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ZETA COURT UPDATE: The Zeta Global Holdings Class Action Deadline is January 21 –Investors with Losses are Urged to Contact BFA Law (NYSE:ZETA)Dune: Prophecy: See Episode 3 release date, time, upcoming episode schedule and where to watchAfter the College Football Playoff field was decided on Sunday, Penn State head coach James Franklin offered a suggestion to make things more equal across different conferences. "Everyone should be playing the same number of conference games," Franklin said, per StateCollege.com's Seth Engle . Franklin's Nittany Lions were named the No. 6 seed in the first 12-team CFP bracket on Sunday. Penn State's only losses came to Ohio State and Oregon, which it fell to in the Big Ten Championship Saturday. This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis. For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app , homepage and social feeds—including Twitter , Instagram , Facebook and TikTok .Wall Street ends flat after the Christmas break
The AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Tayshawn Comer scored 18 points as Evansville beat Campbell 66-53 on Sunday night. Comer had six rebounds and six assists for the Purple Aces (3-4). Cameron Haffner scored 16 points and added six rebounds. Gabriel Pozzato shot 3 for 5, including 2 for 3 from beyond the arc to finish with 10 points. Jasin Sinani led the way for the Fighting Camels (3-4) with 22 points. Colby Duggan added 11 points and Nolan Dorsey totaled eight points, seven rebounds and four steals. Evansville took the lead with 1:45 left in the first half and never looked back. The score was 34-28 at halftime, with Haffner racking up eight points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .NCAA HOCKEY: Skidmore’s late rally falls short against Lake Forest
Pound on course to return to pre-Brexit levels after hitting two-and-a-half year high against the euro
Southeast Asia salaries set for a 2025 bump, with Singapore lagging the region: ReportKing Charles and Tony Blair lead tributes to former deputy prime minister John PrescottStock indexes drifted to a mixed finish on Wall Street as some heavyweight technology and communications sector stocks offset gains elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1% Thursday, its first loss after three straight gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%. Gains by retailers and health care stocks helped temper the losses. Trading volume was lighter than usual as U.S. markets reopened following the Christmas holiday. The Labor Department reported that U.S. applications for unemployment benefits held steady last week, though continuing claims rose to the highest level in three years. Treasury yields fell in the bond market. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. Stocks wavered on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday, as gains in tech companies and retailers helped temper losses elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 was up less than 0.1% after drifting between small gains and losses. The benchmark index is coming off a three-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 10 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 3:20 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%. Trading volume was lighter than usual as U.S. markets reopened after the Christmas holiday. Chip company Broadcom rose 2.5%, Micron Technology was up 1.3% and Adobe gained 0.8%. While tech stocks overall were in the green, some heavyweights were a drag on the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, slipped 0.1%. Meta Platforms fell 0.5%, Amazon was down 0.4%, and Netflix gave up 0.7%. Tesla was among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500, down 1.4%. Health care stocks helped lift the market. CVS Health rose 1.4% and Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 3.9% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks. Several retailers also gained ground. Target rose 3.1%, Ross Stores added 1.8%, Best Buy was up 2.5% and Dollar Tree gained 3.6%. Traders are watching to see whether retailers have a strong holiday season. The day after Christmas traditionally ranks among the top 10 biggest shopping days of the year, as consumers go online or rush to stores to cash in gift cards and raid bargain bins. U.S.-listed shares in Honda and Nissan rose 4.2% and 15.9%, respectively. The Japanese automakers announced earlier this week that the two companies are in talks to combine. Traders got a labor market update. U.S. applications for unemployment benefits held steady last week , though continuing claims rose to the highest level in three years, the Labor Department reported. Treasury yields turned mostly lower in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.58% from 4.59% late Tuesday. Major European markets were closed, as well as Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. Trading was expected to be subdued this week with a thin slate of economic data on the calendar. Still, U.S. markets have historically gotten a boost at year’s end despite lower trading volumes. The last five trading days of each year, plus the first two in the new year, have brought an average gain of 1.3% since 1950. So far this month, the U.S. stock market has lost some of its gains since President-elect Donald Trump’s win on Election Day, which raised hopes for faster economic growth and more lax regulations that would boost corporate profits. 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. Even so, the U.S. market remains on pace to deliver strong returns for 2024. The benchmark S&P 500 is up roughly 26% so far this year and remains near its most recent all-time high it set earlier this month — its latest of 57 record highs this year. Wall Street has several economic reports to look forward to next week, including updates on pending home sales and home prices, a report on U.S. construction spending and snapshots of manufacturing activity. ___ AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed. Alex Veiga, The Associated PressCNN's Dovere: Biden Will Be Remembered as the 'Guy Who Was Just in Between the Trump Terms'
Stock indexes drifted to a mixed finish on Wall Street as some heavyweight technology and communications sector stocks offset gains elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1% Thursday, its first loss after three straight gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%. Gains by retailers and health care stocks helped temper the losses. Trading volume was lighter than usual as U.S. markets reopened following the Christmas holiday. The Labor Department reported that U.S. applications for unemployment benefits held steady last week, though continuing claims rose to the highest level in three years. Treasury yields fell in the bond market. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. Stocks wavered on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday, as gains in tech companies and retailers helped temper losses elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 was up less than 0.1% after drifting between small gains and losses. The benchmark index is coming off a three-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 10 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 3:20 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%. Trading volume was lighter than usual as U.S. markets reopened after the Christmas holiday. Chip company Broadcom rose 2.5%, Micron Technology was up 1.3% and Adobe gained 0.8%. While tech stocks overall were in the green, some heavyweights were a drag on the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, slipped 0.1%. Meta Platforms fell 0.5%, Amazon was down 0.4%, and Netflix gave up 0.7%. Tesla was among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500, down 1.4%. Health care stocks helped lift the market. CVS Health rose 1.4% and Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 3.9% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks. Several retailers also gained ground. Target rose 3.1%, Ross Stores added 1.8%, Best Buy was up 2.5% and Dollar Tree gained 3.6%. Traders are watching to see whether retailers have a strong holiday season. The day after Christmas traditionally ranks among the top 10 biggest shopping days of the year, as consumers go online or rush to stores to cash in gift cards and raid bargain bins. U.S.-listed shares in Honda and Nissan rose 4.2% and 15.9%, respectively. The Japanese automakers announced earlier this week that the two companies are in talks to combine. Traders got a labor market update. U.S. applications for unemployment benefits held steady last week , though continuing claims rose to the highest level in three years, the Labor Department reported. Treasury yields turned mostly lower in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.58% from 4.59% late Tuesday. Major European markets were closed, as well as Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. Trading was expected to be subdued this week with a thin slate of economic data on the calendar. Still, U.S. markets have historically gotten a boost at year’s end despite lower trading volumes. The last five trading days of each year, plus the first two in the new year, have brought an average gain of 1.3% since 1950. So far this month, the U.S. stock market has lost some of its gains since President-elect Donald Trump’s win on Election Day, which raised hopes for faster economic growth and more lax regulations that would boost corporate profits. 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. Even so, the U.S. market remains on pace to deliver strong returns for 2024. The benchmark S&P 500 is up roughly 26% so far this year and remains near its most recent all-time high it set earlier this month — its latest of 57 record highs this year. Wall Street has several economic reports to look forward to next week, including updates on pending home sales and home prices, a report on U.S. construction spending and snapshots of manufacturing activity. ___ AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed. Alex Veiga, The Associated PressDespite longstanding divisions, Kurdish political leaders and analysts say Syrian Kurdish groups are seeking a unified delegation to represent their interests in Damascus in negotiations with Syria’s new authorities. Since 2012, northeast Syria’s Kurdish region has been under the control of forces affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, a key U.S. partner in the fight against the Islamic State terror group. The region is predominantly governed by the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, whose military arm forms the backbone of the SDF. For its part, Turkey views all these groups as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Turkey, a major actor in post-Assad Syria, has pledged to eliminate these Kurdish groups if they refuse to disarm. The Kurdish National Council, or ENKS, is another coalition of Kurdish parties in Syria that have opposed the PYD’s de facto rule in the northeast. The ENKS has ties with Turkey and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the ruling party in Iraqi Kurdistan. This week, ENKS and SDF held a meeting attended by officials from the U.S.-led coalition against IS. The meeting was “to discuss the formation of a unified Kurdish position within the framework of the new Syria,” according to a joint statement. “The sides agreed on the importance of urgently continuing meetings to resolve contentious issues.” Sulaiman Oso, the ENKS president who attended the meeting on Monday, said the discussion between the two sides was transparent. “This was our first meeting with SDF commander Mazloum Abdi in four years,” he told VOA. “We were clear and transparent about our demands, including an end to arrests of our members and the burning of our offices,” he added, referring to recent incidents in which ENKS members have been targeted by local security forces. Oso said that trust between the two sides has significantly eroded in recent years. “We cannot go to Damascus with a unified delegation if these internal matters aren’t resolved first,” he said, adding that the U.S., U.K. and France are pushing both Kurdish sides to reach an agreement soon. None of these countries has publicly commented on their involvement in supporting intra-Kurdish dialogue in Syria. However, since Bashar al-Assad’s fall on Dec. 8, U.S., French and British officials have highlighted the need to safeguard the rights of Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities, including the Kurds. Saleh Muslim, a senior PYD official, emphasized the importance of forming a unified Kurdish delegation that includes Arabs and Christians from northeast Syria to effectively represent the region’s diverse population and their demands. “The current meetings are still in the consultation stage,” he told VOA. “Nothing concrete has emerged yet, but the ENKS has already sent representatives to Damascus for discussions.” The ENKS says its representatives are in the capital to hold meetings with community leaders, not with the new authorities, which are dominated by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, the rebel group that led the 11-day offensive resulting in Assad’s downfall. The HTS is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., although initial meetings have taken place between U.S. diplomats and HTS leaders in Damascus. Oso of ENKS said no current presence should replace a unified Kurdish representation in Damascus. Observers warn that the slow progress between the two Kurdish sides could undermine efforts to establish a Kurdish foothold in Damascus. “This is a historic moment for Syria,” said Zara Saleh, a Kurdish political analyst in London. “If the Kurds don’t have a unified and strong representation in Damascus, Kurdish demands could be ignored by the new Islamist authorities, who already view them with suspicion.” HTS officials, including leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, have said that Kurdish rights will be protected in Syria. But in a recent interview with the Saudi news channel al-Hadath, Murhaf Abu Qasra, who was appointed by the HTS as defense minister in Syria’s caretaker government, rejected the concept of federalism, describing it as a means to divide Syria. Syrian Kurdish groups are advocating for federalism as a solution to both their political demands and the broader issues facing the country. But that is something that the SDF, PYD and ENKS have failed to clearly articulate, says analyst Zara Saleh. “Their political rhetoric expired the moment the Syrian regime fell,” Saleh said. “Therefore, there is an urgent need to include Kurdish experts, civil society leaders and influential social figures in any delegation heading to Damascus, and the United States, along with other stakeholders, should advocate for this.”Albertsons sues Kroger for failing to win approval of their proposed supermarket merger
Combating loneliness in older age: 'You have to make the effort'The state institutions involved in energy — setting policies, watching over utilities, advocating for ratepayers — are poised to face questions from lawmakers in the legislative session that begins next month. Chief among those questions, and disagreements: Who should be doing what in the state when it comes to energy? The Office of the Consumer Advocate, which works for the interests of residential ratepayers, has some thoughts. It supports legislation to clarify the authority of the Public Utilities Commission, a three-member body with jurisdiction over utilities, and the Department of Energy, a state agency established in 2021. But the OCA has also had to go on the defensive over its own role: Rep. Ross Berry, a Weare Republican, has proposed that the office be repealed and that its mantle instead be taken up by the DOE. Donald Kreis, the state’s consumer advocate, adamantly opposes the move. Meanwhile, PUC Chair Daniel C. Goldner and Commissioner Pradip K. Chattopadhyay have said they are “very concerned about the sweeping nature” of Kreis’ recommendations. Competing visions for the purpose of these offices will face off in a new Legislature with expanded Republican control, with a new Republican governor, Kelly Ayotte, holding the veto pen. Kreis said he expects to be at the Statehouse much more than in years past. While bills are still being drafted and have yet to be released to the public, here’s what’s teeing up for the Legislature when it convenes in the new year. PUC and DOE Kreis supported the creation of the DOE in 2021 but has since had “some buyer’s remorse.” A major issue, he said, is the muddling of which authorities belong to the DOE and which belong to the PUC. “It is expensive and complicated and ultimately bad for ratepayers if it isn’t clear to everybody what the job of the Public Utilities Commission is and what the job of the Department of Energy is,” Kreis said. “And so the bill that I have been working on getting introduced would just clarify everybody’s respective spheres.” Rep. Thomas Cormen, a Lebanon Democrat collaborating with Kreis, is the sponsor of a legislative service request “relative to redefining the role” of the PUC. (A legislative service request is the early stage of potential legislation, when the bill is still being written.) “If you look at many of the current statutes, they loop in the PUC as part of the enforcement mechanism, things that really the Department of Energy should be doing,” Cormen said. “And in fact, a lot of the statutes say the Department of Energy or the PUC can do these things, but really the PUC is an adjudicative board, and that’s all it should be.” Kreis pointed to a recent order from the PUC on net metering. In that decision, net metering was kept at its current rates and is left to expire in 2040. The commissioners “essentially ignored” a settlement agreement reached by parties including the OCA, clean energy advocates, utilities and others, Kreis said. Part of Cormen’s legislation, the lawmaker said, will say that “in the case where all the parties involved in a case before the PUC agree as to what the outcome should be, then the PUC should quickly come to that outcome.” On how explicit that legislation should be — whether it should simply urge the PUC to accept such settlement agreements or mandate it — Kreis said: “I personally think it would be OK to tell the PUC that in a scenario where there’s total unanimous agreement, that the PUC shouldn’t second guess that total unanimous agreement.” But, he added, “I think most people would not go as far as I’m willing to go.” A separate bill request Cormen has filed seeks to clarify the authority of the PUC chair. He said he also worked with Kreis on this idea. On current law, “You could construe it as saying that the chair of the Public Utilities Commission can make rulings and just do a lot of things on their own, rather than by a majority of the commissioners,” said Cormen, who sits on the House Science, Technology, and Energy Committee. “So the whole point of this bill is to just say that any actions taken by the PUC must be approved by a majority of the commissioners.” Kreis raised his legislative ideas in an October memo to the Residential Ratepayers Advisory Board, which the OCA describes as its “official sounding board.” Not all of these ideas will be pursued in the next legislative session and were still in early form in the memo, Kreis indicated. PUC members, in a letter to the advisory board, pointed to suggestions they believed would be a “grave error” to adopt. Goldner and Chattopadhyay, who have since been joined by a third PUC member, said they intended to “advocate vigorously, before the Legislature and elsewhere, to maintain these authorities, and to give a fuller, more accurate, picture of our work to interested stakeholders.” “As the ultimate arbiter between the interests of customers, including residential customers, and the interests of the regulated utilities (RSA 363:17-a), and the adjudicative body responsible for ensuring just, reasonable, and lawful rates for regulated utilities under New Hampshire law,” the commissioners wrote, “we foresee that adoption of these OCA recommendations would result in a profound blow against the public interest.” The commissioners, through a staff attorney, declined to comment further on the matter when reached following the advisory board meeting in October. Christopher J. Ellms Jr., the deputy commissioner of the DOE, said in an email that it “would be premature to comment on the consumer advocate’s suggestions regarding possible legislation,” and that the department “will review bills as they become publicly available and provide any position or testimony during hearings held by the appropriate legislative committee.” Consumer advocate Berry framed his legislation to move the role of the OCA under the DOE as a response to the needs of voters. “They’re screaming for lower energy rates, and I think this is a way to expedite that process,” Berry said. “The idea is to take the mandate that is given to the Office of the Consumer Advocate, which is to obviously lower and prioritize the residential ratepayer and give it to the entire Department of Energy,” Berry said. “So, instead of having five lawyers working on this ... the entire Department of Energy would be tasked with prioritizing the residential ratepayer.” Berry said his idea has been “fairly well-received” in conversations with lawmakers. “I haven’t talked to OCA,” Berry said. “They haven’t deemed fit to reach out to me, and I haven’t really had any real conversations with the DOE other than, like, ‘Hey, I’m filing this.’” Kreis, on the other hand, said Berry “has not done me the courtesy of reaching out and letting me know what it is that he has in mind.” With a new Legislature, Kreis is not sure how much interest the bill will generate — but he said he welcomes “the opportunity to explain to the Legislature what it is that we do and why it’s valuable. ... I’m hopeful that it won’t gain any traction, but it’s hard to say at this stage.” Berry argued that the consumer advocate, like the DOE commissioner, is a political appointee who requires nomination by the governor and confirmation by the Executive Council. “This argument that the [OCA] makes that they’re unbiased is bunk, because they’re both going through a political process,” Berry said. “... Once you kind of accept that as the reality, which it is the reality ... you can it look at and go, ‘OK, well, why don’t we just have the entire Department of Energy prioritize the residential ratepayer, and then you can have the PUC ... be the quote, unquote, neutral arbiter.” (PUC members also go through the confirmation process.) But Kreis feels his role, which he said exists in the vast majority of states, provides advocacy for ratepayers that can’t be replicated by an agency. “If you took what I do, and you just folded it back into the Department of Energy, then ... it’s the equivalent of saying that whatever the executive branch, basically meaning the governor, thinks is the right public policy is automatically good for ratepayers,” Kreis said. “And I don’t think that that is appropriate, even in a state with a fabulous governor, pursuing excellent executive branch public policy, that isn’t the ratepayer voice. That’s the governor’s voice.”Tweet Facebook Mail Donald Trump has pushed Russian leader Vladimir Putin to act to reach an immediate cease-fire with Ukraine, describing it as part of his active efforts as US president-elect to end the war despite being weeks from taking office. "Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal," Trump wrote on social media, referring to Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In a television interview that aired Sunday, Trump also said he would be open to reducing military aid to Ukraine and pulling the United States out of NATO. Those are two threats that have alarmed Ukraine, NATO allies and many in the US national security community. READ MORE: Syrian government falls, ending 50 years of iron rule by one family French President Emmanuel Macron, centre, poses with US President-elect Donald Trump, left, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Elysee Palace. (AP) Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" if he were actively working to end the nearly three-year-old Ukraine war, Trump said, "I am." He refused to say if he had spoken to Putin since winning the election in November. "I don't want to say anything about that, because I don't want to do anything that could impede the negotiation," Trump said. Trump's call for an immediate cease-fire went beyond the public policy stands taken by both the Biden administration and Ukraine and drew a cautious response from Zelenskyy. It also marked Trump's wading unusually deeply into efforts before his inauguration on January 20, 2025, to resolve one of the major global crises facing the lame-duck Biden administration. Trump made his proposal after a weekend meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders in Paris, where many world leaders gathered to celebrate the restoration of Notre Dame cathedral after a devastating fire. Of his advisers that traveled with him, none appeared to have expertise on Ukraine. READ MORE: FBI offers $50k reward in hunt for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Ukraine reacted to Trump's call for a ceasefire with caution. (AP) Kyiv would like to close a deal and "stop the madness," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. "There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin." "I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!" Trump added. He was referring to mediation efforts by China that many in the West have seen as favouring Russia. Zelenskyy described his discussions Saturday with Trump, brought together by French President Emmanuel Macron, as "constructive" but has given no further details. In a post Sunday on the Telegram messaging app, Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine needs a "just and robust peace, that Russians will not destroy within a few years." READ MORE: Suspected underground explosion rocks busy Gold Coast street There are fears a ceasefire would favour Vladimir Putin. (AP) "When we talk about an effective peace with Russia, we must talk first of all about effective peace guarantees. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else. Russia brought war to our land," Zelenskyy said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Trump's post by repeating Moscow's longstanding message that it is open to talks with Ukraine. Peskov referenced a decree by Zelenskyy from October 2022 that formally declared the prospect of any talks "impossible" as long as Putin was Russia's leader. That decree came after Putin proclaimed four occupied regions of Ukraine to be part of Russia, in what Kyiv and the West said was a clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty. Trump's former national security adviser, retired Lieutenant General HR McMaster, warned there was no such thing as a quick fix to ending Russia's war with Ukraine. "What I'm worried about is this kind of flawed idea that Putin can be placated, right, that Putin will come to some kind of a deal," McMaster told "Fox News Sunday." US President Joe Biden has pushed aid for Ukraine. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) "I think it's really important for President Trump to adhere to his instinct in this connection ... peace through strength," McMaster said, adding, "How about give them what they need to defend themselves, and then saying to Putin, 'You're going to lose this war?'" While Trump has said before that he would like to see a quick cease-fire in Ukraine, his proposal Sunday was framed as a direct appeal to Russia. The quick responses from Ukraine and Russia demonstrated the seriousness with which they regarded the idea from the incoming American president. Both Trump and the Biden administration officials have pointed to Russia's disengagement in Syria, where the Russian military largely moved out of the way in recent days as Syrian rebels overthrew the country's Russian-allied president, as evidence of the way the Ukraine was has sapped Russia's resources. The Biden administration and other supporters of Ukraine have made a point of not being seen to press Ukraine for an immediate truce. Ukraine's allies fear a quick deal would be largely on the terms of its more powerful neighbor, potentially forcing damaging concessions on Ukraine and allowing Russia to resume the war again once it has built back up its military strength. Ukraine defenders 'bending but not breaking' in fierce fighting View Gallery For most of the war, Kyiv's official position has been to call for a full withdrawal of Russian troops from internationally recognised Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, as a condition for peace talks. Moscow, too, has demanded heavy concessions from Ukraine as a condition for even beginning talks. Trump portrays himself as up to making fast deals to resolve conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East that have frustrated many of the Biden administration's own mediation efforts. There is no prohibition on incoming officials or nominees meeting with foreign officials, and it is common and fine for them to do so — unless those meetings are designed to subvert or otherwise affect current US policy. The Logan Act bars private citizens from trying to intervene in "disputes or controversies" between the United States and foreign powers without government approval. But the 1799 statute has produced just two criminal cases, none since the 1850s and neither resulting in a criminal conviction. In the NBC interview that was taped Friday, Trump renewed his warning to NATO allies that he did not see continued US participation in the Western military alliance as a given during his second term. Trump has long complained that European and the Canadian governments in the mutual-defence bloc are freeloading on military spending by the US, by far the most powerful partner in NATO. NATO and its member governments say a majority of countries in the bloc are now hitting voluntary targets for military spending, due in part to pressure from Trump in his first term. Asked whether he would consider the possibility of pulling out of NATO, Trump indicated that was an open question. "If they're paying their bills, and if I think they're treating us fairly, the answer is absolutely I'd stay with NATO," he said. But if not, he was asked if he would consider pulling the US out of the alliance. Trump responded, "Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely." Trump expressed the same openness when asked if Ukraine should brace for possible cuts in US aid after Trump moves into the White House. "Possibly," he said. US arms and other military support are vital to Ukraine's efforts to fend off invading Russian forces, and Democratic President Joe Biden has been surging assistance to Ukraine ahead of leaving office. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday announced nearly US$1 billion ($1.57 billion) more in longer-term weapons support to Ukraine. DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP : Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play .
PHILADELPHIA — A.J. Brown usually doesn’t talk until Friday, but he knew that wasn’t going to fly ahead of the Eagles’ Week 15 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not after injured teammate Brandon Graham said the receiver had a problem with quarterback Jalen Hurts. Not when the Eagles are 11-2 and riding a nine-game winning streak that so many fear could be derailed by an unexpected controversy.ATHENS, Ga. — This one’s going to hurt for a while. Ahead by 17 points at the half, by 14 with four minutes left in regulation, Georgia Tech tasted the most bitter of defeats. And instead of sweet, sweet victory over a most hated rival, instead of stunning a national power for whom a win Friday was widely assumed, the Yellow Jackets and their fan base once again have only heartbreak. What if Tech could have converted a fourth-and-1 (or a third-and-1) from the Georgia 25 early on? What if the Jackets hadn’t missed a 25-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter? What if the Tech defense could have made only one play to stop any of Georgia’s three fourth-quarter touchdown drives? What if the Jackets could have converted a first down after taking possession of the ball with 3:33 left in regulation and leading 27-20? What if Tech could have scored on either of the two overtime periods when it had the ball second after a failed Bulldogs attempt and could have ended the game with a successful two-point conversion? What if, what if, what if? No. 7 Georgia 44, Georgia Tech 42, eight overtimes. For the seventh consecutive meeting, the Jackets fell to their in-state rivals, this time in a fashion that was like a gut punch followed by a kick to the face and finished off with strangers barking loudly in their face. But what ought not be forgotten in such a crushing defeat was the incontrovertible evidence that Tech has become a team to be reckoned with — in college football, in the ACC and undoubtedly in the state of Georgia. It took Georgia, a national championship contender playing in front of its vaunted home crowd — where it hadn’t lost in its past 30 games — eight overtimes to survive its archrival’s upset attempt. Only once in college football history have two teams played more overtimes, a nine-overtime game between Illinois and Penn State in 2021. That was the degree to which Georgia and Tech were evenly matched. This at the end of a regular season in which the Jackets beat two top-10 teams, won more regular-season games (seven) than they had won since 2018 and earned back-to-back bowl bids for the first time since their 18-year bowl streak ended in the 2015 season. If Georgia goes on to win the national title, the Bulldogs and their fan base will have to look upon that late November night at Sanford Stadium and feel thankful (and perhaps lucky) that the Jackets didn’t have one more play in them. It was so, so close. Entering the game as 17-point underdogs, the Yellow Jackets took control of the game from the start. They drove into Georgia territory on their first five possessions, twice scoring touchdowns, while forcing two punts, a turnover, a fourth-down stop and a missed field-goal attempt in Georgia’s first five times with the ball. They led 17-0 at the half, the first time the Bulldogs had been held scoreless through halftime since 2019. If anyone had doubted Tech’s capacity to take down the Bulldogs before kickoff, the time for disbelief had passed. Tech continued to control the game into the third quarter, with the Jackets answering two Georgia touchdown drives with a field goal and a touchdown. Quarterback Haynes King, his right (throwing) shoulder in much better health than it had been in Tech’s previous two games when his passing ability was severely limited, was at his gritty playmaking best. When he ran in a keeper from 11 yards out that (along with an Aidan Birr point-after try) put the Jackets up 27-13 with 5:37 to play in regulation, it seemed safe for Tech fans to start to celebrate. Indeed, Georgia fans began to leave Sanford Stadium, their expectations of victory dashed. But, as is the history of this one-sided rivalry, the talented Bulldogs had the final say. Georgia drove 75 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 27-20 with 3:39 left in the fourth quarter, then forced a fumble out of King on a fateful third-and-1 carry from the Tech 31. It followed another “what if?” — a King pass to receiver Abdul Janneh on second-and-13 in which Janneh was forced out of bounds just shy of the marker. Georgia exploited the mistake and tied the score with a 32-yard touchdown drive that finished with 1:01 left in the fourth quarter. In the wildest back-and-forth struggle in overtime, Georgia and Tech could not be separated, stuck to each other like magnets bound by titanium and sealed in a vacuum. Seven overtimes could not yield a winner. The two teams matched touchdowns and extra points (first overtime), then touchdowns and failed mandatory two-point tries (second overtime), then failed two-point conversion tries (third and fourth overtimes), then successful conversions (fifth overtime), then failed conversions (sixth and seventh overtimes). The seventh had a now-or-never feel for the Jackets. Going first, Georgia was stopped on a Carson Beck keeper when the Bulldogs borrowed from the Tech playbook with a fake toss by Beck and a run up the middle, a King staple. He was stopped short by safety Omar Daniels. Tech could now win with a conversion from the 3-yard line. Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner dug deep from his own cache of plays, lining up both offensive tackles and both guards near the sideline. The resulting pass play yielded a pass interference against Georgia and now the Jackets had the ball at the 1 1/2-yard line. If the Jackets could just punch it in from 54 inches out, victory would be theirs. But King, carrying after a fake handoff, was tackled well short of the goal line. And in the eighth overtime, Georgia finally prevailed. King threw incomplete to receiver Eric Singleton Jr. and then Bulldogs running back Nate Frazier scored on a run up the middle. In the first minutes of Saturday morning, game (finally) over. Some Tech players walked straight to the locker room. King, who had played so valiantly, graciously wandered through the field finding Bulldogs players to congratulate before heading back to the locker room. There is one consolation for Tech and its fan base. Tech must have Georgia’s full attention now. It already had Smart’s. He has seen his colleague Key build this program and claim recruits that the Bulldogs have gone after, something that hasn’t always happened in this state. “This rivalry is good for our state, and that’s what Brent and I shared before the game and after the game,” Smart said. Where recent Tech-Georgia meetings have been so one-sided in the red team’s favor that it barely seemed like a rivalry and losses nothing to lose sleep over, that’s no longer the case. But on this cold night, that might have been about it. ©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Asia markets rise as Aussie stocks hit record high; India GDP and Korea rates in focus this weekCollege football's conference shakeup left concerns about two super conferences dominating the playoff field . They weren't totally unfounded or 100% borne out, either. The Big Ten, not the Southeastern Conference , was the biggest winner on Sunday. The ACC scored, too. The Big Ten led the initial 12-team playoff field with four programs making the cut, led by a No. 1 Oregon (13-0) team that was part of the Pac-12 exodus. Then came the SEC — and one notable omission. ACC runner-up SMU got the nod over college football blue-blood Alabama, another blemish in Kalen DeBoer's first season as Nick Saban's championship-or-bust successor. Another ego blow: The Mustangs are led by Rhett Lashlee, a former offensive coordinator at rival Auburn. The Big Ten also got in No. 6 seed Penn State (11-2), No. 8 seed Ohio State (10-2) and No. 10 seed Indiana (11-1). The SEC represented well too: No. 2 seed Georgia (11-2), No. 5 seed Texas (11-2) and No. 9 seed Tennessee (10-2). But the ACC proved it wasn't a one-bid league. Clemson (10-3) — the final No. 12 seed with an overall No. 16 CFP ranking — earned the ACC's automatic bid with a 34-31 win in the title game over No. 11 seed SMU (11-2), which was close enough to impress the playoff committee and help the Mustangs edge out the Crimson Tide. The odd man out among Power Four leagues: The Big 12, which unsurprisingly only advanced its champion, Arizona State (11-2) — ranked No. 12 overall by the CFP but awarded the No. 4 seed as the league title winner. The SEC was left with Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi on the wrong side of the bubble. Mountain West Conference champion Boise State (12-1) got a No. 3 seed and first-round bye. No. 7 seed Notre Dame (11-1), an independent, had no chance to grab a bye despite a No. 5 final CFP ranking. The Fighting Irish at least get to host a first-round game against the in-state Hoosiers. 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
