Robbins LLP Urges PACS Stockholders with Large Losses to Contact the Firm for Information About ...Professor Isa Chamo, the Commissioner for Higher Education, Science and Technology in Jigawa State has said that Governor Umar Namadi has invested more than N20 billion in education in less than two years of his administration. Chamo spoke on Friday night on the sideline of the 14th Anniversary and Award Ceremonies of the Nigerian NewsDirect in Lagos. The commissioner was part of the top government functionaries dispatched to receive the newspaper’s Governor of the Year Award in Agro-Investments and Security for Namadi. “Governor Namadi spent over N20,000,000,000 invested in education in Jigawa state under the present administration, ” the commissioner said. According to him, the governor has recorded a giant push for higher education in the state by employing over 3000 teachers and building school infrastructure to provide a quality learning environment. He said that the number of teachers in the state was raised from 2, 566 in May 2023, to 5,986. Chamo said that the administration had procured and distributed over 10,000 3-seater desks for students while 5,000 staff furniture was provided at various schools. The commissioner added that 3,500 double beds were procured and distributed to boarding schools with 3,840 mattresses to go with them. He said that 564 tabs were distributed to senior secondary school principals to enhance digital learning skills amongst teachers while 300 routers were procured and distributed. Chamo said the Namadi’s administration had ensured the provision of internet connectivity across the 293 senior secondary schools in the state to ensure access to a wide range of educational and information resources. He said that over N200 million has been used to develop a digital teaching and learning platform tagged J-Compete programme, which he said, has helped both teachers and students with numerous resources in the learning environment. The commissioner said that Namadi’s administration had improved school feeding by 200 per cent from N180 per student to N450 per student. He said that this had made expenditure for school feeding programmes to rise from N1.1 billion to N3.4 billion annually. According to him, the government had carried out various capacity training programmes for teachers, school principals and directors to enhance their capacity. He said that the administration had carried out several interventions including the Female Teacher Development Scheme, Girls for Health Program, free school uniforms for girls, and registration fees for law students among others He said that the Namadi administration constructed new classrooms, laboratories, administrative blocks, hostels, a library, kitchen, laundry, sports fields and toilets in all senior secondary schools including science and technical schools. “School structures were renovated at the cost of N2,268,211,583 with the procurement of teaching, learning, instructional materials and sports material amounting to N5,791,510,414. “Payment of internal and external Examination at the sum N1,001,614,221 while schools feeding consumed the sum of N2,127,060,850. “The administration spent the sum of N4,776,688,726 on foreign scholarship while internal scholarship consumed N1,904,592,925, with the total amount standing at N6,681,281,651,” he said. Similarly, Dr Hauwa Alhassan, Technical Adviser to Gov.Umar Namadi on Basic Education said that the administration had taken basic education to the top of the charts. Alhassan said that with the implementation and success of the J-Teach Programme, the governor had addressed the shortage of teachers in rural and underserved areas, “with notable improvements in teaching quality and student engagement”. She said that the state had improved collaboration with NGOs and strong partnerships with organisations like PLAN and PLANE for educational development and empowerment of educators. “The administration has enhanced inclusion of children with disabilities, introduced specialised programmes and infrastructure, to ensure access to quality education for children with disabilities,” she said. Alhassan said that the governor had invested in Nomadic Schools, “which expanded educational opportunities for nomadic communities, ensuring access to education irrespective of their mobility”. The adviser said that under Namadi’s administration, strategic interventions were made to revert the schools used as IDP camps back into functional educational institutions. She said that the governor had put special focus on Early Childhood Education, foundational literacy and numeracy programmes. Meanwhile, Namadi, who was represented by Malam Bala Ibrahim, the Secretary to the State Government to receive the award, said he was pleased with the recognition and happy his contributions to the development of his state and the people were being acknowledged. The governor, who dispatched top government functionaries, including two commissioners and three technical advisers to receive the award, said that he was highly elated with the recognition of his investments in agriculture, security, education and health for the benefit of the people. Namadi said that the award would serve as an inspiration to do more and work for the betterment of the people.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has identified what he sees as an all-purpose fix for what ails America: Slap huge new tariffs on foreign goods entering the United States. On Monday, Trump sent shockwaves across the nation's northern and southern borders, vowing sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada , as well as China, as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. In a pair of posts on his Truth Social site Trump railed against an influx of immigrants lacking permanent legal status, even though southern border apprehensions have been hovering near four-year lows. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders. He said the new tariffs would remain in place “until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” The president-elect asserts that tariffs — basically import taxes — will create more factory jobs, shrink the federal deficit, lower food prices and allow the government to subsidize childcare. Economists are generally skeptical, considering tariffs to be a mostly inefficient way for governments to raise money. They are especially alarmed by Trump’s latest proposed tariffs. Carl B. Weinberg and Rubeela Farooqi, economists with High Frequency Economics said Tuesday that energy, automobiles and food supplies will be particularly hit hard. “Imposing tariffs on trade flows into the United States without first preparing alternative sources for the goods and services affected will raise the price of imported items at once," Weinberg and Farooqi wrote. "Since many of these goods are consumer goods, households will be made poorer.” High Frequency Economics believes the threats are not meant to support new trade policy and are instead a tool to elicit some changes along the borders and for imports from Canada, Mexico and China. Though Vice President Kamala Harris criticized Trump’s tariff threats as unserious during her failed bid for the presidency, the Biden-Harris administration retained the taxes the Trump administration imposed on $360 billion in Chinese goods. And it imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles. Indeed, the United States in recent years has gradually retreated from its post-World War II role of promoting global free trade and lower tariffs. That shift has been a response to the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs, widely attributed to unfettered trade and an increasingly aggressive China. They are typically charged as a percentage of the price a buyer pays a foreign seller. In the United States, tariffs are collected by Customs and Border Protection agents at 328 ports of entry across the country. The tariff rates range from passenger cars (2.5%) to golf shoes (6%). Tariffs can be lower for countries with which the United States has trade agreements. For example, most goods can move among the United States, Mexico and Canada tariff-free because of Trump’s US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. Trump insists that tariffs are paid for by foreign countries. In fact, its is importers — American companies — that pay tariffs, and the money goes to U.S. Treasury. Those companies, in turn, typically pass their higher costs on to their customers in the form of higher prices. That's why economists say consumers usually end up footing the bill for tariffs. Still, tariffs can hurt foreign countries by making their products pricier and harder to sell abroad. Yang Zhou, an economist at Shanghai’s Fudan University, concluded in a study that Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods inflicted more than three times as much damage to the Chinese economy as they did to the U.S. economy By raising the price of imports, tariffs can protect home-grown manufacturers. They may also serve to punish foreign countries for committing unfair trade practices, like subsidizing their exporters or dumping products at unfairly low prices. Before the federal income tax was established in 1913, tariffs were a major revenue driver for the government. From 1790 to 1860, tariffs accounted for 90% of federal revenue, according to Douglas Irwin, a Dartmouth College economist who has studied the history of trade policy. Tariffs fell out of favor as global trade grew after World War II. The government needed vastly bigger revenue streams to finance its operations. In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the government is expected to collect $81.4 billion in tariffs and fees. That's a trifle next to the $2.5 trillion that's expected to come from individual income taxes and the $1.7 trillion from Social Security and Medicare taxes. Still, Trump wants to enact a budget policy that resembles what was in place in the 19th century. He has argued that tariffs on farm imports could