jilix BANGKOK — Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan will attempt to merge and create the world's third-largest automaker by sales as the industry undergoes dramatic changes in its transition away from fossil fuels. The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday and that smaller Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors also had agreed to join the talks on integrating their businesses. Honda will initially lead the new management, retaining the principles and brands of each company. Following is a quick look at what a combined Honda and Nissan would mean for the companies, and for the auto industry. Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida, left, and Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe, center, and Takao Kato CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, right, arrive to attend a joint news conference Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) The ascent of Chinese automakers is rattling the industry at a time when manufacturers are struggling to shift from fossil fuel-driven vehicles to electrics. Relatively inexpensive EVs from China's BYD, Great Wall and Nio are eating into the market shares of U.S. and Japanese car companies in China and elsewhere. Japanese automakers have lagged behind big rivals in EVs and are now trying to cut costs and make up for lost time. Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi announced in August that they will share components for electric vehicles like batteries and jointly research software for autonomous driving to adapt better to dramatic changes in the auto industry centered around electrification. A preliminary agreement between Honda, Japan's second-largest automaker, and Nissan, third largest, was announced in March. A merger could result in a behemoth worth about $55 billion based on the market capitalization of all three automakers. Joining forces would help the smaller Japanese automakers add scale to compete with Japan's market leader Toyota Motor Corp. and with Germany's Volkswagen AG. Toyota itself has technology partnerships with Japan's Mazda Motor Corp. and Subaru Corp. Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida, left, Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe, center, and Takao Kato, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, right, pose for photographers during a joint news conference in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) Nissan has truck-based body-on-frame large SUVs such as the Armada and Infiniti QX80 that Honda doesn't have, with large towing capacities and good off-road performance, said Sam Fiorani, vice president of AutoForecast Solutions. Nissan also has years of experience building batteries and electric vehicles, and gas-electric hybird powertrains that could help Honda in developing its own EVs and next generation of hybrids, he said. "Nissan does have some product segments where Honda doesn't currently play," that a merger or partnership could help, said Sam Abuelsamid, a Detroit-area automotive industry analsyt. While Nissan's electric Leaf and Ariya haven't sold well in the U.S., they're solid vehicles, Fiorani said. "They haven't been resting on their laurels, and they have been developing this technology," he said. "They have new products coming that could provide a good platform for Honda for its next generation." Nissan said last month that it was slashing 9,000 jobs, or about 6% of its global work force, and reducing global production capacity by 20% after reporting a quarterly loss of 9.3 billion yen ($61 million). Earlier this month it reshuffled its management and its chief executive, Makoto Uchida, took a 50% pay cut to take responsibility for the financial woes, saying Nissan needed to become more efficient and respond better to market tastes, rising costs and other global changes. Fitch Ratings recently downgraded Nissan's credit outlook to "negative," citing worsening profitability, partly due to price cuts in the North American market. But it noted that it has a strong financial structure and solid cash reserves that amounted to 1.44 trillion yen ($9.4 billion). Nissan's share price has fallen to the point where it is considered something of a bargain. A report in the Japanese financial magazine Diamond said talks with Honda gained urgency after the Taiwan maker of iPhones Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn, began exploring a possible acquisition of Nissan as part of its push into the EV sector. The company has struggled for years following a scandal that began with the arrest of its former chairman Carlos Ghosn in late 2018 on charges of fraud and misuse of company assets, allegations that he denies. He eventually was released on bail and fled to Lebanon. Honda reported its profits slipped nearly 20% in the first half of the April-March fiscal year from a year earlier, as sales suffered in China. Toyota made 11.5 million vehicles in 2023, while Honda rolled out 4 million and Nissan produced 3.4 million. Mitsubishi Motors made just over 1 million. Even after a merger Toyota would remain the leading Japanese automaker. All the global automakers are facing potential shocks if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on threats to raise or impose tariffs on imports of foreign products, even from allies like Japan and neighboring countries like Canada and Mexico. Nissan is among the major car companies that have adjusted their supply chains to include vehicles assembled in Mexico. Meanwhile, analysts say there is an "affordability shift" taking place across the industry, led by people who feel they cannot afford to pay nearly $50,000 for a new vehicle. In American, a vital market for companies like Nissan, Honda and Toyota, that's forcing automakers to consider lower pricing, which will eat further into industry profits. ____ AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher contributed to this report from Detroit. Airbags, advanced driver assistance features, and high-strength materials mean that the safest cars today are far better at protecting people from injuries than ever before. Although most new cars compare well to their predecessors, some stand above the rest. The safest cars for 2025 offer excellent occupant protection and also do a good job of preventing accidents from happening in the first place. Based on testing data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety , or IIHS, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , or NHTSA, these are some of the safest cars available today. Ranging from inexpensive compact cars and mainstream midsize sedans to stylish station wagons, posh