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Syrian government forces withdraw from central city of Homs as insurgent offensive acceleratesDETROIT — In the end, the amount and way the Red Wings were losing lately was simply too much to ignore. And with that, the Wings fired coach Derek Lalonde and replaced him with former San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan on Thursday. In a release just after noon, the Wings announced that Steve Yzerman, the Wings’ executive vice-president and general manager, named McLellan the team’s 29th head coach in franchise history and signed McLellan to a multi-year contract. The Wings also hired Trent Yawney as an assistant coach, replacing Bob Boughner, another former Sharks head coach who oversaw the defense and penalty-kill. McLellan will be behind the bench Friday, as the Wings return from the three-day NHL holiday break to host Toronto. Yzerman and McLellan will address the media on Friday. McLellan is San Jose’s all-time winningest coach, compiling a 311-155-63 mark over seven full seasons from 2008-15. He won three Pacific Division titles and had a 30-32 record in the postseason, reaching the conference finals in 2010 and 2011. McLellan’s Sharks teams finished with more than 100 points four times, winning the President’s Trophy in the 2008-09 season that also saw McLellan named a finalist for the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year. The Wings have struggled to a 13-17-4 record, good for 30 points, just two points above Buffalo for last place in the Eastern Conference. They trail Ottawa by eight points (38-30) for the final of two Eastern Conference wild-card positions. After just missing the playoffs last spring on the final night of the season on a tiebreaker, the Wings struggled from the start this season. They lost three of their first four games and have struggled mightily to get to, or above, the .500 mark ever since. The Wings have lost their last three games, and the way they did likely pushed Yzerman to replace Lalonde. The Wings let a third-period lead slip away at Little Caesars on Dec. 20 to Montreal and lost, 4-3, then lost the next night in Montreal, 5-1, watching the Canadiens score the last five goals consecutively with not a ton of pushback. Monday, the Wings were shut, 4-0, at LCA, looking listless, at times. The Wings were serenaded with a loud chorus of boos after each period, culminating with a lot of pent-up frustration at the end of the game. Lalonde, 52, ended his Wings career with an 89-86-23 record. This was his first NHL head-coaching job, and he was in his third season guiding the Wings. After last season’s exciting finish and near-playoff miss, there was plenty of optimism heading into this Wings season. The team’s overall defense needed to improve, and scoring was expected to be an issue because of the personnel losses the Wings had, but the roster appeared to be competitive. But Lalonde wasn’t able to appreciably fix any of the problem areas. The Wings rank 25th in goals-against (3.26), only slightly better than last season’s final average (3.35). Scoring goals has been a larger-than-expected issue. With the departures of Jake Walman, Shayne Gostisbehere, David Perron, Robby Fabbri and Daniel Sprong, the Wings were hoping for internal improvement, but it hasn’t happened. They currently rank 29th, at 2.56 goals scored per game (the Wings were 13th last season, scoring 3.12 goals per game). Add to that, a dismal penalty kill that ranks 31st (68.8%), and it’s made for a frustrating season. In steps McLellan, 57, who was an assistant coach under Mike Babcock from 2005-08. Yzerman, incidentally, was the captain in his final playing season and first season for McLellan in Detroit under Babcock. McLellan has 16 seasons of NHL head-coaching experience, posting a 598-412-134 regular-season record and a 42-46 postseason mark with the Los Angeles Kings (2019-24), Edmonton Oilers (2015-19) and Sharks (2008-15). His 598 regular-season wins are ranked 24th in NHL history and sixth-most among active coaches behind Paul Maurice (891), Lindy Ruff (876), Peter Laviolette (823), John Tortorella (757) and Peter DeBoer (632). Teams coached by McLellan have reached the 50-win mark three times and the 100-point plateau six times. McLellan’s teams have also advanced to the Stanley Cup playoffs nine times, including six consecutive postseason appearances with the Sharks. Known as an upbeat coach with strong communication skills, McLellan is regarded as an effective coach of young players dating back to a successful junior hockey coaching career. McLellan, along with Yzerman, will be under increasing pressure to end a Wings’ streak of not making the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons. Only Buffalo, at 13 seasons, has a longer current streak.Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Atif Ikram Sheikh has said the US is one of the few countries in the world with which Pakistan enjoys a bilateral trade surplus, and Pak-US trade volume crossed the $7 billion mark in 2023 and continues to increase in 2024 as it has crossed $6.3 billion in the first 10 months. "From the perspective of the business, industry and trade community, we believe that this volume can potentially be doubled within a short span of a few years, given the demand for Pakistani products in the US, surging information technology exports and anticipated diversification of Pakistani export basket for the US," he said, according to a statement released by the FPCCI on Tuesday. Ambassador of Pakistan to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh stressed that Pakistan has a very large and influential diaspora of 1 million Pakistani-Americans in the US, Pakistan is the largest importer of American cotton in the world, 40,000 Pakistani doctors are working in America, 5,000 Pakistani nursing staff will soon be exported to the US and pharmacists are expected