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The government is defending its economic record after a report found the forecast budget deficit is expected to be worse than predicted, with Australians experiencing the longest household recession since the 1970s. Analysts for Deloitte Access Economics estimate this year’s budget deficit, which Chalmers forecast in May to reach $28.3 billion, will be closer to $33.5 billion as commodity prices eat into company tax collections and inflation pushes up the costs of government services. Speaking on Nine’s Today , Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the government had inherited a “pretty big economic mess” from the Coalition, pointing to the reduction in inflation under Labor. Host Karl Stefanovic interrupted to say that the government has had time to improve the economy, to which Rishworth said they had utilised that time to fight inflation, grow wages and tackle the cost of living. “The alternative would have been if Peter Dutton was the prime minister. He’s opposed every single one of the [cost of living] measures and we would be in a real recession right now if he had got his way on so many policy issues.” Nationals Senator Briget McKenzie said it was the government’s fault that Australians feel poorer. “Australians are feeling poorer because they actually are poorer under Albanese. And it is this government’s fault that the economic situation is as it is,” McKenzie said. “It’s been warned and warned about government spending. That’s why in comparable nations our numbers are in the toilet comparatively. That that is just not right.” Click here for more details on the Deloitte Access Economics report, and the treasurer’s response. The bill to ban social media for children under 16 will be a “test” for Peter Dutton’s leadership, says Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth. Speaking on Nine’s Today , Rishworth said there was bipartisan support for the bill, but that Dutton was losing control of his caucus. “Just a couple of weeks ago, Peter Dutton said he would facilitate this important piece of legislation and support the government. And now we see our senators defying him,” she said. “So this is a test for Peter Dutton and his leadership.” Also on Today was Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, who said there were still concerns about digital ID laws and privacy. “Given the [is] censoring the Australian public bill from the Senate this week, we want to make sure we get strong, robust laws that don’t damage privacy and make compulsory Australians having to have digital IDs,” she said. “We do want strong, robust laws to protect kids under 16 on social media platforms. We’ve been out of the blocks before the government on this. We need to get the legislation right so it does actually get the outcomes we want. And we need to make sure that those protections exist in the legislation.” Read more about the debate within the Coalition on the ban here. An alternative proposal to the social media ban on children under 16 has been put forth by independent MP Zoe Daniel, who claims a ban doesn’t tackle the underlying issues that harm young people. Daniel’s bill would implement an overarching statutory duty of care on social media companies, with the goal being “safety by design”. “What you need to make that work is the companies to assess the risks, mitigate the risks, and be transparent about how they’re doing that,” Daniel told ABC News Breakfast. “The bill also has a provision to enable users to have control over the algorithm as exists overseas, particularly in the EU, enabling users to either reset or turn off their algorithm if they wish.” Independent MP Zoe Daniel. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Daniel says her work in the space began with tackling eating disorders, with a working group revealing the damage the algorithm was doing to sufferers by delivering them more content about eating disorders. She says the same trend is seen in a range of public health issues including gambling. “The problem with the algorithm is that in many ways, it compounds negative behaviour, and particularly for young people - that can send young people into a real spiral,” Daniel said. “The legislation is based on international best practice, so in effect, it cherry-picks the best of legislation that is already in place in Europe and in the UK.” The Goldstein MP said the government have been responsive to her proposal, and flagged they would consider duty of care eventually. But Daniel hopes the government will consider her bill now. “I understand why they want to do [the under 16s social media ban] because it is a lever to pull now and it makes parents feel better, but it actually makes zero difference to what is happening on the platforms. It doesn’t manage the algorithm or force the platforms to do anything about what is happening in their environment.” Social media companies, including Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta, have taken aim at the “rushed” consultation process for the ban on children under 16. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland introduced the world-leading reform to parliament last Thursday, which she said would make the online environment better for young people. The consultation period for groups and individuals to make submissions closed on Friday. A Senate committee held a one-day hearing on Monday and is due to report back on Tuesday. In submissions to the inquiry, several groups, including social media companies, pointed to the short notice period. Snap Inc. wrote that “the extremely compressed timeline” had allowed stakeholders little more than 24 hours to provide a response, which “severely” constrained thorough analysis and informed debate. X, formerly Twitter, also criticised the “unreasonably short time frame of one day”, writing that it has “serious concerns as to the lawfulness of the bill”. Meta, which owns Facebook, wrote that there had been “minimal consultation or engagement” and urged the government to wait for the results of the age assurance trial before progressing with the legislation. TikTok said that despite the “time-limited review”, there was a range of “serious, unresolved problems” that the government must clarify to ensure there wouldn’t be unintended consequences for all Australians. AAP Labor has gained a crucial concession from the Greens after a year of dispute over a $5.5 billion plan to help young Australians buy their first homes, securing the policy with a stunning back down from the minor party. The decisions late on Monday delivered a big victory to the federal government in the final week of parliament for the year, but other bills are on the brink of defeat after Senate crossbenchers blasted Labor for trying to rush through changes on the environment, political donations and other issues. Read more about the status of the bills on the brink, including the social media ban, political donation changes and environmental reforms, here. Good morning and welcome to the national news blog. My name is Josefine Ganko, and as always, I’ll lead our coverage for the first half of the day. It’s Tuesday, November 26. Here’s what’s making news this morning. Let’s get into it.

AP News Summary at 11:51 a.m. ESTAI-generated writing is now all over the internet . The introduction of automated prose can sometimes change a website’s character, like when once beloved publications get purchased and overhauled into AI content mills . Other times, however, it’s harder to argue that AI really changed anything. For example, look at LinkedIn. The Microsoft-owned social media site for business professionals has embraced AI , even offering LinkedIn Premium subscribers access to its own in-house AI writing tools that can “rewrite” posts, profiles, and direct messages. The initiative appears to be working: Over 54 percent of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn are likely AI-generated, according to a new analysis shared exclusively with WIRED by the AI detection startup Originality AI. It’s just that the corporate-speak style of AI writing on the platform can be tricky to distinguish from genuine human-penned Thought Leader Blogging . Originality scanned a sample of 8,795 public LinkedIn posts over 100 words long that were published from January 2018 to October 2024. For the first few years, the use of AI writing tools on LinkedIn was negligible. A major increase then occurred at the beginning of 2023. “The uptick happened when ChatGPT came out,” says Originality CEO Jon Gillham. At that point, Originality found the number of likely AI-generated posts had spiked 189 percent; it has since leveled off. LinkedIn says it doesn’t track how many posts on the site are written or edited with AI tools. “But we do have robust defenses in place to proactively identify low-quality, and exact or near-exact duplicate content. When we detect such content, we take action to ensure it is not broadly promoted,” says Adam Walkiewicz, LinkedIn’s head of “feed relevance.” “We see AI as a tool that can help with review of a draft or to beat the blank page problem, but the original thoughts and ideas that our members share are what matter.” LinkedIn is for finding a new job and keeping in touch with former coworkers, which means it’s a relatively staid social media platform. But in recent years, it’s developed its own network of influencers , and is surprisingly popular with Gen Z, including teenagers . Like everywhere else on the internet, people are thirsty for attention on LinkedIn, too, and startups have realized there’s money to be made helping people grow their audiences. There’s a cottage industry of AI LinkedIn comment and post generators to help the career-minded churn out content to dazzle potential bosses or prospective customers. Instead of spending four minutes puzzling over the right tone with which to congratulate an ex-colleague on their promotion, it now takes four seconds to conjure up an algorithmically-generated accolade instead. But LinkedIn users who spoke to WIRED say that they rely more on general-purpose large language models to cobble their LinkedIn posts together rather than bothering with specialty AI tools. Content writer Adetayo Sogbesan says she uses Anthropic’s Claude to spin up rough drafts of posts she creates on behalf of clients in the tech industry. “Of course, there’s a lot of editing done after,” she says, but the chatbot still “helps me save a lot of time.” Several non-native English speakers told WIRED they rely on AI tools to polish their English writing and fix grammar errors. Journalist and marketer Çiğdem Öztabak says he has experimented with AI to rework posts originally written in Turkish, her first language. (She prefers Claude to ChatGPT.) Writing with AI can be a controversial choice . Some writers and artists stridently oppose the use of large language models that have been trained on books, websites, and other works written by humans without permission or compensation. In their view, these tools devalue human writing, and are helping usher in a future in which there are far fewer professional opportunities for people to make a living in the field. A number of high-profile lawsuits allege that training AI on people’s art and writing without their knowledge is tantamount to theft. On LinkedIn, some people who have embraced AI have received blowback as well. Entrepreneur Zack Fosdyck says he’s gotten mixed feedback about his use of automated tools. “Some people engaged positively, appreciating the clarity and structure of the posts. Others were skeptical or critical, often focusing on the fact that AI was involved rather than the content itself,” he says. “I find it fascinating how polarizing this technology can be, especially since tools like calculators or spellcheck, which are also forms of assistance, are widely accepted.” “There’s definitely a lot of dislike for content that is blatantly AI-written,” says Rakan Brahedni, a LinkedIn blogger and the founder of a technology advisory firm. Brahedini includes a disclaimer telling his LinkedIn readers when he used AI writing tools, but he says no one has complained yet. “Personally, I think it all boils down to quality. If it’s a good read, I don’t think people are bothered much.” From one angle, LinkedIn may have inadvertently created the ideal laboratory for AI writing. Nobody’s logging on expecting profundity, hilarity, or sincerity. It’s the place where people strive to be the most anodyne versions of themselves, pleasant and inoffensive. Artificiality, in other words, is what everyone is expecting.There are absolutely no doubts whatsoever as to who is responsible for the plight of the Kaleshwaram project, and it is former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and his then BRS government that should bear responsibility for the disasters that the Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages have turned into, irrigation and civil supplies minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said. During a free-wheeling conversation with Deccan Chronicle on Saturday, on the occasion of the Congress government completing its first year in power in Telangana, Uttam Kumar Reddy said, “there is no question of trading of charges on this with the BRS. It was during the BRS government that the barrages were built, it was during its watch their use collapsed. Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme’s failure is a BRS government failure. No doubts about this.” While Uttam Kumar Reddy addressed several issues, he underscored the Congress government’s commitment to the principles of social justice, equality, welfare, and uplift of the poor. “These principles are the bedrock of every step taken by the government under the leadership of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka. Those searching for non-existing chinks within the Congress will be disappointed. There are no lobbies, no differences in the cabinet, we are all working as a team,” he said. “The democratic spirit within the Congress and freedom given to the ministers by the Chief Minister have come as a surprise to BRS leaders who were used to KCR’s one person show. All this criticism of the BRS on this and that is just for the sake of criticism.” The BRS may be unhappy, but the people are satisfied. As we move along, our government will do more for the people.” Uttam Kumar Reddy said one of the biggest challenges the Congress government faced was the financial situation of the state. :When Telangana was formed, we had a debt of `70,000 crore accumulated over 60 years. This shot up to `7 lakh crore in BRS’ 10-year rule. Getting the finances back on stream will take another six months or a year but we will get there.” On issues relating to civil supplies, he said a similar debt challenge was left by the BRS government which bequeathed a `58,000-crore debt in the department. “By diligent action, taking the right steps with respect to procurement, milling and other operations, we reduced this burden by `11,000 crore so far. One important thing to remember is that as a new government, it took a couple of months to settle down, figure things out as the administration was left in shreds by the BRS.” “Then came the Parliament elections and model code of conduct. In all, we lost around six months on these two accounts. In reality, it is the six months later that the Congress government got down to work tackling one challenge after the other, and solving each one despite the enormous fiscal constraints,” he said. “It gives great satisfaction that procurement of the bumper 153 lakh metric tonnes of paddy is progressing smoothly. Our plans to provide fine rice to ration card holders, issuing new ration cards are in the process,” he said. On the irrigation front, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the government was gearing up to begin the Pranahita-Chevella lift irrigation scheme – the one redesigned as KLIS by the BRS government — from next summer. “Our priority is to take up projects, pending or otherwise, that can be completed quickly, provide irrigation to maximum acreage with at the least possible cost. You will see all of this happen in the next four years,” he said. Responding to a question on BRS’ claims that the bumper paddy harvest this Kharif season demonstrated KLIS’ success, Uttam Kumar Reddy dismissed them saying water was pumped from the Sripada Yellampalli project, which was built when Congress was in power in united Andhra Pradesh.

(The Center Square) — New York City has received a green light from the Biden administration to implement a retooled congestion pricing program, but the plan still faces lawsuits from opponents and anticipated pushback from incoming President-elect Donald Trump. Last Thursday, the Federal Highway Administration approved the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's plan, which Gov. Kathy Hochul resurrected earlier this month with a reduced base fare of $9 – down from the original plan of $15. The program will go into effect on Jan. 5, just days before Trump takes over the presidency. "We are pleased to have received formal approval from the Federal Highway Administration for the phase-in feature of the Central Business District Tolling Program,” Catherine Sheridan, president of MTA Bridges and Tunnels/Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, said in a statement. The controversial tolling program, which was originally set to start June 30, called for a $15 toll on drivers entering the core of Manhattan to generate about $1 billion annually for public transit system upgrades. But in June, Hochul abruptly hit the brakes on congestion pricing, announcing that she directed the MTA to "indefinitely" pause the program. She cited the impact on commuters who would be forced to pay higher tolls. To be sure, the new congestion pricing tolls will eventually increase to the original $15 by 2031, according to the Hochul administration. The MTA said the plan includes discounts for low-income drivers making less than $50,000 annually. These drivers will receive a 50% discount after hitting their 10th toll each month. Meanwhile, the plan faces an uncertain future with several lawsuits, including one filed by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and another by the New York Trucking Association, challenging the higher tolling system in state and federal court. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER "While political leadership is now saying the right things about bringing down the cost of living in the state, New Yorkers should not be fooled by the rhetoric: this new congestion pricing plan is still bad for the economy, will still cause supply chain disruptions, and will still raise the price of goods upon which households across the five boroughs and its surrounding suburbs rely," Kendra Hems, the Trucking Association's president, said in a statement. Trump, a Republican and native New Yorker, has pledged to "terminate" the program when he takes over the White House in January. Trump's pick to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, former New York congressman Lee Zelden, railed against congestion pricing during his 2022 gubernatorial run.Hardline activist who raised the idea of jailing women for abortions gets top policy job in Trump administration

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Raised by CRA Financial Services LLCRipple (XRP) Gains Over 300% Following Trump's Victory, But Another Altcoin Could Soon Take Its Place as Top Performer

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Whales with a lot of money to spend have taken a noticeably bearish stance on Baidu . Looking at options history for Baidu BIDU we detected 21 trades. If we consider the specifics of each trade, it is accurate to state that 28% of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 52% with bearish. From the overall spotted trades, 8 are puts, for a total amount of $452,157 and 13, calls, for a total amount of $811,033. Predicted Price Range After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $70.0 and $110.0 for Baidu, spanning the last three months. Volume & Open Interest Trends In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Baidu options trades today is 2366.57 with a total volume of 5,531.00. In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Baidu's big money trades within a strike price range of $70.0 to $110.0 over the last 30 days. Baidu Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Significant Options Trades Detected: Symbol PUT/CALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp. Date Ask Bid Price Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume BIDU CALL SWEEP BULLISH 01/17/25 $15.0 $14.95 $15.0 $70.00 $171.0K 1.5K 125 BIDU CALL TRADE BEARISH 02/21/25 $5.95 $5.9 $5.9 $85.00 $118.0K 396 708 BIDU CALL TRADE BEARISH 02/21/25 $5.9 $5.85 $5.85 $85.00 $117.0K 396 508 BIDU PUT SWEEP BULLISH 03/21/25 $18.4 $17.7 $17.7 $100.00 $88.5K 1.5K 50 BIDU PUT TRADE BEARISH 03/21/25 $7.25 $7.1 $7.25 $85.00 $80.4K 1.9K 0 About Baidu Baidu is the largest internet search engine in China with over 50% share of the search engine market in 2024 per web analytics firm, Statcounter. The firm generated 72% of core revenue from online marketing services from its search engine in 2023. Outside its search engine, Baidu is a technology-driven company and its other major growth initiatives are artificial intelligence cloud, video streaming services, voice recognition technology, and autonomous driving. Current Position of Baidu Trading volume stands at 1,934,569, with BIDU's price up by 1.28%, positioned at $83.73. RSI indicators show the stock to be may be approaching oversold. Earnings announcement expected in 92 days. What The Experts Say On Baidu In the last month, 3 experts released ratings on this stock with an average target price of $110.0. Turn $1000 into $1270 in just 20 days? 20-year pro options trader reveals his one-line chart technique that shows when to buy and sell. Copy his trades, which have had averaged a 27% profit every 20 days. Click here for access .* Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Susquehanna lowers its rating to Neutral with a new price target of $85.* An analyst from Benchmark has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Baidu, which currently sits at a price target of $130. * An analyst from Mizuho persists with their Outperform rating on Baidu, maintaining a target price of $115. Trading options involves greater risks but also offers the potential for higher profits. Savvy traders mitigate these risks through ongoing education, strategic trade adjustments, utilizing various indicators, and staying attuned to market dynamics. Keep up with the latest options trades for Baidu with Benzinga Pro for real-time alerts. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.The former political figure who has been convicted of sexual abuse, heading into court with his lawyer Ian Brookie. Photo: RNZ By Anneke Smith of RNZ Warning: This story discusses details of sexual abuse. A former political figure who sexually abused two teenage boys nearly 30 years ago has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. Victims welcome name suppression changes The man, who is not a sitting MP, sexually assaulted two young teenagers he mentored through a sports club in the mid- to late-1990s. He continues to deny any offending after being found guilty of eight charges of indecent assault after a week-long jury trial in the Auckland District Court in August. Judge David Sharp has now sentenced him to two-and-a-half years' imprisonment, taking into account discounts for good character and reparations of $1500 for each victim. The judge acknowledged the man maintained his innocence but said he still had to consider the emotional harm done, having listened to the survivors' stories of intense suffering. Judge Sharp said the offender had abused the teenage boys when they were asleep, drunk or unconscious and that it had been a substantial breach of trust, given his seniority to them in their sports club. The former political figure has had interim name suppression for 667 days now and is now asking the court for a permanent order, his sixth request for further secrecy. RNZ, Stuff and TVNZ have all opposed the the man's continued bids for name suppression, arguing there are no grounds for further name suppression. Victim impact statements The court heard moving victim impact statements from both of the survivors, the first read aloud by Detective Sergeant Richard Veacock who investigated a complaint he made in 1999 that did not lead to any charges. The survivor told the court the abuse had haunted him for decades and he had had horrible nightmares where he was raped and killed by the offender, waking up gasping for breath. He found wiping his newborn's bottom during a nappy change confronting and, when a friend asked why he was having trouble, blurted out that he had been sexually abused as a young person, he said. The survivor said the cost and effort of participating in the justice process and therapy had left him and his family poorer and exhausted, suggesting he had considered killing himself. He also addressed the offender's protracted legal battle for name suppression had been deeply distressing and made him feel like his life was less valuable than that of a convicted abuser. The second survivor stood two metres from the offender as he stood to share his victim impact statement in person on Friday morning. He said he had been "young and vulnerable" when he was abused and the trauma had cycled through him into his relationships with his friends, family and workmates. He struggled with alcoholism and his mental wellbeing and had since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse disorder since, he said. The second survivor added he had had panic attacks and periods of dissociation during August's trial and would continue to fight to lift his own automatic name suppression so he could tell his story openly. This survivor earlier told RNZ he supported the government's proposed law change that would give victims, not judges, the power to decide if a convicted sex offender got permanent name suppression.Truckers told to ditch chocolate bars and exercise at service stations instead

