NoneAustralia's inflation battle risks further rate risesWalmart ( NYSE:WMT – Free Report ) had its target price hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock. Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Walmart from $66.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.88. Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on WMT Walmart Stock Performance Walmart ( NYSE:WMT – Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insider Activity at Walmart In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at $37,113,904.08. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link . Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMT. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 138.3% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 253.0% during the 1st quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock. About Walmart ( Get Free Report ) Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Walmart Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Walmart and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
In conclusion, the collective high opening of the three major A-share indices and the subsequent strong rebound in the market reflect a renewed sense of optimism among investors. With positive economic indicators, increased liquidity, and strong corporate earnings driving the market higher, the A-share market is poised for further gains in the coming days. As uncertainties persist, staying informed and monitoring market developments will be essential for investors looking to capitalize on the current market momentum.Moreover, the success of tax incentives for homebuyers in boosting the housing market has underscored the importance of government intervention in creating a conducive environment for real estate growth. By aligning tax policies with the needs of homebuyers and property investors, governments can play a pivotal role in driving the recovery of the housing sector and enhancing overall economic stability. The continuous monitoring and adjustment of tax benefits to reflect changing market conditions and economic dynamics are essential to sustaining the positive effects of these policies in the long term.
(TNS) — General Motors Co.'s move Tuesday to halt funding for its Cruise LLC robotaxi program makes way for Silicon Valley rivals to take a firmer hold of the potentially multi-billion-dollar business. But experts say bowing out is the right choice for the embattled Cruise. The decision to instead focus on providing autonomous technology in personal vehicles followed a year of GM trying to refocus and relaunch Cruise after an October 2023 pedestrian crash opened up the operation to scrutiny from public officials and consumers. After investing $10 billion on Cruise since 2017 and projecting the business could collect revenue of $50 billion annually by the decade's end, executives recognized that spending the resources needed to scale the business would have been difficult in the increasingly competitive market, especially after the accident. "This is the right decision to rip the band-aid off on Cruise as this initiative was stuck in neutral and rolling backward," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at investment firm Wedbush Securities Inc., in a statement. "It's a tough moment for GM, but they needed to cut the cord on Cruise and strategically focus on its core business." The Cruise decision is the latest in a series of moves that demonstrate GM's focus on lowering its costs and generating better returns on its invested capital. Tuesday's Cruise news came after GM said last week that it's selling its stake in the to partner LG Energy Solution and restructuring its . In mid-November, . "In this dynamic environment, agility and capital efficiency are key success factors," GM CFO Paul Jacobson told analysts and investors following the Cruise announcement. "Our focus is on implementing this technology in a pragmatic and capital-efficient manner." GM's stock price jumped after the Cruise news, trading roughly 2% higher after-hours. With the robotaxi operation in the rearview mirror, GM said it's proritizing the development of its Super Cruise advanced driver assistance system with the goal of having fully autonomous personal vehicles. The Super Cruise "hands-off, eyes-on driving feature" is offered on more than 20 GM models currently. Super Cruise is free for the first three years and then customers can sign up for a plan at $25 per month, according to OnStar's website. "We know people everywhere love to drive their own vehicles, but not in every situation, so it makes sense to develop autonomous technology for them," GM CEO Mary Barra said on the Cruise call. GM's plan is to combine the Cruise and GM technical teams into one to continue working on AV technology. To integrate Cruise into GM, which owns about 90% of the Cruise business, the automaker said it has agreements with other shareholders to raise its ownership stake to more than 97% and will pursue acquiring the rest of the remaining shares. With the repurchase of the shares and Cruise's board approval, GM will work with Cruise leaders to restructure Cruise. GM expects the restructuring will lower its spending by more than $1 billion annually after the proposed plan is completed, which is expected in the first half of 2025. In the year since the October 2023 crash in which one of the Cruise robotaxis dragged and seriously injured a pedestrian in San Francisco, Cruise has relaunched service with safety drivers in Houston, Phoenix and Dallas, and updated its safety standards. the robotaxi unit hired Steve Kenner as its chief safety officer, a role the company established after the pedestrian crash. , GM executives announced the company would pause production of the Cruise Origin robotaxi at the Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, which led to a $600 million charge. Cruise would instead focus on using Chevrolet Bolt EV AVs. "Had the accident in San Francisco never happened, I don't think we'd be hearing this announcement today," said David Whiston, an analyst at financial services firm Morningstar Inc. "That accident forced them to put everything on pause." The incident led regulators to scrutinize Cruise's safety standards, leading the company to suspend its services. , left the company in November 2023. In response to GM's robotaxi decision, Vogt on Tuesday posted on X: "In case it was unclear before, it is clear now: GM are a bunch of dummies." But since the accident, Cruise had been trying to make progress on reentering the robotaxi business. In August, Cruise and Uber Technologies LLC announced a multiyear deal for customers to book autonomous Cruise robotaxis through the Uber platform . When asked about the Uber deal on Tuesday, Barra said: "Those are issues that have to be worked out from a Cruise perspective." And the self-driving services that Cruise has launched over the last year have been paused, according to a person familiar with the matter. Tuesday's announcement officially ends Cruise’s battle with Waymo — a subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet — for supremacy atop the nascent robotaxi industry. For a time, Waymo and Cruise were close competitors. Waymo was valued at about $30 billion during a fundraising round in 2020, and Cruise reached a similar valuation the following year, . But problems at Cruise over the next several years tested GM's commitment to a venture far outside its core business, culminating in the decision to abandon robotaxi plans altogether. Even with GM’s exit, there is still significant competition on the horizon for Waymo as tech companies see long-term promise for driverless ride-hailing. Zoox, an Amazon.com Inc. subsidiary, has robotaxis operating in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk has also said that the EV giant plans to join the robotaxi business, unveiling its Cybercab in October. But GM isn't the first to recognize the difficulties of the robotaxi business. Crosstown rival Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG in made the decision to absorb their AV partner, Argo AI. "Mary and her team are in a tough spot because if they stay with it, then you've got $2 billion-plus in annual losses year after year. And then they have to keep fielding questions of, 'When are you scaling? What's the cadence of this? Why are you going to turn a profit?'" Whiston said. "It's probably not an unsafe move, provided robotaxis don't destroy the need to have personal vehicle ownership. But I think, as a society, we're quite a ways off from that happening." ©The leader of Sinn Fein has expressed determination to form a government of the left in Ireland as she insisted her party’s performance in the General Election had broken the state’s political mould. Despite Mary Lou McDonald’s confidence around shaping a coalition without Fine Gael and Fianna Fail – the two parties that have dominated the landscape of Irish politics for a century – the pathway to government for Sinn Fein still appears challenging. With counting following Friday’s election still in the relatively early stages – after an exit poll that showed the main three parties effectively neck-and-neck – there is some way to go before the final picture emerges and the options for government formation crystalise. Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, Simon Harris, has dismissed talk of a Sinn Fein surge and said he was “cautiously optimistic” about where his party will stand after all the votes are counted. Meanwhile, Ireland’s deputy premier and Fianna Fail leader, Micheal Martin, insisted his party has a “very clear route back to government” as he predicted seat gains. The counting process could last days because of Ireland’s complex system of proportional representation with a single transferable vote (PR-STV), where candidates are ranked by preference. The early indications have turned the focus to the tricky arithmetic of government formation, as the country’s several smaller parties and many independents potentially jockey for a place in government. Ms McDonald told reporters at the RDS count centre in Dublin that she would be “very, very actively pursuing” the potential to form a government with other parties on the left of the political spectrum. The smaller, left-leaning parties in Ireland include the Social Democrats, the Irish Labour Party, the Green Party and People Before Profit-Solidarity. Ms McDonald said her party had delivered an “incredible performance” in the election. “I think it’s fair to say that we have now confirmed that we have broken the political mould here in this state,” she said. “Two party politics is now gone. It’s consigned to the dustbin of history and that, in itself, is very significant.” She added: “I am looking to bring about a government of change, and I’m going to go and look at all formulations. “If you want my bottom line, the idea of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael for another five years, in our strong opinion, is not a good outcome for Irish society. “Obviously, I want to talk to other parties of the left and those that we share very significant policy objectives with. So I’m going to do that first and just hear their mind, hear their thinking. But be very clear, we will be very, very actively pursuing entrance into government.” In Friday night’s exit poll, Sinn Fein was predicted to take 21.1% of first-preference votes, narrowly ahead of outgoing coalition partners Fine Gael and Fianna Fail at 21% and 19.5% respectively. Prior to the election, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael both ruled out entering government with Sinn Fein. Fine Gael leader Mr Harris rejected suggestions Sinn Fein had broken new ground. He told reporters in his count centre in Greystones, Co Wicklow: “Certainly we haven’t seen a Sinn Fein surge or anything like it. “I mean, it looks likely, on the figures that we’ve seen now, fewer people, many fewer people would have voted Sinn Fein in this election than the last one. “In fact, I think they’re down by around 5% and actually the parties, particularly the two parties, the two larger parties in government, are likely to receive significant support from the electorate. So definitely, politics in Ireland has gotten much more fragmented.” He said it was too early to tell what the next government would look like. “I think anybody who makes any suggestion about who is going to be the largest party or the construct of the next government, they’re a braver person than I am,” he said. “Our electoral system dictates that there’ll be many, many transfers that will go on for hours, if not days, before we know the final computations at all. “But what I am very confident about is that my party will have a very significant role to play in the years ahead, and I’m cautiously optimistic and excited.” Fianna Fail’s Mr Martin told reporters at a count centre in Cork he was confident that the numbers exist to form a government with parties that shared his political viewpoint. Mr Martin said it “remains to be seen” whether he would return to the role of Taoiseach – a position he held between 2020 and 2022 – but he expressed confidence his party would outperform the exit poll prediction. “It’s a bit too early yet to call the exact type of government that will be formed or the composition of the next government,” he said. “But I think there are, there will be a sufficiency of seats, it seems to me, that aligns with the core principles that I articulated at the outset of this campaign and throughout the campaign, around the pro-enterprise economy, around a positively pro-European position, a government that will strongly push for home ownership and around parties that are transparently democratic in how they conduct their affairs.” Asked if it would be in a coalition with Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Social Democrats, he said that would be “racing a bit too far ahead”. The final result may dictate that if Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are to return to government, they may need more than one junior partner, or potentially the buy-in of several independent TDs. Mr Martin said it was unclear how quickly a government can be formed, as he predicted his party would gain new seats. “It will be challenging. This is not easy,” he added. The junior partner in the outgoing government – the Green Party – looks set for a bruising set of results. Green leader Roderic O’Gorman is in a fight to hold onto his seat, as are a number of party colleagues, including Media Minister Catherine Martin. “It’s clear the Green Party has not had a good day,” he said. The early counting also suggested potential trouble for Fianna Fail in Wicklow, where the party’s only candidate in the constituency, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, is considered to have a battle ahead, with the risk of losing his seat. Meanwhile, there is significant focus on independent candidate Gerard Hutch who, on Saturday evening, was sitting in fourth place in the four-seat constituency of Dublin Central. Last spring, Mr Hutch was found not guilty by the non-jury Special Criminal Court of the murder of David Byrne, in one of the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud. Mr Byrne, 33, died after being shot six times at a crowded boxing weigh-in event at the Regency Hotel in February 2016. A Special Criminal Court judge described Mr Hutch, 61, as the patriarchal figurehead of the Hutch criminal organisation and said he had engaged in “serious criminal conduct”. The constituency will be closely watched as other hopefuls wait to see if transfers from eliminated candidates may eventually rule him out of contention. In the constituency of Louth, the much-criticised selection of John McGahon appeared not to have paid off for Fine Gael. The party’s campaign was beset by questioning over footage entering the public domain of the candidate engaged in a fight outside a pub in 2018. The Social Democrats have a strong chance of emerging as the largest of the smaller parties. The party’s leader, Holly Cairns, was already celebrating before a single vote was counted however, having announced the birth of her baby girl on polling day.
