, for all Africans travelling into our country, and the process has begun to get the policy implemented this year,” Akufo-Addo promised. The annual 3-day Africa Prosperity Dialogues, which attracts about 2,000 business executives, political leaders, and institutional stakeholders from across the continent, is organised in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the AFDB, BADEA, Afreximbank, ECA, UNDP Africa and others to mobilise business and political leaders on the continent to work together towards the speedy implementation of Africa’s economic integration. The setting was, therefore, appropriate for the President of Ghana to pledge a visa-free policy. In fulfillment of this pledge, the President granted executive approval on Wednesday, 18 December 2024. Senior officers at both the Office of the President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have confirmed that the executive approval was subsequently communicated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and the Ministry of the Interior on Thursday, 19 December 2024. Following the executive approval, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and the Ministry of the Interior have initiated processes for executing the policy. What is outstanding is for the Ghana Immigration Service to announce a definite date for the visa-free policy to take effect. The start date is anticipated to be Wednesday, 1 January 2025. With this approval and implementation of a visa-free travel policy for all African passport holders to Ghana, the West African nation will become the fifth country on the continent to institute such a policy. Currently, Rwanda, Seychelles, The Gambia, and Benin are the only African countries that provide visa-free entry for all African citizens. The Nigerian industrialist and the richest African, Aliko Dangote, has spoken about the frustration of travelling across the continent. “As an investor, as someone who wants to make Africa great, I have to apply for 35 different visas,” Dangote said at a business forum in Rwanda earlier this year. “I really don’t have the time to go and drop off my passport in embassies to get a visa,” he added. Ghana is the host nation for the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat. Ghana’s first independent leader, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was at the forefront of the campaign to unite Africa into a single borderless nation. Ethiopia, where the African Union headquarters is, has been criticised for its restrictive immigration policy for Africans travelling into the country. Writing in the Financial Times on 18 December, Aanu Adeoye stated, “Behind closed doors, I have heard many more stories from African businesspeople unable to attend events in neighbouring countries as a result of red tape. The head of a development lender, for example, had difficulty getting hold of a visa to a southern African country despite receiving an invitation from that country’s president. “To make matters more bizarre, European and US citizens can often travel across the continent more freely than African nationals. There is a booming trade in wealthy Africans seeking second citizenship partly to solve this problem. Citizenship and residency firm Henley & Partners have opened up shop on the continent to take advantage of the situation.” Adeoye argues, “Simplifying travel is important if the continent is serious about building deeper internal trade and cultural ties.” The Nigerian journalist and Weet African correspondent for the FT points out that after nearly seven decades of independence across much of the continent, modern-day leaders have little excuse for sticking with the status quo. “Globalisation and the free movement of people may be unfashionable elsewhere but it is essential for Africa’s growth. Regional blocs in east, west, and southern Africa already have the structures in place to make visa-free travel a reality. The continent must now expand and implement those plans if it is to open up to itself,” he argues. Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra Asaase Broadcasting Company airs on Asaase 99.5 Accra, Asaase 98.5 Kumasi, Asaase 99.7 Tamale, Asaase 100.3 Cape Coast, AsaasePa 107.3 (Accra). Affiliates : Bawku FM 101.5, Bead FM 99.9 (Bimbilla), Mining City Radio 89.5 (Tarkwa), Nandom FM 101.9, Nyatefe Radio 94.5 (Dzodze), Sissala Radio 96.3 (Tumu), Somuaa FM 89.9 (Gushegu), Stone City 90.7 (Ho) and Wale FM 106.9 (Walewale). Listen online: asaaseradio.com , Sound Garden and TuneIn. Follow us: X : @asaaseradio995 , @Asaase985ksi , @Asaase997tamale , @asaase1003 , asaasepa1073 Instagram : asaaseradio99.5 , asaase985ksi , asaase100.3 , asaase99.7tamale , asaasepa107.3 LinkedIn : company/asaaseradio995 . TikTok : @asaaseradio99.5 Facebook : asaase99.5 , asaase985ksi , Asaase100.3 , asaase99.7 , AsaasePa107.3 . YouTube : AsaaseRadioXtra . Join the conversation. Accra: call 020 000 9951/054 888 8995, WhatsApp 020 000 0995. Kumasi: call 059 415 7985 or call/WhatsApp 020 631 5260. Tamale: call/WhatsApp/SMS 053 554 6468. Cape Coast: call/WhatsApp 059 388 2652. #AsaaseRadio #AsaasePa #TheVoiceofOurLand

Bigg Boss’ Ajaz Khan Brutally Trolled After Losing In Maharashtra Election; NOTA Surpasses His Votes

Chimezie's late layup lifts Boston University past Maine 59-56