luxury cars, and sporty coupes and convertibles, Edmunds shares a list that has something for just about everyone. For those who prefer a higher seating position and maybe some added practicality, Edmunds' list of safest SUVs is for you. The stylish Mazda 3 has a lot to offer compact-car shoppers, including great looks, a composed driving experience, and reasonable fuel economy from its base 2.0-liter engine. It's also one of the safest cars in its class, earning a perfect five stars in NHTSA crash testing and sterling crashworthiness and collision avoidance scores from the IIHS. Its standard features are forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and lane departure prevention. With mature styling, a premium interior, and an efficient hybrid powertrain option, the 2025 Honda Civic is a great option if safety is a concern since it aces almost all of the IIHS' crash tests and earns a five-star safety rating from the federal government. It also comes standard with adaptive cruise control, lane departure prevention, and forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking. The Civic falls short slightly in the IIHS' updated moderate overlap front test, which now accounts for rear passenger safety, but even so, it's one of the safest cars in its class. Reflective of parent company BMW, today's Mini Cooper is well constructed and features premium safety features that belie its small size, including automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning. Although the Mini hasn't been tested by NHTSA, the IIHS gives the Cooper its highest score of Good in the original driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, and side-impact tests. That said, the IIHS doesn't place the Cooper on its Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ lists since it hasn't been evaluated on the updated battery of passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, or side-impact tests. Expect the new-for-2025 Mini Cooper to earn decent crash ratings in those scenarios, especially since it shares its strong platform with the outgoing model. With its recent redesign, the Toyota Prius transformed from a frumpy little caterpillar to a stylish and efficient butterfly. It also became a very safe hybrid hatchback. Perfect scores in all of its government and IIHS crash tests, as well as a sophisticated system of collision avoidance technology, earn it top marks. It's also one of our favorite cars on the market, period, as evidenced by its status as a 2024 Edmunds Top Rated vehicle. The Honda Accord is among the safest midsize sedans on the market today thanks to excellent crashworthiness scores and a competent standard collision prevention system. It's a Top Safety Pick+, beating out rivals like the Hyundai Sonata, Kia K5, and Subaru Legacy, and the Accord also earns a perfect five-star rating from NHTSA. Honda's hybrid-intensive product planning is on full display here—all but the two lowest Accord trims have a hybrid powertrain—and it's also among the most spacious cars in its class. Like its Honda Accord rival, the Toyota Camry is also an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ with a five-star NHTSA rating. It also has a very impressive suite of driver assistance and safety technology, including lane departure prevention with active centering, full-speed adaptive cruise control, and automatic emergency braking. The Camry edges out the Accord in IIHS testing thanks to a more effective collision avoidance system, but both cars are remarkably well matched otherwise. The fully electric Hyundai Ioniq 6 offers excellent safety and collision prevention, with excellent scores across the entire line of IIHS tests. The Ioniq 6 hasn't been tested for rollover resistance by NHTSA, but it earned a four-star front safety rating and a five-star side-impact rating in government tests. Like most EVs, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 comes standard with forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and lane departure prevention. It also offers up to 342 miles of all-electric driving in its longest-range trim level. The Acura Integra is a close mechanical cousin to the Honda Civic, so it's no surprise it does well in both the IIHS' and NHTSA's crash tests. The luxury hatchback is a Top Safety Pick+ and earns a perfect five stars in government testing. The AcuraWatch safety suite is standard on the Integra, bringing automatic emergency braking, lane centering, lane departure prevention, and adaptive cruise control. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is a safe option in the popular small luxury sedan segment thanks to its good scores in IIHS crash testing. Mercedes' best-selling sedan also comes standard with automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning, which helps it earn a Top Safety Pick award. However, it hasn't been tested by the NHTSA. Both the Genesis G80 and the fully electric Genesis Electrified G80 earn a Top Safety Pick+ score from the IIHS thanks to their good scores on the agency's crash tests, as well as a comprehensive suite of active safety features that avoided collisions with simulated pedestrians. The internal-combustion-engine G80 earned a perfect five-star safety rating from NHTSA, and although the Electrified G80 hasn't been tested by the feds just yet, it should likely excel in those tests too. The flagship Genesis G90 sedan competes with the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series, and the South Korean automaker clearly hasn't skimped on safety in its fight against the establishment. Although it hasn't been subjected to the NHTSA array of tests, it aced almost all of its IIHS tests, and a long list of standard active safety and driver assistance features sets it apart from the stingy German makes that charge extra for them. With handsome styling and a well-finished interior, the Volvo V60 is a very appealing station wagon for those looking for such a thing. It's also quite safe, with good crashworthiness scores in the IIHS' original moderate overlap front and side-impact scores. Unfortunately, since it hasn't been tested with the updated versions of those tests, it didn't earn this year's Top Safety Pick award, but it was called a Top Safety Pick+ in 2022. NHTSA also gives the V60 a five-star safety rating. Although the Mercedes-Benz E 450 All-Terrain isn't a traditional wagon — it follows the lifted almost-crossover formula shared with the Audi A6 Allroad and Volvo V90 Cross Country — we'll take what we can get in this dwindling category. The All-Terrain hasn't been tested by the IIHS or NHTSA, but a previous-generation E-Class earned a 2023 Top Safety Pick+ award, and Mercedes isn't the kind of company that goes backward when it comes to safety. The E 450 All-Terrain comes standard with automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning, though, at this price, Benz should just make other active safety features standard. With a five-star NHTSA safety rating, standard forward collision warning and emergency braking, and excellent IIHS crashworthiness scores on its original tests, the Audi A6 Allroad does a good job protecting people (both passengers and pedestrians) from crashes. However, since the IIHS hasn't subjected the Allroad to its updated side and moderate front crash criteria, it lost its Top Safety Pick+ status in 2022. Still, it should be a fine option for luxury longroof shoppers. Both the Ford Mustang coupe and convertible perform well in crash testing. The coupe received a five-star safety rating from NHTSA, and both variants scored decently on all the IIHS tests they've undergone. They also come standard with forward collision warning, lane departure prevention, and automatic emergency braking. However, the IIHS needs to test both models on its updated criteria before it will rate them. Although the government hasn't tested it, the Toyota GR86 aced all of its IIHS crashworthiness tests when it was new for the 2022 model year. Unfortunately, since it hasn't been subjected to the IIHS' updated testing since then, it lost its Top Safety Pick+ status. Still, this is a fun-to-drive, sporty coupe that comes standard with a long list of active safety features, and it's reasonably priced to boot. Mechanically identical to the Toyota GR86, the 2025 Subaru BRZ achieves the same safety ratings—who would have thought? It likewise received a Top Safety Pick+ score in 2022 that lapsed when the IIHS updated its criteria for 2023, but like the Toyota, it has a long list of active safety features to go along with its lightweight, rip-roaring sports car attitude. The Audi A5 lost its traditional two-door coupe body style after 2024, but the five-door Sportback body style remains before it's replaced later in 2025. Although it hasn't seen the IIHS' more stringent test regimen, its original crashworthiness scores were good enough to earn it a Top Safety Pick award as recently as 2022. The Sportback is the only variant to be tested by the government, where it earned a five-star safety rating. This story was produced by Edmunds and reviewed and distributed by Stacker. Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.

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It’s a daunting reality for Democrats: Republican Donald Trump's support has grown broadly since he last sought the presidency. In his defeat of Democrat Kamala Harris , Trump won a bigger percentage of the vote in each one of the 50 states, and Washington, D.C., than he did four years ago. He won more actual votes than in 2020 in 40 states, according to an Associated Press analysis. Certainly, Harris’ more than 7 million vote decline from President Joe Biden’s 2020 total was a factor in her loss, especially in swing-state metropolitan areas that have been the party’s winning electoral strongholds. But, despite national turnout that was lower than in the high-enthusiasm 2020 election, Trump received 2.5 million more votes than he did four years ago. He swept the seven most competitive states to win a convincing Electoral College victory, becoming the first Republican nominee in 20 years to win a majority of the popular vote. Trump cut into places where Harris needed to overperform to win a close election. Now Democrats are weighing how to regain traction ahead of the midterm elections in two years, when control of Congress will again be up for grabs and dozens of governors elected. There were some notable pieces to how Trump's victory came together: Though Trump improved across the map, his gains were particularly noteworthy in urban counties home to the cities of Detroit, Milwaukee and Philadelphia, electoral engines that stalled for Harris in industrial swing states Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Harris fell more than 50,000 votes — and 5 percentage points — short of Biden's total in Wayne County, Michigan, which makes up the lion's share of the Detroit metro area. She was almost 36,000 votes off Biden's mark in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, and about 1,000 short in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. It wasn't only Harris' shortfall that helped Trump carry the states, a trio that Democrats had collectively carried in six of the seven previous elections before Nov. 5. Trump added to his 2020 totals in all three metro counties, netting more than 24,000 votes in Wayne County, more than 11,000 in Philadelphia County and almost 4,000 in Milwaukee County. It’s not yet possible to determine whether Harris fell short of Biden’s performance because Biden voters stayed home or switched their vote to Trump — or how some combination of the two produced the rightward drift evident in each of these states. Harris advertised heavily and campaigned regularly in each, and made Milwaukee County her first stop as a candidate with a rally in July. These swings alone were not the difference in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, but her weaker performance than Biden across the three metros helped Trump, who held on to big 2020 margins in the three states' broad rural areas and improved or held steady in populous suburbs. Trump's team and outside groups supporting him knew from their data that he was making inroads with Black voters, particularly Black men younger than 50, more concentrated in these urban areas that have been key to Democratic victories. When James Blair, Trump's political director, saw results coming in from Philadelphia on election night, he knew Trump had cut into the more predominantly Black precincts, a gain that would echo in Wayne and Milwaukee counties. “The data made clear there was an opportunity there,” Blair said. AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of more than 120,000 voters, found Trump won a larger share of Black and Latino voters than he did in 2020, and most notably among men under age 45. Democrats won Senate races in Michigan and Wisconsin but lost in Pennsylvania. In 2026, they will be defending governorships in all three states and a Senate seat in Michigan. Despite the burst of enthusiasm Harris' candidacy created among the Democratic base when she entered the race in July, she ended up receiving fewer votes than Biden in three of the seven states where she campaigned almost exclusively. In Arizona, she received about 90,000 fewer votes than Biden. She received about 67,000 fewer in Michigan and 39,000 fewer in Pennsylvania. In four others — Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin — Harris won more votes than Biden did. But Trump's support grew by more — in some states, significantly more. That dynamic is glaring in Georgia, where Harris received almost 73,000 more votes than Biden did when he very narrowly carried the state. But Trump added more than 200,000 to his 2020 total, en route to winning Georgia by roughly 2 percentage points. In Wisconsin, Trump's team reacted to slippage it saw in GOP-leaning counties in suburban Milwaukee by targeting once-Democratic-leaning, working-class areas, where Trump made notable gains. In the three largest suburban Milwaukee counties — Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha — which have formed the backbone of GOP victories for decades, Harris performed better than Biden did in 2020. She also gained more votes than Trump gained over 2020, though he still won the counties. That made Trump's focus on Rock County, a blue-collar area in south central Wisconsin, critical. Trump received 3,084 more votes in Rock County, home of the former automotive manufacturing city of Janesville, than he did in 2020, while Harris underperformed Biden's 2020 total by seven votes. That helped Trump offset Harris' improvement in Milwaukee's suburbs. The focus speaks to the strength Trump has had and continued to grow with middle-income, non-college educated voters, the Trump campaign's senior data analyst Tim Saler said. “If you're going to have to lean into working-class voters, they are particularly strong in Wisconsin,” Saler said. “We saw huge shifts from 2020 to 2024 in our favor.” Of the seven most competitive states, Arizona saw the smallest increase in the number of votes cast in the presidential contest — slightly more than 4,000 votes, in a state with more than 3.3 million ballots cast. That was despite nearly 30 campaign visits to Arizona by Trump, Harris and their running mates and more than $432 million spent on advertising by the campaigns and allied outside groups, according to the ad-monitoring firm AdImpact. Arizona, alone of the seven swing states, saw Harris fall short of Biden across small, midsize and large counties. In the other six states, she was able to hold on in at least one of these categories. Even more telling, it is also the only swing state where Trump improved his margin in every single county. While turnout in Maricopa County, Arizona's most populous as the home to Phoenix, dipped slightly from 2020 — by 14,199 votes, a tiny change in a county where more than 2 million people voted — Trump gained almost 56,000 more votes than four years ago. Meanwhile, Harris fell more than 60,000 votes short of Biden's total, contributing to a shift significant enough to swing the county and state to Trump, who lost Arizona by fewer than 11,000 votes in 2020. The biggest leaps to the right weren't taking place exclusively among Republican-leaning counties, but also among the most Democratic-leaning counties in the states. Michigan's Wayne County swung 9 points toward Trump, tying the more Republican-leaning Antrim County for the largest movement in the state. AP VoteCast found that voters were most likely to say the economy was the most important issue facing the country in 2024, followed by immigration. Trump supporters were more motivated by economic issues and immigration than Harris', the survey showed. “It’s still all about the economy," said North Carolina Democratic strategist Morgan Jackson, a senior adviser to Democrat Josh Stein, who won North Carolina’s governorship on Nov. 5 as Trump also carried the state. “Democrats have to embrace an economic message that actually works for real people and talk about it in the kind of terms that people get, rather than giving them a dissertation of economic policy,” he said. Governor’s elections in 2026 give Democrats a chance to test their understanding and messaging on the issue, said Democratic pollster Margie Omero, whose firm has advised Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in the past and winning Arizona Senate candidate Ruben Gallego this year. “So there’s an opportunity to really make sure people, who governors have a connection to, are feeling some specificity and clarity with the Democratic economic message,” Omero said.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. , Dec. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --WuKong Education, a leading online K-12 education provider, has been named to the highly-anticipated 2025 edition of the GSV 150 : GSV's annual list of the top 150 private companies transforming digital learning and workforce skills. This recognition underscores WuKong Education's transformative role in the EdTech industry and its commitment to empowering students worldwide through AI-powered personalized learning. Out of more than 2,500 global VC- and PE-backed companies, WuKong Education was selected for the 2025 GSV 150 based on a proprietary evaluation framework, including revenue scale, growth, user reach, geographic diversification, and margin profile. The 2025 cohort of the GSV 150 collectively reaches 3B learners and generates over $25B in annual revenue. "The rapid rise of generative AI is fueling knowledge and creating opportunities we had not imagined before," says Luben Pampoulov, Partner at GSV Ventures. "Multi-modality is making education more engaging, AI tools are driving personalization and productivity, and learning is happening at the speed of light. Effectively everyone across the 2025 GSV 150 has generative AI deeply embedded in their offering." WuKong Education is revolutionizing online education for students aged 3-18 worldwide, offering courses in Chinese, Mathematics, and English Language Arts. By leveraging cutting-edge AI technology, WuKong Education empowers students from 118 countries with a unique learning journey that ignites curiosity, nurtures creativity, and sharpens critical thinking skills. Powered by AI, WuKong Education adapts to each student's unique needs, ensuring that every learner receives a personalized educational journey: This AI-driven teaching model has not only significantly improved student academic performance but also fostered the holistic development of students, earning widespread praise from students and parents around the world. "We are honored to be named to the 2025 GSV 150," said Vicky Wang , founder and CEO of WuKong Education. "This recognition affirms our ongoing commitment to revolutionizing education. By combining the expertise of our teaching and research teams with the possibilities of AI, we are setting a new benchmark for digital education to empower students globally." Earlier this year, WuKong Education was named a 2024 Cognia® School of Distinction for excellence in education by Cognia®, a globally recognized education quality certification organization, and was also listed in the AU&NZ EdTech Top 50 by HolonIQ, a global leader in impact intelligence, for the third consecutive year. These recognitions underscore WuKong Education's continued leadership in the global EdTech industry and its ongoing dedication to delivering exceptional education to learners around the world. About WuKong Education Based in Silicon Valley, WuKong Education is shaping the future of online learning for students aged 3 to 18. WuKong Education's three core programs—WuKong Chinese, WuKong Math, and WuKong English (ELA)—combine AI-driven technology, expert educators, and personalized services to deliver engaging, dynamic learning experiences. With over 400,000 families served globally, WuKong Education is empowering students to succeed and become lifelong learners in an ever-changing world. Learn more at: wukongsch.com . About GSV Founded in 2011, GSV is a global platform that drives education and workforce skills innovation. We believe that ALL people have equal access to the future, and that scaled innovations in "PreK to Gray" learning and skills are crucial to achieving this goal. The GSV platform includes the ASU+GSV Summit , hosted annually in San Diego with 7,000+ attendees; the India -based ASU+GSV & Emeritus Summit , now entering its third year; and The AI Show @ ASU+GSV , an immersive exploration of the AI Revolution in education, which welcomed 10,000+ attendees this year. GSV Ventures , GSV's investment arm founded in 2015, is a multi-stage venture fund investing in the most transformational companies across the global "PreK to Gray" landscape. View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wukong-education-named-to-the-2025-gsv-150-for-leading-the-way-in-education-technology-302338883.html SOURCE WuKong EducationStock market today: Nvidia drags Wall Street from its records as oil and gold rise

AP News Summary at 6:20 p.m. ESTSigning with Dodgers was really easy decision for 2-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell

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Signing with Dodgers was really easy decision for 2-time Cy Young winner Blake SnellTrump Picks Fox News Medical Contributor To Be Surgeon GeneralLOS ANGELES (AP) — Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell says it was a really easy decision to sign with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the presence of three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani played a part, too. Snell was introduced Tuesday at Dodger Stadium accompanied by his agent Scott Boras. The left-hander finalized a $182 million, five-year contract last Saturday. “It was really easy just cause me and Haeley wanted to live here, it’s something we’ve been talking about for a while,” Snell said, referring to his girlfriend. “Then you look at the team. You look at what they’ve built, what they’re doing. It’s just something you want to be a part of.” Last month, Snell opted out of his deal with San Francisco to become a free agent for the second consecutive offseason after he was slowed by injuries during his lone year with the San Francisco Giants. Snell gets a $52 million signing bonus, payable on Jan. 25, and annual salaries of $26 million, of which $13.2 million each year will be deferred . Because Snell is a Washington state resident, the signing bonus will not be subject to California income tax. RELATED COVERAGE Right-hander Connor Gillispie to get $820,000 salary while in majors as part of Braves contract Dodgers’ deferred payment obligations top $1 billion to 7 players with Snell and Edman contracts A no-no and big homer among the moments new Rangers catcher Kyle Higashioka already had in Texas “It just played out the way that people around me felt comfortable with, I felt comfortable with, they felt comfortable with,” Snell said. “We talked and found something that could work for both of us. You want your worth, you want your respect, and you want enough time to where you can really make a name for yourself. I’ve made a name for myself outside of LA, but I’m going to be invested.” Two-way star Ohtani, who signed a record $700 million, 10-year deal a year ago, had a historic first season with the Dodgers. He helped them win the franchise’s eighth World Series while playing only as designated hitter and became MVP in the National League for the first time after twice winning the award while in the American League. “It helps with him in the lineup for sure. That’s big motivation,” Snell said. “You want to be around players like that when you’re trying to be one of the best in the game. Yeah, it played a big part.” Snell joins Ohtani and fellow Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto atop Los Angeles’ rotation. All-Star Tyler Glasnow will be back after having his first season in LA derailed by a sprained elbow. Ohtani didn’t pitch this year while recovering from right elbow surgery but is expected back on the mound in 2025. The rest of the rotation includes Tony Gonsolin, Landon Knack, Dustin May, Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan. “I pitched on six-man, five-man, four-man rotations,” Snell said. “I’m good with it all as long as we have a plan, we’ll execute it.” Snell, who turns 32 on Wednesday, went 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts this year, throwing a no-hitter at Cincinnati on Aug. 2 for one of only 16 individual shutouts in the major leagues this season. He struck out 145 and walked 44 in 104 innings. He was sidelined between April 19 and May 22 by a strained left adductor and between June 2 and July 9 by a strained left groin. Snell won Cy Young Awards in 2018 with Tampa Bay and 2023 with San Diego. He is 76-58 with a 3.19 ERA in nine seasons with the Rays (2016-20), Padres (2021-23) and Giants. He has known Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations, since he was 18. In the aftermath of winning the World Series and discussing how the Dodgers could repeat next year, Friedman said, “All conversations kept coming back to Blake.” “Usually in major league free agency, you’re buying the backside of a guy’s career, the accomplishments that they have had,” he said. “With Blake, one thing that’s really exciting for us is, as much success as he’s had, we feel like there’s more in there.” Snell was 2-2 against the Dodgers in his career. “We couldn’t beat him, so we’re going to have him join us,” Friedman said. .___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Oncocyte to Participate in “J.P. Morgan Week” and Host Investor MeetingsCalifornia banned bilingual education for almost 20 years. It still hasn’t recovered

They were sentenced to decades behind bars for their heinous crimes but now want their sentences cut These are the faces of six criminals who committed heinous crimes but now don't want to do the time as they try desperately to appeal their convictions. From shameful child killer Thomas Cashman who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years to shooter Connor Chapman, who killed Elle Edwards on Christmas Eve. At the time they committed their crimes, it is unlikely they paid much thought to the repercussions and now they can't face the prospect of possibly spending their whole life behind bars. Here the ECHO takes a look at some of the criminals who, since their incarceration, have lodged appeals to have their sentences cut or overturned completely and what the outcome was. Thomas Cashman Child killer Thomas Cashman was branded shameful over his attempts to appeal his sentence and conviction. Cashman , 35, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years in prison after a trial at Manchester Crown Court in March 2023. Olivia Pratt-Korbel, nine, died on August 22, 2022, after Cashman fired a bullet through the front door of her family home in Kingsheath Avenue, Dovecot , shortly after 10pm. The bullet hit her mum, Cheryl Korbel, in the wrist before striking the St Margaret Mary's Primary School pupil in the chest, causing catastrophic injuries. Cashman, formerly of Grenadier Drive in West Derby , had been attempting to kill convicted drug dealer Joseph Nee , now 36, before the hit went disastrously wrong. On November 15, 2023, Cashman had his second appeal bid crushed by the Court of Appeal. In July his application for permission to challenge his 42-year minimum term was rejected by a judge without a hearing. In November John Cooper, KC, representing Cashman, renewed an application to appeal his client's sentence after his initial written application was rejected. In oral arguments at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, watched over video-link by Olivia's family, Mr Cooper argued that trial judge, Mrs Justice Yip, had imposed too high a minimum term . He said: "The aggravating factors were too heavily relied upon to increase the minimum term. In particular, the emphasis on planning and surveillance was a relevant factor to take into account, of course, it was, but too much emphasis was placed onto it for its sophistication.” On November 20 of this year, the killer once again appeared before the Court of Appeal in a bid to overturn his conviction . But this was thrown out by presiding judges Lord Justice Holroyde, Sir Stephen Irwin and Mr Justice Hilliard. Cashman's counsel John Cooper KC told the court that it should order an investigation into allegations that members of the jury were provided with panic alarms by the police during their deliberations. Mr Cooper also told the judges that the police had "been in" to see the jury and informed the jury that there were things they should know. The police had produced a folder of evidence that the jury had not been privy to. The information was said to have been provided to Cashman's solicitor Thomas Keaney by an unknown caller, who said the information had been passed to him via a friend and his dad who had met a juror over a pint. However, the Court of Appeal judges said: "We find it impossible to conceive how such a visit would have gone undetected by court staff as it happened. We are also unable to accept the suggestion that all twelve jurors who were visited in that way and presented with material which was not evidence in the case, breached the obligations so sternly expressed to them in the jury notice and failed to bring that to the attention of court staff or the judge. "The jury will have been warned time without number that they must only decide the case on the evidence, and must ignore all other public comment, and private questions and opinions addressed to them. Yet it is inherent in the scenario advanced that they then not only received this material in an obviously clandestine and illicit way, but then suppressed that fact, all of them ignoring the repeated injunctions to decide the case only on the evidence given in court, not one of them choosing to report the intrusion into the jury room despite the instructions in the jury notice, and all of them changing their verdicts as a result." Connor Chapman Connor Chapman lost a challenge against his 48-year minimum life sentence at the Court of Appeal in February this year. Chapman fatally shot Elle Edwards, 26, on Christmas Eve in 2022. He was convicted of Elle's murder last year. Chapman, 23, hit Elle twice in the back of the head when he fired 12 shots from a Skorpion submachine gun outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral . A trial at Liverpool Crown Court last year was told five other people were injured in the shooting, with Chapman intending to murder two men Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld. The incident was said to be the culmination of a gang feud in Wirral, where there had been nine shootings in 2022. Trial judge Mr Justice Goose, sentencing Chapman, said: "You carefully planned a revenge attack in gang rivalry. You had no thought at all for anyone else, least of all to innocent people. The risk of all six being murdered by you was as substantial as it was obvious, but you didn’t care." At a hearing in London on Thursday, senior judges rejected Chapman's appeal against the length of his prison sentence. The Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, who considered the case alongside Mrs Justice May and Mr Justice Foxton, said they concluded the sentence was "severe, but not manifestly excessive". Lucy Letby Since being behind bars Lucy Letby has twice tried to appeal her convictions. In May after a two-and-a-half-day hearing, Letby's lawyers asked senior judges for approval to bring an appeal against her convictions for the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others. Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Lord Justice Holroyde, refused Letby's request. In October of this year, Letby lost her bid to challenge her conviction for the attempted murder of a baby girl. Letby’s lawyers asked senior judges for approval to appeal against her most recent conviction after being found guilty following a retrial in July of attempting to kill a newborn known as Child K. Lawyers for the former nurse told the Court of Appeal that the attempted murder charge should have been “stayed” as an “abuse of process” due to “overwhelming and irremediable prejudice” caused by media coverage of her first trial and that the retrial should not have gone ahead. But three senior judges dismissed Letby’s bid following the hearing in London. Lord Justice William Davis, sitting with Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mrs Justice McGowan, said at the start of their ruling that they would “refuse permission” for Letby to challenge the conviction. Child serial killer Letby, 34, was previously sentenced to 14 whole life orders for the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others, with two attempts on one child. She was sentenced to a 15th whole life term for the attack on Child K. The offences took place at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit, where Letby worked as a nurse, between June 2015 and June 2016. Natalie Bennett In October of this year, Natalie Bennett applied for permission to appeal her 18-year minimum prison term for the murder of her boyfriend Kasey Anderson. Bennett was found guilty of murdering Kasey after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court in November . The jury heard Kasey was killed a week before his 25th birthday in March last year after being slashed several times with a knife and suffering two stab wounds. A hearing was set to take place at the Court of Appeal in London, on October 24, before judges Lord Justice Holgate, Mrs Justice Stacey and Sir Nigel Davis. The Court of Appeal confirmed to the ECHO the hearing is over a "renewed application for leave to appeal against sentence and for a Representation Order". Bennett, who was aged 47 when she was convicted, plunged a knife into Kasey's heart before attempting to stab him in the head as he lay gravely injured in the neighbour's driveway and pleading for help, telling a 999 call handler that "he was dying". The Court of Appeal confirmed to the ECHO that Bennett's "application for leave to appeal against the sentence was "dismissed" by the court. Eddie Ratcliffe Eddie Ratcliffe, one of the teenagers found guilty of murdering Brianna Ghey, had his sentence appeal rejected after it was claimed it should be reduced due to a lack of consideration for his "maturity". Brianna, from Warrington , was just 16 when she was lured to Culcheth Linear Park by Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe. The unsuspecting Birchwood Community High School pupil was stabbed 28 times and her body was left to be discovered by dog walkers. The teenage killers coordinated their crime through sinister messages on WhatsApp, fuelled by dark web content. Both 16 at the time, Ratcliffe and Jenkinson, were handed life sentences in February this year, with minimum terms of 20 years and 22 years, respectively, for their roles in the brutal killing. At a hearing today, Thursday, December 5, lawyers for Ratcliffe, who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and selective mutism, argued the judge did not "sufficiently" consider his age and maturity when deciding his sentence. Richard Littler KC, representing Ratcliffe, stated at the London court: "It is culpability and maturity which are at the heart of this application. It is right to say that on any analysis of the applicant's maturity, he is closer to the starting point of a 14-year-old rather than a 17-year-old boy. The point we make is age and maturity were very important issues in this case and could very much affect the end result for this particular applicant." Mr Littler remarked that Ratcliffe had been found to have "poor social skills" and "immaturity", as well as "a lower-than-expected ability to express what he thinks or articulate his ideas", further commenting the sentence was "far too high". He said: "There is no doubt they were taken into account, but they were not taken into account fully." The Crown Prosecution Service contested the appeal and the Court of Appeal judges found that the "starting point of 20 years for the minimum term was correct". Delivering the ruling, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr said the sentence imposed by Mrs Justice Yip in February was "neither manifestly excessive nor wrong in principle". She added: "The proposed grounds are not arguable. The applicant's application for leave to appeal against sentence is refused." Wearing a dark suit, shirt, and tie, Ratcliffe appeared at the hearing with his mum in the courtroom via video link. Brianna's family also followed proceedings remotely. Khairi Saadallah The family of murdered schoolteacher James Furlong welcomed his killer's failed Court of Appeal bid against his sentence. The 36-year-old from Liverpool was killed in a terror attack in Reading on June 20, 2020, by Khairi Saadallah. Saadallah also fatally stabbed Mr Furlong's friends, Dr David Wails, 49, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39 - as the victims were enjoying a summer evening after the first lockdown restrictions in England were relaxed. Three other people - Stephen Young, 51, Patrick Edwards, 29, and Nishit Nisudan, 34 - were also injured before Saadallah threw away the eight-inch knife and ran off, pursued by an off-duty police officer. Saadallah, of Basingstoke Road, Reading, pleaded guilty to three murders and three attempted murders - and was sentenced to a whole life order by Mr Justice Sweeney in January this year - who described the incident as a "rare and exceptional" case. In October 2021, Saadallah appeared at the Court of Appeal in London via video link from Belmarsh Prison, wearing a dark jumper, to challenge the length of his sentence. However, after a hearing, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, sitting with Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb and Mr Justice Henshaw, said his challenge had been unsuccessful. In a joint statement, the three men's families welcomed the upholding of his sentence after senior judges rejected Saadallah's appeal bid. The statement said: "While nothing can bring back James, David and Joseph it gives us some comfort to know that Saadallah will spend the whole of the rest of his life behind bars and that the public will be protected from this dangerous man. "The loss of James, Joseph and David has left a vast hole in all of our lives and not a day goes by that we don't miss them tremendously."Saquon Barkley is officially within striking distance of Eric Dickerson’s all-time record for rushing yards in a single season, but it does not seem to be be the most important thing for him right now. The Philadelphia Eagles star Barkley rushed for another 167 yards on Sunday in a 41-7 victory over the Dallas Cowboys that officially clinched the NFC East division for Philly. The outing put Barkley at 2,005 rushing yards for the season and exactly 100 yards away from Dickerson’s all-time record of 2,105 set back in 1984. Barkley can now go for the record in the Eagles’ final game of the season next week against the New York Giants (though Philly sitting their starters for that game is a possibility with the division now all wrapped up). Speaking with reporters after Sunday’s game, Barkley was asked whether he was actively chasing Dickerson’s record. “I’m not overtly trying to get it,” said Barkley, per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network . “I’m not scared of it. But we’ve got bigger things we’re focused on. Whether we play next week or rest, I’m fine with that. I didn’t sign here just to break a record. I want to do something special with the team.” The 13-3 Eagles are still mathematically in the mix for the No. 1 seed in the NFC and a first-round bye. But that is a very unlikely scenario as they still would need to win next week, have the 13-2 Detroit Lions lose twice, and have the 13-2 Minnesota Vikings lose this week. When it comes to the record, Dickerson recently made very clear that he is not rooting for Barkley to break it . Though Dickerson managed to do it in a 16-game season while Barkley gets a 17-game season, Dickerson had 379 carries when he broke the record while Barkley currently has just 345 (and is on pace for 367). Regardless though, the record is there for the taking if Barkley decides he wants to go for it rather than resting for the playoffs. This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

How major US stock indexes fared Monday, 12/9/2024NEW YORK — The man accused of fatally setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train used his shirt to fan the flames, causing her to become engulfed in the blaze, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, made his first court appearance and was arraigned in Brooklyn criminal court. He appeared briefly before a judge and wore a white jumpsuit over a weathered black hooded sweatshirt. He did not speak. He will remain jailed ahead of his next court date on Friday. The apparently random attack occurred Sunday morning on a stationary F train at the Coney Island station in Brooklyn. Police said Tuesday that identification of the victim was still “pending at this time.” Authorities say Zapeta approached the woman, who was sitting motionless in the train car and may have been sleeping, and used a lighter to set her clothing on fire. Zapeta then used his shirt to fan the flames, leading to her becoming engulfed in the fire, Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg said on Tuesday. Zapeta then sat at a bench on the subway platform and watched, according to police. Rottenberg added that under interrogation Zapeta said he didn’t know what happened, noting that he consumes alcohol. But he alleged that Zapeta identified himself to interrogators in images related to the attack. Video posted to social media appeared to show the woman standing inside the train ablaze as some people look on from the platform, and at least one officer walks by. NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta said Sunday that several officers had responded to the fire and one stayed to keep the crime scene “the way it’s supposed to be" while the others went to get fire extinguishers and transit workers. They were eventually able to douse the fire, but “unfortunately, it was too late,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said — the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Zapeta was taken into custody Sunday afternoon while riding a train on the same subway line after police got a tip from some teenagers who recognized him from images circulated by the police. A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police matches a shelter that provides housing and substance abuse support. The shelter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Federal immigration officials said Zapeta had been previously deported in 2018 but at some point reentered the U.S. illegally. In a statement, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the attack a “gruesome and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman” that would be “met with the most serious consequences.” The crime — and the graphic video of it that ricocheted across social media — deepened a growing sense of unease among some New Yorkers about the safety of the subway system in a city where many residents take the subway multiple times each day. Overall, according to authorities, crime is down in the transit system this year when compared to last year — major felonies declined 6% between January and November of this year and in 2023, data compiled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority show. But murders are up, with nine killings this year through November compared to five in the same period last year. Earlier this month, a Manhattan jury acquitted Daniel Penny in the death of an agitated subway rider that the former Marine placed in a chokehold last year. The case became a flashpoint in ongoing debates over safety, homelessness and mental illness on the system. Policing the subway is also difficult, given the vast network of trains constantly moving between the system’s 472 stations, with each stop containing multiple entry points and, in many stations, multiple floors and platforms. On Sunday, police at the station where the woman burned to death were patrolling a different area and responded after seeing and smelling smoke, authorities said.

A slide for market superstar Nvidia helped pull U.S. stock indexes down from their records. The S&P 500 fell 0.6% Monday, coming off its 57th all-time high of the year so far. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.6% from its own record. Nvidia was the market’s heaviest weight after China said it’s probing the chip giant for potential antitrust violations. Stocks in Hong Kong jumped after top Chinese leaders agreed on a “moderately loose” monetary policy. Prices for oil and gold rose following the ouster of Syrian leader Bashar Assad. On Monday: The S&P 500 fell 37.42 points, or 0.6%, to 6,052.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 240.59 points, or 0.5%, to 44,401.93. The Nasdaq composite fell 123.08 points, or 0.6%, to 19,736.69. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 16.16 points, or 0.7%, to 2,392.84. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 1,283.02 points, or 26.9%. The Dow is up 6,712.39 points, or 17.8%. The Nasdaq is up 4,725.34 points, or 31.5%. The Russell 2000 is up 365.76 points, or 18%.