The Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States has been reviewing the deal, which has faced political opposition from both parties. It has been looking into whether it would raise any national security concerns, such as by further weaking America's steelmaking capacity. Bloomberg News cited sources familiar with the matter who said President Joe Biden would block the deal after the CFIUS report came back this month. Nippon Steel said it would maintain U.S. Steel as a subsidiary that would remain headquartered in Pittsburgh. It has promised no layoffs or plant closings and said it would invest $2.7 billion in U.S. Steel plants, including $300 million in a blast furnace in Gary Works. The Japan-based steelmaker has threatened legal action if the deal is blocked. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts "Nippon Steel is confident that our proposed partnership is the best path forward to secure the future of U. S. Steel," Nippon Steel spokesman Jack Coster said. "From the outset of the process, we have engaged in good faith with all parties to underscore how the transaction will bolster American economic and national security by countering the threats posed by China. It is inappropriate that politics continue to outweigh true national security interests – especially with the indispensable alliance between the U.S. and Japan as the important foundation. Nippon Steel still has confidence in the justice and fairness of America and its legal system, and — if necessary — will work with U. S. Steel to consider and take all available measures to reach a fair conclusion." The incoming Trump administration also has threatened to block the merger. The United Steelworkers union has raised a number of concerns, including that it would erode American steelmaking over time and make it harder to prosecute trade cases. It notes that the United States currently imposes tariffs on some imports from Nippon Steel and expresses fears more of the steelmaking would happen abroad, reducing U.S. Steel's mills to finishing lines. U.S. Steel spokeswoman Amanda Malkowski said the deal would benefit all stakeholders, including "the future of steelmaking in Indiana." "The transaction with Nippon Steel provides, by far, the brightest future for U. S. Steel, our employees and communities, and our customers," Malkowski said. "Nippon Steel has committed to preserve U. S. Steel as a U.S. company headquartered in Pennsylvania and to contribute billions of dollars of investment to our mills and communities, securing the future of steelmaking in Pennsylvania and Indiana. No other party can do this. Investment into the United States advances U.S. national security by enhancing innovation and competitiveness in the United States and bolstering critical global alliances. This transaction should be approved on its merits. The benefits are overwhelmingly clear. Our communities, customers, investors, and employees strongly support this transaction, and we will continue to advocate for them and adherence to the rule of law."Critical Metals Corp. Appointment of CFO and Board Transition
Recent data from Statista has revealed in the first nine months of 2024, artificial intelligence (AI) related investments accounted for 33 percent of total investment into venture capital backed companies headquartered in the U.S., a rate that is 19 percent higher than in 2020. The company AIPRM has analysed venture capital investment trends from 2012 to now, to predict which countries will be investing the most in AI in 2025. To do this, the firm gathered intel on venture capital investment in: AI start-ups, AI in environmental sustainability, generative AI start-ups and compute start-ups. AIPRM reviewed OECD. AI global data on venture capital investment. The firm looked at data from 2012 to to 2024. Overall U.S. Insight The countries with the highest venture capital investments in AI are: The analysis reveals that in first place, the U.S. is predicted to be the biggest investor in AI in 2025. In 2012, investors in the U.S. were already pumping billions in AI ($2.4 billion). By 2024, this has jumped to $80.5 billion – using linear regression, AIPRM predicts that by 2025 the U.S. will be investing $87.4 billion. Notably, the U.S. had the highest predicted venture capital investments in AI compute start-ups in 2025 – at $9.5 billion. AI compute start-ups are companies that focus on building the technology and infrastructure needed to run artificial intelligence systems more efficiently, quickly, and cheaply. Following behind as the second highest predicted investor in 2025 is China. Despite being significantly lower than the U.S. in 2012 (at $165 million), investment in China has jumped all the way up to $37.7 billion in 2024 . China had the highest predicted venture capital investments in AI in environmental sustainability in 2025. The UK is predicted to be the third highest venture capital investor in 2025. In 2012, investments into AI were around $121 million, today, investments into AI are $6.4bn. Using linear regression, forecasted figures suggest the UK will be investing around $7 billion. Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news.Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.Dusty May, No. 14 Michigan try to continue strong start vs. Arkansas
NoneThere’s endless hype around generative AI this year, and app developers have clearly been paying attention. AI-focused tools are blowing up in almost every category, occupying top 10 rankings across education, productivity, and photo editing. Opportunities are particularly rife for free graphics and design apps, a category that’s positively saturated with AI content creation tools. But quantity doesn’t mean quality — and a great many of these apps are bewilderingly bad. I’ve been using some of the most popular offerings to understand the state of AI tools as we head into 2025. And for every serious attempt to make AI useful, there seem to be several more designed to cash in on the hype: quietly paywalling features they advertise behind pricey subscriptions and greatly misrepresenting the results that users can achieve, if the app even works at all. Around half of the App Store’s have “AI” in the name, and three of them are all made by the same company — , an app developer founded in 2022 that’s based in Turkey. One of its apps, , is advertised as an AI image generator with some photo editing features. Almost every tool is locked behind a $30 annual (or $5 weekly) subscription fee, and the free trial only unlocks a subpar text-to-image feature that gives you a choice between using unspecified versions of Stable Diffusion and DALL-E AI models. The images it produces are low-quality and resized or cropped incorrectly. In-app ads appear when you click pretty much any link. The UI is unpleasant to navigate. If you pay for the full version, you can’t download any edited images without slapping an ugly watermark on it. And yet, it sits far above the rankings for more recognizable creative platforms like Microsoft Designer, which has its own built-in text-to-image AI generator. Adobe Express is the only design-focused app in the same category that currently ranks above DaVinci AI. The other two high-ranking HUBX products I tested were just as lackluster: the “interior design” app spits out hallucination-riddled images of rooms that are barely usable even as concept plans, and the app refused to work entirely. Both apps have the same feature paywalls and review pop-up reminders as DaVinci AI. The copy and pasted App Store version history notes across all HUBX products are also devoid of any details. While all three apps feature a surprisingly large number of five-star reviews, the and the is overwhelmingly negative. A recurring complaint is that customer service is impossible to get ahold of. HUBX never responded to my requests for comment. Apps that clearly advertise having AI features are highly attractive. According to , four out of the top 10 most downloaded iOS graphics and design apps in the US so far this year have had “AI” somewhere in their title. That’s actually two fewer than last year, but the most popular apps are booming. saw downloads increase by more than 160 percent since last year. Comparatively, downloads on iOS — which also includes generative AI features — fell by 21 percent during the same period. AI-focused creative apps aren’t bad, but the app market saturation makes it harder to find the good ones that use the technology in more focused ways. Apps like and Adobe Photoshop have specific tools for removing unwanted objects from photos or inserting new ones in specific places. Smaller developers that provide similar features and perform those tasks well are also climbing the App Store rankings. For example, Photoroom and — all-in-one graphic design apps akin to platforms like Canva and Adobe Express — are actually pretty good! They rank highly in the free and provide a similar variety of features to quickly create online content using premade digital assets and templates, alongside some AI-powered editing tools like automatic background and object removal. Neither app blew me away, but they did exactly what they advertised: the background removal features aren’t as good as Canva’s, but they did the job, and object removal erased undesirable aspects of photos even if it wasn’t as convincing as Google’s Magic Editor. Both apps lock some of their more premium editing features and digital assets behind a $13 monthly subscription, which is pretty standard if you’re being upfront about it — individual Canva and Adobe Express subscriptions start at $15 and $10 per month, respectively, by comparison. There’s also a noticeable divide between the iPhone and iPad charts — very few AI-focused names appear in the top 100 free paid list for the iPad, which instead feature a more diverse range of graphic design apps like Adobe Fresco, Clip Studio Paint, and Canva. And interestingly, the list of top iPhone apps looks very similar. There’s an abundance of sketching and 3D modeling platforms, premium reference materials for artists, and tools that streamline specific creative tasks like removing backgrounds and resizing images. The divide suggests the spammy AI app phenomenon is a mass-market one that hasn’t quite caught on with traditional photographers and illustrators who still want to use their tried-and-true apps. It also suggests that AI itself holds less appeal if users are expected to pay for it, which tracks with the kind of creative AI apps that appear most frequently — custom tattoos, logo makers, and interior design — which are skilled services that usually require payment. People don’t necessarily want to remove the skill barrier; they want to remove the financial one. Using in-app charges to appear on the App Store’s free category, and thereby attract a wider audience, is hardly new. Mobile games have been taking advantage of this loophole for years — and what’s now happening with the creative AI market looks eerily familiar.Memphis beats No. 2 UConn 99-97 in overtime to tipoff Maui Invitational