lower food prices by aiding America’s farmers. In fact, tariffs on imported food products would almost certainly send grocery prices up by reducing choices for consumers and competition for American producers. Tariffs can also be used to pressure other countries on issues that may or may not be related to trade. In 2019, for example, Trump used the threat of tariffs as leverage to persuade Mexico to crack down on waves of Central American migrants crossing Mexican territory on their way to the United States. Trump even sees tariffs as a way to prevent wars. “I can do it with a phone call,’’ he said at an August rally in North Carolina. If another country tries to start a war, he said he’d issue a threat: “We’re going to charge you 100% tariffs. And all of a sudden, the president or prime minister or dictator or whoever the hell is running the country says to me, ‘Sir, we won’t go to war.’ ” Tariffs raise costs for companies and consumers that rely on imports. They're also likely to provoke retaliation. The European Union, for example, punched back against Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum by taxing U.S. products, from bourbon to Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Likewise, China responded to Trump’s trade war by slapping tariffs on American goods, including soybeans and pork in a calculated drive to hurt his supporters in farm country. A study by economists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Zurich, Harvard and the World Bank concluded that Trump’s tariffs failed to restore jobs to the American heartland. The tariffs “neither raised nor lowered U.S. employment’’ where they were supposed to protect jobs, the study found. Despite Trump’s 2018 taxes on imported steel, for example, the number of jobs at U.S. steel plants barely budged: They remained right around 140,000. By comparison, Walmart alone employs 1.6 million people in the United States. Worse, the retaliatory taxes imposed by China and other nations on U.S. goods had “negative employment impacts,’’ especially for farmers, the study found. These retaliatory tariffs were only partly offset by billions in government aid that Trump doled out to farmers. The Trump tariffs also damaged companies that relied on targeted imports. If Trump’s trade war fizzled as policy, though, it succeeded as politics. The study found that support for Trump and Republican congressional candidates rose in areas most exposed to the import tariffs — the industrial Midwest and manufacturing-heavy Southern states like North Carolina and Tennessee.AWS and Anthropic to Build 5x Larger Supercomputer

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UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside of a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Luigi Mangione, 26, has since been arrested and charged in the killing . In the days after Thompson’s death, UnitedHealthcare came under fire on social media over its alleged high rate of health insurance claim denials. A chart shared in many viral posts across social media shows claim denial rates for major insurance companies. UnitedHealthcare’s denial rate is highest at 32%, according to the posts. VERIFY investigated available data to determine whether the viral chart is accurate. THE QUESTION Does UnitedHealthcare deny patients’ claims at the highest rate of any major insurer, like the viral chart claims? THE SOURCES The Affordable Care Act (ACA) ProPublica investigation on health insurers’ denial rates published in June 2023 ValuePenguin , a consumer research site owned by LendingTree VERIFY analysis of available data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Article published by KFF, a nonprofit healthy policy research organization, in May 2023 THE ANSWER The claim that UnitedHealthcare denies patients’ claims at the highest rate of any major insurer is inconclusive. The federal government and private health insurers don’t make data on claim denials for all types of insurance plans available to the public. WHAT WE FOUND We can’t VERIFY that UnitedHealthcare denies claims at the highest rate of any major health insurer. That’s because the federal government and private health insurers, like UnitedHealthcare, don’t make data on claim denials for all types of insurance plans available to the public. Former President Barack Obama signed a comprehensive health care reform law called The Affordable Care Act (ACA) , which is also known as Obamacare, into law in 2010. That law tasked the federal government’s Department of Health and Human Services with “monitoring denials both by health plans on the Obamacare marketplace and those offered through employers and insurers,” Elisabeth Rosenthal reported for KFF Health News , which is part of the nonprofit health policy research and news organization KFF, in May 2023. But HHS “hasn’t fulfilled that assignment,” Rosenthal said. Data the federal government has collected and shared so far isn’t comprehensive and it isn’t audited to ensure it’s accurate, a ProPublica investigation and KFF found. VERIFY reviewed the ACA and found it also tasked the head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) with conducting a “study on the incidence of denials of coverage for medical services and denials of applications to enroll in health insurance plans.” That GAO report was published in March 2011 but it doesn’t break down denial rates by individual insurers. Where the data in the viral chart comes from VERIFY traced the viral chart back to an article published by ValuePenguin, a consumer research website owned by LendingTree, in May 2024. ValuePenguin has since removed the chart from its article, though the alleged denial rates are still included in the article. The website said on Dec. 6 that it “removed certain data elements” from the piece “at the request of law enforcement.” The chart published by ValuePenguin, which is shown in an archived version of the article here , alleges that UnitedHealthcare denies nearly one-third of claims it receives – or 32% to be exact – the highest rate of any major insurer. It’s followed by Medica at 27% and Anthem at 23%. These rates were based on available data on insurers’ claim denials and appeals from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) public use files, which are available online, ValuePenguin said. ValuePenguin says the CMS data the website used is from the calendar year 2022 and doesn’t include any other years. Medicare and Medicaid data doesn’t include information about employer-sponsored private health plans, which cover the majority of working-age Americans . VERIFY conducted our own analysis of the most recent data from CMS comparing the total number of the in-network claims that health insurers received to their in-network denials. We did not factor in appeals. Our analysis found that UnitedHealthcare did deny claims at a rate of around 33% – the highest rate of any major insurer. This closely mirrors what ValuePenguin found. But there are a handful of caveats to the CMS data that make it impossible to draw conclusions about how often health insurers actually deny patients’ claims. Why it’s impossible to know exactly how many claims health insurers deny The data-gathering on health insurers’ denials is “haphazard and limited to a small subset of plans,” and it “isn’t audited to ensure it is complete,” Karen Pollitz, a retired senior fellow at KFF, said in the 2023 KFF Health News article . When it comes to information that the federal government has collected, it is not standardized or audited, and therefore is “not really meaningful,” Peter Lee, the founding executive director of California’s state marketplace, also told ProPublica. Data “should be actionable” and “this is not by any means right now,” he added. VERIFY reached out to CMS and UnitedHealthcare for comment, but did not receive responses by the time of publication.LUQUE, Paraguay — Sake is perhaps more Japanese than the world-famous sushi. It's brewed in centuries-old mountaintop warehouses, savored in the country’s pub-like izakayas, poured during weddings and served slightly chilled for special toasts. The smooth rice wine that plays a crucial role in Japan's culinary traditions was enshrined on Wednesday by UNESCO on its list of the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity." At a meeting in Luque, Paraguay, members of UNESCO’s committee for safeguarding humanity's cultural heritage voted to recognize 45 cultural practices and products around the world, including Brazilian white cheese, Caribbean cassava bread and Palestinian olive oil soap. People are also reading... Unlike UNESCO’s World Heritage List, which includes sites considered important to humanity like the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Intangible Cultural Heritage designation names products and practices of different cultures that are deserving of recognition. Japan's Takehiro Kano, ambassador to UNESCO, reacts after the traditional Japanese brewing of sake was officially named to UNESCO's "intangible cultural heritage of humanity" list during a World Heritage Convention in Asuncion, Paraguay on Wednesday. A Japanese delegation welcomed the announcement in Luque. “Sake is considered a divine gift and is essential for social and cultural events in Japan,” Kano Takehiro, the Japanese ambassador to UNESCO, told The Associated Press. The basic ingredients of sake are few: rice, water, yeast and koji, a rice mold that breaks down the starches into fermentable sugars like malting does in beer production. The whole two-month process of steaming, stirring, fermenting and pressing can be grueling. The rice — which wields tremendous marketing power as part of Japan's broader cultural identity — is key to the alcoholic brew. For a product to be categorized Japanese sake, the rice must be Japanese. Japanese sake, a nominee for UNESCO's "intangible cultural heritage of humanity" list, are displayed on Japan's delegation table, during a UNESCO World Heritage Convention in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Wednesday. The