Searching for some ASX 200 shares to buy for 2025? Look no further! Listed below are three shares that Bell Potter rates among its top picks for the year ahead. Here's what the broker is saying about them: ( ) This gaming technology company could be an ASX 200 share to buy according to the broker. It has a buy rating and $180.00 price target on its shares. It commented: We anticipate 8-11% annual growth rates over CY24-26, driven by further R&D investment that enhances game performance and results in market share gains across the North American premium leased market, global outright game sales markets, and online gaming markets. Additionally, we view the recent turmoil surrounding the Dragon Train preliminary injunction as an attractive entry point. ( ) Bell Potter also thinks that Smiggle and Peter Alexander owner Premier Investments could be an ASX 200 share to buy for 2025. Especially with the demerger of its non-core Apparel Brands expected to take place next month. It has a buy rating and $38.00 price target on its shares. Bell Potter said: With the divestment of the non-core Apparel Brands (AB) to Myer (MYR) in an all-script deal expected to be completed in Jan-25, we see PMV retaining the higher margin Smiggle and Peter Alexander (PA) earnings base post-demerger. We view the highly profitable retail business with domestic:offshore exposure of 70:30 (BPe) growing at ~13% (BPe, FY26e), ~26% stake in Breville Group (BRG), together with property assets valued at cost and a strong cash balance (~$327m, BPe), as worthy of a re-rate in the multiple. ( ) Finally, Bell Potter has named building products company Brickworks as an ASX 200 share to buy in 2025. It has a buy rating and $32.00 price target on its shares. The broker believes that the company is well-placed to benefit from interest rate cuts next year. It said: We see BKW as a high delta exposure to interest rate cuts and by extension a stock to own as we edge closer to the cycle pivot point (Bell Potter's base case for our first cut is 1H CY25). Specifically, we see a scenario unfolding where BKW could realise double digit mark-to-market NTA growth p.a. quite comfortably in coming years through positive revals (i.e. cap rate reversal), ongoing property development and rent reversion (BKW remains ~28% underrented and 50% short-WALE), as well as continued SOL outperformance. This is a growth story we think few ASX-200 industrials can currently match.Scholastic Corporation Announces Third Quarter Dividend
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December 11, 2024 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlightedthe following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread by Carnegie Institution for Science A team of researchers led by Carnegie Science's Will Ludington, Karina Gutiérrez-García, and Kevin Aumiller identified genes that enable a beneficial bacterial species to colonize specific regions of the gastrointestinal tract. Their work, published in Science , could revolutionize our understanding of how the composition of the gut microbiome is determined and open the door to microbiome engineering. The gut microbiome is an ecosystem of hundreds to thousands of microbial species living within the human body and influencing our health, fertility, and even longevity. These populations can aid digestion, inform immune responses, and help fight off pathogens among other functions. However, the microbiome isn't uniform throughout the gut. Just as various organs within the gastrointestinal system have different specialties when it comes to digesting food and absorbing nutrients, different microbial communities are localized within each zone and play unique roles there. Successful colonization of each region of the G.I. tract by different microbial populations is dependent on a variety of factors such as nutrient requirements of the bacteria; the local pH and dissolved oxygen content ; competition with other bacterial strains; and survivability in harsh conditions —including stomach acid, bile salts, and immune-response cells. "We're talking about an incredibly complex system of interconnected microbial communities, and each species needs to get to the right place where it can thrive and contribute to host health," explained Ludington, who has been probing microbiome acquisition and composition for several years at Carnegie. "Researchers have been trying to figure out how each bacterial species is directed to the right location and how colonization by harmful or less-than-ideal species is minimized." Think about checked luggage moving through the system of conveyor belts behind the scenes at a busy, urban airport. The baggage handling system may look disorganized and chaotic, but the majority of bags get to the plane where they need to be. And processes are in place to correct any erroneous sorting that occurs over time. "Likewise, in the gut, beneficial bacteria need to get to the region where they can successfully create a colony," co-lead author Gutiérrez-García indicated. "We worked to reveal the mechanisms that enable this to happen." Successful colonization hinges on proteins in bacterial cell walls called adhesins. As you might guess from their name, they can stick to a variety of different surfaces within the body. But they typically bind non-specifically, meaning they could just as soon attach to one tissue as another. So how do symbiotic microbiome species get to the place they need to go? To tackle this mystery, Ludington, Gutiérrez-García, Aumiller and their colleagues developed technology that enabled them to watch a single cell of the bacterial species Lactiplantibacillus plantarum colonize its niche within the fruit fly gut in real time. The team also included Carnegie's Ren Dodge, Benjamin Obadia, Haolong Zhu, and Ru-Ching Hsia, as well as Ann Deng, Sneha Agrawal, and Xincheng Yuan from Johns Hopkins University and, Richard Wolff and Nandita Garud from UCLA. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matter— daily or weekly . The fruit fly may be a pest in the kitchen, but it's a workhorse in the laboratory and the perfect organism for this type of research, because the species that comprise its microbiome are well defined and small in number. Watching the events unfold in such high-resolution detail enabled the scientists to see the difference between short-lived colonization and long-term success. "Developing this imaging technique was an exciting challenge," said Dodge, a key contributor to the study. "It allowed us to see the interactions of individual bacteria cells with the host gut in unprecedented detail." They found that L. plantarum isolated from the guts of wild fruit flies was able to stably attach to host tissue whereas L. plantarum from humans and other sources formed only transient attachments. With this information in hand, the researchers set out to determine the genetic basis for this super-affinity. Through diligent and painstaking work, they were able to identify a set of genes for symbiotic gut colonization within a niche. "By identifying the genes that enable L. plantarum to colonize specific niches, we now have the insights into how to engineer greater precision into other bacteria," said Aumiller, a co-lead author on the project. "This opens the door to creating probiotics that are optimized for specific niches in the human gut." "Looking ahead, we will attempt to elucidate the mechanism underlying this binding specificity," Ludington concluded. More information: Karina Gutiérrez-García et al, A conserved bacterial genetic basis for commensal-host specificity, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adp7748 Journal information: Science Provided by Carnegie Institution for Science
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Six Alaska House seats currently held by men are set to be held by women next year, bringing the overall number of women in the chamber to 21. This will be the first time in the state’s history that one of the legislative chambers is majority women. The women elected to the Alaska House bring a variety of experiences and perspectives to the chamber. Ten of them are Republicans, including four newly elected this year. Nine are Democrats — including three who are newly elected. Two are independents who caucus with Democrats. There are also five women in the state Senate, a number that remained unchanged in this year’s election, bringing the total number of women in the Alaska Legislature to 26 out of 60, a new record for the state. The previous record of 23 was set in 2019. Nationally, around a third of legislative seats were held by women this year, according to researchers at Rutgers University. Nearly two-thirds of women legislators are Democrats. In Alaska, women serving in the Legislature are largely evenly split between the major political parties. Before this year’s election, only seven states had ever seen gender parity in one of their legislative chambers. They include Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Colorado, New Mexico and Oregon. California is set to join the list after this year’s election. Three of the women slated to serve in the Alaska House next year are Alaska Native — also a record. Two of them were elected for the first time: Robyn Burke of Utqiagvik , who is of Iñupiaq descent, and Nellie Jimmie of Toksook Bay, who is of Yup’ik descent. They join Rep. Maxine Dibert of Fairbanks, of Koyukon Athabascan descent, who was elected in 2022. The historic increase in representation of women came in Alaska even as voters did not reelect U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, the first woman and first Alaska Native person to represent the state in the U.S. House. Peltola was voted out in favor of Republican Nick Begich III. Women come to the Alaska Legislature from diverse professional backgrounds, but a disproportionate number of them will arrive with some experience in public education. Three of the newly elected lawmakers — Burke, Jubilee Underwood of Wasilla and Rebecca Schwanke of Glennallen — have served on their local school boards, helping oversee the North Slope Borough, Matanuska-Susitna Borough and Copper River school districts, respectively. The three bring different perspectives on public education. Burke said she is looking forward to working with a bipartisan caucus that is set to have a majority in the Alaska House this year, with a focus on increasing education funding and improving the retirement options for Alaska’s public employees, including teachers. Schwanke and Underwood, on the other hand, have indicated they will join the Republican minority caucus, which has shown an interest in conservative social causes such as barring the participation of transgender girls in girls’ school sports teams. The increase in the number of women serving in the Alaska Legislature comes as public education funding is set to be a key issue when lawmakers convene in January. Burke said she and the other newly elected women bring different policy perspectives to the topic of education, but their shared experience in serving on school boards reflects a commitment to their children’s education. “With so many parents and so many moms, I hope that there will be really good legislation that supports working families and children and education,” Burke said. ©2024 Anchorage Daily News. Visit at adn.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Matt Gaetz says he won't return to Congress next year after withdrawing name for attorney general WASHINGTON (AP) — Matt Gaetz is not coming back to Congress. The Florida Republican said Friday he has no intention of serving another term in the House now that he is no longer President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general. Gaetz withdrew as the nominee this week amid growing fallout from the allegations of sexual conduct against him. Gaetz denies the allegations. Gaetz didn't lay out his plans now that he's out of office, saying only, “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch." After Gaetz's withdrawal on Thursday, Trump named former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi to lead the Justice Department. Vance takes on a more visible transition role, working to boost Trump's most contentious picks WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role. He's been helping Donald Trump’s most contentious Cabinet picks try to win confirmation in the Senate, where he has served for the last two years. Vance spent part of Wednesday at the Capitol with Rep. Matt Gaetz sitting in on meetings with Trump’s controversial choice for attorney general. On Thursday, Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth. Vance is expected to accompany other nominees for meetings over the coming weeks as he tries to leverage the two years he has spent in the Senate to help push through Trump’s picks. Beyond evangelicals, Trump and his allies courted smaller faith groups, from the Amish to Chabad Donald Trump’s lock on the white evangelical vote is legendary, but he didn't focus exclusively on large religious voter blocs. He and his allies also wooed smaller religious groups, away from the mainstream. He posted a tribute to Coptic church members on social media and met with members of Assyrians for Trump — two smaller Christian communities with Middle Eastern roots. He visited the grave of the revered late leader of an Orthodox Jewish movement. His allies sought votes from the separatist Amish community. While Trump won decisively, the outreaches reflected aggressive campaigning in what was expected to be a tight race. NATO and Ukraine to hold emergency talks after Russia's attack with new hypersonic missile KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks Tuesday after Russia attacked a central city with a hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war. Ukraine's parliament canceled a session Friday over the security threat. In a stark warning to the West, President Vladimir Putin said in a nationally televised speech Thursday that the attack with the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was retaliation for Kyiv’s use of U.S. and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory. Putin said Russia is launching production of the Oreshnik, saying it's so powerful that several of them fitted with conventional warheads could be as devastating as a strike with strategic — or nuclear — weapons. Texas education board approves optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ education board has voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools. The approval Friday follows other Republican-led states that have pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education is optional for schools to adopt, but they’ll receive additional funding if they do so. Parents and teachers who opposed the curriculum say the lessons will alienate students of other faith backgrounds. Supporters argue the Bible is a core feature of American history and that teaching it will enrich learning. 2 convicted in human smuggling case after Indian family froze to death on US-Canada border FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) — A jury has convicted two men of charges related to human smuggling for their roles in an international operation that led to the deaths of a family of Indian migrants who froze while trying to cross the Canada-U.S. border during a 2022 blizzard. Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel and Steve Shand each faced four charges related to human smuggling before being convicted on Friday. Patel is an Indian national. Shand is an American from Florida. They were arrested after the family froze while trying to cross the desolate border during a 2022 blizzard. Storm inundates Northern California with rain, heavy snow. Thousands remain in the dark in Seattle HEALDSBURG, Calif. (AP) — Heavy rain from a major storm prompted evacuation warnings for communities near a Northern California river that forecasters say could break its banks Friday, as the system continued to dump heavy snow in mountainous areas where some ski resorts opened for the season. The storm reached the Pacific Northwest earlier this week, killing two people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands before moving through Northern California, where several roads were closed due to flooding and strong winds toppled some trees. Forecasters are warning about the risk of flash flooding and rockslides in areas north of San Francisco as the region was inundated by this season’s strongest atmospheric river. Archaeologists discover 4,000-year-old canals used to fish by predecessors of ancient Maya WASHINGTON (AP) — Using drones and Google Earth imagery, archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old network of earthen canals in what’s now Belize. The research published Friday in Science Advances shows that long before the ancient Maya built temples, their predecessors were already altering the landscape of Central America’s Yucatan peninsula. The ancient fish canals were used to channel and catch freshwater species such as catfish. These structures were used for around 1,000 years — including during the “formative” period when the Maya began to settle in permanent farming villages and a distinctive culture started to emerge. California case is the first confirmed bird flu infection in a US child Health officials are confirming bird flu in a California child — the first reported case in a U.S. minor. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced confirmatory test results on Friday. Officials say the child had mild symptoms, was treated with antiviral medication and is recovering. The child’s infection brings the reported number of U.S. bird flu cases this year to 55, including 29 in California. State officials have said the child lives in Alameda County, which includes Oakland, and attends day care, but released no other details. Brazilian police formally accuse former President Bolsonaro and aides of alleged 2022 coup attempt SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s Federal Police have formally accused former President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 other people of attempting a coup to keep him in office after his electoral defeat in the 2022 elections. The findings are to be delivered Thursday to Brazil’s Supreme Court, which will refer them to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, who will either formally charge Bolsonaro and put the former president on trial or toss the investigation. The former right-wing president has denied all claims he tried to stay in office after his narrow electoral defeat in 2022 to his rival, leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has faced a series of legal threats since then.
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