HKC Shines in the Industry by Launching the First 6.67-inch Glass-based HMO Backplane Micro LED Direct-view Display
ORLANDO, Fla. — UCF coach Gus Malzahn is resigning after four seasons with the school. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the move, which will see Malzahn to leave to take the offensive coordinator job at Florida State. Malzahn previously worked with FSU coach Mike Norvell during their time at Tulsa under then-coach Todd Graham from 2007-08. The Knights ended a disappointing 4-8 season in which they lost eight of their last nine games, the longest losing streak since 2015. Malzahn, 59, was in the fourth year of a contract through 2028. His buyout, it is reported, would have been $13.75 million. He finished 27-25 at UCF but lost 16 of his last 22 games and was a dismal 4-14 in two seasons in the Big 12. After back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2021-22, the Knights went 6-7 in 2023 and 4-8 in 2024. People are also reading... This season started with high expectations as Malzahn made sweeping changes to the program. He retooled the strength and conditioning department and hired Ted Roof and Tim Harris Jr. as defensive and offensive coordinators, respectively. He also added nearly 50 new players to the roster, leaning heavily on the transfer market. UCF started by winning its first three games against New Hampshire, Sam Houston and a thrilling comeback at TCU, but offensive struggles saw the Knights tumble through a TBD-game losing streak to finish the season. Terry Mohajir hired Malzahn on Feb. 15, 2021, six days after he was hired to replace Danny White. The move came eight weeks after Malzahn had been fired at Auburn after eight seasons of coaching the Tigers. The two briefly worked together at Arkansas State in 2012 before Malzahn left for the Auburn job. “When he [Mohajir] offered the job, I was like, ‘I’m in.’ There wasn’t thinking about or talking about ...,” Malzahn said during his introductory press conference. “This will be one of the best programs in college football in a short time. This is a job that I plan on being here and building it.” UCF opened the 2021 season with non-conference wins over Boise State and Bethune-Cookman before traveling to Louisville on Sept. 17, where quarterback Dillon Gabriel suffered a fractured collarbone in the final minute of a 42-35 loss. Backup Mikey Keene would finish out the season as Gabriel announced his intention to transfer. The Knights would finish the season on the plus side by accepting a bid to join the Big 12 Conference in September and then by defeating Florida 29-17 in the Gasparilla Bowl. Malzahn struck transfer portal gold in the offseason when he signed former Ole Miss quarterback John Rhys Plumlee. Plumlee, a two-sport star with the Rebels, helped guide UCF to the American Athletic Conference Championship in its final season. However, Plumlee’s injury forced the Knights to go with Keene and freshman Thomas Castellanos. The team finished with losses to Tulane in the conference championship and Duke in the Military Bowl. Plumlee would return in 2023 as UCF transitioned to the Big 12 but would go down with a knee injury in the final minute of the Knights’ 18-16 win at Boise State on Sept. 9. He would miss the next four games as backup Timmy McClain took over the team. Even on his return, Plumlee couldn’t help UCF, on a five-game losing streak to open conference play. The Knights got their first Big 12 win at Cincinnati on Nov. 4 and upset No. 15 Oklahoma State the following week, but the team still needed a win over Houston in the regular-season finale to secure a bowl bid for the eighth straight season. From the moment Malzahn stepped on campus, he prioritized recruiting, particularly in Central Florida. “We’re going to recruit like our hair’s on fire,” Malzahn said at the time. “We’re going to go after the best players in America and we’re not backing down to anybody.” From 2007 to 2020, UCF signed 10 four-star high school and junior college prospects. Eight four-star prospects were in the three recruiting classes signed under Malzahn. The 2024 recruiting class earned a composite ranking of 39 from 247Sports, the highest-ranked class in school history. The 2025 recruiting class is ranked No. 41 and has commitments from three four-star prospects. Malzahn has always leaned on the transfer market, signing 60 players over the past three seasons. Some have paid huge dividends, such as Javon Baker, Lee Hunter, Kobe Hudson, Tylan Grable, Bula Schmidt, Amari Kight, Marcellus Marshall, Trent Whittemore, Gage King, Ethan Barr, Deshawn Pace and Plumlee. Others haven’t been as successful, such as quarterback KJ Jefferson, who started the first five games of this season before being benched for poor performance. Jefferson’s struggles forced the Knights to play musical chairs at quarterback, with true freshman EJ Colson, redshirt sophomore Jacurri Brown and redshirt freshman Dylan Rizk all seeing action at one point or another this season. This season’s struggles led to several players utilizing the NCAA’s redshirt rule after four games, including starting slot receiver Xavier Townsend and kicker Colton Boomer, who have also entered the transfer portal. Defensive end Kaven Call posted a letter to Malzahn on Twitter in which he accused the UCF coaching staff of recently kicking him off the team when he requested to be redshirted. Be the first to know
Doo Hoi Kem's rise in the rankings is a reflection of her commitment to the sport and her relentless pursuit of improvement. Her dedication to training, her mental fortitude, and her passion for the game have propelled her to new heights in her career. With each match she plays, she continues to hone her skills, learn from her experiences, and push herself to achieve greater success.
For businesses operating in Beijing, the decline in consumer prices presents both challenges and opportunities. On one hand, lower consumer prices may put pressure on profit margins, especially for businesses in the food and beverage industry. However, businesses that can adapt to changing market conditions and optimize their pricing strategies may find new opportunities for growth and market expansion.MALAGA, Spain -- MALAGA, Spain (AP) — Jannik Sinner was in the locker room, getting ready to go on court and try to win a match that would give Italy its second Davis Cup title in a row , when his teammate, Matteo Berrettini, was asked about being so close to a championship. Berrettini , who won the first match of the best-of-three final against the Netherlands on Sunday, refused to take anything for granted. “I know tennis,” he said. “It’s unpredictable.” Maybe most of the time it is. Not lately, though. Not when Sinner, who is just 23, is the one swinging a racket. He simply does not lose matches. Doesn't even cede a set nowadays. Wrapping up an eventful season that featured a 73-6 record and eight individual titles — including at the Australian Open in January, the U.S. Open in September and the ATP Finals a week ago — Sinner led Italy past the Netherlands for the Davis Cup with a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over Tallon Griekspoor. “Jannik in this kind of form, this kind of shape, this kind of confidence — he’s incredibly tough to beat,” Griekspoor said. Consider that Sinner just completed the first season by a man without a straight-set loss since Roger Federer in 2005. And what a way to finish: Sinner won his last 14 matches and his last 26 sets. Go back a little further, and he's claimed 29 of his past 30 contests, with the only loss in that span coming against the other young player at the top of men's tennis, four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz, who is 21. “He just proved,” Berrettini said about Sinner, “that he’s the best in the world.” Still, no discussion of Sinner’s 2024 should ignore what went on away from the court: In August, shortly before the U.S. Open began, he was exonerated after twice testing positive for a trace amount of an anabolic steroid in March. The World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal of that ruling is still pending — and could remain that way throughout the upcoming offseason. “I mean, of course it’s in the head a little bit. I always say, we had three hearings; three hearings which came out in a positive way. So hopefully also the next one (will),” Sinner said, adding that he is not concerned about the case. “For me, the most important part is that all the people who are around me, and know me as a human being, trust me, no? That’s also the reason I kept playing the level I had," he said. "Of course, I had some ups and downs, and whoever knows me, (knows) I was emotionally a bit down and a bit also heartbroken. But sometimes life gives you difficulties and you just have to stand for it.” Dutch captain Paul Haarhuis was asked for his take on Sinner's drug case. “What’s my feeling? I feel that Jannik, in my personal opinion, is an unbelievable nice guy (and) great player,” Haarhuis said, “but we (might) never know what happened.” There were only two, ever-so-brief moments on court where Sinner showed a hint of vulnerability Sunday. One came when he was broken by Griekspoor to make it 2-all in the second, which got the Dutch fans roaring. Sinner's response? He won the four remaining games. The other came as he was trying to serve out the victory from 5-2, 40-love. Three match points. Alas, they disappeared on two forehands into the net and a forehand long. He reset and, two points later, was able to begin celebrating with his teammates. “I knew it could be the last point of the year and I could finish an incredible season for me. This (Davis Cup) success means a lot to me, otherwise I wouldn’t have been here,” Sinner said, explaining that he lost a bit of focus. “I’m human. There are always emotions. No one is a machine.” Berrettini, sitting a few seats away at their post-match news conference, shook his head. “OK,” the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up said with a smile. “He showed he’s human.” ___ Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich . More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennisSELINSGROVE — Bot's Tavern owner Rick Schuck began preparing his downtown business for Saturday's playoff game between Susquehanna and Bethel universities on the Selinsgrove campus as soon as he heard the local football team had made it to the Division III quarterfinals. "This really is great for SU, SU football and great for the community. We get a 'bump' in business from most SU events and enjoy the ride," Schuck said of the matchup that has him stocking up on beverages and creating food and drink specials. "We're preparing for a victory." Usually at this time of year, students are studying for finals and aren't very visible in the business district, he said. Downtown merchants are hoping for a repeat of Nov. 30 when a typical slow weekend turned into a busy one due to SU's first win in a national playoff since 1991. "Now that there's a playoff, we expect a lot of people to be in town and (Bethel) may bring some people from Minnesota to Selinsgrove," Schuck said. "It's good not just for my business; it will make for a very active weekend." Malcolm Derk, who serves as Susquehanna's chief of staff and president of Selinsgrove Projects Inc., the downtown revitalization organization, said residents are "really excited for football. We're expecting a lot of people at the game and downtown." BJ's Market Street Tavern Manager Krista Harriman is preparing to bolster staff and keep the business open until 2 a.m. to accommodate the anticipated crowd of patrons Saturday as the restaurant also plans to serve Christmas revelers. "Last weekend when the (athletes) got off the plane from the game, we had a full house," she said. "We're sharing in the excitement." Susquehanna's Director of Athletics Sharief Hashim said "tireless" work by the student athletes and coaches has made for a historic season. "We look forward to welcoming families and fans from across the country to Selinsgrove for what promises to be an exciting matchup and are eager to showcase the charm of central Pennsylvania to our visitors — many of whom may be discovering our region for the first time," Hashim said. "As Susquehannans, we know that these visitors will discover what we already know to be true: Susquehanna is a warm, welcoming community rooted in rich traditions, strong relationships and a steadfast commitment to diversity." In recent years, Schuck said, the university has increased its visibility in the downtown, particularly with the opening of Susquehanna's Downtown Center at 111 N. Market St. SU President Jonathan Green "is certainly a downtown advocate" and has helped improve town-gown relations, he said. "If the university is successful, than the downtown should be successful. And, if the downtown is successful, so should the university. Both should recognize that."
NoneFor more on CNN’s interview with Sherrod Brown, watch CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju” this Sunday at 8 a.m. ET and 11 a.m ET. Sherrod Brown can boil down the loss of his Senate seat to this: Donald Trump and withering GOP attacks. And the top of his ticket didn’t help him much, either. As the veteran Ohio Democrat takes stock of the loss in his marquee race, he also has a blunt message for his party: Win back working-class voters or lose more elections. “I think that we don’t appear to be fighting for them,” Brown said when asked why Trump won the same blue-collar workers whom the Democratic senator has prided himself in courting through the course of his three-plus decades in Congress. “Workers have drifted away from the Democratic Party.” In a wide-ranging interview with CNN, Brown bluntly criticized his party for not addressing voter concerns over rising consumer costs and declining economic conditions. And he accused Republicans — including his foe in the Senate race, Trump-aligned businessman Bernie Moreno — of distorting his record as he battled the headwinds at the top of the ticket. And when asked whether he would run in 2026 for the seat being vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance, Brown pointedly refused to say. “I’m not dismissing anything at this point,” said Brown, 72, similarly leaving the door open when asked if he would run for governor. Brown held one of four Senate seats that Republicans flipped as they seized control of the chamber. They will now command a 53-47 majority over the next two years. But Brown, along with Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, had among the toughest slogs of any Democrat: running in red states while trying to maintain distance from their party’s nominee, Kamala Harris, as they tried to court Trump voters. Both men lost seats they’ve held since 2007. “I lost, but we ran ahead of the national ticket,” said Brown, who fell to Moreno by 4 points. “When the leader of your ticket runs 12 points behind, almost, you can’t overcome that, even though it was a close race in the end.” Asked whether he believed that Trump was the deciding factor in his race, Brown took a swipe at Moreno. “A lot of things made the difference. I’d say it’s the money and Trump. That kind of money, month after month after month, with nasty negative ads,” Brown said. “I guess that’s how you win a race. You lie, you spend a lot of money, and then you, as my opponent, hope that your candidate, Trump in this case, would win by a lot.” Moreno’s camp hit back. “Sherrod Brown is a bitter career politician who’s lashing out because he has to find a real job for the first time in his life and work for his paycheck like everyone else,” Moreno spokesman Phil Letsou said. Moreno’s campaign and his GOP allies outspent Brown and his allies on the air, with $251.9 million in total GOP spending compared with $232.7 million in total Democratic spending on the race, according to AdImpact data. But there was a late surge of Democratic spending in the final month of the campaign, with Brown and his allies edging out the GOP with $83.3 million on the air compared to $77.4 million for the GOP. In the interview, Brown said he believed going into Election Day that he would win his race. “I expected to win because I’m out a lot, and I talk to workers. I talk to people year-round ... I saw the enthusiasm in the crowds,” Brown said. “What I didn’t see is the ad they did at the end where Trump said, voting for Sherrod Brown is voting against me.” In one ad for the Moreno campaign, Trump called Brown “a radical left politician” and said: “You’ve got to go out and back Bernie Moreno.” And an ad from the Senate Leadership Fund — a top GOP super PAC — told Ohio viewers: “A vote for Sherrod Brown is a vote against Donald Trump.” Moreno’s attacks over Brown’s record are particularly grating to the vanquished senator. Asked whether he believed that Moreno ran a clean campaign, Brown said: “You can be the judge of that. I think when you run ads and they’re proven to be lies by fact checkers ... you can connect that dot.” ‘A complete lie’ Republicans targeted Brown heavily over trans issues during the race — a line of attack the GOP deployed across the country and that Trump wielded against Harris. After the primary, and through Election Day in the Ohio race, GOP advertisers spent a whopping $33.8 million on TV ads that referenced LGBTQ rights and transgender people’s access to bathrooms and involvement in sports. In one GOP ad, a narrator’s voice says, “Six more years of Sherrod Brown? He’s for they/them, not you.” “I cut an ad showing they lied,” Brown said, pointing to fact checks, including one that rated as false an ad that claimed Brown voted to “allow transgender biological men to compete in girls’ sports.” “But that’s what they do,” Brown said. “They spend, they lie about — they take an issue that they know polls well, they lie about it.” “They weren’t talking about how to make Ohio a better state,” he said. Brown cut two ads worth about $3.3 million defending himself on the issue, including one where a narrator calls the ad a “complete lie.” Letsou, the Moreno spokesman, defended the campaign’s attacks. “The truth is Sherrod Brown lost because he chose to lie to Ohioans repeatedly,” the spokesman said, citing the senator’s record on issues including trans people’s involvement in athletics, border security and “endless wars” during the Biden administration. When asked whether Democrats were out of touch on cultural issues and whether more should have been done to counter GOP attacks, Brown fired back. “I’m not out of touch with those issues,” he said. “I go home. I hear people all the time. I know how they focus group and they lie. I mean, how do you call me out of touch when they lie about an issue?” Democrats’ blue-collar problems Brown, who served in the House for 14 years before being elected to the Senate in 2006, has long built a populist brand aimed at courting blue-collar workers, an appeal that has been successful over the course of a political career that started nearly half a century ago in the Rust Belt state. But he says his party has fallen sharply out of step with working-class voters, starting with the enactment of NAFTA in 1994 and subsequent policy decisions. And he said the problem also stems from a failure to communicate. “Republicans put inflation totally at the feet of higher government spending. That’s not what caused inflation,” he said. “Corporate profits are up. Stock market’s up. Wages have been flat. We need to take on those interest groups that cause that. Early on in his administration, President Joe Biden attempted to reassure Americans by arguing that price hikes would be temporary, with some administration officials describing the issue as “transitory.” The president later turned away from that messaging , but high consumer costs continued to dog Democrats through November. “That’s the mistake we made,” Brown said when asked about the “transitory” messaging. CNN exit poll data shows Trump won voters without a college degree by 14 points over Harris, 56% to 42%. Four years earlier, he won the group by only 2 points over Biden. Brown says Democrats consistently miss clear opportunities to appeal to those voters. A federal judge in Texas recently struck down a Biden administration rule that would have expanded overtime eligibility for about 4 million workers. Brown said it’s an issue that Democrats should hammer Republicans over, especially since the judge was nominated by Trump. “I’m pretty angry about it,” Brown said. “As you can see, one judge denied 4 million workers in this country their overtime. We ought to be talking about that. ... And I know that very few Democrats have talked about it. And Trump and his crowd, his corporate crowd, they’re always looking out for their rich friends, hope it goes away and hope it gets ignored. “But I’m not going to let it get ignored.” CNN’s David Wright and Sheden Tesfaldet contributed to this report.
OTTAWA — A Liberal MP says his committee colleagues are wasting time by launching a third inquiry into the former employment minister instead of focusing on important legislation for Indigenous Peoples. Jaime Battiste, who is Mi'kmaq, said there has been an "attack" on fellow Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault, who left his position as employment minister on Wednesday after allegations of shifting claims of Indigenous identity and questions around his past business dealings. Boissonnault has been the subject of two ethics committee probes, and Battiste said a third one by the Indigenous and northern affairs committee is "a waste of time, and it seems to be the Conservatives' way of ensuring that nothing gets done in the House of Commons." The Conservatives, NDP and Bloc Québécois all supported pushing ahead with the third study, even after Boissonnault left cabinet. Though Liberal MPs did not object to the motion Thursday, Battiste said the committee's time would be better spent studying legislation on important issues such as First Nations policing, a modern treaty commissioner and clean water for First Nations. "It’s very much my fear and frustration that politics is now becoming more important at the Indigenous and northern affairs committee than actually Indigenous Peoples that we're there every day to try to make life better for," he said. NDP MP Lori Idlout, who is a member of the committee, said Canadians deserve answers and she doesn't expect the probe to cut into the committee's other work. "It's not a waste of time to have MP Boissonnault answer for why his identity kept changing. Pretending to be Indigenous is a serious matter and we need to have him be transparent to all Canadians." Boissonnault came under intense scrutiny after the National Post reported that a company he previously co-owned described itself as wholly Indigenous-owned in order to apply for government contracts set aside for Indigenous businesses. He has been described as Indigenous multiple times in communications from the Liberal party, and in 2018 referred to himself as "non-status adopted Cree" — a statement he has repeated on other occasions. He also said his great-grandmother was a "full-blooded Cree woman." He has since clarified that his adoptive mother and brother are Métis, and he apologized for his shifting claims last Friday. The House ethics committee has separately investigated Boissonnault's past business dealings after media reports alleged he remained involved in the company he co-founded after he was re-elected in 2021 and joined the federal cabinet. Opposition MPs passed a motion in the House of Commons on Tuesday — a day before Boissonnault left cabinet — for the employment minister to appear as a witness to discuss his claims to Indigenous identity. But because Boissonnault is no longer in cabinet, the Liberal chair of the committee ruled Thursday that newly minted Employment Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor is technically the person the motion called to testify. "I figured this might happen," said Conservative MP and committee member Jamie Schmale. "If there are games to be played here and we have Minister Petitpas Taylor attend, I don't think that goes to the spirit of the House order. I don't think it would be very responsible to go against that ... It's Randy Boissonault that the House determined it needs and is ordered to appear along with several other witnesses. That's who we expect to be in that seat." A new motion from the Conservatives calls directly for Boissonnault to appear at the committee. One of the key concerns raised about Boissonnault in recent weeks is related to the government's Indigenous business procurement strategy. A directory provides the federal government with names of businesses it could consider using to meet its Indigenous procurement target, which states a minimum five per cent of the total value of government contracts should be held by Indigenous-owned businesses. Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu told a House of Commons committee on Tuesday that the company Boissonnault founded was not listed on that directory. Battiste suggested the committee will now be in a position of determining who is eligible for Indigenous programming and determining who is Indigenous, and as a First Nations person he does not agree with that. "I have a lot of concern because no First Nations, Métis or Inuit in this country are asking committees — who are filled with non-Indigenous Peoples — to determine our identity, who we are." Schmale and Bloc MP Sebastian Lemire, who is also a member of the committee, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024. Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian PressSo, let us raise our controllers high and toast to Sora – the hero who came, the dream that soared, and the legacy that will always endure in the annals of gaming history. As long as there are games to be played and dreams to be chased, Sora's spirit will live on, guiding us through the adventures that await in the ever-expanding horizon of the gaming universe.
As Whatshisname's market value continued to plummet, reaching its lowest point at 15 million euros, questions arose about his future in the sport. Would he be able to bounce back from this setback and reignite his career, or was he destined to fade into obscurity as a cautionary tale of unfulfilled potential?
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