UNESCO recognition, the delegation said, captured more than the craft knowledge of making high-quality sake. It also honored a tradition dating back some 1,000 years — sake makes a cameo in Japan’s famous 11th century novel, “The Tale of Genji,” as the drink of choice in the refined Heian court. Now, officials hope to restore sake's image as Japan's premier alcoholic drink even as the younger drinkers in the country switch to imported wine or domestic beer and whiskey. Japanese breweries also expressed hope the listing could give a lift to the country's export economy as the popularity of sake booms around the world and in the United States amid heightened interest in Japanese cuisine. “I hope that this will also be an opportunity for Japanese people to take another look at sake, shochu and awamori, which are the essence of their culture," Hitoshi Utsunomiya, director of the trade group Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association, said in Tokyo. "I would like them to try it even once and see what it tastes like,” he said. Sake exports, mostly to the U.S. and China, now rake in over $265 million a year, according to the association. Japan's Takehiro Kano, ambassador to UNESCO, reacts as the traditional Japanese brewing of sake was named to UNESCO's "intangible cultural heritage of humanity" list during a World Heritage Convention in Asuncion, Paraguay on Wednesday. Japan's delegation appeared ready to celebrate Wednesday — in classic Japanese style. After the announcement, Takehiro raised a cypress box full of sake to toast the alcoholic brew and cultural rite. “It means a lot to Japan and to the Japanese,” he said of the UNESCO designation. "This will help to renew interest in traditional sake elaboration.” In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he was “delighted” by UNESCO's recognition of traditional sake-making techniques, and he congratulated those dedicated to preserving and promoting the tradition. How to host the ultimate wine tasting How to host the ultimate wine tasting The crisp autumn air ushers in more than just pumpkin spice latte season. Consider cozying up inside with friends for a wine tasting and sharing delicious food and drinks with more complex flavors than cinnamon and sugar. Perhaps once thought of as stuffy affairs only for wine connoisseurs, today a tasting can be as casual as pouring a few bottles while doing another activity—say, bar games like darts or art activities like painting. The tasting can also be more traditional, especially if held at a winery or local wine shop, which is a great way to learn about what wines you might like to later serve at home. To host the ultimate wine tasting, it pays to do some R&D. One of the best aspects of hosting a wine tasting at home is that you get to establish the mood, tone, and guest list for the gathering—you can't pick a playlist when you sample wines at a bar or wine shop or make the dress code loungewear. So whether the mood is serious or playful, sophisticated or laid-back, the key to a successful tasting is enjoying and appreciating the wine and having fun with friends and family. Of course, there are a few other things to figure out along the way. Peerspace put together a few tips for hosting your wine-tasting party. Tip 1: Determine the vibe A tasting party is all about sampling different wines and evaluating and hopefully enjoying them—and there are a variety of ways to do that. Would you like to host a playful gathering where each guest brings a mystery bottle of wine within a certain price range—a BYOB affair? Or would it be better to have more control over which wines are featured by curating and supplying all the wines as a host? This decision sets the tone—a tasting where guests contribute wine can be a bit of a free-for-all, whereas one where you select wines you supply allows guests to sit back and simply enjoy. And you don't have to break the bank to buy excellent wines—there are lots of wine experts ready to share their affordable picks. How much folks know about wine differs—and that's a good thing. Tastings are group learning experiences. Expertise isn't necessary to host or attend a tasting, but it is helpful to think about what will keep guests comfortable and having fun. Decide whether the vibe will be relaxed and laid-back, like friends sipping wine fireside, or more upbeat and formal. Think about elements like the atmosphere and the location, and consider whether folks will be seated or standing. Will you have a spirited playlist (couldn't resist) or live music? Do you want an expert to introduce each wine, or will you be that expert? Consider how guests will share their thoughts on what they are tasting. Do you want to just talk about them or do something more organized, like take notes or give ratings? Then supply notebooks or notecards and pencils, with categories or questions established ahead of time—all of which can reflect your evening's tone as well. Tip 2: Know your numbers How many people to invite is a question largely informed by the answers to tip #1: Are you having a big, formal affair or an intimate catch-up with close friends? Or something in between? Whatever the case, an RSVP is essential because not only do you need to plan the setup of the space, but you must also make sure there's enough wine for everyone to taste, including each of the wines featured. There's nothing worse than a tasting that runs dry! The math to determine how much wine you need considers the size of the tasting pours—a full glass of wine at a restaurant is usually around 5 ounces, which yields around five glasses of wine from a standard bottle. For tastings, you'll want to do less, depending on how many wines you are featuring—say, 2 ounces if you'll be trying a lot of different wines. Experts agree, having more wine than you need is always a good idea—that way you can send guests home with a bottle should there be a prize at the end of the night. Tip 3: Set a theme Picking a theme is essential to curating the selection of wines—it's the organizing principle behind your selections. Otherwise, your tasting might as well be just walking down the wine aisle at the grocery store and taking sips from random bottles. There's too much wine out there not to be strategic about this. Plus, a theme helps you to tell the story of each wine better—it's the plot line of the night, if you will. Common themes are types of wine, regions they are from, or even price points—really, one can get as creative as they wish. For inspiration, check out local wine shops and see what they do for tastings. Often, they will follow seasonality and group wines in novel ways for their own in-house tastings. Tip 5: Small pours = big fun The bottom line is, however you do it, hosting the ultimate wine tasting should be fun. Wine can feel intimidating to many people, but most wine experts are passionate, inspired folks who want to share what they know and help you find wines you like. So visit your local wine store or winemaker and ask questions. There are good guides specifically concerning how to taste wine. Dig a little, taste a lot, and have fun. It's all research for your next ultimate wine tasting. Story editing by Carren Jao. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick. This story originally appeared on Peerspace and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. Tip 4: Don't forget food Don't let food be an afterthought for the festivities—after all, food can enhance particular qualities of wine and vice versa. There are many rules around what foods to pair with which wines, but consider this simple advice from Alder Yarrow's Vinography : "Stick with eating good food and drinking good wine." Since the focus is on the wines, allow the drinks to determine what food makes sense, but don't overthink it. Food is a supporting character here—at the very least, guests will need something to soak up all the alcohol (unless you are spitting it out). Eating foods that contain a mixture of protein, fats, and carbs when drinking helps increase the rate of alcohol elimination . Whether it's a full meal or heavy hors d'oeuvres, thoughtful noshes are necessary. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Arunachal: Militant group serves Rs 20 lac extortion notice to OIL

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Defending the run has been one of the Green Bay Packers’ weaknesses over the last several years. Not so much lately, though. Green Bay limited San Francisco to 16 carries for 44 yards in a 38-10 rout of the 49ers on Nov. 24, with two-time All-Pro Christian McCaffrey gaining 31 yards on 11 attempts. Four nights later, the Packers beat Miami 30-17 by holding the Dolphins to 39 yards on 14 carries. It was the first time since 1995 — and only the second time since 1950 — that the Packers had allowed fewer than 45 yards rushing in back-to-back games within the same season. “I think we’re playing harder and harder each week,” first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “And that’s how you play good defense.” That defense needs to be at its best Thursday as the Packers (9-3) close a stretch of three games in 12 days by visiting the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions (12-1), who have the NFL’s highest-scoring offense thanks in part to a rushing attack featuring the speedy Jahmyr Gibbs and the physical David Montgomery. “Gibbs is a great running back,” defensive lineman Kenny Clark said. “I really think the offense really starts with him, honestly. He can do everything — receive, in-and-out runner, can do stretch, duo plays. We’ve got to have all hands on deck with Gibbs. And then Montgomery, he’s a great complement to him. He can do everything, also.” The Lions were the first team since the 1975 Miami Dolphins to rush for at least 100 yards and a touchdown in each of their first 11 games. The streak ended on Thanksgiving when the Lions rushed for 194 yards but didn’t have a touchdown on the ground in a 23-20 victory over the Chicago Bears. Green Bay outrushed Detroit 138-124 in the Packers’ 24-14 loss to the Lions on Nov. 3 at Lambeau Field. Montgomery rushed for 73 yards while Gibbs ran for 65 yards and a touchdown. Gibbs has 973 yards this season, which ranks fourth in the NFL. Montgomery ran for a combined 192 yards and four touchdowns in the Lions’ two games against the Packers last season. Green Bay’s run defense has come a long way since. The Packers have allowed 106.6 yards rushing per game this season, which ranks eighth in the league. The Packers haven’t closed a season in the top 10 in run defense since 2016 and have finished outside the top 20 in four of the last six years, including 26th in 2022 and 28th in 2023. “I think Haf’s doing a good job of mixing up the fronts and some of the coverages, but really it’s ultimately about tackling, swarming, getting many hats to the football,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “And our guys have really embraced that style of play.” The Packers are yielding 4.2 yards per carry to rank seventh in the league after finishing 22nd or worst in that category each of the last three seasons. They haven’t closed a season ranked in the top 10 in yards allowed per carry since 2017. Hafley says the improvement starts up front. “The interior part of our D-line has done such a good job these last few games,” Hafley said. “They really have. They’re hard to block. They’re staying in their gaps. They’re tearing off of blocks, and it’s the same thing with those defensive ends. They’re setting edges, they’re forcing the ball back inside, they’re getting off blocks and then we’re tackling and we’re running to the ball and there’s multiple people to the ball. “And when you turn on our tape right now and when you freeze it, you see that. You see a lot of guys around the football. And then you’re not afraid, right? Like if I have an open-field tackle and I know eight other guys are coming, I’m going to take my shot because I know if I miss, it’s going to be, ‘Bang, bang, bang,’ we’ve got three or four other guys there, and we’re starting to play faster.” Green Bay's defense has the Lions’ attention. “They’ve been playing well,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said. “I mean, they have, really, all season, and nothing has changed.” ___ AP Sports Writer Larry Lage contributed to this report. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL Steve Megargee, The Associated Press

Intel’s interim co-CEOs told an investment conference Thursday that it’s “an open question” whether the chipmaker is headed for a corporate breakup. “We are going down the path of creating a subsidiary for Intel Foundry as part of the overall company,” said Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner, who became one of Intel’s two interim leaders last week when CEO Pat Gelsinger abruptly retired . Intel Foundry is the company’s name for its semiconductor manufacturing business. Intel says the factory subsidiary will be able to pursue its own funding and customers, separate from the product design business. But many observers and investment analysts have predicted Intel will eventually spin off its factories into a separate company . “That’s an open question for another day,” Zinsner told the Barclays Global Technology Conference on Thursday. His counterpart, interim co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus, said she thought separate companies would be a bad idea. Holthaus was also last week named permanent CEO of Intel Products, a newly created organization that oversees the design of Intel chips for data centers and PCs. Having the factories remain part of Intel could give her half of the business an advantage, she said, by giving the company’s designers early access to new manufacturing processes. Holthaus said she doesn’t expect Intel will split in two while suggesting the decision is out of her hands. “I don’t think so,” she said, “but someone will decide that.” Intel has just begun the search for a permanent CEO to oversee the whole company. Its board says it wants to move quickly but hasn’t set a timetable. Intel is struggling because, under Gelsinger, it committed to $100 billion in new spending at a time when PC sales were falling and rival chipmakers were taking market share in the data center industry. While Holthaus said Intel chips are still leading in the PC industry, she acknowledged that the company has “a lot of work to do on the data center side.” Intel has virtually no place in the booming market for advanced artificial intelligence and, on Thursday, Holthaus indicated it could take a long time for Intel’s products to be competitive. She said Intel’s forthcoming Falcon Shores graphics processing unit, designed for artificial intelligence, won’t change the company’s market position by itself. “Is it going to be wonderful? No. But it’s a good first step,” Holthaus said. Intel will learn from customer response to Falcon Shores, she said, and adjust future products accordingly. The company’s shares were up 3.2% Thursday morning at $20.76. -- Mike Rogoway covers Oregon technology and the state economy. Reach him at mrogoway@oregonian.com or 503-294-7699. Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe

LONDON (AP) — An artist whose work exploring her Scottish Sikh identity includes a vintage Ford car draped in a crocheted doily won the U.K.’s prestigious Turner Prize on Tuesday. Jasleen Kaur was awarded the 25,000-pound ($32,000) prize by actor James Norton during a ceremony at the Tate Britain gallery in London, where works by the four finalists are on display until February. A jury led by Tate Britain director Alex Farquhar praised the way 38-year-old Kaur “weaves together the personal, political and spiritual” through “unexpected and playful combinations of material.” Her winning exhibition mixes sculpture, print, everyday items – including family photos, a Ford Escort car and the popular Scottish soda Irn Bru -- and immersive music to reflect on her upbringing in Glasgow’s Sikh community. Three other finalists – Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson and Delaine Le Bas – received 10,000 pounds ($12,670) each. Named for 19th-century landscape painter J.M.W. Turner and founded in 1984 to reward young artists, the prize helped make stars of shark-pickling artist Damien Hirst, potter Grayson Perry, sculptor Anish Kapoor and filmmaker Steve McQueen . But it has also been criticized for rewarding impenetrable conceptual work and often sparks debate about the value of modern art, with winners such as Hirst’s "Mother and Child Divided,” which consists of two cows, bisected and preserved in formaldehyde, and Martin Creed’s “Lights On and Off” -- a room with a light blinking on and off – drawing scorn from sections of the media. In 2019, all four finalists were declared winners after they refused to compete against one another, “to make a collective statement in the name of commonality, multiplicity and solidarity.” In 2021, all five finalists were collectives rather than individual artists. The award was initially open to artists under 50 but now has no upper age limit.COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said Thursday that he is "absolutely" confident that Ryan Day will be back as football coach in 2025. Calls to fire the sixth-year coach rose among Ohio State fans after the Buckeyes lost to Michigan for the fourth straight year. Bjork, in an interview on 97.1 The Fan, said Day is the man for the job, regardless of how the Buckeyes perform in the College Football Playoff. They host Tennessee in a first-round game Dec. 21. "Coach Day is awesome," said Bjork, who came from Texas A&M to replace the retiring Gene Smith last summer. "He's great to work with. He totally gets it. He loves being a Buckeye. So, we're going to support him at the highest level." The 13-10 loss to Michigan followed by an ugly melee between the teams put the coach in a precarious spot. He and his team were booed off the field by the home fans. Bjork ended up releasing a statement expressing his support for the coach. People are also reading... "The reason we had to say something after (the Michigan) game is, we're still breathing, we're still alive," Bjork said. "The season's not over. The book is not closed." Thanks to the playoff, Day has a chance to redeem himself with Ohio State's huge fanbase with a win against the Volunteers — and perhaps more in the 12-team tournament. Regardless of what happens, Day will be back next year, according to Bjork. "Coach Day and I just hit it off so well," Bjork said. "I've been really, really impressed. Every single time I talked to him, I learn something. He's innovative. He recruits at the highest level. He's got a great staff." Day wouldn't directly address his job status last weekend. "When you first come off those types of things, there's a lot of emotion," he said, referring to the Michigan loss. "And then as time goes on, you've got to get refocused because you know what you've done in the past does not affect what's going on moving forward. Everything is out in front of us." Failing to consistently beat Michigan is one of the few flaws in Day's coaching record. Hired as a member of coach Urban Meyer's staff in 2017, Day was the hand-picked successor when Meyer retired after the 2018 season. Compiling an overall 66-10 record, he is widely admired in the coaching community. "Great respect for what he's done in his coaching career, what he's done there at Ohio State and the success that they've had year-in and year-out," Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. Day is in trouble now because losing The Game is considered an unforgiveable sin by Buckeyes fans. "What we have to do is this whole 'championship or bust' mentality, you want that as the goal, but it has to be about the process," Bjork said. "To me, we've got to maybe change some conversations a little bit. I think we need to maybe just approach things a little bit differently." Be the first to know

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