
Matchday 18 of Premier League saw VAR and refereeing decisions spark controversy, from Jhon Duran’s red card to Joao Pedro escaping punishment, leaving fans and pundits questioning consistency. New Delhi: Matchday 18 produced some top tier drama not just in terms of results, but also a few turn of events that made many people question the referees and VAR decisions. In the game against Aston Villa and Newcastle, the Villans went 1-0 down in just the second mintue of the game when Anthony Gordon scored a stunning goal for the home side. However, Unai Emery’s side suffered yet another blow in the 32nd minute of the game when they were down to 10 men after their young star Jhon Duran was given a controversial red card. The young forward saw red after VAR provided their conclusion after judging the tussle between Duran and Newcastle’s Fabian Schar. Anthony Taylor didn’t even take a look at the replay, he decided to issue a red card to Duran that only made matters worse for the Villans. However, the internet saw fans putting up their opinions that the forward didn’t deserve to be booked after he appeared to stamp on the defender during their tussle, which led to his dismissal. The pundits also claimed that due to the momentum in which he was running, there was n oway he could have stopped himself from not making the contact with the Swiss defender. Something bizzare happened in the Premier League meeting between Brighton and Brentford that saw the Seagulls’ striker Joao Pedro not being booked after a VAR check on his aggresive swing of elbow that just missed the Brentford player Yegor Yarmolyuk. Although it could have been a lot worse, Pedro certainly deserved atleast a yellow card for that aggressive behaviour according to some fans on social media. However, the striker survived it as no card was issued to him. What Premier League had to say and other’s thoughts on this Have the Premier League referees lost the credibility? Recently it has been confirmed that Aston Villa’s appeal for Jhon Duran’s red card was rejected by Football Association which has left the club in shock. Unai Emery blasted the referees for the call, claiming it ended the match as Newcastle easily defeated a 10-man opposition 3-0. The manager of Villa, who has previously supported the use of video assistance referee technology, was baffled that it did not step in at St. James’ Park. “The red card was clear for the referee straight away, he was the only person in the stadium who couldn’t take his time,” Emery claimed. “He has to be intelligent to take time and get the right decision. “In this case you have to use the VAR. He has to be smart, and calm. It has to be like that.” It was pretty clear that the VAR was very much needed in this situation that brewed up and Anthony Taylor decided to take the matters in his own hands and issuing a straight red that left the visitors frustrated. Unai Emery also claimed that this was the turning point in the game when their star forward was sent off which led to Newcastle scoring two more goals and ending the game 3-0 to their liking. Meanwhile, according to many it was a baffling decision by the VAR when they decided not to issue a card to Joao Pedro, who’s actions seemed like he deserved atleast a yellow card. This raises a big question that are the Premier League referees losing their credibility? Click for more latest Football news . Also get top headlines and latest news from India and around the world at News9. Upamanyu Sanyal has been a sports content writer for a while now. He is a sports enthusiast and a dedicated sports writer working under News9. He has been following football since 2009 and has written a numerous analytical as well as factual pieces on the beautiful game. He himself has played football at a very high level and he loves to write, report and debate about football stories.Lululemon Athletica Inc.’s chief executive is confident his company is well on its way to addressing some of the concerns customers and analysts had earlier in the year about a lack of newness in the brand’s product assortment. After reorganizing the retailer’s product team and introducing a new reporting structure, Calvin McDonald said Lululemon is on track to reach historical levels of newness by the first quarter of its fiscal 2025. “I feel good about the quality and quantity of newness the teams have planned and I believe we are well positioned for spring,” he said on a Thursday call with analysts. Newness — how fresh a brand’s products and styles appear to consumers — is one of the key ways retailers draw in customers. To give the impression of newness, apparel companies often experiment with colours, prints, patterns and silhouettes. Some also partner with celebrities or other brands to launch product lines that attract shoppers. Lululemon’s efforts to boost newness have so far focused on new detailing applied to some of its Define jackets and the release of its velvet Scuba hoodies, satin running tights and shorts and waffle knit apparel. “The guest is responding very well to that,” McDonald said. In August, he conceded that Lululemon’s womenswear division had struggled with “reduced newness,” which impacted conversion rates _ typically the percentage of people who visit a store and make a purchase before leaving. Lululemon’s product assortment this year has focused largely on its staples — yoga pants, scuba hoodies and sports bras — while the company also saw continued success with its belt bags. However, there were some missteps. When Lululemon outfitted Team Canada at the Olympic Games in Paris, the uniform was criticized for resembling uncooked bacon or looking like it had been blood-spattered. Lululemon also paused sales of its Breezethrough product line of tights and other activewear in June. Many of the line’s pieces featured a long V-shaped waistband in the front and Y-shaped seam in the back that some consumers complained was unattractive and produced a “whale tail” look. Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in a note to investors that he feels many of the newness issues “have largely been corrected.” “Across the third quarter the women’s range felt fresh and interesting and there was more than enough to grab the attention of shoppers,” he said, adding it had improved the company’s conversation rate and average basket size, a measure of how much consumers spend. “In our view, Lululemon deserves praise for the quick course correction.” Some of that correction was reflected in Lululemon’s third-quarter results, which were released Thursday and showed the brand earned US$351.9 million in its latest quarter as its revenue rose nine per cent. The Vancouver-based retailer, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, said its third-quarter net income compared with US$248.7 million a year prior. Its diluted earnings per share for the period ended Oct. 27 amounted to US$2.87 compared with US$1.96. Lululemon’s third-quarter revenue totalled US$2.4 billion, compared with US$2.2 billion a year ago. McDonald said the results “exceeded our expectations” and reflected strength the company has seen in its shorts, skirts and leggings in seasonal colours. Saunders felt it was a “solid quarter,” in part because Lululemon’s comparable sales increased by four per cent overall and its international revenue increased by “a stellar” 33 per cent in overall terms. McDonald said that the company will enter Italy next year using a company-owned model, but will also expand to Denmark, Belgium, Turkey and the Czech Republic under a franchise model. In the latest quarter, however, there was weakness in the Americas, where Lululemon’s comparable sales fell by two per cent. “There is much more competition in the US market and our data clearly show that even relatively loyal Lululemon consumers are shopping around more widely,” Saunders said. “This problem isn’t going to disappear over time, if anything it is going to intensify.” Shoppers, he said, had become “more constrained and pickier” because of inflation and high interest rates. “While most Lululemon shoppers are far from being hard-pressed, they are still impacted by inflation and have modestly reduced the volume of things they buy,” Saunders said. He felt Lululemon should respond by leaning into categories like menswear, which Lululemon has increasingly been expanding through new styles and even partnerships with NHL teams. In more recent months, the company also introduced a range of Disney apparel. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2024.With January around the corner, you may already be focused on figuring out your health goals for next year. Maybe a FitBit is on your , or you've made a resolution to sign up for monthly group workout classes with a friend. But before you decide exactly what 2025 fitness trends you want to invest in, take a peek at the most popular workouts of 2024, compiled by Strava, ClassPass and more. From continuing to lead as the fitness It Girl to music-themed classes having a moment, the trends of 2024 give a glimpse at priorities in 2025. As part of its annual , ClassPass shared that Pilates was the most-booked workout on an international scale in 2024, its second year in a row in the top spot. Pilates increased its bookings on the platform by 84% since last year, so popularity around Pilates isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Pilates, which as a method for dancers to recover from injury, has reached new popularity in the 21st century. While mat Pilates continues to be a tried-and-true format, variations like and have added variety into the mix. ClassPass said in its report that Pilates’ “strong social media presence” and “devoted following” are the main reasons it’s the top workout of 2024. TikTok metrics support this claim, too: A representative for the platform tells TODAY.com that between 2023 and 2024, the hashtag #pilates saw a 105% increase in posts. Heather Andersen, founder of New York Pilates who's been teaching Pilates for 18 years, tells TODAY.com that she noticed it “came into the spotlight” after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. “It is a really strange experience to go through having something that was my niche thing that I was into, no one knew what it was, to all of a sudden being in a world where my niche thing that I was into is now the hot thing that everyone is into,” Andersen explains. Andersen says she's noticed more students at the New York Pilates studio and more Pilates studios opening up in general in recent years. Popular