to follow. He said the US considers Pakistan as a strategic partner, bilateral defence ties remain strong and the US continues to be one of the top countries from where Pakistan receives foreign remittances. Ambassador Sheikh explained that the economies of California and Texas are the world's fourth and sixth largest respectively, and things which seem impossible in political diplomacy can be achieved in economic diplomacy, and "that is where our emphasis is." The FPCCI president said the US GSP programme may be renewed and expanded, and Pakistani exporters should remain agile and committed to making full use of the opportunities the enormous export market of the US has to offer. He said that 55% of Pakistani exports to the US comprise textiles, however, other sectors are catching up as IT exports to the US have crossed the $1 billion mark. COMMENTS Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our
5 ways to tell if you’re on track for retirement — and 5 things to do if you need to catch up, according to experts
HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Texans didn’t need to see what Baltimore’s Derrick Henry is doing this season to be reminded of just how dangerous he can be. He ran all over the Texans for years while playing in the AFC South for the Tennessee Titans. Henry and the Ravens (10-5) visit AFC South champion Houston (9-6) on Wednesday, looking for a win to keep their AFC North title chances alive. Baltimore has clinched a playoff berth for a third straight season but needs wins in its last two games and one loss by the Steelers to capture the division. Henry, who ranks second in the NFL with 1,636 yards rushing, has had some of his greatest success against the Texans. Four of the 30-year-old’s six career 200-yard rushing games have been against Houston, including a career-high 250 in the season finale in the 2020 season to surpass 2,000 yards. “You talk about fast, explosive, physical — he’s looking probably the best he’s looked in his career,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “He’s found that fountain of youth ... he’s a great player. It’s fun to see guys rebound and bounce back the way that he’s done this year.” Dealing with Henry along with all the challenges that quarterback Lamar Jackson presents makes the top-ranked Ravens one of Houston’s more difficult matchups. “You talk about MVP, (Jackson’s) definitely the MVP in my mind just for what he’s doing not only in the run game but also throwing the football,” Ryans said. “The accuracy, the decision-making, like, he’s playing unbelievable ball right now, so it’s going to be a really tough challenge for us this week.” Another challenge for the Texans is moving on after Tank Dell sustained a season-ending knee injury in Saturday’s loss to Kansas City. His injury is another blow to a receiving group that already was without star Stefon Diggs, who tore his ACL in Week 8. “The position we’re in, it’s not a lot of times where you can sulk in your feelings for very long,” quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “You’ve got to just keep rolling. I think that’s a testament to just life in general. Everybody has stuff on their plate. Everybody is going through something. And just because we’re in this position, doesn’t mean you get to feel sorry for yourself.” Houston will rely on Stroud to keep the passing game rolling despite the loss of Dell, who ranks second on the team with 667 yards receiving. Baltimore coach John Harbaugh has been impressed with Stroud’s growth in Year 2 and knows that dealing with him will be difficult for his team, which ranks 31st in the NFL by allowing 254.9 yards passing a game. “He’s just a supertalented guy... he’s surrounded with some good weapons, and he gets the ball out quick,” Harbaugh said. “He handles pressure well, he can move, he’s athletic, scrambles and makes plays.” Jackson is a big fan of Beyoncé, though he didn’t know the title of his favorite song of hers, saying it was “To the left,” which is just the first lines of her hit “Irreplaceable.” And he doesn’t think playing in Wednesday’s game should stop him from seeing her halftime show on Christmas . “I’m going to go out there and watch,” he said. “First time seeing Beyoncé perform, and it’s at our game — that’s dope. I’m going to go out and watch. Sorry Harbaugh, sorry fellas." He later clarified that he was kidding about sneaking out at halftime to get a glimpse of Queen Bey. “I was just thinking about just seeing Beyoncé for the first time,” he said. “Not saying it like that; no disrespect, because I know how people can take things. Next question.” Houston receiver John Metchie could have a chance for a big game with Dell out. Metchie is playing in his second NFL season after missing his entire rookie year while undergoing cancer treatment. He has just 182 yards receiving this season, with his best game coming against Detroit, when he had a career-high 72 yards receiving and his only NFL TD. Stroud is looking for Metchie and fellow reserve Xavier Hutchinson to help make up for Dell’s absence against the Ravens. “Those guys have another opportunity to show who they are and I know that they can do it,” Stroud said. “I see them in practice do it every week. So, I’m excited for them and it’s a good opportunity for them to step up.” Jackson is up to 6,023 yards rushing for his career. The NFL record for a quarterback is 6,109 by Michael Vick, so Jackson could break it with a big game on Wednesday. Jackson also leads the NFL in passer rating and is in the conversation for his third MVP. Although it sounds like that’s a discussion he’d rather not get involved in. “No other choice but to hear it,” Jackson said. “They (are) tagging me in it. You don’t (have) to tag me. You can talk about it all you want, but you want to tag me to get like clickbait because you know sometimes I (will) say something back like, ‘That was stupid.’ It is what it is. I don’t care, though. I really don’t care about the talk.” AP Sports Writer Noah Trister in Owings Mills, Maryland, contributed to this report. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