NEW YORK – President-elect Donald Trump’s recent dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his visit to Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral were not just exercises in policy and diplomacy. They were also prime trolling opportunities for Trump. Recommended Videos Throughout his first term in the White House and during his campaign to return, Trump has spun out countless provocative, antagonizing and mocking statements. There were his belittling nicknames for political opponents, his impressions of other political figures and the plentiful memes he shared on social media. Now that's he's preparing to return to the Oval Office, Trump is back at it, and his trolling is attracting more attention — and eyerolls. On Sunday, Trump turned a photo of himself seated near a smiling first lady Jill Biden at the Notre Dame ceremony into a social media promo for his new perfume and cologne line, with the tag line, “A fragrance your enemies can’t resist!” The first lady’s office declined to comment. When Trudeau hastily flew to Florida to meet with Trump last month over the president-elect's threat to impose a 25% tax on all Canadian products entering the U.S., the Republican tossed out the idea that Canada become the 51st U.S. state. The Canadians passed off the comment as a joke, but Trump has continued to play up the dig, including in a post Tuesday morning on his social media network referring to the prime minister as “Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada.” After decades as an entertainer and tabloid fixture, Trump has a flair for the provocative that is aimed at attracting attention and, in his most recent incarnation as a politician, mobilizing fans. He has long relished poking at his opponents, both to demean and minimize them and to delight supporters who share his irreverent comments and posts widely online and cheer for them in person. Trump, to the joy of his fans, first publicly needled Canada on his social media network a week ago when he posted an AI-generated image that showed him standing on a mountain with a Canadian flag next to him and the caption “Oh Canada!” After his latest post, Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Tuesday: “It sounds like we’re living in a episode of South Park." Trudeau said earlier this week that when it comes to Trump, “his approach will often be to challenge people, to destabilize a negotiating partner, to offer uncertainty and even sometimes a bit of chaos into the well established hallways of democracies and institutions and one of the most important things for us to do is not to freak out, not to panic.” Even Thanksgiving dinner isn't a trolling-free zone for Trump's adversaries. On Thanksgiving Day, Trump posted a movie clip from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” with President Joe Biden and other Democrats’ faces superimposed on the characters in a spoof of the turkey-carving scene. The video shows Trump appearing to explode out of the turkey in a swirl of purple sparks, with the former president stiffly dancing to one of his favorite songs, Village People’s “Y.M.C.A." In his most recent presidential campaign, Trump mocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, refusing to call his GOP primary opponent by his real name and instead dubbing him “Ron DeSanctimonious.” He added, for good measure, in a post on his Truth Social network: “I will never call Ron DeSanctimonious ‘Meatball’ Ron, as the Fake News is insisting I will.” As he campaigned against Biden, Trump taunted him in online posts and with comments and impressions at his rallies, deriding the president over his intellect, his walk, his golf game and even his beach body. After Vice President Kamala Harris took over Biden's spot as the Democratic nominee, Trump repeatedly suggested she never worked at McDonalds while in college. Trump, true to form, turned his mocking into a spectacle by appearing at a Pennsylvania McDonalds in October, when he manned the fries station and held an impromptu news conference from the restaurant drive-thru. Trump’s team thinks people should get a sense of humor. “President Trump is a master at messaging and he’s always relatable to the average person, whereas many media members take themselves too seriously and have no concept of anything else other than suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome,” said Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director. “President Trump will Make America Great Again and we are getting back to a sense of optimism after a tumultuous four years.” Though both the Biden and Harris campaigns created and shared memes and launched other stunts to respond to Trump's taunts, so far America’s neighbors to the north are not taking the bait. “I don’t think we should necessarily look on Truth Social for public policy,” Miller said. Gerald Butts, a former top adviser to Trudeau and a close friend, said Trump brought up the 51st state line to Trudeau repeatedly during Trump’s first term in office. “Oh God,” Butts said Tuesday, “At least a half dozen times.” “This is who he is and what he does. He’s trying to destabilize everybody and make people anxious,” Butts said. “He’s trying to get people on the defensive and anxious and therefore willing to do things they wouldn’t otherwise