Australia news LIVE: Bills on the brink in final sitting week of the year; Social media giants slam ‘rushed’ ban consultationNorth Carolina could overhaul how language arts is taught in what’s being billed as a better way to teach students how to become successful readers. The state Department of Public Instruction recently released for public comment the first draft of new K-12 English/language arts standards. It includes what DPI says are a number of major changes, including reducing how many standards are taught and revising English IV offerings for high school seniors. “These are pretty major changes and there could be some major impacts across the state,” said Kristi Day, director of DPI’s Office of Academic Standards. “When those surveys go out today or tomorrow, we really want to hear from the field because we want to know how does this impact them? How does this impact their students and their teaching?” DPI staff briefed the State Board of Education on the proposed new standards this week. The standards will go through at least two more drafts before being voted on next year by the state board. School districts set their own curriculum based on the standards adopted by the state. This will be the first major revision since the current language arts standards were adopted in 2017. The current standards replaced the controversial Common Core-based standards. Here’s a look at some of the major changes in the proposed standards: In what Day told the state board was a “mic drop” she said the number of standards would be cut in half. Standards are defined by DPI as “what is it that students need to know and be able to do.” For instance, kindergarten and first grade currently have a combined 139 standards students are expected to learn. It would drop to 79 in the new draft. Language arts teachers are currently expected to teach a total of 205 standards in grades 6 through 8. But the new draft only has 69 standards for middle school. Also as part of the shift, there will no longer be standards for each individual grade level. Instead, standards are proposed to be grouped by “grade bands” with multiple grades: K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-11 and 12th grade. The reduction in standards is part of what DPI said staff was their effort to reimagine how language arts is taught. DPI says the changes align with the phonics-based “science of reading” training that the state’s elementary school teachers have been taught to use. Day repeatedly told state board members they’re not lowering expectations for students. Instead, she said teachers would now be able to go into more detail covering each standard. “I want to be very clear it’s not a watering down of standards,” Day said. “We’re not reducing to reduce. “We really looked at how to integrate and how to bring those standards to a place where teachers could do more with less and they could have deeper conversations, deeper tasks, thoughtful types of assignments so they can really dive in deeper so they can master these standards across more than just one year.” For instance one of the proposed K-1 standards is to “determine the central message, lesson, and main topic of texts using key details.” Students would now be expected to be taught that standard in both grade levels. It’s part of a teaching method called “spiraling.” Teachers across the different grade levels in each band would revisit topics multiple times to build on what students previously learned about the standard. DPI staff gave multiple examples to the state board of why they said the current standards need to be changed. DPI provides teachers with pacing guides. But it’s become “death by pacing guides” as teachers rush to cover all the standards, according to Amy Rhyne, senior director of DPI’s Office of Early Learning. “That really drives the rush, if you will, of what’s happening around mastery and what it looks like,” Rhyne told the state board. “That competes with our overarching goal of what does it look like for a student to be a successful long-term reader rather than teaching the minimal pieces to a test.” Rhyne compared it to expecting someone to know how to ride a bicycle by having them spend three days holding the handle bars, four days practicing balancing and five days of practicing pedaling in place. “We have to rethink and redesign what that looks like, which is where we’re working together on how to be more innovative and think differently about how we are teaching children to read rather than checking off skills and standards,” Rhyne told the state board. Students must complete four English courses to graduate from high school. But DPI staff said the options for seniors are limited in English IV, which is a traditional literature course that might not appeal to all students. “Why not think of a different option for English IV?” said Sneha Shah Coltrane, DPI’s senior director of Advanced Learning and Gifted Education. “We know that is not going to be an easy shift. But in all the other content areas, we have significant choices. “A child can take Excel instead of Math IV. In science, they have so many options, in social studies so many options. But we don’t when it comes to senior English.” What’s proposed in the new standards is offering three different English IV sections: STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), arts and literature. The current English IV course would be retained as the literature section. Shah Coltrane said that offering different types of English IV courses could make them more relevant to seniors and decrease absenteeism. ”Our initial feedback has been very positive, but it as well has been very scary for some teachers,” Shah Coltrane told the state board. ©2024 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

