NoneUnited Airlines travelers with lost luggage have a new tool to track their bags. If the lost bag has an Apple AirTag in it, that information can now be passed directly to United, the airline announced Thursday. The new feature, called Share Item Location, allows travelers with an AirTag or other Find My network accessory to share the location with the airline’s customer service team to help locate their luggage in the event it’s misplaced. United says more than 99% of its customers pick up their luggage without a hitch. The feature is now available with iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 or macOS 15.2. “Apple’s new Share Item Location feature will help customers travel with even more confidence, knowing they have another way to access their bag’s precise location with AirTag or their Find My accessory of choice,” said David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer. Travelers on United whose bags do not arrive at their destination can file a delayed baggage report with United and share the link to the item’s location either through the United app or via text message. After the report has been submitted, customer service agents will be able to locate the item on an interactive map alongside a timestamp of a recent update. The shared location will be disabled after a customer has the bag, and customers can also stop sharing the location of the item at any time on their own. The location link will also automatically expire after seven days. Using AirTags or other tracking devices on luggage is increasingly popular among frequent travelers, with a significant boom following the 2022 Southwest Airlines holiday meltdown , which displaced thousands of travelers over Christmas and into 2023, alongside much of their belongings. United says lost bags are rare, with more than 99% of its customers arriving with their bags. It says the new technology will help those with lost bags to recover them more quickly because the airline will have more information about them. Apple previously announced the new service will also be integrated at other air carriers, including Delta Air Lines. Others include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Vueling. Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!
NASSAU, Bahamas — Scottie Scheffler birdied every hole but the par 3s on the front nine at Albany Golf Club on Friday and finished his bogey-free round with an 8-under 64 that gave him a two-shot lead in the Hero World Challenge. Two months off did nothing to slow the world's No. 1 player. Scheffler already has eight victories this year and is in position to get another before the end of the year. Scheffler was at 13-under 131, two ahead of Akshay Bhatia (66) and Justin Thomas (67), both of whom had to save par on the 18th hole to stay in range going into the weekend. Scheffler started with a lob wedge to 2 feet for birdie and never slowed until after he went out in 29 to seize control of the holiday tournament against a 20-man field. Scheffler cooled slightly on the back nine, except it didn't feel that way to him. "Front nine, just things were going my way. Back nine, maybe not as much," Scheffler said. "A couple shots could end up closer to the hole, a couple putts go in, just little things." People are also reading... Asked if he felt any frustration he didn't take it lower — he once shot 59 at the TPC Boston during the FedEx Cup playoffs — Scheffler sounded bemused. "I think in this game I think a lot of all y'all are looking for perfection out of us," he said. "Today I shot 8 under on the golf course, not something I hang my head about. A lot of good things out there — clean card, bogey-free, eight birdies. Overall, I think I'm pretty pleased." Thomas felt his 67 was stress-free, particularly the way he was driving the ball. The wind laid down again, rare for the Bahamas, though it is expected to pick up on the weekend. Thomas wasn't concerned to see Scheffler get off to a hot start, especially with three par 5s on the front nine and a short par 4 that at worst leaves a flip wedge to the green. "You literally can birdie every hole as soft as the greens are," Thomas said. "He's a great player, a great wedge player, and you have a lot of birdie holes to start. I'm honestly surprised he only shot 8 under. It's a sneaky course because if you fall asleep on some shots, you can get out of position. But if you're on and focused and really in control of everything — like these last two days with no wind — you can just make so many birdies." Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley had a 67 and was four shots behind. No matter how benign the conditions, it wasn't always easy. Cameron Young, who opened with a 64 for a two-shot lead, followed with a 75 despite making five birdies. That included a double bogey on the final hole when his approach tumbled down the bank into the rocks framing the lake that goes all the way down the 18th hole. Patrick Cantlay was trying to keep pace playing alongside Scheffler, but he had three bogeys over the final seven holes and fell seven shots behind with a 71. The tournament, hosted by Tiger Woods, is unofficial but offers world ranking points to all but the bottom three players because of the small field. It's the weakest field in 25 years, but Scheffler at No. 1 gives it enough cachet. He is the first player since Woods in 2009 to start and finish a year at No. 1 in the world. And even after a layoff — giving him time to tinker with a new putting stroke — it looks like it might be a while before anyone changes that. Be the first to know
NoneThe Romanian Constitutional Court on Friday annulled the first round of the presidential election after declassified intelligence documents suggested Russian influence operations gave nationalist candidate Calin Georgescu his surprising victory. The Romanian president is an influential political leader but has limited power compared to the country’s prime minister. Romanians nonetheless vote for a president to work in tandem with the prime minister and other political leaders. Georgescu, 62, is a former soil scientist who worked for the Romanian environmental ministry and later represented Romania for the United Nations Environment Program. He entered politics as a member of the nationalist Alliance for the United of Romanians (AUR) party, but quit during party squabbles and became an independent candidate. Georgescu is an admirer of President-elect Donald Trump and has expressed agreement with him on numerous issues, including climate change and pushing back against LGBTQ propaganda. He has also expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, deep skepticism of Western support for Ukraine, and very harsh criticism of left-wing billionaire George Soros. This week, Georgescu said he intended to ban Ukrainian grain exports through Russia – a major pipeline for Ukrainian grain to avoid Russian blockades – and would discontinue further military aid to Kyiv. “It is unimaginable that there be a war next to us in the middle of Europe, so a priority will definitely be that this war in Ukraine must immediately be stopped,” he said. One area where Georgescu strongly disagrees with Trump is NATO spending. Trump has insisted NATO members should meet their obligation to spend two percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defense, while Georgescu said he is “not even interested” in increasing military outlays. “The concern of the Romanian people is to be happy. They cannot be happy spending money on other things. If NATO is defensive, then it should remain defensive. I believe one thing – Romania has an obligation to no one,” he said. Georgescu is also an economic nationalist, running on a platform of giving Romanian companies majority control over joint investments with foreign entities, opposing the privatization of state assets, and challenging European Union funding programs that have failed to lift Romania out of poverty. “Have European funds helped us? Are we reliant on European funds? This country can’t produce? Don’t we have other investors? There is money everywhere in this world, let me tell you,” he said on Tuesday. Georgescu ran with strong Christian themes in his campaign, promoting traditional values and appealing to rural Romanians who felt alienated and abandoned by urban political culture. Agence France-Presse (AFP) found voters disgusted with Romania’s political establishment flocked to Georgescu, many of them choosing him over center-right alternatives because of the Christian faith message in his campaign and his resistance to the LGBTQ agenda. Much of that disgust is fueled by Romania’s status as one of the most corrupt nations in Europe; Transparency International regularly ranks it among the nations with the lowest integrity scores on the continent. Another trend among Georgescu voters is that they tended to distrust establishment media and they thought media criticism of the upstart candidate had gone too far overboard. Some told AFP they decided to give Georgescu a chance after watching his TikTok videos and concluding he was not the monster depicted in Romanian and international media. Georgescu was considered an obscure fringe candidate going into the election. He spent very little on his campaign – he claims he spent nothing, but others dispute that boast – and built most of his following with social media platforms, especially TikTok. “The most important existing function for promoting free speech and freedom of expression is social media,” he said when asked if he had any qualms about using the Chinese-owned TikTok as the primary vehicle for his campaign. Romanian media largely ignored him as a sideshow, but he developed a huge footprint online, winning an astounding 31 percent of the youth vote. International media uniformly described him as “far-right,” an “ultranationalist,” or even a “fascist,” but like other upstart right-wing candidates across the free world, he found ways to reach disaffected voters by going around the media. Romanian political observers were therefore stunned when he took first place in last week’s presidential election. When the results were released on Monday, Georgescu was out front with 22.9 percent of the vote. The second-place finisher, former journalist and mayor Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union (USR) party, took 19.17 percent, followed closely by sitting Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the center-left, pro-European Union Social Democrats (PSD). Ciolacu nabbed about 3,000 fewer votes than Lasconi, a narrow loss that excluded PSD from the mandatory second-round runoff election for the first time in three decades. There were actually 14 candidates in the race, most of them more “centrist” than Georgescu, so Monday brought confident predictions that voters for the other parties would rally against the dark-hose nationalist independent and boost Lasconi into office. The only other strongly right-leaning major candidate was populist George Simion, who expected to finish second and was stunned to find himself in fourth place behind Ciolacu. Polling soon made it clear that Georgescu was the front-runner in the second-round election to be held on Sunday, with support from Simion and the AUR party, further stunning the Romanian political and media establishment. On Friday, the Constitutional Court pulled the plug, raising an outcry from Georgescu voters who accused the long-in-power PSD of using the courts to nullify an election it could not win fairly. The Constitutional Court nullified the election after declassified Romanian intelligence documents were released early this week, accusing Georgescu of winning with the aid of some 25,000 phony TikTok accounts controlled by a Russian disinformation campaign. The documents further suggested the Romanian election system was compromised by a wave of over 85,000 cyberattacks. The speed, size, and scale of the assault was presented as evidence of coordination by a state actor, presumed to be Russia. On Thursday, Romania’s top prosecutor opened an investigation of “indications regarding electoral crimes that would have influenced the voting process, through methods such as corrupting voters, including in the online environment.” Several Romanian civil society groups quickly filed petitions demanding the annulment of the election, and on Friday the top court obliged those requests. The Court nullified “the entire electoral process concerning the election of the president of Romania” and said it would set a new date for the election to begin from scratch. Georgescu supporters cried foul. Simion declared the court was conducting a “coup d’etat” to keep PSD in power, and urged his supporters to make their disapproval known without staging messy protests that could be used as an excuse to crack down on them. “We are not taking to the streets, we will not be provoked. This system must fall democratically!” Simion said. “Nine politically appointed judges, scared that a candidate outside the system had all chances to become Romania’s president, decided to annul Romanians’ will,” he said. Lasconi also condemned the court ruling, saying it was “illegal, amoral, and crushes the very essence of democracy: voting.” “We should have moved forward with the vote. We should have respected the will of the Romanian people. Whether we like it or not, from a legal and legitimate standpoint, nine million Romanian citizens, both in the country and the diaspora, expressed their preference for a particular candidate through their votes. We cannot ignore their will!” she declared. “I know I would have won. And I will win because the Romanian people know I will fight for them, that I will unite them for a better Romania. I will defend our democracy. I will not give up,” she said. Prime Minister Ciolacu praised the court decision, calling it “the only correct solution” following the release of the intelligence report. “The Romanian people’s vote was flagrantly distorted as a result of Russian interference,” he said. “The presidential elections must be held again. At the same time, investigations by the authorities must uncover who is responsible for the massive attempt to influence the outcome of the presidential election,” he said. Georgescu himself dismissed the investigations into his campaign as the work of George Soros’ minions in an interview with Sky News on Thursday. “I can tell you one sentence. The last Soros Fortress has fallen. This man has made them desperate,” he said. Interestingly, no major media outlet seems to have asked Georgescu what he thinks about the court action as of late Friday morning, or has informed their readers of anything he might have said online. Georgescu’s supporters seem determined to stand behind him, which raises the distinct possibility that he will win the rerun election – perhaps by even broader margins, if enough Romanians agree with Simion that the Constitutional Court staged a coup. As of Friday morning, there does not appear to be any discussion of banning Georgescu from running again.Dec. 7, 1941: America remembersdevastating attack on Pearl Harbor
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The Minister for Refugees and Repatriation, Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, was killed on Wednesday afternoon in a suicide bombing at the ministry's offices in the Afghan capital. Thousands of men, many of them armed, gathered for Haqqani's funeral in his home village of Sarana, in a mountainous area of Paktia province, south of Kabul. The funeral included heavy security, with armoured vehicles, snipers and personnel manning the area and the road from Kabul, which was jammed with hundreds of cars as mourners travelled from surrounding provinces. Senior Taliban officials, including the Chief of Army Staff Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, and Maulawi Abdul Kabir, political deputy of the prime minister's office, attended the funeral, according to an AFP team on site. The deceased's nephew, the powerful interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, also attended, along with foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. In