entertain if they had their wits about them. I don’t know why anybody is surprised by it.” ___ Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.Calls to boycott Conor McGregor and his products have emerged after the jury in a civil case found last week that he had assaulted Nikita Hand in Dublin in 2018 . After rising to fame through the UFC, Dublin native McGregor has landed a number of lucrative brand deals, partnerships, and endorsements. He was named the world's top-paid athlete by Forbes in 2021 and he is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars today. Most notable of McGregor's products are Proper No Twelve Irish Whiskey, which he launched in 2018 and sold his majority stake to Proximo Spirits for a reported $600 million in 2021 , and his Forged Irish Stout, which he launched in 2021. A large part of McGregor's brand deals and endorsements are his massive social media followings. At the time of publication on Monday, he boasted a staggering 47.4 million followers on Instagram, 15 million followers on Facebook, and 10.6 million followers on X. Since the start of his civil case in Dublin on November 5, McGregor's Instagram feed featured several product plugs, including for TIDL Sport, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships, Boxbollen, and Forged Irish Stout. In his Instagram bio, McGregor links to Duelbits, The Mac Life shop, and US rapper Xzibit's new record which was produced on McGregor's label GreenBacks. With his far-reaching social media following, it's no surprise that advertisers want in on the McGregor brand - but will Friday's court decision change that? There are now calls for boycotts on all things McGregor after the Irish UFC star was found by a jury to have sexually assaulted Nikita Hand in Dublin in 2018. Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! Among those calling for a McGregor boycott is the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland (RCNI), which said sponsors and brand partners "need to consider what message they are promoting." Sponsors and brand partners of Conor McGregor’s need to consider what message they are promoting and what it says about them and their product https://t.co/jdCTalmw5Q Clíona Saidléar, the Executive Director of the RCNI, told the Irish Independent: "The companies making money from his alcohol and other products need to look at whether they want to align themselves with a man found by a civil jury to have sexually assaulted a woman." "They need to stop promoting him and distance themselves... €250,000 won't dent his finances, but the public can play a role here in expressing disapproval for anyone that tries make money with a man who engaged in that despicable behaviour.” Saidléar further told IrishCentral on Monday that RCNI is asking commercial partners and brands to "consider their ongoing relationship with the Conor McGregor brand." "There is also a role for consumers," Saidléar added. "The question is who do we wish to be a role model for our children. What does it say about us that we would align with his brand? "That brand is now that of someone who has been proven in a civil court to have brutally sexually assaulted a woman." Conor McGregor. (Getty Images) While the RCNI is calling for a boycott of McGregor products, Reportd.ie, an Irish platform where users can anonymously report sexual assault, has gone viral for its explanation of why unfollowing McGregor makes a difference. “Publicly supporting people who have committed acts of sexual violence or harassment is a form of acceptance,” Reportd.ie said in its November 23 post that has received more than 50k likes as of Monday. “Taking the small step of unfollowing perpetrators like Conor McGregor actively shows that you don't support this behaviour. “It also challenges us to think about how we see public figures and the portrayal of sexual abuse crimes in the media.” Reportd.ie added: “Continuing to follow McGregor also means financially supporting him; it’s estimated that McGregor makes over €100,000 per sponsored Instagram post. “Without engaged followers this protected number will dwindle.” A post shared by Reportd (@reportd.ie) Among the many commenters on Reportd.ie's post was McGregor himself who wrote "Followed," followed by a cry-laughing emoji. McGregor, meanwhile, has deleted a series of posts on X that he had issued after the jury made its decision on Friday. In one lengthy, now-deleted post, he accused Nikita Hand of being a liar, said that the court was brainwashed by the mainstream media, and that the court reporting was a "laughing stock." Conor McGregor's comment on Reportd.ie's Instagram post. As of Monday afternoon, McGregor had lost at least one partnership. IO Interactive, the developers of the Hitman video game franchise, announced they are ceasing collaboration with McGregor effectively immediately. In light of the recent court ruling regarding Conor McGregor, IO Interactive has made the decision to cease its collaboration with the athlete, effective immediately. We take this matter very seriously and cannot ignore its implications. Consequently, we will begin removing all...
BMW praises Tesla's Full Self-Driving technology on social media
