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The Timberwolves have managed to tame a difficult portion of the schedule with three straight victories that have come in varying forms. But one thing has been consistent throughout: Drama. Minnesota rallied in the fourth, then held on for dear life in the closing seconds of Sunday’s 112-110 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at Target Center. ADVERTISEMENT The Wolves’ last three wins have come by a combined nine points. San Antonio had the ball, down two with 13 seconds to play, but Jeremy Sochan’s 3-point attempt at the horn fell woefully short. After another stiflingly slow start — the Wolves trailed 21-10 at one point in the opening frame — the bench unit again breathed life into the operation with pace and intensity. Minnesota blitzed the Spurs 32-12 in the second quarter to take a 12-point advantage into halftime. San Antonio responded, though, taking an eight-point advantage early in the fourth quarter. But, for the third straight game, Minnesota was able to generate decent offense down the stretch to close a game out. It was largely done with defense down the stretch Sunday, as Minnesota induced a number of 3-point misses from Victor Wembanyama down the stretch. Wembanyama finished with 34 points and eight rebounds but also missed a critical free throw that would’ve tied the game with 18 seconds to play. Donte DiVincenzo continued his recent stretch of success. He followed up Friday’s 22-point showing in Houston by scoring 25 points Sunday. As he stood on the floor for a postgame, television interview, Target Center erupted into a “Donte!” chat. He smiled. A rough start now seems to be firmly played in his rearview mirror. ADVERTISEMENT “It’s special,” the wing noted. ______________________________________________________ This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers. Learn more about the news services FCC uses here .WASHINGTON (AP) — Military leaders are rattled by a list of “woke” senior officers that a conservative group urged Pete Hegseth to dismiss for promoting diversity in the ranks if he is confirmed to lead the Pentagon. The list compiled by the American Accountability Foundation includes 20 general officers or senior admirals and a disproportionate number of female officers. It has had a chilling effect on the Pentagon’s often frank discussions as leaders try to figure out how to address the potential firings and diversity issues under President-elect Donald Trump. Those on the list in many cases seem to be targeted for public comments they made either in interviews or at events on diversity, and in some cases for retweeting posts that promote diversity. Tom Jones, a former aide to Republican senators who leads the foundation, said Friday that those on the list are “pretty egregious” advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, policies, which he called problematic. “The nominee has been pretty clear that that has no place in the military,” Jones said of Hegseth. Hegseth has embraced Trump’s effort to end programs that promote diversity in the ranks and fire those who reflect those values. Other Trump picks, like Kash Patel for FBI director, have suggested targeting those in government who are not aligned with Trump. RELATED COVERAGE TikTok is inching closer to a potential ban in the US. So what’s next? NYC’s mayor warms to Trump and doesn’t rule out becoming a Republican Ex-police officer denies leaking confidential information to Proud Boys leader But Hegseth has been fighting to save his nomination as he faces allegations of excessive drinking and sexual assault and over his views questioning the role of women in combat. He spent the week on Capitol Hill trying to win the support of Republican senators, who must confirm him to lead the Pentagon, doing a radio interview and penning an opinion column. Some service members have complained in the past about the Pentagon’s DEI programs, saying they add to an already heavy workload. The Pentagon still has a long way to go in having a general officer corps or specialty occupations such as pilots that have a racial and gender makeup reflective of the country. A defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the list said senior leaders are hoping that once Trump is sworn in, they will be able to discuss the issue further. They are prepared to provide additional context to the incoming administration, the official told The Associated Press, which is not publishing the names to protect service members’ privacy. Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday that the list would have “considerable, wide and deep consequences.” He said when military members see people singled out, they will start focusing on their own survival rather than the mission or their job. “You will drive people out,” Hagel said. “It affects morale as widely and deeply as anything — it creates a negative dynamic that will trickle through an organization.” The list, which was first reported by The New York Post, includes nine Air Force general officers, seven Navy admirals of different ranks and four Army general officers. Eight of those 20 are women even though only 17% of the military is female. None are Marines. One female Navy officer was named because she gave a speech at a 2015 Women’s Equality Day event, where she noted that 80% of Congress is male, which affects what bills move forward. The officer also was targeted because she said “diversity is our strength.” The phrase is a widely distributed talking point that officers across the Pentagon have used for years to talk about the importance of having a military that reflects different educational, geographic, economic, gender and racial backgrounds in the country. An Air Force colonel, who is white, was called out for an opinion piece he wrote following the death of George Floyd, saying, “Dear white colonel, we must address our blind spots about race.” A female Air Force officer was targeted because of “multiple woke posts” on her X feed, including a tweet about LGBTQ rights, one about “whiteness” and another about honoring the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on a stamp. Another female Air Force officer was on the list because she “served as a panelist for a diversity, equity and inclusion” discussion in 2021. The list names an Army officer who traveled to 14 historically Black colleges to expand the military’s intelligence recruitment efforts, and an Air Force officer partly because he co-chairs the Asian-Pacific Islander subgroup of the service’s diversity task force. Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump transition team, said in a statement that “No policy should be deemed official unless it comes directly from President Trump.” But in an interview Wednesday for Megyn Kelly’s SiriusXM satellite radio show, Hegseth said Trump told him he wanted a “warfighter” who would clean out the “woke crap.” Hegseth got a boost Friday from Trump, who posted on his social media site that Hegseth “will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense.” The president-elect added that “Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!” Jones told the AP in June that his American Accountability Foundation was investigating scores of federal employees suspected of being hostile to Trump’s policies. The work aligns with the Heritage Foundation’s far-reaching Project 2025 blueprint for a conservative administration. A letter Jones sent to Hegseth containing the list, dated Tuesday, says “purging the woke from the military is imperative.” The letter points to tensions with Iran, Russia and China and says “we cannot afford to have a military distracted and demoralized by leftist ideology. Our nation’s security is at stake.” Conservatives view the federal workforce as overstepping its role to become a power center that can drive or thwart a president’s agenda. During the first Trump administration, government officials came under attack from the White House and congressional Republicans, as Trump’s own Cabinet often raised objections to some of his more singular or even unlawful proposals. ___ AP writer Courtney Bonnell contributed from Washington.
VANCOUVER — Taylor Swift is preparing to hit the stage tonight at Vancouver's BC Place for the first of three shows to close out her marathon Eras Tour — but she's not the only one getting ready as T-minus-zero approaches. BC Place has put up the giant friendship bracelet symbolizing Swifties fandom on its exterior, a feature that has appeared in all Eras Tour stops since New Orleans in October. "A big thank you to our BFFs at Caesars Superdome for our new friendship bracelets, they're now here after having been swapped to Lucas Oil Stadium and Rogers Centre," said an online message from BC Place to venues in New Orleans, Indianapolis and Toronto that have featured the decoration during Swift's tour stops. Vancouver police posted a video message to incoming fans on social media with Swift's "Shake It Off" playing in the background, asking those going to the concert to plan ahead, while also offering to trade friendship bracelets. In the message, police say "hundreds" of officers will be deployed downtown over the weekend to ensure a "safe and memorable" experience for incoming Swifties. Barricades went up around the stadium at noon on Friday, cutting off some of the downtown core's busiest streets, including West Georgia, Smithe, Beatty and Robson, as the closures snarled traffic. An estimated 160,000 fans, many of them international visitors, will converge on the city's downtown for the performances that are the glittering climax to the 149-show, two-year tour that has shattered records around the world. Some will be hard to miss. Swift fan Lisa Daechsel was walking her dog, Lancey, near the stadium with a leash she had made in the style of a friendship bracelet. “Honestly, I saw somebody do it for Eras Tour in Toronto," Daechsel said. "They had a really cute photo of their dog with the friendship bracelet leash. So, I was like, I have to do that! So, I went out last minute and I decided to make one." The corgi and her leash became a magnet for Swifty selfies. "She has been so popular,” said Daechsel. Others may be even more visible. Brittany Hood from Orlando, Fla., will sport a blue velvet, star-studded jumpsuit that pays homage to an outfit Swift wore to the 2022 VMAs after-party. Hood, who is attending Saturday's show, spent months perfecting the look. "It wasn't supposed to be this sparkly but 25 hours later and I was still going," she said. "Where else can you wear a super-bedazzled outfit — I mean I probably would be the person who would wear it to the grocery store, but it just makes it a little bit more special for the moment." The shows are billed to start at 6:45 p.m. with opening act Gracie Abrams. Swift typically performs for about 3 1/2 hours, playing songs from across her discography as she moves through various "Eras," each marked by set and outfit changes that reflect the albums. For instance, she often wears a ball gown for the "Speak Now" section and a snake jumpsuit during her "Reputation" set. Sociologist Rebecca Yoshizawa said Swift's outfit choices are "really symbolic," noting how the singer-songwriter reclaimed snake imagery after a 2016 celebrity feud with Kim Kardashian, who had suggested Swift was a snake. "She is curating and encouraging our experience through her clothing," Yoshizawa said. "She knows people are watching and are also wanting to channel that." Swifties' costumes denote membership to the fandom. "It's very cathartic. It's an opportunity to kind of let loose, have fun and be free, and clothing really is central to identity — it's central to the expression of our identity," said Yoshizawa, a professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, B.C. The Eras Tour, she said, had provided fans an opportunity to dress in ways they wouldn't normally and build a sense of connection with strangers. Jonica Tebo from Ogdensburg, N.Y., said that's why she has spent hours making her costume for Vancouver, a friendship bracelet fringe jacket. "I have every single Taylor song on the outfit, in the beaded fringe that is sewn on," she said. She also plans to wear pink boots and friendship bracelets to trade. Vancouver has embraced the singer, who performed six shows in Toronto last month. Eras Tour posters can be seen around almost every corner, businesses are hosting Swift-themed events and the city has put up light installations to encourage visitors to explore. Security is tight around the venue, with barricades surrounding BC Place, and ticketless fans being told not to gather outside for traditional "Taylgate" parties. That hasn't reduced the enthusiasm of fans like Hood, who says it's her first real trip out of the United States. She's already been to Eras Tour shows in Los Angeles and Tampa, Fla., dressing up in handmade outfits for both shows. But Vancouver will be special — a girls trip abroad and the end of the Eras Tour. "When the world's on fire, but we all get to kind of celebrate music and girlhood together — it's giving me chills," she said. Some fans, however, remain without tickets for the event but aren't giving up. Melissa Camp and her 15-year-old daughter from Vancouver Island were in tears outside BC Place today after failing to get tickets despite 14 months of trying, but Camp says they will keep trying to secure last-minute seats. Camp says she was almost scammed when she tried to buy tickets, but the effort is worth it for "making sweet memories" with her daughter. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2024. Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian PressOur enduring love of Ernest Shackleton exposes false ideas of leadership
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Laura Benanti is not a fan of former Broadway costar Zachary Levi — and she doesn’t care who knows it. “I never liked him,” Benanti, 45, said of Levi, 44, during an appearance on the Wednesday, December 4, episode of the “ That’s a Gay Ass Podcast .” “Everyone was like, ‘He’s so great!’ And I was like, ‘No, he’s not,'” she recalled. “He’s sucking up all the f—ing energy in this room.” Benanti further claimed that Levi wanted to “mansplain everybody’s part to them” while they were members of the same cast. The actress alleged Levi tried to get their She Loves Me castmates to have dance parties before each show, which she never enjoyed. (Benanti played Amalia Balash in the 2016 production while Levi portrayed Georg Nowach.) “He really sucked everybody in with his, like, dance party energy. Like, ‘We’re doing a dance party at half-hour,’” Benanti remembered. “I was like, ‘Good luck. Have fun.’” Benanti’s comments came after Levi made headlines in September when he claimed that their late She Loves Me costar Gavin Creel ’s death earlier this year was caused by the COVID-19 vaccine. “To use his memory for his political agenda and to watch him try to make himself cry until he had one single tear, which he did not wipe away, I was like, ‘F— you forever,’” Benanti said on Wednesday, referring to Levi’s comments about Creel. Us Weekly confirmed in September that Creel died at the age of 48 . The Tony Award winner’s cause of his death was metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma. Creel was diagnosed with the very rare form of cancer in July, a mere two months prior to his passing. According to Mayo Clinic, Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors are a form of cancer that starts in the spinal cord and spreads throughout the body via nerves. Following his death, Levi conducted an Instagram Live where he made controversial statements about Creel. “I know that this is going to offend some people and make some people mad, and I wish it didn’t,” Levi said at the time via Just Jared , calling Creel one of the “healthiest” people he knew. Levi then claimed that the COVID vaccination led to Creel’s death. “I, without a shadow of a doubt, I believe that Gavin Creel would be alive right now — right f—ing now — he would still be alive if that stuff didn’t get put into his body,” he concluded. You have successfully subscribed. By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from Us Weekly Check our latest news in Google News Check our latest news in Apple News Like Benanti, many people responded with outrage over Levi’s statement, including Broadway star Norbert Leo Butz . “So incredibly disappointed you would politicize Gavin’s death. Really tried to give you the benefit here. Made it halfway through, which was hard as hell,” Butz, 57, replied in the comments section. “But [I] was utterly heartbroken, as he would have been, that you felt the need to use his life and legacy to promote this awful platform💔.” Benanti, meanwhile, honored Creel’s legacy in a touching social media post in September. “Anyone who has ever met Gavin remembers a moment (or many) when he made them feel seen and special,” she wrote . “A moment (or many) when they basked in his reflected glow. A moment (or many) when that glow made its way into their hearts and remained there forever. Gavin was the brightest light in any room. Long may he shine.”
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Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it has donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration fund. The donation comes just weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump privately at Mar-a-Lago. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the offering Thursday. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Stephen Miller, who has been appointed deputy chief of staff for Trump's second term, has said that Zuckerberg, like other business leaders, wants to support Trump's economic plans. The tech CEO has been seeking to change his company's perception on the right following a rocky relationship with Trump. Trump was kicked off Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The company restored his account in early 2023. RELATED STORY | Meta's Mark Zuckerberg is the second richest person in the world. Here's who he just outranked During the 2024 campaign, Zuckerberg did not endorse a candidate for president but has voiced a more positive stance toward Trump. Earlier this year, he praised Trump's response to his first assassination attempt. Still, Trump had continued to attack Zuckerberg publicly during the campaign. In July, he posted a message on his own social network Truth Social threatening to send election fraudsters to prison in part by citing a nickname he used for the Meta CEO. "ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!" Trump wrote. Corporations have traditionally made up a large share of donors to presidential inaugurals, with an exception in 2009, when then-President-elect Barack Obama refused to accept corporate donations. He reversed course for his second inaugural in 2013. Facebook did not donate to either Biden's 2021 inaugural or Trump's 2017 inaugural. Google donated $285,000 each to Trump first inaugural and Biden's inaugural, according to Federal Election Commission records. Inaugural committees are required to disclose the source of their fundraising, but not how they spend the money. Microsoft gave $1 million to Obama's second inaugural, but only $500,000 to Trump in 2017 and Biden in 2021. RELATED STORY | Celebrity private jet-tracking accounts suspended by Meta without reason, college student claimsThere are two certainties on social media with every Christmas season. On the positive side, there will be countless posts of people sharing their Christmas traditions, decorations, and reasons for celebrating the season. Some of those will be secular in nature, while many practicing Christians will share the true meaning of the holiday: the birth of Jesus Christ. The other certainty is that these celebrations will cause anti-theists to completely melt down and spread their hatred of anyone who dares to speak openly in public about their Christian faith. One of the latest to experience this backlash was pop singer Gwen Stefani. Recently, the former lead singer for No Doubt and a self-professed devout Roman Catholic shared a pledge she was making for the Advent season in conjunction with the Catholic prayer app Hallow. The challenge is a simple one, just to say a prayer every day leading up to Christmas. Harmless, right? Just one person celebrating their faith, not demanding anyone else celebrate with her, but giving those who wish to do so a convenient way to share their Christmas prayers. Well, maybe not so harmless, at least not to anti-theists. Check out how the account Christian Nightmares reacted to Stefani's announcement: Gwen Stefani?! Jesus Christ... pic.twitter.com/o0dKHDx27V We will skip past the irony of an account called 'Christian Nightmares' invoking Jesus Christ to protest Stefani and her prayer pledge. (We're guessing the irony is lost on them as well.) Others who cannot abide anyone celebrating their faith had similar reactions. I can’t believe this woman used to be really cool and make cool music. This hurts my soul. Your soul? Yet more irony, again completely lost on the author of the reply. I loved No Doubt growing up. You broke my heart Gwen. You broke my heart She broke your heart because she prays? Yeah, we're guessing you may not have had one to begin with. I used to really like her 🙄👇 https://t.co/3b6EuWZA1C We're sure she's devastated that you no longer do. gwen stefani’s death has to be one of the saddest moments i’ve seen in my lifetime. may she rest in peace https://t.co/0Th05qy3a9 Yikes. ALL the yikes. That one is extremely scary. Gavin Rossdale basically outed her as a republican and said they had very different politics. This, and her marrying Blake Shelton is so unsurprising LOL. The fact that being Christian is automatically equated with being a Republican is both hilarious and damning to the Democrat Party. For the record, Stefani is not a conservative. She was a major Barack Obama donor, she performed for Joe Biden as recently as last year, and she refuses to be labeled in either party. But she is Catholic, so she must be a 'right-wing extremist.' Ironically, if anything did move Stefani ever-so-slightly to the right, it was likely the left trying to cancel her for 'cultural appropriation.' She has frequently talked about how she likes to show her love for Japanese culture. She also often wore bindis and saris on stage both as an expression of her admiration for Indian culture and as a nod to her No Doubt bandmate (and former boyfriend) Tony Kanal, who is an Indian American. Oh, that brought the cancel mob down upon her in droves back in the early 2000s. Can anyone blame her if she then embraced some of the conservative aspects of her political beliefs a little more tightly? Fortunately, as vile as the anti-theists were, there were plenty more ready to congratulate Stefani and come to her defense. lol everyone finding out their favorite ska-punk Barbie is *gasp* Catholic https://t.co/ARXRxbKMnl It's not like Stefani was hiding this or anything. She has talked openly about her Catholic faith for pretty much her entire professional career. Yeah. She’s Catholic. This isn’t the *own* you think it is. https://t.co/cPTxMu3QhX Some of you struggle with your faith in Jesus Christ, but Gwen Stefani has no doubt. https://t.co/j9ssSNUzfz Ahh, clever. We see what you did there, Cobra. Christmas itself is upsetting to these people. https://t.co/TKQCiUOAh8 Of course, it is. Imagine being upset by this? https://t.co/RNE1yPSCvt It's not all that surprising. If anyone ever talks about their Christianity, particularly someone famous, these people lose their minds. Only demons would be upset by this. https://t.co/prW8nBnSgH Hey, she said it, not us. (But we kind of agree with it.) Gwen Stefani’s Christian glow up is one of the best things about 2024. We don't know about 'best.' But it's certainly a positive thing that happened in 2024. We could use a lot more of it. I'm an atheist but i think religion is lovely. Good for Gwen I’m not Christian anymore and I have zero problem with this. What’s your deal? There is a big difference between being an agnostic or an atheist and being an anti-theist. Anti-theists have a problem with everyone , and they never shut up about it. They're like the vegans of religious discourse. I love Gwen Stefani even more now for this.🥰 It's a beautiful ad, and she looks beautiful presenting it. I love this message! 🙏🏻❤️🎄 https://t.co/2lBiZwfF3B Imagine showing yourself this video in 1994. Seriously, I think it’s great that Gwen Stefani is a Christian, and is now more vocal about her faith. This is incredibly healthy for American culture. https://t.co/z0j2yM2W2U It is all of that. As we said, our culture could use a lot more of this and a lot less of cults that demand everyone accept insane ideas like boys can be girls and girls can be boys. I'll never forget when my ex's liberal mother started screeching at brunch because she saw a truck drive by with an American flag on the back. She yelled so loud the entire restaurant stopped, like a demon in an exorcism That's what this account reminds me of https://t.co/zirHRPrfPw Wow. That's a frightening mother-in-law. And yes, she is exactly like the anti-theists who react to any signs of religious faith from anyone like a vampire reacts to garlic. “Is it me who’s out of touch? No! It’s Gwen Stefani and the other billion+ people!” 😂 HA. It's funny, though, how the anti-theists never react this way to say, practicing Muslims. They tend to focus almost exclusively on Judeo-Christian expressions of faith. If you guessed the reason for that, you win a prize. Because they are not really anti-religion per se. They just want everyone to adhere to their religion, which is Marxism. And Jewish and Christian beliefs are diametrically opposed to that. We're sure that there will be a lot more of this screeching from anti-theist accounts on Twitter as Christmas draws closer. The good news is that nothing they can say will deter any Christians. Especially not any Christians as strong in their faith as Gwen Stefani is.
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The Washington Commanders (8-5) should be refreshed and ready to roll when they face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, beginning their four-game closing stretch of the regular season. If anything, what should motivate them is their Week 12 loss to a similar Dallas Cowboys team. In that Nov. 24 matchup , the Commanders were favored by 10.5 points against a 3-7 Cowboys team that was playing without its starting quarterback. Washington came out flat and struggled to move the ball for the first three quarters, only seeming to wake up when it was too late. Dallas has been resilient without Prescott, also going on to beat the New York Giants the following week and then only losing to the Cincinnati Bengals because of a special teams blunder this past Monday night. That same label can apply to the Saints, who have won three of their past four in a lost season. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following a Week 9 loss to the Carolina Panthers , which was their seventh straight after starting 2-0. This past week, in a win over the Giants, they lost starting QB Derek Carr to an injury. It's uncertain if it will be rookie Spencer Rattler or second-year player Jake Haener starting in Carr's place against Washington (Rattler previously started three games early on in the season while Carr was injured). Regardless, this figures to be a feisty Saints team that the Commanders cannot take lightly. Favored by 7.5 points on the road, Washington must use lessons learned from the Dallas loss in order to avoid another trap game. How well-prepared the Commanders are for Sunday will be quite telling of their prospects the remainder of the season.Asian shares were mixed on Monday after stocks fell broadly on Friday as Wall Street closed out a holiday-shortened week on a down note. U.S. futures were lower while oil prices were little changed. In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.6% to 2,418.80. But shares of Jeju Air Co. lost 8.8% after one of the company’s jets skidded off a runway , slammed into a concrete fence and burst into flames Sunday in South Korea as its landing gear failed to deploy. 179 people died in the crash. Political turmoil continued as South Korean law enforcement officials requested a court warrant on Monday to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. They are investigating whether his martial law decree on Dec. 3 amounted to rebellion. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.9% to 39,914.21 as the dollar gained against the Japanese yen, trading at 157.83 yen, up from 157.75 yen. The Tokyo market will wrap up trading for 2024 with a yearend ceremony as Japan begins its New Year holidays, the biggest festival of the year. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 0.3% to 20,030.63 while the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.3% at 3,408.72. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.9% to 8,191.50. On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 1.1% to 5,970.84. Roughly 90% of stocks in the benchmark index lost ground, but it managed to hold onto a modest gain of 0.7% for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% to 42,992.21. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 1.5%, to 19,722.03. The losses were made worse by sharp declines for the Big Tech stocks known as the “Magnificent 7”, which can heavily influence the direction of the market because of their large size. A wide range of retailers also fell. Amazon fell 1.5% and Best Buy slipped 1.5%. The sector is being closely watched for clues on how it performed during the holiday shopping season. The S&P 500 gained nearly 3% over a 3-day stretch before breaking for the Christmas holiday. On Thursday, the index posted a small decline. Despite Friday's drop, the market is moving closer to another standout annual finish . The S&P 500 is on track for a gain of around 25% in 2024. That would mark a second consecutive yearly gain of more than 20%, the first time that has happened since 1997-1998. The gains have been driven partly by upbeat economic data showing that consumers continued spending and the labor market remained strong. Inflation, while still high, has also been steadily easing. A report on Friday showed that sales and inventory estimates for the wholesales trade industry fell 0.2% in November, following a slight gain in October. That weaker-than-expected report follows an update on the labor market Thursday that showed unemployment benefits held steady last week. The stream of upbeat economic data and easing inflation helped prompt a reversal in the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy this year. Expectations for interest rate cuts also helped drive market gains. The central bank recently delivered its third cut to interest rates in 2024. Even though inflation has come closer to the central bank's target of 2%, it remains stubbornly above that mark and worries about it heating up again have tempered the forecast for more interest rate cuts. Inflation concerns have added to uncertainties heading into 2025, which include the labor market’s path ahead and shifting economic policies under incoming President Donald Trump. Worries have risen that Trump’s preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation , a bigger U.S. government debt and difficulties for global trade. In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil picked up 1 cent to $70.61 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 1 cent to $73.78 per barrel. The euro fell to $1.0427 from $1.0433.
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