AP Sports SummaryBrief at 5:21 p.m. ESTFIFA and Mythical Games are combining forces to bring this arcade-style game to fans by the summer of 2025. Available for iOS and Android devices, FIFA Rivals promises a unique blend of soccer management and real-time gameplay. Building on the model established by NFL Rivals, the new game will also incorporate NFTs, allowing players to collect and trade digital player cards. These cards will feature soccer stars from various eras, enhancing the collectible aspect of the game. The NFTs will be minted on the Mythos blockchain, which utilizes Polkadot technology for enhanced security and efficiency. Mythical Games aims to replicate the engagement seen with NFL Rivals, which has amassed over 6 million downloads since its release. Further enriching the gaming experience, FIFA Rivals will also include esports competitions, targeting the most skilled players. This feature points to Mythical Games’ strategic direction towards integrating competitive gaming within its offerings. This partnership marks FIFA’s continued foray into the Web3 space. Prior initiatives include collaborations with blockchain startups for the FIFA World Cup Qatar and the development of the FIFA Collect NFT platform, which operates on both Algorand and the Ethereum scaling network Polygon. With these efforts, FIFA steadily enhances its digital presence, catering to a global audience increasingly engaged in digital and blockchain technologies.

When the Nebraska football team gathered for its Thursday practice prior to the Wisconsin game, offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen wanted to see a game-ready unit. Anything other than the best wasn’t good enough, and Holgorsen backed it up. The players who made mistakes, even committing false start penalties during that practice didn’t play on Saturday because of it, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said. Those who did their job got their chance, though, with Rhule identifying senior wide receiver Isiaha Garcia-Castaneda as one such beneficiary. So while Holgorsen’s playcalling was part of Nebraska’s 44-point outburst against the Badgers, his general approach is what Rhule appreciates most. “You hear Dana on the headset, the whole time he’s just talking about execution,” Rhule said. “... There’s a real focus on execution and when the guys execute the play calls. I think that was the message to the guys — if you execute and practice at a high level, you’re going to have an opportunity to play in the game.” Changes have been limited in Holgorsen’s short time as NU’s offensive coordinator, but he did make sure the Huskers scaled back the number of plays in their playbook. “We’re still doing a lot,” Rhule said, while crediting assistant coaches Glenn Thomas, Garret McGuire and Marcus Satterfield for their work in helping Holgorsen get accustomed to the team’s offensive setup. A “collaborative” gameplanning process that involves those coaches poring over game film and strategy together has led to results, but Rhule again emphasized that improvements from the players, not the coaches, is what has led to better results. When Nebraska was in rhythm on Saturday and stayed ahead of the chains, the Huskers were nearly impossible to slow down. When penalties, turnovers or miscues like snapping on the wrong count happened, though, the offense’s progress was halted. The clear difference? Execution. “It’s kind of a blend of everything we’ve been trying to say to them all year coming to life,” Rhule said of Nebraska’s 44-point performance. “I think the thing Dana’s done a great job is, he’s cut things down to a degree, but he’s demanding that they execute if they want to get on the field.” Nebraska also couldn’t have cut apart the Wisconsin defense without a reinvigorated showing from quarterback Dylan Raiola. Having thrown at least one interception in his previous five starts, Raiola finished the game turnover-free for the first time since September. The freshman also completed 28-of-38 passes for 293 yards and one touchdown, his biggest passing output other than a 297-yard performance against Illinois. Part of the reason for the turnaround was health-related following the back injury Raiola suffered against UCLA. Held out of practice over the bye, Raiola was “ginger” the whole game against USC according to Rhule but was more comfortable with moving around and sliding up in the pocket last Saturday. Getting the ball out quickly and accurately also helped Raiola’s timing within the offense. “He was just taking completions, taking what was there and not trying to do too much,” Rhule said of Raiola. “Playing as a freshman in the Big Ten is really, really hard; it requires tough people and I think Dylan’s been tough in that he’s gotten better every week.” Nebraska’s progress will be tested in a matchup against the nation’s No. 12 scoring defense, an Iowa unit that is allowing just 17.7 points per game. Another week with Holgorsen at the helm will help Nebraska with that challenge as the Huskers look to build on their recent offensive surge. “Just the rhythm of the way he does things means total sense to me,” Rhule said of Holgorsen. “... If I coach with Dana for one more week or if we coach together for the next 10 years, I’ll be a better coach as a result.”

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DALLAS (AP) — More than 60 years after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated , conspiracy theories still swirl and any new glimpse into the fateful day of Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas continues to fascinate . President-elect Donald Trump promised during his reelection campaign that he would declassify all of the remaining government records surrounding the assassination if he returned to office. He made a similar pledge during his first term, but ultimately bended to appeals from the CIA and FBI to keep some documents withheld. At this point, only a few thousand of the millions of governmental records related to the assassination have yet to be fully released, and those who have studied the records released so far say that even if the remaining files are declassified, the public shouldn't anticipate any earth-shattering revelations. “Anybody waiting for a smoking gun that’s going to turn this case upside down will be sorely disappointed,” said Gerald Posner, author of “Case Closed,” which concludes that assassin Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Friday's 61st anniversary is expected to be marked with a moment of silence at 12:30 p.m. in Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy's motorcade was passing through when he was fatally shot. And throughout this week there have been events marking the anniversary. When Air Force One carrying Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy touched down in Dallas , they were greeted by a clear sky and enthusiastic crowds. With a reelection campaign on the horizon the next year, they had gone to Texas on political fence-mending trip. But as the motorcade was finishing its parade route downtown, shots rang out from the Texas School Book Depository building. Police arrested 24-year-old Oswald and, two days later, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald during a jail transfer. A year after the assassination, the Warren Commission, which President Lyndon B. Johnson established to investigate the assassination, concluded that Oswald acted alone and there was no evidence of a conspiracy. But that hasn't quelled a web of alternative theories over the decades. In the early 1990s, the federal government mandated that all assassination-related documents be housed in a single collection in the National Archives and Records Administration. The collection of over 5 million records was required to be opened by 2017, barring any exemptions designated by the president. Trump, who took office for his first term in 2017, had boasted that he'd allow the release of all of the remaining records but ended up holding some back because of what he called the potential harm to national security. And while files have continued to be released during President Joe Biden's administration, some still remain unseen. The documents released over the last few years offer details on the way intelligence services operated at the time, and include CIA cables and memos discussing visits by Oswald to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before the assassination. The former Marine had previously defected to the Soviet Union before returning home to Texas. Mark S. Zaid, a national security attorney in Washington, said what's been released so far has contributed to the understanding of the time period, giving “a great picture” of what was happening during the Cold War and the activities of the CIA. Posner estimates that there are still about 3,000 to 4,000 documents in the collection that haven’t yet been fully released. Of those documents, some are still completely redacted while others just have small redactions, like someone's Social Security number. There are about 500 documents where all the information is redacted, Posner said, and those include Oswald's and Ruby’s tax returns. “If you have been following it, as I have and others have, you sort of are zeroed in on the pages you think might provide some additional information for history,” Posner said. Trump's transition team hasn’t responded to questions this week about his plans when he takes office. From the start, there were those who believed there had to be more to the story than just Oswald acting alone, said Stephen Fagin, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, which tells the story of the assassination from the building where Oswald made his sniper's perch. “People want to make sense of this and they want to find the solution that fits the crime," said Fagin, who said that while there are lingering questions, law enforcement made “a pretty compelling case” against Oswald. Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said his interest in the assassination dates back to the event itself, when he was a child. “It just seemed so fantastical that one very disturbed individual could end up pulling off the crime of the century," Sabato said. “But the more I studied it, the more I realized that is a very possible, maybe even probable in my view, hypothesis.”SAC Chair Defence Services C-in-C Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attends DSTA 26th Intake dinnerAbpro Holdings Celebrates Closing of Business Combination with Nasdaq Bell Ringing