ATLANTA (AP) — Ethan Vasko threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth as Coastal Carolina became bowl eligible by beating Georgia State 48-27 for its sixth win of the season in the regular season finale on Saturday. The Chanticleers evened their season record at 6-6 with the win and finished 3-5 in the Sun Belt East. The loss leaves Georgia State (3-9) with just one win in eight conference games. Vasko threw 10 yards to Senika McKie for the game's first score midway through the first quarter, but the Panthers got a Liam Rickman 28-yard field goal and a 19-yard touchdown run by Freddie Brock to take a 10-7 second-quarter lead. Vasko threw his second TD pass, this one a five-yard strike to Zach Courtney to take the lead and Kade Hensley booted a 43-yard field goal as time expired to put Coastal Carolina up 17-10 at halftime. Christian Washington ran 18-yards for a touchdown to open up a 24-10 lead four minutes into the third quarter. Vasko hit McKie for their second touchdown, this one from 31-yards out and Vasko ran 10 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown to make it 38-10 with under 10 minutes to play. Vasko was 13 of 17 passing for 200 yards and carried 13 times for another 68. Washington carried 20 times for 124 yards. McKie caught five passes for 81 yards Georgia State amassed 428 yards of offense, but the Panthers turned the ball over six times. Christian Veilleux completed 15 of 26 passes for 205 yards but was picked off four times and fumbled. 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-footballTottenham boss was impressed with Archie Gray’s maturity to fulfil a new role at left-back against Roma Archie Gray featured in Tottenham Hotspur’s recent Europa League clash against AS Roma. The England Under-21 international, who arrived at the North London club from Leeds United in the summer, lined up at left-back for Ange Postecoglou’s side on Thursday evening as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Claudio Ranieri’s AS Roma in the Europa League. It was the teenage prodigy’s 12th outing in a Tottenham strip since joining from Leeds United. Primarily a defensive midfielder, Archie Gray is yet to feature in his preferred position at Spurs. Instead, he has been used everywhere across the backline, as Ange Postecoglou looks to manage his injury-hit squad. Gray’s maturity and versatility in playing numerous roles has earned him plenty of praise from his gaffer Postecoglou. Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Tottenham’s forthcoming encounter with Fulham, the Big Ange said (h/t Football London): “There’s a real maturity at only 18. We asked him to play left-back, he has never played that position in his life but does it with a real efficiency & calmness. “I am so excited by Archie and that’s another positive for us that we have another 18-year-old who just plays and no one mentions that he is 18, they just measure his performance and, like I said, I am asking him to do different jobs. “It would probably be more comfortable for him if he was settled in one position but he is playing football at a really high level in Europe and the Premier League. “That’s going to set us up really well for the player that he is going to become.” Gray has had to be patient at his new club due to the intense competition within the Spurs squad. Against Roma, it was only his seventh start in a Tottenham shirt . The teenager has yet to start a Premier League game for the Lilywhites, which should be frustrating given he arrived from Leeds amid a lot of fanfare. This has alerted plenty of Championship clubs ahead of a potential January swoop, with ex-employers Leeds also keen to have Gray on loan for the second half of the season. However, the Durham-born talent is not interested in sealing a loan exit from Tottenham in January . He believes staying at Spurs will improve his chances of making a breakthrough under Big Ange. With Spurs hit with a lot of injuries to key players, as well as Rodrigo Bentancur suspended for seven domestic games by the FA for off-field matters, Gray is expected to get a lot of minutes over the busy fixture schedule. He has predominantly operated across the backline but Bentancur’s suspension could open the door for the Englishman to get chances to shine in his preferred No.6 role. With his maturity and flexibility, Gray has certainly charmed Big Ange and it is only a matter of time before he makes his first Premier League start for Spurs. This article first appeared on To The Lane And Back and was syndicated with permission.Big Ten wins playoff selection derby, followed by SEC despite notable Alabama omission
The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, a symbolic gesture rejected by the United States and Israel. The resolution -- adopted by a vote of 158-9, with 13 abstentions -- urges "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire," and "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" -- wording similar to a text vetoed by Washington in the Security Council last month. At that time, Washington used its veto power on the Council -- as it has before -- to protect its ally Israel, which has been at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group's October 7, 2023 attack. It has insisted on the idea of making a ceasefire conditional on the release of all hostages in Gaza, saying otherwise that Hamas has no incentive to free those in captivity. Deputy US Ambassador Robert Wood repeated that position Wednesday, saying it would be "shameful and wrong" to adopt the text. Ahead of the vote, Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon said: "The resolutions before the assembly today are beyond logic. (...) The vote today is not a vote for compassion. It is a vote for complicity." The General Assembly often finds itself taking up measures that cannot get through the Security Council, which has been largely paralyzed on hot-button issues such as Gaza and Ukraine due to internal politics, and this time is no different. The resolution, which is non-binding, demands "immediate access" to widespread humanitarian aid for the citizens of Gaza, especially in the besieged north of the territory. Dozens of representatives of UN member states addressed the Assembly before the vote to offer their support to the Palestinians. "Gaza doesn't exist anymore. It is destroyed," said Slovenia's UN envoy Samuel Zbogar. "History is the harshest critic of inaction." That criticism was echoed by Algeria's deputy UN ambassador Nacim Gaouaoui, who said: "The price of silence and failure in the face of the Palestinian tragedy is a very heavy price, and it will be heavier tomorrow." Hamas's October 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. That count includes hostages who died or were killed while being held in Gaza. Militants abducted 251 hostages, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 44,805 people, a majority of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run health ministry that is considered reliable by the United Nations. "Gaza today is the bleeding heart of Palestine," Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said last week during the first day of debate in the Assembly's special session on the issue. "The images of our children burning in tents, with no food in their bellies and no hopes and no horizon for the future, and after having endured pain and loss for more than a year, should haunt the conscience of the world and prompt action to end this nightmare," he said, calling for an end to the "impunity." After Wednesday's vote, he said "we will keep knocking on the doors of the Security Council and the General Assembly until we see an immediate and unconditional ceasefire put in place." The Gaza resolution calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to present "proposals on how the United Nations could help to advance accountability" by using existing mechanisms or creating new ones based on past experience. The Assembly, for example, created an international mechanism to gather evidence of crimes committed in Syria starting from the outbreak of civil war in 2011. A second resolution calling on Israel to respect the mandate of the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and allow it to continue its operations was passed Wednesday by a vote of 159-9 with 11 abstentions. Israel has voted to ban the organization starting January 28, after accusing some UNRWA employees of taking part in Hamas's devastating attack. abd/sst/jgc/nro/desKroger and Albertsons' plan for the largest U.S. supermarket merger in history crumbled Wednesday, with Albertsons pulling out of the $24.6 billion deal and the two companies accusing each other of not doing enough to push their proposed alliance through. Albertsons said it had filed a lawsuit against Kroger, seeking a $600 million termination fee as well as billions of dollars in legal fees and lost shareholder value. Kroger said the claims were “baseless” and that Albertsons was not entitled to the fee. The bitter breakup came the day after two judges halted the proposed merger in separate court cases. U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson in Oregon issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday blocking the merger until an in-house judge at the Federal Trade Commission could consider the matter. An hour later, Superior Court Judge Marshall Ferguson in Seattle issued a permanent injunction barring the merger . Ferguson ruled that combining Albertsons and Kroger would lessen competition and violate consumer-protection laws. The companies could have appealed the rulings or proceeded to the in-house FTC hearings. Albertsons' decision to pull out of deal instead surprised some industry experts. “I’m in a state of professional and commercial shock that they would take this scorched earth approach,” said Burt Flickinger, a longtime analyst and owner of retail consulting firm Strategic Resource Group. “The logical thing would have been for Albertsons to let the decision sink in for a day and then meet and see what could be done. But the lawsuit seems to make that a moot issue.” Albertsons is unlikely to find another merger partner because it has significant debt and underperforming stores in most of its markets., Flickinger said. Consumers will feel the most immediate impact of the deal's demise, he said, since Albertsons charges 12% to 14% more than Kroger and other grocery rivals. “They had so much debt they had to pay it off it's reflected in their pricing and promotional structure,” Flickinger said. Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran testified during the federal hearing in September that his company might consider “structural options” like laying off employees, closing stores and exiting certain markets if the merger with Kroger didn’t go through. “I would have to consider that,” he said. “It’s a dramatically different picture with the merger than without it.” But in a statement Wednesday, Sankaran said Albertsons would “start this next chapter in strong financial condition with a track record of positive business performance." In the company's most recent quarter, Albertsons' revenue rose 1% to $18.5 billion and it reported $7.9 billion in debt. Kroger and Albertsons first proposed the merger in 2022 . They argued that combining would help them better compete with big retailers like Walmart, Costco and Amazon, which are gaining an increasing share of U.S. grocery sales. Together, Kroger and Albertsons would control around 13% of the U.S. grocery market. Walmart controls around 22%. Under the merger agreement, Kroger and Albertsons — who compete in 22 states — agreed to sell 579 stores in places where their locations overlap to C&S Wholesale Grocers , a New Hampshire-based supplier to independent supermarkets that also owns the Grand Union and Piggly Wiggly store brands. But the Federal Trade Commission and two states — Washington and Colorado — sued to block the merger earlier this year, saying it would raise prices and lower workers' wages by eliminating competition. It also said the divestiture plan was inadequate and that C&S was ill-equipped to take on so many stores. On Wednesday, Albertsons said that Kroger failed to exercise “best efforts” and to take “any and all actions” to secure regulatory approval of the companies’ agreed merger transaction. Albertsons said Kroger refused to divest the assets necessary for antitrust approval, ignored regulators' feedback and rejected divestiture buyers that would have been stronger than C&S. “Kroger’s self-serving conduct, taken at the expense of Albertsons and the agreed transaction, has harmed Albertsons’ shareholders, associates and consumers,” said Tom Moriarty, Albertsons’ general counsel, in a statement. Kroger said that it disagrees with Albertsons “in the strongest possible terms.” It said early Wednesday that Albertsons was responsible for “repeated intentional material breaches and interference throughout the merger process.” Kroger , based in Cincinnati, Ohio, operates 2,800 stores in 35 states, including brands like Ralphs, Smith’s and Harris Teeter. Albertsons , based in Boise, Idaho, operates 2,273 stores in 34 states, including brands like Safeway, Jewel Osco and Shaw’s. Together, the companies employ around 710,000 people. Kroger sued the FTC in August in federal court in Ohio, claiming that the federal agency’s in-house administrative hearings were unlawful because the FTC was also able to challenge the merger in federal court in Oregon. In paperwork filed Wednesday, the FTC said it expected to update the court on its next steps in that case by Dec. 17. In Colorado, which also sued to block the merger, Attorney General Phil Weiser said Tuesday that he still was awaiting a decision from a state judge. In that case, Colorado also was challenging an allegedly illegal no-poach agreement Kroger and Albertsons made during a 2022 strike. Shares of Albertsons were down less than 1% in late trading Wednesday, while Kroger's stock was up less than 1%.