New bushfire warning for another Australian state as weary firefighters in Victoria battle the worst conditions since Black Summer Bushfire has been burning in Victoria for over a week Temperatures plunged as winds arrived on Thursday Extreme fire danger in another Aussie state on Friday READ MORE: Thousands told to evacuate now as bushfires sweep Victoria By WILLIAM TON FOR AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: 14:32 EST, 26 December 2024 | Updated: 14:32 EST, 26 December 2024 e-mail View comments A cool change has eased conditions for firefighters battling an out-of-control blaze in Victoria's Grampians following the worst bushfire conditions since 2019's Black Summer - as residents in parts of NSW are put on high alert. Temperatures plunged on Thursday as gusty westerly winds swept over the blazes in the state's west that have raged for more than a week and scorched more than 70,000 hectares of bushland. While Victoria will get some reprieve with a cool change, the hot, dry and windy conditions will push into parts of central northeastern NSW, bringing extreme fire danger on Friday . Total fire bans have been declared for the Hunter, Greater Sydney , North Western and Northern Slopes regions. Despite cooler conditions on Friday, Deputy Premier Ben Carroll warned dangerous fire conditions were set to continue on Saturday. The mercury reached the high 30s or higher for much of Victoria on Thursday as extreme fire risks resulted in the entire state being declared a total fire ban. Authorities issued a flurry of warnings to evacuate or seek shelter as the afternoon wind change took hold and fanned the flames in unpredictable directions. The cool change had since slowed the spread of the fires as temperatures plunged, humidity rose and a small amount of rain fell, Victoria State Control Centre spokesman Luke Hegarty said. A cool change has eased conditions for firefighters battling an out-of-control blaze (pictured) in Victoria's Grampians following the worst bushfire conditions since 2019's Black Summer A helicopter is seen on the way to fight the fires in the Grampians National Park However, six emergency warnings remained in place as of 3am (AEDT) Friday. Hegarty said in a late-night update that although authorities expected raging blazes to ease, 'we are not yet out of the woods with these fires'. The update came after authorities warned homes were likely to be destroyed by the blaze as Victoria faced the worst bushfire conditions since Black Summer, with flames expected to rage for weeks . The Grampians fire was significant and was likely to burn for weeks even with 600 personnel on the ground fighting it, Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent said. '(It is) very difficult terrain and very dry in there. The conditions are such that it will be extremely difficult to put out,' he said. The blaze has caused significant damage to the environment, fencing, outbuildings and sheds and resulted in stock losses, Mr Nugent said. 'I wouldn't be surprised at some point if we do have residential losses,' he said. Thousands of people were without power on Thursday night as extreme heat and strong winds wreaked havoc on power lines, Victorian Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio said. 'As the strong winds intensify, the risks of more localised outages will increase from tonight into tomorrow,' she said on Thursday. Sydney Share or comment on this article: New bushfire warning for another Australian state as weary firefighters in Victoria battle the worst conditions since Black Summer e-mail Add commentHouston's Al-Shaair apologizes for hit on Jacksonville's Lawrence that led to concussion HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s Azeez Al-Shaair took to X to apologize to Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence after his violent blow to the quarterback’s facemask led to him being carted off the field with a concussion. Back in the starting lineup after missing two games with a sprained left shoulder, Lawrence scrambled left on a second-and-7 play in the second quarter of Houston’s 23-20 win on Sunday. He initiated a slide before Al-Shaair raised his forearm and unleashed on the defenseless quarterback. In the long post, Al-Shaair says "To Trevor I genuinely apologize to you for what ended up happening.” Jets are sticking with struggling Aaron Rodgers as their starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers will remain the New York Jets’ starting quarterback despite speculation the team could bench him in what has been a disappointing season. Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said during a video call that he still believes Rodgers, who turned 41 on Monday, gives the Jets their best chance to win. Rodgers was 21 of 39 for 185 yards and touchdown passes to Davante Adams and Isaiah Davis but also had an interception returned 92 yards for a touchdown by Leonard Williams in the Jets’ 26-21 loss to Seattle on Sunday. Hall of Famer Randy Moss reveals he's 'battling something' internal and asks for prayers Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss revealed he’s dealing with a health issue and asked fans to pray for him and his family. The 47-year-old ESPN football analyst made the announcement on Instagram from the set of the network’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” show. He directed his message to men and urged them to get checkups and bloodwork done, without specifying for any particular illness. Moss explained why he’s been wearing tinted sunglasses, saying, “I’m battling something, man, and it’s something internal, your boy is going to get through it.” College playoff bracket offers last dress rehearsal and one more chance to see where the SEC stands The next set of College Football Playoff rankings will be released Tuesday night under heavy scrutiny before the final bracket is set on Sunday. It will be one last chance to see just how much the selection committee loves the Southeastern Conference. The best gauge will be whether Miami, which suffered its second loss over the weekend, is placed behind any or all three SEC teams with three losses — Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina, all of which are coming off wins. Whatever happens, the SEC is likely to have at least five teams in the 12-team field when the final bracket comes out. Mollie Marcoux Samaan stepping down as LPGA commissioner after 3 1/2 years of record prize money Mollie Marcoux Samaan is leaving after more than three years as LPGA commissioner. In a surprise announcement Monday, Marcoux Samaan says she will step down in January, just three weeks before the LPGA starts its 75th season. Liz Moore is the chief legal and technology officer. She'll be serving as interim commissioner until a search committee can find a permanent replacement. Marcoux Samaan was the athletic director at Princeton when she took over the LPGA in May 2021. Prize money has soared during her tenure. She also has faced criticism for the LPGA not gaining in popularity during a rise in women's sports. Kansas holds off Auburn for No. 1 in AP Top 25 as SEC grabs 3 of top 4 spots; UConn slides to No. 25 Kansas continues to hold the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll. Auburn is pushing the Jayhawks in the latest poll after winning the Maui Invitational and checked in at No. 2. Two-time reigning national champion UConn nearly fell out entirely after an 0-3 week at Maui, falling from No. 2 to 25th. The Southeastern Conference had three of the top four teams with No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4 Kentucky behind the Tigers. The poll featured six new teams, headlined by No. 13 Oregon, No. 16 Memphis and No. 18 Pittsburgh. TCU, Duke climb into top 10, Notre Dame drops in women's AP Top 25; UCLA and UConn remain 1-2 TCU has its best ranking ever in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll after a convincing win over Notre Dame. The Horned Frogs jumped eight spots to No. 9, the first time the school has ever been in the top 10. The Fighting Irish, who were third last week, fell seven spots to 10th after losses to TCU and Utah. UCLA remained No. 1, followed by UConn, South Carolina, Texas and LSU. USC, Maryland and Duke are next. Michael Andretti's Formula 1 dream comes to bittersweet fruition without his involvement Michael Andretti has been sidelined from his namesake motorsports organization and won’t have any role with the Formula 1 program he spent the last four years desperately trying to launch. His effort to get a program partnered with General Motors into F1 was approved last week, a month after he stepped aside from his teams. F1’s decision to expand its grid for Cadillac F1 came amidst a federal antitrust investigation into why Liberty Media refused to admit Andretti Global and after Andretti partners Dan Towriss and Mark Walter claimed controlling interest of the fledgling effort. Ryan Poles to remain Bears general manager and lead search for new head coach LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears president Kevin Warren said Ryan Poles will remain the general manager and serve as the point person in the search for a head coach to replace the fired Matt Eberflus. He says Poles will have the “final say” if the two have differing opinions on who should get the job. Chicago had never fired a coach during a season. But a six-game losing streak marked by questionable coaching decisions spurred the founding NFL franchise to change course. The Bears let Eberflus go Friday and replaced him on an interim basis with offensive coordinator Thomas Brown. Florida State hires Nebraska's Tony White as defensive coordinator, AP source says Florida State has hired Tony White to be its defensive coordinator after he developed consecutive top-20 defenses at Nebraska. That's according to a person familiar with the decision. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the Seminoles nor Nebraska confirmed White’s move, which is pending a state background check. ESPN reported that White signed a three-year contract. White replaces Adam Fuller, who was fired last month. FSU coach Mike Norvell is trying to fill staff vacancies in hopes of salvaging a recruiting class. National Signing Day is Wednesday, with the transfer portal opening next week. Norvell also formally announced former UCF coach Gus Malzahn as his offensive coordinator.Santos scores 24, Dayton defeats Lehigh 86-62Chelsea’s surprise defeat at home to Fulham earlier in the day had been an unexpected gift for Arne Slot’s side and they drove home their advantage by outclassing the struggling Foxes. Having overcome the early setback of conceding to Jordan Ayew, with even the travelling fans expressing their surprise they were winning away after taking just five points on the road this season, the home team had too much quality. That was personified by the excellent Cody Gakpo, whose eighth goal in his last 14 appearances produced the equaliser in first-half added time with the Netherlands international unlucky to have a second ruled out for offside by VAR. Further goals from Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah, with his 19th of the season, stretched Liverpool’s unbeaten run to 22 matches. For Leicester, who had slipped into the bottom three after Wolves’ win over Manchester United, it is now one win from the last 10 in the league and Ruud van Nistelrooy has plenty of work to do, although he was not helped here by the absence of leading scorer Jamie Vardy through injury. It looked liked Liverpool meant business from the off with Salah’s volley from Gakpo’s far-post cross just being kept out by Jakub Stolarczyk, making his league debut after former Liverpool goalkeeper Danny Ward was omitted from the squad having struggled in the defeat to Wolves. But if the hosts thought that had set the tone they were badly mistaken after being opened up with such simplicity in only the sixth minute. Stephy Mavididi broke down the left and his low cross picked out Ayew, who turned Andy Robertson far too easily, with his shot deflecting off Virgil van Dijk to take it just out of Alisson Becker’s reach. With a surprise lead to cling to Leicester knew they had to quell the storm heading their way and they began by trying to take as much time out of the game as they could, much to Anfield’s frustration. It took a further 18 minutes for Liverpool to threaten with Gakpo cutting in from the left to fire over, a precursor for what was to follow just before half-time. That was the prompt for the attacks to rain down on the Foxes goal, with Salah’s shot looping up off Victor Kristiansen and landing on the roof of the net and Robertson heading against a post. Gakpo’s inclination to come in off the left was proving a problem for the visitors, doing their utmost to resist the pressure, but when Salah curled a shot onto the crossbar on the stroke of half-time it appeared they had survived. However, Gakpo once again drifted in off the flank to collect an Alexis Mac Allister pass before curling what is fast becoming his trademark effort over Stolarczyk and inside the far post. Early the second half Darwin Nunez fired over Ryan Gravenberch’s cross before Jones side-footed home Mac Allister’s cross after an intricate passing move inside the penalty area involving Nunez, Salah and the Argentina international. Leicester’s ambition remained limited but Patson Daka should have done better from a two-on-one counter attack with Mavididi but completely missed his kick with the goal looming. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/IqmAsKylLR — Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 26, 2024 Nunez forced a save out of the goalkeeper before Gakpo blasted home what he thought was his second only for VAR to rule Nunez was offside in the build-up. But Liverpool’s third was eventually delivered by the left foot of Salah, who curled the ball outside Kristiansen, inside Jannick Vestergaard and past Stolarczyk inside the far post.
Chelsea’s surprise defeat at home to Fulham earlier in the day had been an unexpected gift for Arne Slot’s side and they drove home their advantage by outclassing the struggling Foxes. Having overcome the early setback of conceding to Jordan Ayew, with even the travelling fans expressing their surprise they were winning away after taking just five points on the road this season, the home team had too much quality. That was personified by the excellent Cody Gakpo, whose eighth goal in his last 14 appearances produced the equaliser in first-half added time with the Netherlands international unlucky to have a second ruled out for offside by VAR. Further goals from Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah, with his 19th of the season, stretched Liverpool’s unbeaten run to 22 matches. For Leicester, who had slipped into the bottom three after Wolves’ win over Manchester United, it is now one win from the last 10 in the league and Ruud van Nistelrooy has plenty of work to do, although he was not helped here by the absence of leading scorer Jamie Vardy through injury. It looked liked Liverpool meant business from the off with Salah’s volley from Gakpo’s far-post cross just being kept out by Jakub Stolarczyk, making his league debut after former Liverpool goalkeeper Danny Ward was omitted from the squad having struggled in the defeat to Wolves. But if the hosts thought that had set the tone they were badly mistaken after being opened up with such simplicity in only the sixth minute. Stephy Mavididi broke down the left and his low cross picked out Ayew, who turned Andy Robertson far too easily, with his shot deflecting off Virgil van Dijk to take it just out of Alisson Becker’s reach. With a surprise lead to cling to Leicester knew they had to quell the storm heading their way and they began by trying to take as much time out of the game as they could, much to Anfield’s frustration. It took a further 18 minutes for Liverpool to threaten with Gakpo cutting in from the left to fire over, a precursor for what was to follow just before half-time. That was the prompt for the attacks to rain down on the Foxes goal, with Salah’s shot looping up off Victor Kristiansen and landing on the roof of the net and Robertson heading against a post. Gakpo’s inclination to come in off the left was proving a problem for the visitors, doing their utmost to resist the pressure, but when Salah curled a shot onto the crossbar on the stroke of half-time it appeared they had survived. However, Gakpo once again drifted in off the flank to collect an Alexis Mac Allister pass before curling what is fast becoming his trademark effort over Stolarczyk and inside the far post. Early the second half Darwin Nunez fired over Ryan Gravenberch’s cross before Jones side-footed home Mac Allister’s cross after an intricate passing move inside the penalty area involving Nunez, Salah and the Argentina international. Leicester’s ambition remained limited but Patson Daka should have done better from a two-on-one counter attack with Mavididi but completely missed his kick with the goal looming. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/IqmAsKylLR — Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 26, 2024 Nunez forced a save out of the goalkeeper before Gakpo blasted home what he thought was his second only for VAR to rule Nunez was offside in the build-up. But Liverpool’s third was eventually delivered by the left foot of Salah, who curled the ball outside Kristiansen, inside Jannick Vestergaard and past Stolarczyk inside the far post.
WuKong Education Named to the 2025 GSV 150 for Leading the Way in Education TechnologySyrian government forces withdraw from central city of Homs as insurgent offensive accelerates
NonePM Images Listen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Handling market volatility with long-term dividend growth investing. Prioritizing future dividends over immediate income, companies drowning in cash like Visa and Microsoft. This is an excerpt from a recent Investing Experts conversation . Transcript Rena Sherbill: Eli from Dividendology, welcome to Seeking Alpha's Podcast. It's great to have you. Thanks for joining us. What stocks are you most focused on? What would you say your top stocks that you're focused on these days? Dividendology : Obviously, we want to start with looking for quality companies that can grow their free cash flow . And I would actually make the argument that the highest quality businesses in the entire world all pay out dividends. Think of companies like Microsoft ( MSFT ) or Visa ( V ), and now we can even throw companies like Meta ( META ) and like Google ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) into that conversation. These are companies that generate really high levels of return on invested capital. They have high free cash flow growth rates. And so typically when you hear those things, you think, well, wouldn't paying out dividends prohibit their ability to grow? Wouldn't they just be better off reinvesting that capital back into the business? But here's what you have to understand. These companies have massive cash positions on their balance sheet. They are drowning in cash. And in fact, they generate so much cash, they can't intelligently reinvest it all back into the business. And a good example of this again is going to be Meta . They just burned $50 billion with no return on that 50 billion by investing into the metaverse. They would have been much better off actually paying that out as a dividend. And I think the management team has realized that because obviously like we've seen over the past year, they're now paying out a dividend. So we're not sacrificing growth for these dividend payments that we're receiving, we're actually receiving them because these companies are such quality companies, they’re generating so much cash that I can receive growing dividend income year-over-year. So I would say, one of the main companies I've been really building up over the past year is Visa. It's going to have a low starting dividend yield. So it depends on what your goals are. If you're someone closer to retirement or someone closer to living off dividends, maybe that's not the best investment for you. You want to look for a starting higher yield. But if you have a long-term time horizon , you look at the earnings projected growth rates for a stock like Visa, and it's going to allow them to grow dividends at a very high rate over the next few years, over the next few decades. So I'm looking for companies like that. Visa is a huge position in my portfolio. Microsoft is a huge position in my portfolio. And then, of course, I also have the Dividend ETF, ( SCHD ). I'm a long-term dividend investor. I wouldn't necessarily have a high risk tolerance, but I know that I can handle volatility because I'm investing for the long term. What do we know about the market over the long term? Well, the average return is somewhat between 8% to 9% and inflation adjusted maybe closer to 7%. But here's what's interesting about this. When we think about when it comes to retire, when it comes time to live off dividends, again, my long-term goal is to one day live off dividend income. If somebody were to try to retire in a year when the market goes down 20%, that can be pretty financially devastating for their ability to retire at that point. So what does this mean? If I'm willing to live off dividends, well, I actually don't have to worry about that sequence risk. I don't have to worry about what the market is doing at that specific point in time.PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers will make their Hard Knocks debut on HBO Max on Tuesday at 9 p.m. Throughout the show’s 23 years of history in the NFL, the Steelers have avoided Hard Knocks, but the NFL has wanted to get them on the show for years. The in-season version covering the AFC North will not exclusively follow the Steelers , as it will focus on all four teams in the division, but it is the first time that fans will get a peek behind the curtain. Head coach Mike Tomlin might be the show’s star, but he views it as a challenge. When asked if he would watch the premiere tonight, Tomlin said ‘absolutely not.’ He was mic’d up on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals for the entire game. That is a burden that Tomlin hopes to overcome. "To me is something to conquer," Tomlin said. “To be quite honest with you, we have to deal with it better than the other three teams. That’s how I view a lot of things that come across my plate, particularly when others have to deal with it. I’m less concerned about the inconvenience of it and more concerned about whether are we positioning ourselves, to, perform under those conditions better than those that we compete against. And so, it’s something that everyone in the AFC North has to deal with. It’s our agenda to do better than the other three teams.” It will be fascinating to see what gets revealed from the Steelers' side of things, especially since crews have now been around a few weeks. Either way, this is rare glimpse into how the Steelers work behind the scenes that most fans do not see. BETTING: Check out our guide to the best PA sportsbooks , where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks. More Pittsburgh Steelers News Injured Pittsburgh Steelers pass rusher reveals he underwent surgery Mike Tomlin isn’t worried about Joey Porter Jr.‘s struggles. Here’s why Pittsburgh Steelers could get two key players back from injuries Pittsburgh Steelers could lose explosive wide receiver for Browns game after concussion Mike Tomlin is not the favorite for Coach of the Year, oddsmakers sayTOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Sam Lewis' 18 points helped Toledo defeat Defiance 111-49 on Saturday. Lewis also had five rebounds for the Rockets (6-3). Javan Simmons scored 16 points while shooting 8 of 9 from the field and 0 for 3 from the line and added eight rebounds. Sonny Wilson finished 7 of 10 from the field to finish with 16 points. Jalen Brown finished with 12 points for the Yellow Jackets. Connor Bush added eight points for Defiance. Donovan Stone finished with eight points. Toledo took the lead with 19:42 remaining in the first half and did not relinquish it. The score was 55-23 at halftime, with Simmons racking up 14 points. Toledo extended its lead to 90-34 during the second half, fueled by a 16-3 scoring run. Grgur Brcic scored a team-high 10 points in the second half as their team closed out the win. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
Their expectation levels may have been different, but neither Rutgers nor Seton Hall has had the most promising start to the season. New Jersey's two power-conference programs will try to author a signature win when the Pirates visit the Scarlet Knights for the Garden State Hardwood Classic on Saturday afternoon in Piscataway, N.J. Rutgers (6-4) endured a three-game losing streak before picking up its first Big Ten win of the season Tuesday, 80-76 over Penn State. The Scarlet Knights have enjoyed plenty of attention thanks to five-star freshmen Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, but they've also put a loss to Kennesaw State on their resume. They'll try to assert their dominance over Seton Hall (5-5), which has lost to Fordham, Hofstra and Monmouth while fielding one of the weakest offenses in Division I. At 60.1 points per game, the Pirates rank sixth-to-last in the country, even as they limit opponents to 59.4 points per outing (the No. 11 scoring defense). Rutgers is 5-0 at home after leading by as many as 15 in the Penn State victory. Harper had 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists and Bailey produced 15 points and 15 rebounds. "They're like a sixth defender for us," Harper said of the fans. "We've been on the road for 20 days so seeing all of our fans, and seeing how loud they were, it meant the world to us." The student section will be especially fired up to see the rival Pirates, which could make free-throw shooting an issue for them. They rank No. 350 in the country at 60.3 percent from the foul line entering Friday. However, Seton Hall pulled out a road win the last time the game was played at Rutgers. In a defensive rock fight in 2022, the Pirates prevailed 45-43. Rutgers got revenge last season at Seton Hall's place, winning 70-63. But most players on both rosters are new and will experience the rivalry game for the first time. "I don't have a Jersey player on my team, right?" Pirates coach Shaheen Holloway told NJ.com . "So I have to get those guys to understand rivalries." Seton Hall will lean on Chaunce Jenkins (11.8 ppg) -- who was limited in the team's 85-76 loss to Oklahoma State on Sunday due to a knee injury, but is cleared to face Rutgers -- and Isaiah Coleman (11.7 ppg), one of three returning players from last year's team. For Rutgers, Harper is excited about the rivalry having grown up in New Jersey and watched his older brother, Ron Harper Jr., play in the game. At 23.4 ppg, Dylan Harper is the third-leading scorer in the country, and he adds 5.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per contest. Seton Hall leads the all-time series 42-32. --Field Level MediaRed Wings hire former Sharks head coach McLellan after firing LalondeThey might not be the biggest band to emerge from Los Angeles during the early '80s, but pioneering ska/punk/funk outfit Fishbone remains one of the most influential and eclectic acts to call LA home since first coming together in 1979. Formed by a group young African-American teens who were brought together by their school district's busing program, founding members the Fisher brothers (Norwood on bass and Phillip "Fish" Fisher on drums), singer/trumpet player "Dirty" Walt Kibby III, keyboard/trombone player Christopher Dowd and guitarist Kendall Jones were all from South Central Los Angeles. They met the group's future frontman and saxophonist Angelo Moore when they were sent to Moore's native San Fernando Valley during junior high school. The band's brash mixture of punk, ska and funk influences quickly helped Fishbone build a following as the group played punk venues around LA and established a reputation for high-energy stage performances as it became a fixture of the SoCal club scene in the early '80s. Signed to Columbia Records, the group's eponymous EP in 1985 became an underground hit and earned significant airplay with the infectious anti-war single "Party at Ground Zero" and the radio roll call tune "? (Modern Industry)" that name checked the call letters of several Bay Area stations. While the band's first full-length album In Your Face didn't further elevate the band in the mainstream, it showed a growing political consciousness in the lyrics and polished the band's amalgam of styles. A spot opening for the Beastie Boys on the Licensed to Ill tour helped introduce Fishbone to a far wider audience. They made a creative breakthrough with Truth and Soul in 1988, introducing heavier guitars on the crushing cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Freddie's Dead" and the hardcore frenzy of "Subliminal Fascism" while showing of their funk chops with the explosive "Bonin' in the Boneyard." The band's next album -- The Reality of My Surroundings in 1991 -- stood out as their most ambitious yet and seemed to signal the breakthrough they had been working towards for a decade. With the addition of former Miles Davis musical director John Bingham on guitar and keyboards (who joined during the Truth and Soul tour), the band further established its status as arguably the best live act of the era. After the release of the more metallic Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe in 1993, the band joined the third edition of the Lollapalooza with Primus, Alice in Chains, Tool and Rage Against the Machine and appeared poised for even greater success when guitarist Jones had a mental break and quit the band. When Norwood Fisher tried to convince the guitarist to rejoin the band, believing he'd been brainwashed by a religious group, the bassist ended up being charged with kidnapping. While the band was able to participate in Lollapalooza and Fisher was eventually acquitted, the incident marked the beginning of a gradual disintegration for the band. Dowd would depart the following year and by 1995, Fishbone had been dropped by Sony. As the end of the decade approached, "Fish" Fisher and Bingham were gone as well. But Moore and Norwood Fisher would soldier on with a variety of collaborators who helped the band maintain its reputation as a fiery live act, including former Suicidal Tendencies guitarist Rocky George and keyboard player Dre Gipson. Their recorded output became more sporadic, but the group continued to tour regularly and were frequently name checked by the legion of Orange County ska revivalists like No Doubt and Reel Big Fish who were inspired by the band. The crew experienced some renewed interest after their fascinating saga was told in the acclaimed 2010 documentary Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone. 2017 found Fishbone reuniting its classic-era late '80s line-up with longtime stalwarts Norwood Fisher, "Dirty" Walt Kibby and kinetic frontman Moore once again teaming with Fisher's drum-playing brother, guitarist Bingham and keyboardist/trombonist Dowd. Since then, the revitalized group has been tearing up stages and appearing at a variety of festivals over the past year in addition to touring with acts including the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Living Colour and George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic (most recently supporting Dr. Funkenstein at the Fox in Oakland last month). While Bingham would leave the band again in 2019 (guitarist/keyboardist Mark Phillips took his place) and Phillip Fisher relinquished the drum stool to his previous replacement John Steward late in 2021, the band has continued to bring its explosive, high-energy stage performances to enthusiastic audiences across the globe. The long hinted at new Fishbone EP produced by NOFX mainman Fat Mike finally materialized this last year with the ska-focused tunes getting a warm reception from fans and critics alike. The group ramped up its touring activity, returning to the road with P-Funk and embarking on its own headlining tours. Last spring, the band confirmed an acrimonious split among its members with Norwood Fisher and Kibby departing the band, leaving Moore and Dowd at the helm of the band. The current line-up featuring bassist Aroyn Day, former drummer for Bay Area hip-hop act the Coup Hassan Hurd, trumpet player/vocalist JS Williams and returning guitarist Tracey "Spacey T" Singleton are currently working on the band's next album in Oakland and released a new single dedicated to the president-elect on Halloween. The band recently launched its semi-annual Red Hot Holiday Tour on the West Coast that comes to the Bay Area for three nights. On Tuesday, Fishbone headlines the Mystic Theatre in Petaluma before moving to the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz Wednesday . For the third and final Bay Area show at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco , the group will be joined by LA garage rockers Strawberry Fuzz, Orange County ska-punk band Bite Me Bambi and alt-rock outfit Damnaged. Fishbone Tuesday, Dec. 17, 7 p.m. $40 Mystic Theater Wednesday, Dec. 18, 7 p.m. $42 Rio Theatre Thursday, Dec. 19, 6 p.m. $36-$46 Great American Music Hall
A new Texas GOP rule could alter the House speaker’s race — and ban some Republicans from appearing in primaries5 soldiers die, 5 injured as army vehicle falls into Gorge in J&KThe Texas Supreme Court on Friday overturned a lower court ruling that state Attorney General Ken Paxton testify in a whistleblower lawsuit at the heart of impeachment charges brought against him in 2023. The court on Friday said Paxton’s office does not dispute any issue in the lawsuit by four former Paxton employees and agreed to any judgment in the case. “In a major win for the State of Texas, the state Supreme Court has sided with Attorney General Paxton against former OAG employees whose effort to prolong costly, politically-motivated litigation against the agency has wasted public resources for years," a statement from Paxton's office said. An attorney for one of the plaintiffs declined immediate comment, and a second attorney did not immediately return a phone call for comment. The former employees allege they were improperly fired or forced out for bringing to the FBI allegations that Paxton was misusing his office to protect a friend and campaign donor, who in turn, they said, was helping the attorney general to conceal an extramarital affair. The Supreme Court ruling noted that the Texas governor and Legislature have expressed a desire to hear testimony from the witnesses prior to agreeing to appropriate funds to settle the lawsuit. The court said forcing Paxton, First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster, Chief of Staff Lesley French Henneke and senior advisor Michelle Smith to testify earlier could improperly be used for legislative purposes in deciding any appropriation. Under the preliminary deal , Paxton agreed to apologize to the former employees for calling them “rogue” employees, settle the case for $3.3 million and ask the state to pay for it, prompting the state House to reject the request and begin its own investigation, leading to the vote to impeach him. Paxton was ultimately acquitted after a Senate trial. The Supreme Court termed its ruling conditional upon the lower trial court complying with the decision, while saying it is “confident the trial court will comply” with the order.The Buffalo Bills have won the AFC East with five games to go, are a game out of the conference's top seed, and a top favorite to get to Super Bowl LIX. When you are in the same conference as the Kansas City Chiefs and their back-to-back Super Bowl titles, though, it's hard to be taken seriously as a true threat. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Thanks for the feedback.