Shohei Ohtani likely to win his third MVP award and Aaron Judge his second NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani is expected to win his third Most Valuable Player Award and first in the National League, and Aaron Judge is likely to earn his second AL honor when the Baseball Writers’ Association announces its balloting. Ohtani was unanimously voted the AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels. He signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers last December. Ohtani hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs, becoming the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. He helped the Dodgers to the World Series title. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.Lawyer says ex-Temple basketball standout Hysier Miller met with NCAA for hours amid gambling probe
LAS VEGAS — Formula 1 on Monday at last said it will expand its grid in 2026 to make room for an American team that is partnered with General Motors. "As the pinnacle of motorsports, F1 demands boundary-pushing innovation and excellence. It's an honor for General Motors and Cadillac to join the world's premier racing series, and we're committed to competing with passion and integrity to elevate the sport for race fans around the world," GM President Mark Reuss said. "This is a global stage for us to demonstrate GM's engineering expertise and technology leadership at an entirely new level." The approval ends years of wrangling that launched a U.S. Justice Department investigation into why Colorado-based Liberty Media, the commercial rights holder of F1, would not approve the team initially started by Michael Andretti. Andretti in September stepped aside from leading his namesake organization, so the 11th team will be called Cadillac F1 and be run by new Andretti Global majority owners Dan Towriss and Mark Walter. The team will use Ferrari engines its first two years until GM has a Cadillac engine built for competition in time for the 2028 season. Towriss is the the CEO and president of Group 1001 and entered motorsports via Andretti's IndyCar team when he signed on financial savings platform Gainbridge as a sponsor. Towriss is now a major part of the motorsports scene with ownership stakes in both Spire Motorsports' NASCAR team and Wayne Taylor Racing's sports car team. Walter is the chief executive of financial services firm Guggenheim Partners and the controlling owner of both the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and Premier League club Chelsea. "We're excited to partner with General Motors in bringing a dynamic presence to Formula 1," Towriss said. "Together, we're assembling a world-class team that will embody American innovation and deliver unforgettable moments to race fans around the world." Mario Andretti, the 1978 F1 world champion, will have an ambassador role with Cadillac F1. But his son, Michael, will have no official position with the organization now that he has scaled back his involvement with Andretti Global. "The Cadillac F1 Team is made up of a strong group of people that have worked tirelessly to build an American works team," Michael Andretti posted on social media. "I'm very proud of the hard work they have put in and congratulate all involved on this momentous next step. I will be cheering for you!" The approval has been in works for weeks but was held until after last weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix to not overshadow the showcase event of the Liberty Media portfolio. Max Verstappen won his fourth consecutive championship in Saturday night's race, the third and final stop in the United States for the top motorsports series in the world. Grid expansion in F1 is both infrequent and often unsuccessful. Four teams were granted entries in 2010 that should have pushed the grid to 13 teams and 26 cars for the first time since 1995. One team never made it to the grid and the other three had vanished by 2017. There is only one American team on the current F1 grid — owned by California businessman Gene Haas — but it is not particularly competitive and does not field American drivers. Andretti's dream was to field a truly American team with American drivers. The fight to add this team has been going on for three-plus years, and F1 initially denied the application despite approval from F1 sanctioning body FIA. The existing 10 teams, who have no voice in the matter, also largely opposed expansion because of the dilution in prize money and the billions of dollars they've already invested in the series. Andretti in 2020 tried and failed to buy the existing Sauber team. From there, he applied for grid expansion and partnered with GM, the top-selling manufacturer in the United States. The inclusion of GM was championed by the FIA and president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who said Michael Andretti's application was the only one of seven applicants to meet all required criteria to expand F1's current grid. "General Motors is a huge global brand and powerhouse in the OEM world and is working with impressive partners," Ben Sulayem said Monday. "I am fully supportive of the efforts made by the FIA, Formula 1, GM and the team to maintain dialogue and work towards this outcome of an agreement in principle to progress this application." Despite the FIA's acceptance of Andretti and General Motors from the start, F1 wasn't interested in Andretti — but did want GM. At one point, F1 asked GM to find another team to partner with besides Andretti. GM refused and F1 said it would revisit the Andretti application if and when Cadillac had an engine ready to compete. "Formula 1 has maintained a dialogue with General Motors, and its partners at TWG Global, regarding the viability of an entry following the commercial assessment and decision made by Formula 1 in January 2024," F1 said in a statement. "Over the course of this year, they have achieved operational milestones and made clear their commitment to brand the 11th team GM/Cadillac, and that GM will enter as an engine supplier at a later time. Formula 1 is therefore pleased to move forward with this application process." Yet another major shift in the debate over grid expansion occurred earlier this month with the announced resignation of Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, who was largely believed to be one of the biggest opponents of the Andretti entry. "With Formula 1's continued growth plans in the US, we have always believed that welcoming an impressive US brand like GM/Cadillac to the grid and GM as a future power unit supplier could bring additional value and interest to the sport," Maffei said. "We credit the leadership of General Motors and their partners with significant progress in their readiness to enter Formula 1." Get local news delivered to your inbox!WASHINGTON , Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chief Executive Officer of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) expressed his profound thanks to President-elect Donald Trump and extended his heartfelt congratulations to Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer on her nomination as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. "On behalf of our 4,000 NECA contractors and the hundreds of thousands of workers they employ across the nation in our nearly quarter trillion-dollar industry, I want to congratulate Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer on her nomination to head up the Department of Labor," said David Long , CEO of NECA. "Her leadership, dedication, and commitment to fostering economic growth and workforce development make her an outstanding choice to lead the Department of Labor. We are confident she will bring a thoughtful and collaborative approach to addressing the challenges and opportunities facing America's workforce." Representative Chavez-DeRemer has demonstrated a deep understanding of the critical role skilled trades play in building a strong economy. Her support for apprenticeship programs, workforce training initiatives, and fair labor practices aligns with NECA's mission to create a thriving environment for the electrical construction industry and the people who power our nation. "As NECA continues to champion the skilled trades and the electrical construction industry, we look forward to working closely with Representative Chavez-DeRemer to advance policies that ensure a robust workforce, uphold workplace safety, and promote innovation in our sector," Long added. NECA stands ready to collaborate with the Department of Labor under Representative Chavez-DeRemer's leadership to unite the needs of employers, workers, and apprentices across the nation. We extend our best wishes to her for a successful confirmation process and look forward to seeing the positive impact of her work in this critical role. ABOUT THE NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION NECA is the voice of the $240 billion electrical construction industry that brings power, light, and communication technology to buildings and communities across North America. NECA's national office and 118 local chapters advance the industry through advocacy, education, research, and standards development. Go to www.necanet.org for more information. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/electrical-contractors-congratulate-representative-lori-chavez-deremer-on-nomination-as-us-secretary-of-labor-302315777.html SOURCE National Electrical Contractors Assoc Inc. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Aiden McGeady has revealed that he ditched his car after it took him five hours to drive a 30-minute journey from the Spartak Moscow training ground to his home. And one of the reasons for the snarl up on the Moscow motorways was a sudden road closure to allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to get through the city. McGeady joined Spartak from Celtic in the summer of 2010 and he stayed there until his January 2014 move to Everton, playing almost 100 games and scoring 13 goals. READ MORE: Aiden McGeady details awkward way Celtic stars brought him ‘down a peg or two’ READ MORE: Warning issued as accounts show millions in combined League of Ireland losses While he also detailed some of the long flights to play domestic games, the Moscow traffic was something that he really struggled with during his short time driving in the Russian capital. He said : “The club did amazing things to help you. The club gave you a car and a driver. “The driver, I felt sorry for the guy, he was driving us about. He’d drop you if you went to go shopping and he’d wait on you. You’d go to a restaurant and he’d wait for you. “You’d then go back home and you’d say, oh, I’m going out tonight, and he’d sit in the car and wait for you. The guys worked 24 hours a day sometimes. “So I’d go to training with a driver and my missus would sit in the house. So I was like, I need to get a car so she can do her own thing as well, if she wants to go to the gym or go shopping. “So I got a car and drove to training a few times. I only stayed about half-an-hour with no traffic to the training ground. “I drove one day and on the way back it took me about five hours to drive home, because Moscow is a different world. Six lane motorways either side and this was just queued back. “And obviously when Putin goes about as well, every road in Moscow is shut. See if Putin is about, the policemen just stop the roads and they just stand there, and you are going, what’s going on here? Putin must be going about! “Then 15 black cars fly by at 70 miles an hour and it’s, on you go again. It took me five hours to go home! “Whenever there’s a crash over there, what they do here is, if you crash you move into the side of the road, if you bump cars you move into the side and let the traffic go. “Over there, you are not allowed to move the car until the police come to identify whose fault it was. So if you are blocking a road, you are blocking the road until the police come. “So it was five hours in my car to go home after training one day. And I just said to my driver the next day, I need to get out of this car, I cannae do this anymore. “That was my experience of traffic. People don’t realise it’s a different world.” Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alertsDuke's Diaz: QB Murphy faces internal discipline for raising middle fingers in Virginia Tech winLAS VEGAS — Formula 1 on Monday at last said it will expand its grid in 2026 to make room for an American team that is partnered with General Motors. "As the pinnacle of motorsports, F1 demands boundary-pushing innovation and excellence. It's an honor for General Motors and Cadillac to join the world's premier racing series, and we're committed to competing with passion and integrity to elevate the sport for race fans around the world," GM President Mark Reuss said. "This is a global stage for us to demonstrate GM's engineering expertise and technology leadership at an entirely new level." The approval ends years of wrangling that launched a U.S. Justice Department investigation into why Colorado-based Liberty Media, the commercial rights holder of F1, would not approve the team initially started by Michael Andretti. Andretti in September stepped aside from leading his namesake organization, so the 11th team will be called Cadillac F1 and be run by new Andretti Global majority owners Dan Towriss and Mark Walter. The team will use Ferrari engines its first two years until GM has a Cadillac engine built for competition in time for the 2028 season. Towriss is the the CEO and president of Group 1001 and entered motorsports via Andretti's IndyCar team when he signed on financial savings platform Gainbridge as a sponsor. Towriss is now a major part of the motorsports scene with ownership stakes in both Spire Motorsports' NASCAR team and Wayne Taylor Racing's sports car team. Walter is the chief executive of financial services firm Guggenheim Partners and the controlling owner of both the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and Premier League club Chelsea. "We're excited to partner with General Motors in bringing a dynamic presence to Formula 1," Towriss said. "Together, we're assembling a world-class team that will embody American innovation and deliver unforgettable moments to race fans around the world." Mario Andretti, the 1978 F1 world champion, will have an ambassador role with Cadillac F1. But his son, Michael, will have no official position with the organization now that he has scaled back his involvement with Andretti Global. "The Cadillac F1 Team is made up of a strong group of people that have worked tirelessly to build an American works team," Michael Andretti posted on social media. "I'm very proud of the hard work they have put in and congratulate all involved on this momentous next step. I will be cheering for you!" The approval has been in works for weeks but was held until after last weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix to not overshadow the showcase event of the Liberty Media portfolio. Max Verstappen won his fourth consecutive championship in Saturday night's race, the third and final stop in the United States for the top motorsports series in the world. Grid expansion in F1 is both infrequent and often unsuccessful. Four teams were granted entries in 2010 that should have pushed the grid to 13 teams and 26 cars for the first time since 1995. One team never made it to the grid and the other three had vanished by 2017. There is only one American team on the current F1 grid — owned by California businessman Gene Haas — but it is not particularly competitive and does not field American drivers. Andretti's dream was to field a truly American team with American drivers. The fight to add this team has been going on for three-plus years, and F1 initially denied the application despite approval from F1 sanctioning body FIA. The existing 10 teams, who have no voice in the matter, also largely opposed expansion because of the dilution in prize money and the billions of dollars they've already invested in the series. Andretti in 2020 tried and failed to buy the existing Sauber team. From there, he applied for grid expansion and partnered with GM, the top-selling manufacturer in the United States. The inclusion of GM was championed by the FIA and president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who said Michael Andretti's application was the only one of seven applicants to meet all required criteria to expand F1's current grid. "General Motors is a huge global brand and powerhouse in the OEM world and is working with impressive partners," Ben Sulayem said Monday. "I am fully supportive of the efforts made by the FIA, Formula 1, GM and the team to maintain dialogue and work towards this outcome of an agreement in principle to progress this application." Despite the FIA's acceptance of Andretti and General Motors from the start, F1 wasn't interested in Andretti — but did want GM. At one point, F1 asked GM to find another team to partner with besides Andretti. GM refused and F1 said it would revisit the Andretti application if and when Cadillac had an engine ready to compete. "Formula 1 has maintained a dialogue with General Motors, and its partners at TWG Global, regarding the viability of an entry following the commercial assessment and decision made by Formula 1 in January 2024," F1 said in a statement. "Over the course of this year, they have achieved operational milestones and made clear their commitment to brand the 11th team GM/Cadillac, and that GM will enter as an engine supplier at a later time. Formula 1 is therefore pleased to move forward with this application process." Yet another major shift in the debate over grid expansion occurred earlier this month with the announced resignation of Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, who was largely believed to be one of the biggest opponents of the Andretti entry. "With Formula 1's continued growth plans in the US, we have always believed that welcoming an impressive US brand like GM/Cadillac to the grid and GM as a future power unit supplier could bring additional value and interest to the sport," Maffei said. "We credit the leadership of General Motors and their partners with significant progress in their readiness to enter Formula 1." Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Toasty Toes Anyone who spends time outdoors — well, anyone older than 12 — will appreciate a gift of thick, new hiking socks . Think of socks as a consumable, something you can give year after year because they thin and wear out with use and washings. You’re looking for socks that keep feet warm in the cold and wick away sweat in the heat, so look for materials like merino wool, certain synthetic fibers or a blend. Another advantage of merino wool: it resists odor, so your hiking companions can sit closer when you take off your boots at the end of the trail. Quality brands like SmartWool, Darn Tough and Farm to Feet come with various levels of cushioning and arch support to suit various feet, boot and trail demands. From $24 at REI, 500 Market St.; fewer choices but a lower price at Sierra, 542 N. Guadalupe St. Creepy Creatures The 2025 National Parks Mythical Creatures Calendar is a must-have to elevate your next trip to a national park, especially the part where you sit around the campfire telling spooky stories. Each month in the 10X13 wall calendar features a different monster or mythical creature, starting in January with Sasquatch, aka Bigfoot, who’s reportedly been spotted more than 700 times in and around Washington’s Northern Cascades National Park. Closer to home, turn to March to ponder the mystery of the 110,000-year-old cave sloth, whose fossilized remains were found deep in New Mexico’s Carlsbad Cavern National Park, far from where it lived. Bone up on each local monster before you travel. Then, as you tell their stories around the campfire, listen for the sound of crunching leaves and breaking sticks and prepare to have goosebumps. $29.99; online from Anderson Design, https://tinyurl.com/zd2ap5bf A Need for the Knees If your holiday shopping list includes an avid or aging hiker, consider a gift of trekking poles . Their knees will thank you . While hiking requires no more equipment than boots, socks and a dog (the latter may be optional, but it’s hard to tell on New Mexico’s trails), trekking poles sure come in handy, especially on the long slog downhill after summitting. Veteran hikers have long debated the efficacy of trekking poles, but there’s no debate among biomechanical experts, who say poles improve balance on uneven terrain, steep uphill and downhill slopes and when crossing creeks and other slippery patches. They also improve posture and minimize stress on feet, legs, knees and back, and even provide a punch of extra power on uphill treks. About $80 and up; REI, 500 Market St.; or Sierra, 542 N. Guadalupe St. Don’t Get Lost Hikers, especially those venturing into the back-country, will appreciate a solar-powered GPS navigator to help them get where they’re going and get back without getting lost. Global positioning systems (GPS for short) pinpoint your location using satellite technology, but that’s just the start. Models like the Garmin In-reach Mini2 let you plan and enter your route, help you navigate from point to point, keep track of time out and distance covered, and more. If you’re following a pre-planned route, your GPS device will show you pre-plotted “waypoints.” Or you can set off without a pre-planned route, and your device will drop digital breadcrumbs at regular intervals to help you return the same way later. These gizmos are definitely handy on any outing but they can also be lifesaving: With an active satellite subscription, you can send a distress signal when you’re out of range for cell service. From $300; Best Buy, 3533 Zafarano Dr ive; REI, 500 Market St.Electrical Contractors Congratulate Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer on Nomination as U.S. Secretary of LaborThanksgiving Travel Latest: Airport strike, staff shortages and weather could impact holiday travel