a speech there, Muttaqi said the latest IS attacks had been planned "abroad", denouncing, without naming them, "countries harbouring" the organisation. "We call on all nations to work together to stop the common enemy, which does not recognise any kind of morality." In September, the Taliban authorities said IS had training camps in Balochistan province of Pakistan, which also regularly faces jihadist attacks. Haqqani, the highest ranked member of the Taliban government to be killed in an attack since their return to power, "was a big loss for us, the system and the nation", said Paktia resident Hedayatullah, 22. "May God protect our other leaders and keep them victorious." "Our leader... who had his life brutally taken away, achieved martyrdom," said Bostan, 53, haranguing the "cowardly attack" that killed Haqqani. The United Nations mission in Afghanistan condemned the attack on Thursday, offering condolences to the victims' families. "There can be no place for terrorism in the quest for stability," the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on X. The European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation also condemned the attack, along with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran. Haqqani -- who is on US and UN sanctions lists and never appeared without an automatic weapon in his hand -- was the brother of Jalaluddin Haqqani, founder of the feared Haqqani network responsible for some of the most violent attacks during the Taliban's two-decade insurgency. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying a bomber detonated an explosive vest inside the ministry, according to a statement on its Amaq news agency, as translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. Taliban authorities had already blamed IS for the "cowardly attack" -- the first targeting a minister since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Violence has waned in Afghanistan since the Taliban forces took over the country that year, ending their war against US-led NATO coalition forces. However, the regional chapter of IS, known as Islamic State Khorasan, is active in Afghanistan and has regularly targeted civilians, foreigners and Taliban officials with gun and bomb attacks. bur-qb-sw/nro
Lotus Technology Announces Delivery Updates of First Eleven Months of 2024
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s main opposition party said Tuesday it will seek to impeach acting leader Han Duck-soo after he missed an opposition-set deadline to approve independent investigations into impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife. If realized, Han’s impeachment would further deepen South Korea’s political tumult and worries by neighboring countries caused by Yoon’s stunning Dec. 3 martial law declaration and ensuing impeachment. Han, the country’s No. 2 official, has taken over presidential powers and duties since Yoon’s impeachment. If he's impeached too, the finance minister is next in line. The main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which holds a majority in parliament, has slammed Han for vetoing several opposition-sponsored bills, including a controversial agriculture bill. It also urged Han to quickly appoint justices to vacant seats on the Constitutional Court, which is reviewing Yoon's impeachment and will determine whether to dismiss or reinstate him. Filling the court's three empty posts could make conviction more likely, as it requires the support of six of the court's nine possible members. The Democratic Party also demanded that Han approve by Tuesday bills calling for the appointments of special prosecutors to investigate Yoon for rebellion over his marital law decree, and his wife for corruption and other allegations. Get the latest breaking news as it happens. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy . But Han didn’t do so during Tuesday’s Cabinet Council meeting, calling for the ruling and opposition parties to negotiate. Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae responded that there's no room for negotiations about a Yoon investigation, and that his party would begin steps toward an impeachment at once. South Korea's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, second from right, who became the country's acting leader after President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, salutes during a cabinet meeting at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. Credit: AP “We’ve clearly warned that it’s totally up to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo whether he would go down in history as a disgraceful figure as a puppet of rebellion plot leader Yoon Suk Yeol or a public servant that has faithfully carried out the orders by the public,” Park told a televised party meeting. Korean prosecutors and other officials are separately probing whether Yoon committed rebellion and abuse of power, but he’s ignored requests by investigative agencies to appear for questioning and allow searches of his office. Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several other senior military commanders have already been arrested over the deployment of troops and police officers to the National Assembly, which prompted a dramatic standoff that ended when lawmakers managed to enter the chamber and voted unanimously to overrule Yoon's decree. The governing People Power Party said that the opposition's impeachment threats are interfering with Han’s “legitimate exercise of authority." Floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, a Yoon loyalist, said the Democratic Party’s “politics of intimidation have reached their peak.” South Korea's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who became the country's acting leader after President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, speaks during a cabinet meeting at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. Credit: AP An impeachment vote would face legal ambiguities. Most Korean officials can be impeached with a simple majority of parliament, but impeaching the presidents takes two-thirds. The rival parties differ on which standard would apply to an acting president. The Democratic Party controls 170 of the National Assembly's 300 seats, so it would need support from members of other parties including Yoon's own to get a two-thirds majority. The Constitutional Court has up to six months to determine Yoon's fate. If he's thrown of office, a national election to find his successor must take place within two months.Oshkosh stock dips on potential USPS contract changes
Golden Nugget Casino promo code: Spin for a shot at $1,000 + Deposit match up to $1,000Fort Lauderdale, FL, Dec. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Algorhythm Holdings, Inc. (“Algorhythm” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: RIME), an AI-driven technology and consumer electronics holding company, announced today the closing of its previously announced public offering with gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $9.5 million, before deducting placement agent fees and other estimated expenses payable by the Company. The offering comprised of 55,882,352 shares of the Company’s common stock (or pre-funded warrants in lieu of shares of common stock). Each share of common stock or pre-funded warrant was sold with one Series A Warrant to purchase one share of common stock at an exercise price of $0.17 per share (the “Series A Warrants”) and one Series B Warrant to purchase one share of common stock at an exercise price of $0.34 per share (the “Series B Warrants” and, together with the Series A Warrants, the “Warrants”). The Warrants will become exercisable upon the approval of the Company’s stockholders of the issuance of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, and certain other provisions of the Warrants. The Series A Warrants will expire on the five-year anniversary of its initial exercise date and the Series B Warrants will expire on the two and one-half-year anniversary of its initial exercise date. The purchase price of each share of common stock and accompanying Warrants was $0.17, and the purchase price of each pre-funded warrant and accompanying Warrants was such price minus $0.01. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes, and for repayment of certain outstanding senior secured notes of the Company. Univest Securities, LLC is acting as sole placement agent for the offering. The securities described above are being offered by the Company pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333283178) (the “Registration Statement”) previously filed and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus which is a part of the Registration Statement. A final prospectus relating to the offering has been filed with the SEC and is available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov . Electronic copies of the final prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained, when available, by contacting Univest Securities, LLC at info@univest.us , or by calling +1 (212) 343-8888. About Algorhythm Holdings Algorhythm Holdings, Inc. is a holding company with two primary investments. First, the Company owns SemiCab Holdings, an emerging leader in the AI-enabled global logistics industry. Second, the Company owns The Singing Machine Company, the worldwide leader in the consumer karaoke industry. SemiCab is a cloud-based Collaborative Transportation Platform built to achieve the scalability required to predict and optimize millions of loads and hundreds of thousands of trucks. To orchestrate collaboration across manufacturers, retailers, distributors, and their carriers, SemiCab uses real-time data from API-based load tendering and pre-built integrations with TMS and ELD partners. To build fully loaded round trips, SemiCab uses AI/ML predictions and advanced predictive optimization models. On the SemiCab platform, shippers pay less and carriers make more while not having to change a thing. Since 2020, SemiCab has enabled major retailers, brands and transportation providers to address these common supply-chain problems globally. SemiCab's Orchestrated Collaboration TM AI model has proven to increase transportation capacity, improve asset utilization, reduce empty miles, lower logistics costs, and provide visibility into the entire transportation network. Models show the technology has the capability of saving shippers tens of billions of dollars annually through optimization. Further, SemiCab’s technology also has the potential to play a key role in the improved sustainability model globally. Based on its proven ability to improve truck utilization rates from 65% to over 90%, this results in a dramatic reduction in the carbon footprint of the industry. The optimization of existing truck utilization can add approximately 30% more trucking capacity without adding more trucks, drivers or driven miles which addresses common problems plaguing the industry like severe driver shortage and road congestion. Trucking optimization could also eliminate approximately 25% of CO2 emissions attributable to road freight. For additional information regarding SemiCab: http://www.semicab.com The Singing Machine Company, Inc. is the worldwide leader in consumer karaoke products. Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and founded over forty years ago, the Company designs and distributes the industry's widest assortment of at-home and in-car karaoke entertainment products. Their portfolio is marketed under both proprietary brands and popular licenses, including Carpool Karaoke and Sesame Street. Singing Machine products incorporate the latest technology and provide access to over 100,000 songs for streaming through its mobile app and select WiFi-capable products and is also developing the world’s first globally available, fully integrated in-car karaoke system. The Company also has a new philanthropic initiative, CARE-eoke by Singing Machine , to focus on the social impact of karaoke for children and adults of all ages who would benefit from singing. Their products are sold in over 25,000 locations worldwide, including Amazon, Costco, Sam’s Club, Target, and Walmart. To learn more, go to www.singingmachine.com . Investor Relations Contact: investors@algoholdings.com www.algoholdings.com Forward Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements are subject to considerable risks and uncertainties. The Company intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are "forward-looking statements" and should be evaluated as such. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “seeks,” “should,” “suggest”, “will,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, statements relating to the timing, size and expected gross proceeds of the Offering, the completion of the Offering, the satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to the Offering and sale of securities, the Company’s ability to complete the Offering, and the intended use of proceeds from the Offering. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations and projections about future events. Forward-looking statements are subject to and involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements predicted, assumed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, risks, uncertainties and assumptions related to market conditions and the satisfaction of closing conditions related to the Offering, risks disclosed in the section titled “Risk Factors” included in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 initially filed with the SEC on November 12, 2024, and risks disclosed under item 1A. “Risk Factors” in the Company’s most recently filed Form 10-KT filed with the SEC and the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. This press release speaks as of the date indicated above. The Company undertakes no obligation and expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
Investing.com -- India's stock market has entered its longest bull run, surpassing the 2003-08 rally in duration but have delivered only a third of its cumulative returns. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) analysts believe the current market, marked by low volatility and strong relative gains against emerging markets, still has room to grow. The ongoing rally, which began in March 2020 during the pandemic's early uncertainty, has been supported by several macroeconomic factors and structural shifts. Key factors driving the next phase include a declining primary deficit, democratisation of investing and credit, robust consumption, improved social equity with higher female workforce participation, and an energy boom. Morgan Stanley views current market valuations as reasonable, given that the earnings cycle is only midway. India's nominal GDP is expected to grow by 10-11% annually over the next five years, with corporate earnings likely compounding at 18-20%. Improving corporate balance sheets, rising private investments, and favourable external dynamics, such as reduced oil dependence, bolster the earnings outlook. Morgan Stanley favours cyclicals over defensives, highlighting financials, consumer discretionary, industrials, and technology as preferred sectors. Whereas sectors like Consumer Staples, Utilities, and Healthcare are expected to underperform. The bull market is transitioning from macro-driven growth to stock-picking opportunities, Morgan Stanley said. Small and mid-cap stocks, which have recently underperformed, are set to regain momentum. Emerging themes include private capital expenditure in areas like energy mobility, defense, and semiconductors, alongside traditional industries like cement and real estate. India’s improving macroeconomic stability and structural reforms suggest its equity market still has potential for further gains, with Morgan Stanley emphasizing the importance of sectoral and thematic plays to navigate the next leg of the rally. Related Articles India's longest bull market has more room to run - Morgan Stanley Boeing plans to increase 787 production to 10 per month by 2026 Contact lens maker Bausch + Lomb says it is exploring sale