facebook fb777 Q&A: Eric Dickerson on Saquon Barkley pursuing his record: 'I don't think he'll break it'Luke Kromenhoek throws 3 TD passes as Florida St. ends six-game skid vs. Charleston SouthernFive major factors that helped MahaYuti to win landslide victory

‘We’ll send the MRI’ – Arteta hits back at Saka injury doubters as Arsenal star scores after missing England duty

Brendan Rodgers confesses his Celtic crime and lifts lid on 'wee Hearts guy' who never stopped talkingChennai: A packed hall at Sankara Nethralaya in Nungambakkam buzzed with conversations prompted by fond memories. A year has gone by since Dr S S Badrinath , founder of the eye hospital, passed away at the age of 83 in Chennai following age-related ailments. Friends, colleagues, and family came together to honour the man who turned a 17-bed hospital in a College Road bungalow into a world-class institution of ophthalmological excellence . Among those paying tribute was Dr P Namperumalsamy, chairman emeritus of Aravind eye care system, and Badrinath's friend. Namperumalsamy recalled Badrinath's fellowship in vitreoretinal services at the Massachusetts eye and ear infirmary, Boston, under Dr Charles L Schepens from 1968 to 1970. During this period, Badrinath cleared prestigious qualifications, including the fellow of the royal college of surgeons (Canada) and the American board examination in ophthalmology. Yet, it was his return to India to apply his expertise that defined his legacy. He was spiritual too. "Back in 1974, Acharya Jayendra Saraswathi from the Kanchi Mutt inspired Badrinath, both in his spiritual life and his work. He made him realise how important it was to have hospitals in India that were affordable and yet offered top-notch care," Namperumalsamy said. This vision took shape as Sankara Nethralaya, an institution that introduced photorefractive keratectomy and laser treatments for refractive errors. But beyond technological breakthroughs, it was Badrinath's commitment to accessibility that made his work revolutionary. Maharashtra Jharkhand Maharashtra Alliance View i Party View Seats: 288 Results Majority: 145 BJP+ 229 MVA 47 OTH 12 Results : 288 / 288 BJP+ WON Jharkhand Alliance View i Party View Seats: 81 Results Majority: 41 INDIA 56 NDA 24 OTH 1 Results : 81 / 81 INDIA WON Source: PValue "In 1978, my mother's friend who lost an eye in Kathmandu sought his help," recalled senior journalist N Ram. "Badrinath praised the Nepalese doctors for their work but readily offered to assist further. He also treated a political journalist with the same dedication as he did an autorickshaw driver seated beside him," he added. For those who knew him, such moments defined who he was. To senior consultant (cornea and refractive surgery) Dr Prema Padmanabhan, a former student, Badrinath was an inspiring yet exacting mentor. "His attention to detail and commitment to excellence challenged everyone around him to aim higher and we will continue his legacy," she said.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside of a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Luigi Mangione, 26, has since been arrested and charged in the killing . In the days after Thompson’s death, UnitedHealthcare came under fire on social media over its alleged high rate of health insurance claim denials. A chart shared in many viral posts across social media shows claim denial rates for major insurance companies. UnitedHealthcare’s denial rate is highest at 32%, according to the posts. VERIFY investigated available data to determine whether the viral chart is accurate. THE QUESTION Does UnitedHealthcare deny patients’ claims at the highest rate of any major insurer, like the viral chart claims? THE SOURCES The Affordable Care Act (ACA) ProPublica investigation on health insurers’ denial rates published in June 2023 ValuePenguin , a consumer research site owned by LendingTree VERIFY analysis of available data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Article published by KFF, a nonprofit healthy policy research organization, in May 2023 THE ANSWER The claim that UnitedHealthcare denies patients’ claims at the highest rate of any major insurer is inconclusive. The federal government and private health insurers don’t make data on claim denials for all types of insurance plans available to the public. WHAT WE FOUND We can’t VERIFY that UnitedHealthcare denies claims at the highest rate of any major health insurer. That’s because the federal government and private health insurers, like UnitedHealthcare, don’t make data on claim denials for all types of insurance plans available to the public. Former President Barack Obama signed a comprehensive health care reform law called The Affordable Care Act (ACA) , which is also known as Obamacare, into law in 2010. That law tasked the federal government’s Department of Health and Human Services with “monitoring denials both by health plans on the Obamacare marketplace and those offered through employers and insurers,” Elisabeth Rosenthal reported for KFF Health News , which is part of the nonprofit health policy research and news organization KFF, in May 2023. But HHS “hasn’t fulfilled that assignment,” Rosenthal said. Data the federal government has collected and shared so far isn’t comprehensive and it isn’t audited to ensure it’s accurate, a ProPublica investigation and KFF found. VERIFY reviewed the ACA and found it also tasked the head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) with conducting a “study on the incidence of denials of coverage for medical services and denials of applications to enroll in health insurance plans.” That GAO report was published in March 2011 but it doesn’t break down denial rates by individual insurers. Where the data in the viral chart comes from VERIFY traced the viral chart back to an article published by ValuePenguin, a consumer research website owned by LendingTree, in May 2024. ValuePenguin has since removed the chart from its article, though the alleged denial rates are still included in the article. The website said on Dec. 6 that it “removed certain data elements” from the piece “at the request of law enforcement.” The chart published by ValuePenguin, which is shown in an archived version of the article here , alleges that UnitedHealthcare denies nearly one-third of claims it receives – or 32% to be exact – the highest rate of any major insurer. It’s followed by Medica at 27% and Anthem at 23%. These rates were based on available data on insurers’ claim denials and appeals from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) public use files, which are available online, ValuePenguin said. ValuePenguin says the CMS data the website used is from the calendar year 2022 and doesn’t include any other years. Medicare and Medicaid data doesn’t include information about employer-sponsored private health plans, which cover the majority of working-age Americans . VERIFY conducted our own analysis of the most recent data from CMS comparing the total number of the in-network claims that health insurers received to their in-network denials. We did not factor in appeals. Our analysis found that UnitedHealthcare did deny claims at a rate of around 33% – the highest rate of any major insurer. This closely mirrors what ValuePenguin found. But there are a handful of caveats to the CMS data that make it impossible to draw conclusions about how often health insurers actually deny patients’ claims. Why it’s impossible to know exactly how many claims health insurers deny The data-gathering on health insurers’ denials is “haphazard and limited to a small subset of plans,” and it “isn’t audited to ensure it is complete,” Karen Pollitz, a retired senior fellow at KFF, said in the 2023 KFF Health News article . When it comes to information that the federal government has collected, it is not standardized or audited, and therefore is “not really meaningful,” Peter Lee, the founding executive director of California’s state marketplace, also told ProPublica. Data “should be actionable” and “this is not by any means right now,” he added. VERIFY reached out to CMS and UnitedHealthcare for comment, but did not receive responses by the time of publication.Rating upgrade reflects Gulf's strong fundamentals

Tens of thousands of Spaniards protest housing crunch and high rents in Barcelona

Starmer says ‘bulging benefits bill’ is ‘blighting our society’COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said Thursday that he is "absolutely" confident that Ryan Day will be back as football coach in 2025. Calls to fire the sixth-year coach rose among Ohio State fans after the Buckeyes lost to Michigan for the fourth straight year. Bjork, in an interview on 97.1 The Fan, said Day is the man for the job, regardless of how the Buckeyes perform in the College Football Playoff. They host Tennessee in a first-round game Dec. 21. "Coach Day is awesome," said Bjork, who came from Texas A&M to replace the retiring Gene Smith last summer. "He's great to work with. He totally gets it. He loves being a Buckeye. So, we're going to support him at the highest level." The 13-10 loss to Michigan followed by an ugly melee between the teams put the coach in a precarious spot. He and his team were booed off the field by the home fans. Bjork ended up releasing a statement expressing his support for the coach. "The reason we had to say something after (the Michigan) game is, we're still breathing, we're still alive," Bjork said. "The season's not over. The book is not closed." Thanks to the playoff, Day has a chance to redeem himself with Ohio State's huge fanbase with a win against the Volunteers — and perhaps more in the 12-team tournament. Regardless of what happens, Day will be back next year, according to Bjork. "Coach Day and I just hit it off so well," Bjork said. "I've been really, really impressed. Every single time I talked to him, I learn something. He's innovative. He recruits at the highest level. He's got a great staff." Day wouldn't directly address his job status last weekend. "When you first come off those types of things, there's a lot of emotion," he said, referring to the Michigan loss. "And then as time goes on, you've got to get refocused because you know what you've done in the past does not affect what's going on moving forward. Everything is out in front of us." Failing to consistently beat Michigan is one of the few flaws in Day's coaching record. Hired as a member of coach Urban Meyer's staff in 2017, Day was the hand-picked successor when Meyer retired after the 2018 season. Compiling an overall 66-10 record, he is widely admired in the coaching community. "Great respect for what he's done in his coaching career, what he's done there at Ohio State and the success that they've had year-in and year-out," Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. Day is in trouble now because losing The Game is considered an unforgiveable sin by Buckeyes fans. "What we have to do is this whole 'championship or bust' mentality, you want that as the goal, but it has to be about the process," Bjork said. "To me, we've got to maybe change some conversations a little bit. I think we need to maybe just approach things a little bit differently." Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!

( ) late Thursday beat estimates for the financial software firm's fiscal first quarter but gave an outlook that was below views for the current quarter and full year ahead. Intuit stock fell in extended trading. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company earned an adjusted $2.50 a share on sales of $3.28 billion in the quarter ended Oct. 31. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Intuit earnings of $2.36 a share on sales of $3.14 billion in fiscal Q1. On a year-over-year basis, Intuit earnings rose 1% while sales increased 10%. For the current quarter ending Jan. 31, its fiscal Q2, Intuit forecast adjusted earnings of $2.58 a share on sales of $3.83 billion. That's based on the midpoint of its guidance. Wall Street had been modeling earnings of $3.25 a share on sales of $3.88 billion. The tax-prep and accounting software maker reiterated its guidance for the full fiscal 2025. It expects to earn an adjusted $19.26 a share on sales of $18.25 billion in the current year. That's based on the midpoint of its annual outlook. Its guidance would translate to year-over-year growth of 13.7% in earnings and 12.1% in revenue. However, analysts had been looking for earnings of $19.33 a share on sales of $18.27 billion. In after-hours trading on the , Intuit stock dropped more than 4% to 649.25. During the regular session, Intuit stock rose 4.3% to close at 678.70. Intuit offers personal and business financial software including TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks and Mailchimp. Intuit Adding AI Assistants To Software "We've had a strong start to the year as we demonstrate the power of Intuit's AI-driven expert platform strategy," Chief Executive Sasan Goodarzi said in a . "By delivering 'done-for-you' experiences, enabled by AI with access to AI-powered human experts, we continue to fuel the success of consumers and businesses." Chief Financial Officer Sandeep Aujla said the company is confident it will deliver double-digit revenue growth and margin expansion this year. Intuit Stock Falls On DOGE Proposal On Tuesday, Intuit stock tumbled on a that claimed the Trump administration is considering a plan to create a mobile app for Americans to file their taxes free with the Internal Revenue Service. The Washington Post reported that the leaders of President-elect Donald Trump's "Department of Government Efficiency" have discussed overhauling the tax system to let people file their taxes through a mobile app. On Nov. 12, Trump appointed billionaire Elon Musk and former pharmaceutical executive Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the DOGE panel. The group has two principal mandates: cut government spending and reduce federal regulations. However, sources told the Post that the conversations about simplifying the tax system and making a mobile app are highly preliminary. The article describes the proposals as part of early brainstorming and says they would be difficult to implement. Jefferies analyst Brent Thill said the Intuit stock drop was an overreaction to the media report. Intuit stock is on the list.PeopleTools ATT: Enhance Your Business Solutions

Netherlands shares higher at close of trade; AEX up 1.58%Things looked bleak for Billy Napier at times at Florida this season but he has the program playing excellent football right now. The Gators were at 4-5 and looked to be going nowhere fast but have rattled off two straight wins to become bowl-eligible. They just upset the Rebels of Ole Miss, 24-17, and knocked them out of the College Football Playoff picture. It's the biggest win for the Gators under Napier and with how they have turned their season around, College GameDay's Kirk Herbstreit thinks Napier should win Coach of the Year. Cooper Neill/Getty Images "Can a guy with a team that will finish 7-5 win the coach of the year award? He should!! Billy Napier and @GatorsFB after being 4-5 and losing 2 straight, have beaten LSU and Ole Miss. So impressive to see this fight from the Gators and their fans after having a tough year. And, oh yeah, DJ Lagway is the REAL DEAL!" Herbstreit tweeted . Gators quarterback DJ Lagway had a great game, finishing with 180 yards through the air, two touchdowns, and an interception. He also had a great game last week in the Gators' upset win over the LSU Tigers when he finished with 226 yards through the air and a touchdown pass. The Gators will try and finish the regular season on an even higher note when they play one of their biggest rivals, the Seminoles of Florida State, next Saturday in Tallahassee. A kickoff time has yet to be determined. Related: Ole Miss Quarterback Jaxson Dart Had Epic Meltdown In Loss To Florida

New York Giants star rookie wideout Malik Nabers (toe) missed practice Thursday and termed himself a game-day decision. He also is unsure if he will be able to participate on Friday. The Giants host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. "I'm hoping so, it all depends on how it feels tomorrow, that's really it," Nabers said Thursday. Nabers, 21, has been one of the few bright spots for the Giants and leads the team with 97 receptions for 969 yards and four touchdown catches in 13 games (12 starts). Selected sixth overall out of LSU, Nabers has caught 10 or more passes on three occasions but has just one touchdown catch over the past 10 games. Though the Giants (2-13) are mired in a franchise-worst 10-game losing streak, Nabers isn't down about the situation. "We're happy where we're at," Nabers said. "Continue to grow every day. A lot of things to fix, a lot of things we can look back on in our rookie year and continue to try to get better for next year." In addition to Nabers, running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (ankle), center John Michael Schmitz (ankle), linebacker Micah McFadden (neck), cornerbacks Greg Stroman (shoulder/shin) and Dee Williams (toe) and safety Raheem Layne (knee) sat out practice Thursday. Quarterback Drew Lock (right shoulder) was a limited participant. --Field Level MediaThe average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. eased for the third week in a row, a welcome trend for prospective homebuyers during what’s typically a less competitive time of the year for the housing market. The rate dropped to 6.6% from 6.69% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.95%. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners seeking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate, also eased this week. The average rate fell to 5.84% from 5.96% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.38%, Freddie Mac said. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now at its lowest level since Oct. 24, when it was at 6.54%. “The combination of mortgage rate declines, firm consumer income growth and a bullish stock market have increased homebuyer demand in recent weeks,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “While the outlook for the housing market is improving, the improvement is limited given that homebuyers continue to face stiff affordability headwinds.” Elevated mortgage rates and rising home prices have kept homeownership out of reach of many would-be homebuyers. U.S. home sales are on track for their worst year since 1995. Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including the moves in the yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury bonds, which lenders use as a guide to price home loans. The yield, which was below 3.7% as recently as September, has mostly hovered around 4.2% this month. It was at 4.3% at midday Thursday. The recent decline in rates follows a mostly upward climb since the average rate on a 30-year mortgage slid to a two-year low of 6.08% in late September after the Federal Reserve cut its main interest rate from a two-decade high. While the central bank doesn’t set mortgage rates, its actions and the trajectory of inflation influence the moves in the 10-year Treasury yield. Many economists and traders on Wall Street expect that the Fed will cut its main interest rate again at its policy meeting next week. Home shoppers and homeowners seeking to refinance their existing mortgage to a lower rate are taking advantage of the recent pullback in home-loan borrowing costs. Mortgage applications rose 5.4% last week from a week earlier, the fifth straight increase, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinance loan applications climbed 27%. “Purchase applications have increased on an annual basis every week except for one over the past three months, a positive sign for the mortgage market to close out this year,” said MBA CEO Bob Broeksmit. With home prices near all-time highs and still rising nationally, albeit more slowly, many prospective homebuyers are likely holding out for mortgage rates to ease further in coming months. But there may not be much relief, given that many housing economists predict the average rate on a 30-year mortgage will remain above 6% next year.

Q&A: Eric Dickerson on Saquon Barkley pursuing his record: 'I don't think he'll break it'Seahawks place RB Kenneth Walker III (ankle) on injured reserveUP bypolls: BJP wins 6 seats; Samajwati Party bags 2, RLD 1