workout tracking app Strava reported that was the fastest-growing sport among women in 2024, and the traditional strength training as No. 5 on its top 10 worldwide fitness trends for 2025. Not only is important for people to build and maintain muscle mass throughout their lifetime, but it can also prevent injury and disease down the line, as well as increase self-esteem. Obé Fitness co-founder Ashley Millers says interest in strength training at her business has drastically increased this year, especially for older women — research shows that strength training can be especially beneficial in the . Obé Fitness enrollment for strength training on the digital platform has multiplied by 10 in 2024 compared to 2023. ClassPass also reported strength training has become a popular complementary workout to Pilates, cycling, and boxing, emerging as “a necessary component to a balanced fitness routine.” It’s influence on social media is telling, too. A TikTok representative reports that the hashtag #strengthtraining has seen a 38% increase between 2023 and 2024, with over 1.3 million total posts to date. Both Strava's and ClassPass's reports highlighted the growing popularity of group activities and community-centric sports. ClassPass shared that volleyball reservations spiked by 256% since 2023, and soccer also saw a 158% increase. But the largest and perhaps most surprising jump was in ice skating, which saw a whopping 698% increase in reservations. “This triple-digit rise in Volleyball, Soccer, and Ice Skating may be fueled by a wave of Olympic excitement, including anticipation for the 2024 Summer Games and the 2026 Winter Olympics, as well as the growing visibility of these sports on social media,” the report stated. Strava’s trends report revealed that the number of run clubs on the app grew by 59% — but maybe it’s not so surprising, considering 2024 was the year people . The reasons behind seeking out a group sport may vary, of course. According to Strava, 48% of participants said the main reason for joining a group is to socialize; 34% reported that they join group activities to hold themselves accountable, while 43% were focused on performance improvement. The ClassPass trends report showed that music-themed classes dominated in 2024. alone secured 15,792 user reservations on ClassPass. With singers like Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo continuing their international tours into the new year, plus Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay and Dua Lipa confirming upcoming 2025 tours, these beat-dropping classes are likely to shine in the new year. “In 2024, people shifted from bigger-better-faster-all-the-time to more moderate fitness practices they can sustain for the long haul,” the Strava report explained. It also found that many users were interested in prioritizing rest, , and mental health over long, intense workouts. According to Strava, 57% of participants voted 45-60 minutes is their preferred workout length, compared to just 16% who wanted to work out more than an hour a day. The app also looked at the popularity of workouts lasting 20 or fewer minutes. Stair steppers were most popular, followed by ellipticals, and . When looking ahead to 2025, nearly 20% of Strava participants said they want to make stretching and mobility a top health and fitness goal. On TikTok, the hashtag #mobility was used 35% more over the past year. Millers agrees that stretch and recovery classes have become significantly more popular on Obé Fitness's digital platform. “Movement is increasingly being viewed as a form of mindfulness and enrichment, rather than always needing to push to extremes with intense cardio or workouts,” she explains. According to Strava, 65% of Gen Z users said health and fitness is a top priority in 2025. The American College of Sports Medicine also emphasized the importance of working out for mental health in its , ranking it as one of its top 10 trends to see in 2025. “This trend focuses on exercise programming designed to improve aspects of mental health, like reducing feelings of anxiety, stress, and depression,” the report read. The American College of Sports Medicine reported that wearable technology — such as fitness trackers, smartwatches, heart rate monitors and GPS trackers — is the No. 1 fitness trend going into 2025, though the organization has given it the top spot almost every year since 2016. “These devices can provide information such as physical activity, health markers, sedentary behaviors, sleep, and even stress,” the trends report stated. “Wearable activity trackers can support healthy lifestyle behavior change through goal setting, personalized coaching, or connecting with apps to provide actionable insights.” Another tech-related trend on ACSM’s list is data-driven training and technology, or a type of training that “can help clients understand the physiological responses to an exercise stimulus in real-time.” ClassPass noted in its report a 159% increase in body scan reservations in 2024, compared to the previous year, which shows a spike in interest around letting health technology guide “overall health and wellness practices.” Nicoletta Richardson is the trending editor for TODAY Digital and is based around the New York City area.
Daniel Penny doesn't testify as his defense rests in subway chokehold trialjetcityimage UnitedHealth Investors: In Panic Selling Mode UnitedHealth Group ( NYSE: UNH ) investors have been unable to shake off what has become a miserable second half of FY2024, worsened by the tragedy involving UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson . UNH also A Unique Price Action-based Growth Investing Service We believe price action is a leading indicator. We called the TSLA top in late 2021. We then picked TSLA's bottom in December 2022. We updated members that the NASDAQ had long-term bearish price action signals in November 2021. We told members that the S&P 500 likely bottomed in October 2022. Members navigated the turning points of the market confidently in our service. Members tuned out the noise in the financial media and focused on what really matters: Price Action. Sign up now for a Risk-Free 14-Day free trial! JR Research is an opportunistic investor. He was recognized by TipRanks as a Top Analyst. He was also recognized by Seeking Alpha as a "Top Analyst To Follow" for Technology, Software, and Internet, as well as for Growth and GARP. He identifies attractive risk/reward opportunities supported by robust price action to potentially generate alpha well above the S&P 500. He has also demonstrated outperformance with his picks. He focuses on identifying growth investing opportunities that present the most attractive risk/reward upside potential. His approach combines sharp price action analysis with fundamentals investing. He tends to avoid overhyped and overvalued stocks while capitalizing on battered stocks with significant upside recovery possibilities. He runs the investing group Ultimate Growth Investing which specializes in identifying high-potential opportunities across various sectors. He focuses on ideas that has strong growth potential and well-beaten contrarian plays, with an 18 to 24 month outlook for the thesis to play out. The group is designed for investors seeking to capitalize on growth stocks with robust fundamentals, buying momentum, and turnaround plays at highly attractive valuations. Learn more Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.El Salvador’s president is triumphant after his bet on bitcoin comes true
Eating Pasta to Spread Joy: Barilla Is Giving Back by Bringing Connection to Those Who Need It MostDemocratic megadonor John Morgan said Vice President Kamala Harris should be disqualified from running for office again over her campaign spending. Morgan told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo on Monday that Harris’s reported campaign spending is concerning, citing reporting that said her campaign spent $1.5 billion in just four months. The Harris campaign has been under scrutiny in recent weeks for the amount spent and unknown outstanding debt. “All of a sudden, everybody’s got the keys to the candy store, ad buyers, talent consultants. There’s 100 days to do it, and the money started pouring in, pouring in. Remember this, Chris, it wasn’t pouring in for Harris. It was pouring in against Trump. Everybody that was voting and supporting Harris was really voting against Trump,” Morgan said on Monday. He said he was at the White House for dinner on Friday, where he heard people questioning who got paid what doing the campaign. He also went on to say that she should not run for office again due to the handling of the campaign and its expenses. “I think this disqualifies her forever. Forever. If you can’t run a campaign, you can’t run America, and that would be the argument just day one. So it was terrible....I think she did a good job in the debate. I think she did as good a job as she could hope for in a short period of time. I told you. I told everybody, she should not have been the nominee,” he added. “She was not going to win, and she didn’t win. And she lost badly. So she’s got to go figure out her life. She’s in Hawaii. Tim Walz was at the dinner. She was in Hawaii. So she’s having a call with donors this week. They tell me about her political future, I don’t think she has a political future,” he said. He also went on to say he stopped donating to the campaign after President Joe Biden left the race and endorsed Harris. “The same thing is going to follow Harris for the rest of her career. She cannot be trusted with the money, and the donors are going to be, like, ‘Where is this money?’” he said. The Associated Press reported that the Harris campaign is still asking for donations after the election ended. During the campaign, she raised more than $1 billion. “The Harris campaign certainly spent more than they raised and is now busy trying to fundraise,” said Adrian Hemond, a Democratic strategist from Michigan, told The Associated Press. The party is flooding Harris’ lucrative email donor list with near-daily appeals aimed at small-dollar donors — those whose contributions are measured in the hundreds of dollars or less. But Hemond said the postelection effort also includes individual calls to larger donors. The scramble now underscores the expense involved in a losing effort and the immediate challenges facing Democrats as they try to maintain a baseline political operation to counter the Trump administration and prepare for the 2026 midterm elections. It also calls into question how Democrats used their resources, including hosting events with musicians and other celebrities as well as running ads in a variety of nontraditional spaces such as Las Vegas’ domed Sphere. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Stories by Lauren Sforza Trump ally MTG calls for Biden officials to be ‘arrested’ Trump’s election sparks jump in suicide watches There’s ‘bad news’ for Trump voters who want lower prices, warns economic expert Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com .
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The emergence of tools that allow people to efficiently produce novel and detailed online reviews with almost no work has put , service providers and consumers in uncharted territory, watchdog groups and researchers say. Related Articles have long plagued many popular consumer websites, and Yelp. They are typically traded on private social media groups between fake review brokers and businesses willing to pay. Sometimes, such reviews are initiated by businesses that offer customers incentives such as gift cards for positive feedback. But AI-infused text generation tools, popularized by OpenAI’s , enable fraudsters to produce reviews faster and in greater volume, according to tech industry experts. The deceptive practice, which is , is carried out year-round but becomes a bigger problem for consumers during the , when many people rely on reviews to help them purchase gifts. Fake reviews are found across a wide range of industries, from e-commerce, lodging and restaurants, to services such as home repairs, and piano lessons. The Transparency Company, a tech company and watchdog group that uses software to detect fake reviews, said it started to see AI-generated reviews show up in large numbers in mid-2023 and they have multiplied ever since. For a report released this month, The Transparency Company analyzed 73 million reviews in three sectors: home, legal and medical services. Nearly 14% of the reviews were likely fake, and the company expressed a “high degree of confidence” that 2.3 million reviews were partly or entirely AI-generated. “It’s just a really, really good tool for these review scammers,” said Maury Blackman, an investor and advisor to tech startups, who reviewed The Transparency Company’s work and is set to lead the organization starting Jan. 1. In August, software company DoubleVerify said it was observing a “significant increase” in mobile phone and smart TV apps with reviews crafted by generative AI. The reviews often were used to deceive customers into installing apps that could hijack devices or run ads constantly, the company said. The following month, the Federal Trade Commission sued the company behind an AI writing tool and content generator called Rytr, accusing it of offering a service that could pollute the marketplace with fraudulent reviews. The FTC, which this year banned the of fake reviews, said some of Rytr’s subscribers used the tool to produce hundreds and perhaps thousands of reviews for garage door repair companies, sellers of “replica” designer handbags and other businesses. Max Spero, CEO of AI detection company Pangram Labs, said the software his company uses has detected with almost certainty that some AI-generated appraisals posted on Amazon bubbled up to the top of review search results because they were so detailed and appeared to be well thought-out. But determining what is fake or not can be challenging. External parties can fall short because they don’t have “access to data signals that indicate patterns of abuse,” Amazon has said. Pangram Labs has done detection for some prominent online sites, which Spero declined to name due to non-disclosure agreements. He said he evaluated Amazon and Yelp independently. Many of the AI-generated comments on Yelp appeared to be posted by individuals who were trying to publish enough reviews to earn an “Elite” badge, which is intended to let users know they should trust the content, Spero said. The badge provides access to exclusive events with local business owners. Fraudsters also want it so their Yelp profiles can look more realistic, said Kay Dean, a former federal criminal investigator who runs a watchdog group called Fake Review Watch. To be sure, just because a review is AI-generated doesn’t necessarily mean its fake. Some consumers might experiment with AI tools to generate content that reflects their genuine sentiments. Some non-native English speakers say they turn to AI to make sure they use accurate language in the reviews they write. “It can help with reviews (and) make it more informative if it comes out of good intentions,” said Michigan State University marketing professor Sherry He, who has researched fake reviews. She says tech platforms should focus on the behavioral patters of bad actors, which prominent platforms already do, instead of discouraging legitimate users from turning to AI tools. Prominent companies are developing policies for how AI-generated content fits into their systems for removing phony or abusive reviews. Some already employ algorithms and investigative teams to detect and take down fake reviews but are giving users some flexibility to use AI. Spokespeople for Amazon and Trustpilot, for example, said they would allow customers to post AI-assisted reviews as long as they reflect their genuine experience. Yelp has taken a more cautious approach, saying its guidelines require reviewers to write their own copy. “With the recent rise in consumer adoption of AI tools, Yelp has significantly invested in methods to better detect and mitigate such content on our platform,” the company said in a statement. The Coalition for Trusted Reviews, which Amazon, Trustpilot, employment review site Glassdoor, and travel sites Tripadvisor, Expedia and launched last year, said that even though deceivers may put AI to illicit use, the technology also presents “an opportunity to push back against those who seek to use reviews to mislead others.” “By sharing best practice and raising standards, including developing advanced AI detection systems, we can protect consumers and maintain the integrity of online reviews,” the group said. banning fake reviews, which took effect in October, allows the agency to fine businesses and individuals who engage in the practice. Tech companies hosting such reviews are shielded from the penalty because they are not legally liable under U.S. law for the content that outsiders post on their platforms. Tech companies, including Amazon, Yelp and Google, have sued fake review brokers they accuse of peddling counterfeit reviews on their sites. The companies say their technology has blocked or removed a huge swath of suspect reviews and suspicious accounts. However, some experts say they could be doing more. “Their efforts thus far are not nearly enough,” said Dean of Fake Review Watch. “If these tech companies are so committed to eliminating review fraud on their platforms, why is it that I, one individual who works with no automation, can find hundreds or even thousands of fake reviews on any given day?” Consumers can try to by watching out for a few , according to researchers. Overly enthusiastic or negative reviews are red flags. Jargon that repeats a product’s full name or model number is another potential giveaway. When it comes to AI, research conducted by Balázs Kovács, a Yale professor of organization behavior, has shown that people can’t tell the difference between AI-generated and human-written reviews. Some AI detectors may also be fooled by shorter texts, which are common in online reviews, the study said. However, there are some “AI tells” that online shoppers and service seekers should keep it mind. Panagram Labs says reviews written with AI are typically longer, highly structured and include “empty descriptors,” such as generic phrases and attributes. The writing also tends to include cliches like “the first thing that struck me” and “game-changer.”
Telematics for Rental and Leasing Fleets Report, 3rd Edition: Geotab, Targa Telematics, OCTO Telematics, CalAmp, Webfleet, Powerfleet, Munic, MySmartObject, Connected Cars and RentalMatics DominateDefiance Connective Technologies ETF ( NYSEARCA:SIXG – Get Free Report ) declared a dividend on Thursday, December 26th, NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of 0.0924 per share on Monday, December 30th. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Defiance Connective Technologies ETF Trading Down 1.6 % Defiance Connective Technologies ETF stock opened at $48.55 on Friday. Defiance Connective Technologies ETF has a twelve month low of $34.29 and a twelve month high of $50.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $46.47. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Defiance Connective Technologies ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Defiance Connective Technologies ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .