Scrim, a 17-pound mutt that's mostly terrier, has become a folk hero, inspiring tattoos, T-shirts and even a ballad as he eludes capture from the posse of volunteers. And like any antihero, Scrim has a backstory: Rescued from semi-feral life at a trailer park and adopted from a shelter, the dog broke loose in April and scurried around the city until he was cornered in October and brought to a new home. Weeks later, he'd had enough. Scrim leaped out of a second-story window, a desperate act recorded in a now-viral video. Since then, despite a stream of daily sightings, he's roamed free. The dog’s fans include Myra and Steve Foster, who wrote “Ode to Scrim” to the tune of Ricky Nelson’s 1961 hit, “I’m a Travelin’ Man.” 'I'm a travelin' dog and I've made a lot of stops/All over this town...' Leading the recapture effort is Michelle Cheramie, a 55-year-old former information technology professional. She lost everything — home, car, possessions — in Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and in the aftermath, found her calling rescuing pets. “I was like, ‘This is what I should be doing,’” Cheramie said. “I was born to rescue.” She launched Zeus’ Rescues, a nonprofit shelter that now averages 600 cat and dog adoptions a year and offers free pet food to anyone who needs it. She helped Scrim find the home he first escaped from. It was Cheramie's window Scrim leaped from in November. She's resumed her relentless mission since then, posting flyers on telephone poles and logging social media updates on his reported whereabouts. She's invested thousands of dollars on wildlife cameras, thermal sensors and other gear. She took a course offered by the San Diego Zoo on the finer points of tranquilizing animals. And she's developed a network of volunteers — the kind of neighbors who are willing to grid-search a city at 3 a.m. '...And at every stop I own the heart, of at least one lovely...' People like writer David W. Brown, who manages a crowd-sourced Google Map of all known Scrim sightings. He says the search galvanized residents from all walks of life to come together. As they search for Scrim, they hand out supplies to people in need. “Being a member of the community is seeing problems and doing what you can to make life a little better for the people around here and the animals around you,” Brown said. Neighbor Tammy Murray had to close her furniture store and lost her father to Parkinson's disease. This search, she says, got her mojo back. “Literally, for months, I’ve done nothing but hunt this dog,” said Murray, 53. “I feel like Wile E. Coyote on a daily basis with him.” Murray drives the Zeus' Rescues van toward reported Scrim sightings. She also handles a tactical net launcher, which looks like an oversized flashlight and once misfired, shattering the van's window as Scrim sped away. After realizing Scrim came to recognize the sound of the van's diesel engine, Murray switched to a Vespa scooter for stealth. '...If you're ever in the 9th Ward stop and see/My cute little mini poodle...' Near-misses have been tantalizing. The search party spotted Scrim napping beneath an elevated house, and wrapped construction netting around the perimeter, but an over-eager volunteer broke ranks and dashed forward, leaving an opening Scrim slipped through. Scrim's repeated escapades prompted near-daily local media coverage and a devoted online following. Cheramie can relate. “We’re all running from something or to something," she said. "He's doing that, too.” Cheramie's team dreams of placing the pooch in a safe and loving environment. But a social media chorus growing under the hashtag #FreeScrim has other ideas — they say the runaway should be allowed a life of self-determination. The animal rescue volunteers consider that misguided. “The streets of New Orleans are not the place for a dog to be free,” Cheramie said. “It’s too dangerous.” '...and my Shar-Pei doll down in old Treme/Waits for my return...' Scrim was a mess when Cheramie briefly recaptured him in October, with matted fur, missing teeth and a tattered ear. His trembling body was scraped and bruised, and punctured by projectiles. A vet removed one, but decided against operating to take out a possible bullet. The dog initially appeared content indoors, sitting in Cheramie's lap or napping beside her bed. Then while she was out one day, Scrim chewed through a mesh screen, dropped 13 feet to the ground and squeezed through a gap in the fence, trotting away. Murray said Cheramie's four cats probably spooked him. Cheramie thinks they may have gotten territorial. Devastated but undeterred, the pair is reassessing where Scrim might fit best — maybe a secure animal sanctuary with big outdoor spaces where other dogs can keep him company. Somewhere, Murray says, “where he can just breathe and be.”
49ers look to maintain 'urgency' against rival RamsInvestigators probing South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law said Monday they sought an arrest warrant for the suspended president after he failed to report for questioning. Yoon briefly suspended civilian rule this month, plunging South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades. He was stripped of his presidential duties by parliament over the action, but a constitutional court ruling is pending on whether to confirm the impeachment. The conservative leader also faces criminal charges of insurrection, which could result in life imprisonment or even the death penalty. A former prosecutor himself, Yoon had been summoned three times by investigators for questioning, but refused to present himself each time -- including by yesterday's deadline. "The Joint Investigation Headquarters filed an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol with the Seoul Western District Court", said the probe team in a statement. The application by investigators marks the first attempt in the country's history to forcibly detain a president before the impeachment procedure is complete. Yoon is being investigated by prosecutors as well as a joint team comprising police, defence ministry, and anti-corruption officials. A 10-page prosecutors' report seen by AFP stated that Yoon authorised the military to fire weapons if needed to enter parliament during his failed martial law bid. Yoon's lawyer Yoon Kab-keun had dismissed the prosecutors' report, telling AFP it was "a one-sided account that neither corresponds to objective circumstances nor common sense". Yoon declared martial law in an unannounced televised address on December 3, saying it was aimed at eliminating "anti-state elements". Lawmakers rushed to parliament within minutes of the declaration to vote it down. At the same time, heavily armed troops stormed the building, scaling fences, smashing windows and landing by helicopter. According to the prosecution indictment report, Yoon told the chief of the capital defence command, Lee Jin-woo, that military forces could shoot if necessary to enter the National Assembly. "Have you still not got in? What are you doing? Break down the door and drag them out, even if it means shooting," Yoon told Lee, according to the report. Yoon also allegedly told the head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, General Kwak Jong-keun, to "quickly get inside" the National Assembly since the quorum for lifting the martial law declaration had not been met. "So quickly get inside the National Assembly and bring out the people inside the chamber, and break down the doors with an axe if necessary and drag everyone out," the report quotes Yoon as saying at the time. The report also said there was evidence that Yoon had been discussing declaring martial law with senior military officials as early as March. As investigations began against Yoon, attempts by prosecutors to search his offices were blocked by the presidential security team. South Korea's political turmoil deepened late last week when Yoon's replacement, Han Duck-soo, was also impeached by parliament for failing to sign through bills for investigations into Yoon. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has taken over as the new acting president, and found himself thrust immediately into a disaster with the Jeju Air plane crash that claimed 179 lives.
The Battle of Indiana is a hot ticket to kick off the first ever 12-team College Football Playoff, as t he 10th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers visit the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Friday night in South Bend. The first-round contest is slated for Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. ET with tickets still available to watch live . How to get Notre Dame vs. Indiana tickets: Seats are still available for the first-round College Football Playoff matchup on secondary sites Vivid Seats , StubHub , SeatGeek and Viagogo . As of Dec. 11, the starting prices for seats were as follows: Vivid Seats starting at $700 StubHub starting at $624 SeatGeek starting at $711 Viagogo starting at $540 #10 Indiana Hoosiers (11-1) at #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-1) College Football Playoff matchup at a glance When: Friday, Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. ET Where: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Ind. Tickets: Vivid Seats | StubHub | SeatGeek | Viagogo Flights/hotels: Expedia | Travelocity | Booking.com | Hotels.com TV channel: ABC and ESPN+ Live streams: DirecTV Stream (free trial) | SlingTV (low intro rate) | FuboTV (low intro rate) | ESPN+ ($11.99/mo.) Notre Dame opens as a 7.5-point favorite to beat Indiana and reach the quarterfinal round of the 2025 College Football Playoff, where a matchup with the 2nd-ranked Georgia Bulldogs would await. The Fighting Irish fell flat in Week 2 of the season after beating then-No. 20 Texas A&M (23-13) in their opener, dropping a home game as a big favorite against Northern Illinois (16-14) before rattling off 10 straight wins. Over the course of that winning streak, Notre Dame’s offense came alive with 49-plus points in six of the 10 contests, capped by back-to-back wins over Army (49-14) and USC (49-35). Notre Dame vs. Indiana College Football Playoff tickets: Vivid Seats | StubHub | SeatGeek | Viagogo Indiana is one of the best stories of the college football season under the guidance of first-year coach Curt Cignetti. The Hoosiers won their first 10 games before falling on the road to then-No. 2 Ohio State (38-15) in Week 13 but rebounded with a 66-0 shutout of Purdue in their finale. Indiana will look to do what it couldn’t do against the Buckeyes and put its best offense on the field to take a run at an upset win over a top-10 team. ©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.How do you remove children from the harms of social media? Politically the answer appears simple in Australia, but practically the solution could be far more difficult. The Australian government’s plan to ban children from social media platforms including X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram until their 16th birthdays is politically popular. The leaders of all eight Australian states and mainland territories unanimously backed the plan, though Tasmania, the smallest state, would have preferred the threshold were set at 14. But vocal experts in the fields of technology and child welfare responded with alarm. More than 140 of them signed an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemning the 16-year age limit as “too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.” Details of what is proposed and how it will be implemented are scant ahead of the legislation’s introduction in Parliament. People are also reading... Concerned teen Leo Puglisi, a 17-year-old Melbourne student who founded the online streaming service 6 News Australia at the age of 11, laments that lawmakers imposing the ban lack the youth’s perspective on social media. “With respect to the government and prime minister, they didn’t grow up in the social media age, they’re not growing up in the social media age, and what a lot of people are failing to understand here is that, like it or not, social media is a part of people’s daily lives,” Puglisi said. “It’s part of their communities, it’s part of work, it’s part of entertainment, it’s where they watch content — young people aren’t listening to the radio or reading newspapers or watching free-to-air TV — and so it can’t be ignored. The reality is this ban, if implemented, is just kicking the can down the road for when a young person goes on social media,” he added. Puglisi is applauded for his work online. He was a finalist in his home state Victoria’s nomination for the Young Australian of the Year award, which will be announced in January. His nomination bid credits his platform with “fostering a new generation of informed, critical thinkers.” Grieving mom-turned-activist One of the proposal’s supporters, cyber safety campaigner Sonya Ryan, knows how dangerous social media can be for children. Her 15-year-old daughter Carly was murdered in 2007 in South Australia state by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager online. In a grim milestone of the digital age, Carly was the first person in Australia to be killed by an online predator. “Kids are being exposed to harmful pornography, they’re being fed misinformation, there are body image issues, there’s sextortion, online predators, bullying. There are so many different harms for them to try and manage and kids just don’t have the skills or the life experience to be able to manage those well,” Ryan said. “The result of that is we’re losing our kids,” she said. “Not only what happened to Carly, predatory behavior, but also we’re seeing an alarming rise in suicide of young people.” Ryan is part of a group advising the government on a national strategy to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse in Australia. She wholeheartedly supports Australia setting the social media age limit at 16. “We’re not going to get this perfect,” she said. “We have to make sure that there are mechanisms in place to deal with what we already have, which is an anxious generation and an addicted generation of children to social media.” Skeptical internet expert Tama Leaver, professor of internet studies at Curtin University, fears the government will make the platforms hold the users’ identification data instead. The government already said the onus will be on the platforms, rather than on children or their parents, to ensure everyone meets the age limit. “The worst possible outcome seems to be the one that the government may be inadvertently pushing towards, which would be that the social media platforms themselves would end up being the identity arbiter,” Leaver said. “They would be the holder of identity documents which would be absolutely terrible because they have a fairly poor track record so far of holding on to personal data well,” he added. The platforms will have a year once the legislation becomes law to work out how the ban can be implemented. Ryan, who divides her time between Adelaide in South Australia and Fort Worth, Texas, said privacy concerns should not stand in the way of removing children from social media. “What is the cost if we don’t? If we don’t put the safety of our children ahead of profit and privacy?” she asked. 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CHICAGO — With a wave of her bangled brown fingertips to the melody of flutes and chimes, artist, theologian and academic Tricia Hersey enchanted a crowd into a dreamlike state of rest at Semicolon Books on North Michigan Avenue. “The systems can’t have you,” Hersey said into the microphone, reading mantras while leading the crowd in a group daydreaming exercise on a recent Tuesday night. The South Side native tackles many of society’s ills — racism, patriarchy, aggressive capitalism and ableism — through an undervalued yet impactful action: rest. Hersey, the founder of a movement called the Nap Ministry, dubs herself the Nap Bishop and spreads her message to over half a million followers on her Instagram account, @thenapministry . Her first book, “Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto,” became a New York Times bestseller in 2022, but Hersey has been talking about rest online and through her art for nearly a decade. Hersey, who has degrees in public health and divinity, originated the “rest as resistance” and “rest as reparations” frameworks after experimenting with rest as an exhausted graduate student in seminary. Once she started napping, she felt happier and her grades improved. But she also felt more connected to her ancestors; her work was informed by the cultural trauma of slavery that she was studying as an archivist. Hersey described the transformation as “life-changing.” The Nap Ministry began as performance art in 2017, with a small installation where 40 people joined Hersey in a collective nap. Since then, her message has morphed into multiple mediums and forms. Hersey, who now lives in Atlanta, has hosted over 100 collective naps, given lectures and facilitated meditations across the country. She’s even led a rest ritual in the bedroom of Jane Addams , and encourages her followers to dial in at her “Rest Hotline.” At Semicolon, some of those followers and newcomers came out to see Hersey in discussion with journalist Natalie Moore on Hersey’s latest book, “We Will Rest! The Art of Escape,” released this month, and to learn what it means to take a moment to rest in community. Moore recalled a time when she was trying to get ahead of chores on a weeknight. “I was like, ‘If I do this, then I’ll have less to do tomorrow.’ But then I was really tired,” Moore said. “I thought, ‘What would my Nap Bishop say? She would say go lay down.’ Tricia is in my head a lot.” At the event, Al Kelly, 33, of Rogers Park, said some of those seated in the crowd of mostly Black women woke up in tears — possibly because, for the first time, someone permitted them to rest. “It was so emotional and allowed me to think creatively about things that I want to work on and achieve,” Kelly said. Shortly after the program, Juliette Viassy, 33, a program manager who lives in the South Loop and is new to Hersey’s work, said this was her first time meditating after never being able to do it on her own. Therapist Lyndsei Howze, 33, of Printers Row, who was also seated at the book talk, said she recommends Hersey’s work “to everybody who will listen” — from her clients to her own friends. “A lot of mental health conditions come from lack of rest,” she said. “They come from exhaustion.” Before discovering Hersey’s work this spring, Howze said she and her friends sporadically napped together in one friend’s apartment after an exhausting workweek. “It felt so good just to rest in community,” she said. On Hersey’s book tour, she is leading exercises like this across the country. “I think we need to collectively do this,” Hersey explained. “We need to learn again how to daydream because we’ve been told not to do it. I don’t think most people even have a daydreaming practice.” Daydreaming, Hersey said, allows people to imagine a new world. Hersey tells her followers that yes, you can rest, even when your agenda is packed, even between caregiving, commuting, jobs, bills, emails and other daily demands. And you don’t have to do it alone. There is a community of escape artists, she said of the people who opt out of grind and hustle culture, waiting to embrace you. The book is part pocket prayer book, part instruction manual, with art and handmade typography by San Francisco-based artist George McCalman inspired by 19th-century abolitionist pamphlets, urging readers to reclaim their divine right to rest. Hersey directs her readers like an operative with instructions for a classified mission. “Let grind culture know you are not playing around,” she wrote in her book. “This is not a game or time to shrink. Your thriving depends on the art of escape.” The reluctance to rest can be rooted in capitalist culture presenting rest as a reward for productivity instead of a physical and mental necessity. Hersey deconstructs this idea of grind culture, which she says is rooted in the combined effects of white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism that “look at the body as not human.” American culture encourages grind culture, Hersey said, but slowing down and building a ritual of rest can offset its toxicity. The author eschews the ballooning billion-dollar self-care industry that encourages people to “save enough money and time off from work to fly away to an expensive retreat,” she wrote. Instead, she says rest can happen anywhere you have a place to be comfortable: in nature, on a yoga mat, in the car between shifts, on a cozy couch after work. Resting isn’t just napping either. She praises long showers, sipping warm tea, playing music, praying or numerous other relaxing activities that slow down the body. “We’re in a crisis mode of deep sleep deprivation, deep lack of self-worth, (and) mental health,” said Hersey. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2022 , in Illinois about 37% of adults aren’t getting the rest they need at night. If ignored, the effects of sleep deprivation can have bigger implications later, Hersey said. In October, she lectured at a sleep conference at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, where her humanities work was featured alongside research from the world’s top neuroscientists. Jennifer Mundt, a Northwestern clinician and professor of sleep medicine, psychiatry and behavioral sciences, praises Hersey for bringing the issue of sleep and rest to the public. In a Tribune op-ed last year, Mundt argued that our culture focuses too heavily on sleep as something that must be earned rather than a vital aspect of health and that linking sleep to productivity is harmful and stigmatizing. “Linking sleep and productivity is harmful because it overshadows the bevy of other reasons to prioritize sleep as an essential component of health,” Mundt wrote. “It also stigmatizes groups that are affected by sleep disparities and certain chronic sleep disorders.” In a 30-year longitudinal study released in the spring by the New York University School of Social Work, people who worked long hours and late shifts reported the lowest sleep quality and lowest physical and mental functions, and the highest likelihood of reporting poor health and depression at age 50. The study also showed that Black men and women with limited education “were more likely than others to shoulder the harmful links between nonstandard work schedules and sleep and health, worsening their probability of maintaining and nurturing their health as they approach middle adulthood.” The CDC links sleeping fewer than seven hours a day to an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and more. Although the Nap Ministry movement is new for her followers, Hersey’s written about her family’s practice of prioritizing rest, which informs her work. Her dad was a community organizer, a yardmaster for the Union Pacific Railroad Co. and an assistant pastor. Before long hours of work, he would dedicate hours each day to self-care. Hersey also grew up observing her grandma meditate for 30 minutes daily. Through rest, Hersey said she honors her ancestors who were enslaved and confronts generational trauma. When “Rest Is Resistance” was released in 2022, Americans were navigating a pandemic and conversations on glaring racial disparities. “We Will Rest!” comes on the heels of a historic presidential election where Black women fundraised for Vice President Kamala Harris and registered voters in a dizzying three-month campaign. Following Harris’ defeat, many of those women are finding self-care and preservation even more important. “There are a lot of Black women announcing how exhausted they are,” Moore said. “This could be their entry point to get to know (Hersey’s) work, which is bigger than whatever political wind is blowing right now.” Hersey said Chicagoans can meet kindred spirits in her environment of rest. Haji Healing Salon, a wellness center, and the social justice-focused Free Street Theater are sites where Hersey honed her craft and found community. In the fall, the theater put on “Rest/Reposo,” a performance featuring a community naptime outdoors in McKinley Park and in its Back of the Yards space. Haji is also an apothecary and hosts community healing activities, sound meditations and yoga classes. “It is in Bronzeville; it’s a beautiful space owned by my friend Aya,” Hersey said, explaining how her community has helped her build the Nap Ministry. “When I first started the Nap Ministry, before I was even understanding what it was, she was like, come do your work here.” “We Will Rest!” is a collection of poems, drawings and short passages. In contrast to her first book, Hersey said she leaned more into her artistic background; the art process alone took 18 months to complete. After a tough year for many, she considers it medicine for a “sick and exhausted” world. “It’s its own sacred document,” Hersey said. “It’s something that, if you have it in your library and you have it with you, you may feel more human.” lazu@chicagotribune.comThe Nigerian All-Share Index (ASI) wrapped up the trading session on November 26, 2024, in positive territory, inching up by a modest 13.61 points to close at 97,639.88. This marked a slight gain of 0.01%, reflecting a subtle but steady uptick in the market. However, despite this upward movement in the index, trading volume saw a dip, falling by 17.75% from the previous day’s total of 671 million shares to 552 million shares on Tuesday. Related Stories Market Wrap: All-Share Index slips 0.21% as HMCALL and SUNUASSUR lead gainers Weekly Market Wrap: All-Share Index rises by 106.74 points as John Holt gains 42.49%, Multiverse tops losers Market capitalization remained unchanged at N59.1 trillion, and the total number of trades executed stood at 9,305, indicating a steady level of activity despite the decrease in volume. Among the top gainers, HMCALL emerged as the standout performer, surging by 9.98% to take the top spot. SUNUASSUR followed closely with a 9.80% jump, while JAPAULGOLD rounded out the top three with a gain of 9.72%. On the downside, MULTIVERSE led the decliners, shedding 9.92% of its value, while TANTALIZER trailed just behind, dropping by 9.30%. Notably, HMCALL and TANTALIZER were the most actively traded stocks of the day, underscoring sustained investor interest despite the overall drop in trading volumes. Current ASI: 97,639.88 points Previous ASI: 97,626.27 points Day Change: +0.01% Year-to-Date Performance: +30.58% Volume Traded: 552 million shares Deals: 9,305 HMCALL: up 9.98% to N6.17 SUNUASSUR: up 9.80% to N3.81 JAPAULGOLD: up 9.72% to N2.37 PRESTIGE: up 9.64% to N0.91 NEIMETH: up 9.55% to N2.18 MULTIVERSE: down 9.92% to N5.90 TANTALIZER: down 9.30% to N1.17 UPDCREIT: down 9.01% to N5.05 UNIVINSURE: down 5.88% to N0.32 RTBRISCOE: down 5.67% to N2.66 The Nigerian equities market experienced a decline in trading activity, with trading volume falling by 17.75%. A total of 552 million shares were exchanged, down from 671 million shares in the previous session. HMCALL led the day’s trading with a dominant 177.1 million shares changing hands, securing its position as the most actively traded stock. TANTALIZER followed closely with 36.9 million shares traded, while UBA recorded 29.5 million shares. Other notable contributors included PRESTIGE with 28.5 million shares and FBNH, which completed the top five with 21.5 million shares traded. In terms of trading value, HMCALL again took the lead, driving transactions worth an impressive N1.0 billion. WAPCO followed with N978.6 million in trade value, signaling ongoing investor interest in the stock. UBA and MTNN also attracted significant attention, contributing N947.3 million and N781.7 million to the day’s total value, respectively. FBNH rounded out the top five, generating N536.2 million in transactions. Among the SWOOT stocks, which have market capitalizations above N1 trillion, OANDO stood out as the only decliner, advancing by 3.46%. The FUGAZ group, consisting of FBNH, UBA, GTCO, ACCESSCORP, and ZENITHBANK, saw a mixed performance. ACCESSCORP and UBA declined by 1.74% and 1.55%, respectively, while ZENITH and GTCO posted gains of 0.93% and 0.47%. FBNH remained unchanged, showing no price movement during the session. Despite a modest 0.01% uptick in the market, optimism for a rebound remains strong. With solid third-quarter earnings from various sectors and sustained investor interest, the Nigerian equities market is expected to maintain upward momentum in the coming sessions.The third and final monthly contest in Benzinga's paper trading competition powered by TradeZero kicked off on Nov. 15, giving contestants a chance to take home over $15,000 in cash and prizes as part of the more than $30,000 in cash and prizes offered during the three-month run . The current leader of the third contest has posted an impressive gain, but as past contests have shown, it's still anyone's game. The Contests: Powered by TradeZero , the World Championship of Trading is the ultimate trading competition for investors to prove their keen eye during a three-month time period. Contestants start each contest with a paper balance of $100,000. Each investor will have around one month to generate the highest profits from a starting balance of $100,000 in a simulated trading account. Contestants in the World Championship of Trading will have access to Benzinga's Live Squawk product. Investors will also gain exposure to TradeZero's newly patented short-selling tools. Here's the leaderboard for the second contest through Nov. 22: 1 st : James C.: $2,194,368.83 2 nd : Mayank B.: $594,080.03 3 rd : Willis R.: $357,886.00 All of the top 10 traders on the leaderboard have a balance of at least $226,000, gaining over 126% during the contest. The leaderboard features some familiar names from past monthly contests. People who have followed the contests also know that the leaderboard often changes from the first week to the last week, meaning it's not too late to sign up and compete before the Dec. 8 deadline and the contest end date of Dec. 14. Past Leaders : Benzinga recently talked to first-place leader Sebastian N from the second monthly contest to find out more about how he generated the huge gains in a short time. “I was definitely waiting for the election,” Sebastian told Benzinga. “To win this contest you gotta go big.” Knowing that Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk had endorsed Donald Trump and the stock could gain from a Trump win, Sebastian said he tracked the electric vehicle stock. The trader said the stock was already breaking out before the election and seemed like it was going to continue moving higher. Sebastain bought Tesla calls and made it the biggest trade he had made during the contest. “If Trump wins, we’re gonna do well,” Sebastian said, recalling his trades. The trader said he sold the Tesla calls shortly after Trump won the election, netting a large profit in the paper trading contest, but admits he could have made an even larger gain if he held onto them for longer. Sebastian’s advice for anyone entering the third and final contest is to remember that the leaderboard is constantly changing and you can still win the contest. “No matter where you are on the leaderboard, you can always improve on your trading.” Andrea S., the winner of the first contest, went from $100,000 to more than $1 million in the paper trading account in less than a month. Benzinga previously interviewed Andrea S., who was in the top 10 for most of the contest and was in first place several weeks. Contest Rules: The contest is open to residents of the United States and Canada who are 21 years of age or older. Traders will be able to buy simulated equities and options from U.S. markets during the contest periods starting with a balance of $100,000. No fractional shares will be allowed. Traders have to hold a minimum of one stock or option throughout the contest. A minimum of five days of one trade or more must be completed throughout each contest. Interested investors have been able to sign up to join the contest since Friday, July 26. Signing up for the first contest will automatically register an entry in the second and third contests. Traders can sign up for the contests after the start dates as long as it is before a cutoff deadline. The dates for the contests are listed below: Contest 1: Sept. 15 through Oct. 14 Contest 2: Oct. 15 through Nov. 14 Contest 3: Nov. 15 through Dec. 14 The last days to register for the remaining contests are at 9 a.m. ET on Nov. 7 and Dec. 8. Read Also: EXCLUSIVE: Wall Street Meets Main Street — Fintech Experts Weigh In On Retail’s Rise Contest Prizes : Participants have the chance to win as much as $30,000 in cash and prizes during the contests. Travel and expenses will not be paid for the NYSE tour prizes. Here are the prizes for the World Championship of Trading. Contest 1: First Place: $5,000 cash, lifetime of Benzinga Pro Essential, tour of the NYSE and lunch for two at the NYSE. Second Place: $1,000 cash, one year of Benzinga Pro Essential. Third Place: $500 cash, one year of Benzinga Pro Essential. Contest 2: First Place: $10,000 cash, lifetime of Benzinga Pro Essential, tour of the NYSE and lunch for two at the NYSE. Second Place: $2,000 cash, one year of Benzinga Pro Essential. Third Place: $1,000 cash, one year of Benzinga Pro Essential. Contest 3 : First Place: $15,000 cash, lifetime of Benzinga Pro Essential, tour of the NYSE and lunch for two at the NYSE. Find out more at the World Championship of Trading site . Read Next: EXCLUSIVE: Top 20 Most-Searched Tickers On Benzinga Pro In October 2024 — Where Do Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, DJT Stock Rank? The World Championship of Trading (the "Contest") involves the assembling and managing of a fantasy stock portfolio and not actual trading results. 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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean law enforcement officials on Monday requested a court warrant to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol as they investigate whether his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3 amounted to rebellion. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military authorities into the power grab that lasted only a few hours, confirmed it requested the warrant from the Seoul Western District Court. They plan to question Yoon on charges of abuse of authority and orchestrating a rebellion. The warrant request came after Yoon dodged several requests by the joint investigation team and public prosecutors to appear for questioning and also blocked searches of his offices. While Yoon has the presidential privilege of immunity from criminal prosecution, such protections don’t extend to allegations of rebellion or treason. It’s not clear whether the court will grant the warrant or whether Yoon can be compelled to appear for questioning. Under the country’s laws, locations potentially linked to military secrets cannot be seized or searched without the consent of the person in charge, and it’s unlikely that Yoon will voluntarily leave his residence if he faces detention. There are also concerns about possible clashes with Yoon’s presidential security service if authorities attempt to forcibly detain him. Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended after the National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14 over his imposition of martial law, which lasted only hours but has triggered weeks of political turmoil, halted high-level diplomacy and rattled financial markets. Yoon’s fate now lies with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to uphold the impeachment and formally remove Yoon from office or reinstate him. The National Assembly voted last week to also impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who had assumed the role of acting president after Yoon’s powers were suspended, over his reluctance to fill three Constitutional Court vacancies ahead of the court’s review of Yoon’s case. The country’s new interim leader is Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, who is also finance minister. To formally end Yoon’s presidency, at least six justices on the nine-member Constitutional Court must vote in favor. Three seats are currently vacant following retirements and a full bench could make conviction more likely. Choi, who has been handling the government’s response to a plane crash on Sunday that killed 179 people, has yet to say whether he intends to appoint the Constitutional Court justices. In a separate criminal investigation of Yoon, authorities have already arrested his defense minister, police chief and several other military commanders involved in the attempt to enforce the martial law decree, which harkened back to the days of authoritarian leaders the country hasn’t seen since the 1980s. Yoon and his military leadership have been accused of attempting to block the National Assembly from voting to end martial law by sending hundreds of heavily armed troops to encircle the building. Lawmakers who managed to get in voted unanimously 190-0 to lift martial law, hours after Yoon declared it in a late-night television address. Yoon has also been accused of ordering defense counterintelligence officials to detain key politicians, including opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik and the ex-leader of his own conservative party, Han Dong-hun, a reformist who supported investigations into corruption allegations against first lady Kim Keon Hee. Yoon has defended the martial law decree as a necessary act of governance, portraying it as a temporary warning against the liberal opposition Democratic Party, which he has described as an “anti-state” force obstructing his agenda with its majority in the National Assembly. Yoon has claimed he had no intention to paralyze the functioning of the assembly, saying that the troops were sent to maintain order, and also denied planning to arrest politicians. Yoon’s claims have been denied by Kwak Jong-keun, the now-arrested commander of the Army Special Warfare Command, who testified in the National Assembly that Yoon called for troops to “quickly destroy the door and drag out the lawmakers who are inside” the assembly’s main chamber where the vote occurred. Kwak said he did not carry out Yoon’s orders. The joint investigation team has also questioned Maj. Gen. Moon Sang-ho, commander of the Defense Intelligence Command, who has also been arrested over suspicions that he sent troops to the National Election Commission in Gwacheon city after Yoon declared martial law. Yoon has defended the troop deployment to the election commission, which happened at the same time as the military operation at the National Assembly, saying it was necessary to investigate supposed vulnerabilities in the commission’s computer systems potentially affecting the credibility of election results. Yoon’s failure to offer any evidence in support of his claims has raised concerns that he was endorsing conspiracy theories on right-wing YouTube channels that April’s parliamentary elections were rigged. The Democratic Party won those elections by a landslide. The election commission rejected Yoon’s allegations, stating there was no basis to suspect election fraud.
Lipscomb secures 112-54 win against Division-III AsburyNoneAs Americans are beyond burned out, Tricia Hersey’s Nap Ministry preaches the right to rest
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan's defense of the national championship has fallen woefully short. The Wolverines started the season ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25, making them the third college football team since 1991 to be ranked worse than seventh in the preseason poll after winning a national title. Michigan (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) failed to meet those modest expectations, barely becoming eligible to play in a bowl and putting the program in danger of losing six or seven games for the first time since the Brady Hoke era ended a decade ago. The Wolverines potentially can ease some of the pain with a win against rival and second-ranked Ohio State (10-1, 7-1, No. 2 CFP) on Saturday in the Horseshoe, but that would be a stunning upset. Ohio State is a 21 1/2-point favorite, according to the BetMGM Sportsbook, and that marks just the third time this century that there has been a spread of at least 20 1/2 points in what is known as "The Game." People are also reading... Michigan coach Sherrone Moore doesn't sound like someone who is motivating players with an underdog mentality. "I don't think none of that matters in this game," Moore said Monday. "It doesn't matter the records. It doesn't matter anything. The spread, that doesn't matter." How did Michigan end up with a relative mess of a season on the field, coming off its first national title since 1997? Winning it all with a coach and star player contemplating being in the NFL for the 2024 season seemed to have unintended consequences for the current squad. The Wolverines closed the College Football Playoff with a win over Washington on Jan. 8; several days later quarterback J.J. McCarthy announced he was skipping his senior season; and it took more than another week for Jim Harbaugh to bolt to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. In the meantime, most quality quarterbacks wanting to transfer had already enrolled at other schools and Moore was left with lackluster options. Davis Warren beat out Alex Orji to be the team's quarterback for the opener and later lost the job to Orji only to get it back again. No matter who was under center, however, would've likely struggled this year behind an offensive line that sent six players to the NFL. The Wolverines lost one of their top players on defense, safety Rod Moore, to a season-ending injury last spring and another one, preseason All-America cornerback Will Johnson, hasn't played in more than a month because of an injury. The Buckeyes are not planning to show any mercy after losing three straight in the series. "We're going to attack them," Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer said. "We know they're going to come in here swinging, too, and they've still got a good team even though the record doesn't indicate it. This game, it never matters what the records are." While a win would not suddenly make the Wolverines' season a success, it could help Moore build some momentum a week after top-rated freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood flipped his commitment from LSU to Michigan. "You come to Michigan to beat Ohio," said defensive back Quinten Johnson, intentionally leaving the word State out when referring to the rival. "That's one of the pillars of the Michigan football program. "It doesn't necessarily change the fact of where we are in the season, but it definitely is one of the defining moments of your career here at Michigan." AP Sports Writer Mitch Stacy in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report. Be the first to knowHighlights From A Successful Art Basel Miami Beach 2024WASHINGTON - Jimmy Carter, the 100-year-old former US president and Nobel peace laureate who rose from humble beginnings in rural Georgia to lead the nation from 1977 to 1981, has died, his nonprofit foundation said. Carter had been in hospice care since mid-February 2023 at his home in Plains, Georgia -- the same small town where he was born and once ran a peanut farm before becoming governor of the Peach State and running for the White House. Carter died "peacefully" at his home in Plains, "surrounded by his family," the Carter Center said in a statement. "My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights and unselfish love," Chip Carter said in the statement. Outside the White House, where the flag was lowered to half-staff, tourist Yoni Neirman remembered Carter as a leader "who tried to do good things for this country and for people." "I think he was a real statesman, and that kind of person doesn't seem to exist, at least not in the near future," the Vermont resident said, adding that Carter was the first president she ever voted for. Carter was the longest-lived US president -- an outcome that seemed unlikely back in 2015 when the Southern Democrat revealed he had brain cancer. But the US Navy veteran and fervent Christian repeatedly defied the odds to enjoy a long and fruitful post-presidency, after four years in the Oval Office often seen as disappointing. During his single term, Carter placed a commitment on human rights and social justice, enjoying a strong first two years that included brokering a peace deal between Israel and Egypt dubbed the Camp David Accords. But his administration hit numerous snags -- the most serious being the taking of US hostages in Iran and the disastrous failed attempt to rescue the 52 captive Americans in 1980. He also came in for criticism for his handling of an oil crisis. Carter, known for his toothy smile, said basic Christian tenets such as justice and love served as the bedrock of his presidency. He taught Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist, his church in Plains, well into his 90s. In recent years, he had received various hospital treatments, including when he revealed in August 2015 that he had brain cancer and was undergoing radiation. As condolences came in, many focused on Carter's character, with President Joe Biden, in televised remarks, saying he "lived a life measured not by words, but by his deeds." "The rest of the world looks to us... and he was worth looking to." White House leaders past and future joined Biden in issuing remembrances, with Bill Clinton saying in a statement that Carter "worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world." George W. Bush said Carter's legacy would "inspire Americans for generations," and Barack Obama said the former leader "taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service." Donald Trump said Americans owed the Democrat "a debt of gratitude," later adding, in a second social media post, that "I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically."