Best Gadgets for Engineers: Must-Have Tools for the Modern ProfessionalThe Darnold-Jefferson connection is thriving for the surging Vikings
By MEAD GRUVER and AMY BETH HANSON, Associated Press A judge on Monday rejected a request to block a San Jose State women’s volleyball team member from playing in a conference tournament on grounds that she is transgender. Monday’s ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver will allow the player, who has played all season, to continue competing in the Mountain West Conference women’s championship scheduled for later this week in Las Vegas. The ruling comes after a lawsuit was filed by nine current players who are suing the Mountain West Conference to challenge the league’s policies for allowing transgender players to participate. The players argued that letting her compete was a safety risk and unfair. While some media have reported those and other details, neither San Jose State nor the forfeiting teams have confirmed the school has a trans women’s volleyball player. The Associated Press is withholding the player’s name because she has not publicly commented on her gender identity. School officials also have declined an interview request with the player. Judge Crews referred to the athlete as an “alleged transgender” player in his ruling and noted that no defendant disputed that San Jose State rosters a transgender woman volleyball player. He said the players who filed the complaint could have sought relief much earlier, noting that the individual universities had acknowledged that not playing their games against San Jose State this season would result in a forfeit in league standings. He also said injunctions are meant to preserve the status quo. The conference policy regarding forfeiting for refusing to play against a team with a transgender player had been in effect since 2022 and the San Jose State player has been on the roster since 2022 – making that the status quo. The player competed at the college level three previous seasons, including two for San Jose State, drawing little attention. This season’s awareness of her identity led to an uproar among some players, pundits, parents and politicians in a political campaign year. The tournament starts Wednesday and continues Friday and Saturday. San Jose State is seeded second. The judge’s order maintains the seedings and pairings for the tournament. Several teams refused to play against San Jose State during the season, earning losses in the official standings. Boise State and Wyoming each had two forfeits while Utah State and Nevada both had one. Southern Utah, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, was first to cancel against San Jose State this year. Nevada’s players stated they “refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes,” without providing further details. Crews served as a magistrate judge in Colorado’s U.S. District Court for more than five years before President Joe Biden appointed him to serve as a federal judge in January of this year. Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Hanson from Helena, Montana.
Cara Delevingne and Taylor Swift have had some adventures together. While the two have long been friends, the model recently revealed that she and Swift were roommates at one point and got up to all kinds of stuff together. Taylor Swift appears to share a hilarious secret with Travis Kelce’s mom at tonight’s game Cara Delevingne talks about passionate kiss with Selena Gomez: ‘It was just hysterical’ Delevingne discussed her relationship with Swift in an Interview article with Nikki Glaser . The two were discussing the topic of comedy roasts and whether Swift should be involved in one. While Glaser, a self-proclaimed Swiftie, said that she didn't want anyone to be mean to Swift, Delevingne believes Swift can hold her own. “I could definitely roast her, because I lived with her for a little bit," she said. “I was going through a really horrible breakup, and she let me live with her. We’re very different people,” she continued. “She’s very homely, because she looked after me so well, but we got into some—not trouble, but I definitely took her for a bit of a wild ride. Just to get her to blush would be great.” Delevingne also described Swift as a funny person who can roast people expertly. “The thing about Taylor, though, is I’ve seen her do a speech at someone’s wedding before, and it was a roast," she said. “She’s one of the funniest, most clever people. Anyone could roast her easily, but at the same time, she could f**k everyone up so hard.” More details about Swift and Delevingne's friendship Swift and Delevingne have been friends for years, with the two supporting each other in different important occasions. Delevingne supported Swift at one of her Eras Tour concerts while Swift was spotted attending a performance of "Cabaret" in London, which starred Delevingne. When discussing Swift's highly publicized relationship with Travis Kelce , Delevingne had some nice words of support for her friend. “There’s definitely something very different about them,” she said to E! News. “I’m always rooting for my girl.”None
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NoneSUGAR LAND, Texas, Dec. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAOI) (" AOI ,” " we ,” " us ” or " our ”) announced today that it has closed its exchange with holders (the " Noteholders ”) of its 5.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2026 (the " 2026 Notes ”) of approximately $76.7 million principal amount of the 2026 Notes for (i) $125 million aggregate principal amount of 2.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2030 (the " 2030 Notes ”), (ii) 1,487,874 shares of our common stock (the " Exchange Shares ”) and (iii) approximately $89.6 thousand in cash representing accrued interest on the 2026 Notes and the value of fractional shares (such transactions, collectively, the " Exchanges ”). The 2030 Notes are our senior, unsecured obligations and are equal in right of payment with our existing and future senior, unsecured indebtedness, senior in right of payment to our existing and future indebtedness that is expressly subordinated to the 2030 Notes and effectively subordinated to our existing and future secured indebtedness, to the extent of the value of the collateral securing that indebtedness. The 2030 Notes bear interest at a rate of 2.75% per year, payable semiannually in arrears on January 15 and July 15 of each year, beginning on July 15, 2025. The 2030 Notes will mature on January 15, 2030, unless earlier repurchased, redeemed or converted. The 2030 Notes are convertible at the option of holders of the 2030 Notes under certain specified circumstances, as set forth in the indenture governing the 2030 Notes. We will settle conversions by paying or delivering, as applicable, cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of cash and shares of our common stock, at our election, based on the applicable conversion rate. The initial conversion rate is approximately 23.0884 shares of our common stock per $1,000 principal amount of 2030 Notes, representing an initial conversion price of approximately $43.31 per share of our common stock, an approximately 27.50% premium to the closing price of our common stock on December 18, 2024. If a Make-Whole Fundamental Change (as defined in the indenture governing the 2030 Notes) occurs, and in connection with certain other conversions, we will in certain circumstances increase the conversion rate for a specified period of time. Except in connection with the completion of the Specified Divestiture (as described below), we may not redeem the 2030 Notes prior to January 15, 2027. On or after January 15, 2027, and on or before the 40 th scheduled trading day immediately before the maturity date, we may redeem all or part of the 2030 Notes for cash if the last reported sale price per share of our common stock exceeds 130% of the conversion price on (i) each of at least 20 trading days, whether or not consecutive, during the 30 consecutive trading days ending on, and including, the trading day immediately before the date we send the related redemption notice; and (ii) the trading day immediately before the date we send such redemption notice, at a cash redemption price equal to the principal amount of the 2030 Notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any. Holders may require us to repurchase their 2030 Notes upon the occurrence of a Fundamental Change (as defined in the indenture governing the 2030 Notes) at a cash purchase price equal to the principal amount thereof plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any. In addition, the 2030 Notes will be redeemable, in whole or in part, at our option at any time, and from time to time, on or before the 40 th scheduled trading day immediately before the maturity date, at a cash redemption price equal to the principal amount of the 2030 Notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the redemption date, if the "Specified Divestiture” (as defined in the indenture governing the 2030 Notes) is completed. If the Specified Divestiture is completed, each holder will have the right to require us to repurchase its 2030 Notes for cash at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of such 2030 Notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the repurchase date. The issuance of the 2030 Notes, the Exchange Shares and the shares of our common stock issuable upon conversion of the 2030 Notes have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the " Securities Act ”), and the 2030 Notes, the Exchange Shares and such shares issuable upon conversion of the 2030 Notes may not be offered or sold without registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state or other jurisdictions' securities laws, or in transactions not subject to those registration requirements. Concurrently with the Exchanges, AOI issued an aggregate of 1,036,458 shares of common stock, at a purchase price of $33.97 per share, in a registered direct offering (the " Registered Direct Offering ”). Estimated net proceeds from the Registered Direct Offering are approximately $33.7 million after deducting placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses incurred by us. We intend to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include, among other things, capital expenditures and working capital. We may also use such proceeds to fund acquisitions of businesses, technologies or product lines that complement our current business; however, we have no present plans, agreements or commitments with respect to any potential acquisition. Stefan Murry, AOI's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, stated that "AOI expects to benefit from the convertible debt exchange transactions and the concurrent registered direct offering by, among other things, extending our convertible debt from 2026 to 2030, reducing our existing interest expense and strengthening the cash position of our balance sheet by approximately $30.2 million through the registered direct offering. In addition, the convertible debt exchange transactions increase our financial flexibility by removing certain existing restrictive covenants in our 2026 Notes. We were able to execute these transactions with minimal additional dilution of approximately 0.5%, compared to the implied dilution of the shares underlying the 2026 Notes.” The Registered Direct Offering was made pursuant to an automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR (Registration File No. 333-283905), which was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the " SEC ”) on December 18, 2024, and became effective immediately upon filing, including the prospectus contained therein, as supplemented by the prospectus supplement dated December 18, 2024 filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act on December 20, 2024. The prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the Registered Direct Offering are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Raymond James & Associates, Inc. acted as AOI's exclusive financial advisor in connection with the Exchanges and acted as the sole placement agent in connection with the Registered Direct Offering. Haynes Boone LLP acted as legal advisor to AOI and Mayer Brown LLP acted as legal advisor to Raymond James & Associates, Inc., in connection with the Exchanges and the Registered Direct Offering. This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor will there be any sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "believe,” "may,” "estimate,” "continue,” "anticipate,” "intend,” "should,” "could,” "would,” "target,” "seek,” "aim,” "predicts,” "think,” "objectives,” "optimistic,” "new,” "goal,” "strategy,” "potential,” "is likely,” "will,” "expect,” "plan” "project,” "permit” or by other similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes. Such forward-looking statements reflect the views of management at the time such statements are made. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions and current expectations, which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: reduction in the size or quantity of customer orders; change in demand for our products due to industry conditions; changes in manufacturing operations; volatility in manufacturing costs; delays in shipments of products; disruptions in the supply chain; change in the rate of design wins or the rate of customer acceptance of new products; our reliance on a small number of customers for a substantial portion of its revenues; potential pricing pressure; a decline in demand for our customers' products or their rate of deployment of their products; general conditions in the internet datacenter, cable television (CATV) broadband, telecom, or fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) markets; changes in the world economy (particularly in the United States and China); changes in the regulation and taxation of international trade, including the imposition of tariffs; changes in currency exchange rates; the negative effects of seasonality; the impact of any pandemics or similar events on our business and financial results; and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in our documents filed with or furnished to the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2024, June 30, 2024 and September 30, 2024. More information about these and other risks that may impact our business are set forth in the "Risk Factors” section of our quarterly and annual reports on file with the SEC. You should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon information available to us as of the date hereof, and qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this press release to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations. About Applied Optoelectronics Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (AOI) is a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced optical products, including components, modules and equipment. AOI's products are the building blocks for broadband fiber access networks around the world, where they are used in the CATV broadband, internet datacenter, telecom and FTTH markets. AOI supplies optical networking lasers, components and equipment to tier-1 customers in all four of these markets. In addition to its corporate headquarters, wafer fab and advanced engineering and production facilities in Sugar Land, TX, AOI has engineering and manufacturing facilities in Taipei, Taiwan and Ningbo, China. Investor Relations Contacts: The Blueshirt Group, Investor Relations Monica Gould +1-212-871-3927 [email protected] Cassidy Fuller +1-415-217-4968 [email protected]
SHAREHOLDER INVESTIGATION: Halper Sadeh LLC Investigates ALTR, SASR, AUB, CYTH on Behalf of Shareholders‘A special tie to the city’: Aldean carves a niche on the Strip-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email The English carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is a cumulative song, in which each verse builds upon the last, detailing the increasingly elaborate gifts that a "true love" has given to the singer. This popular holiday tune – known for its lords a-leaping and french hens – has many variations and refers to the real-life festive Christian season that celebrates the Nativity. Henry V of Shakespearean fame, hosted a feast that offered 40 different types of fish, including roast porpoise. For the month-long fast of Advent, Christians in medieval Europe would abstain from drink, meat and rich foods, denying themselves worldly comfort to seek God for life and sustenance. But beginning on Dec. 25, they would be amply rewarded for their temperance with 12 days of feasting , carousing and occasional hooliganism to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, a date unrecorded in the scripture but established by the early Church after centuries of scholarly wrangling. Contrary to popular myth, the designation of Dec. 25 was not just a lazy attempt to steal pagan fun from the Romans. Several treatises from the first millennia A.D. pinpointed the birth of Jesus to that date based on biblical inferences and calendrical math, long before writers like Dionysius Syrus suggested that Dec. 25 was chosen for more practical reasons. Syrus was among many scholars who might have believed Jan. 6 to be the true date of Jesus' birth — while they might have lost the debate, that day, known as Epiphany, came to mark the end of 12 festive days that are Christian in its foundation, and yet also bear heavy echoes from a pre-Christian past. Related When Hitler tried to redesign Christmas Read on to learn how to celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas as people would have many centuries ago, celebrating the universality of embracing light in the dead of winter with Jesus in their minds as the pivot of the world. Intemperate feasting Medieval Christians were supposed to fast all the way until Dec. 25, which would be heralded by a candlelit Midnight Mass. The degree of ensuing decadence would depend on one's social status, but everyone, in theory, benefited from festive largesse. Princes and the high nobility took the opportunity to gorge themselves and their courtiers on heaps of food that often included exotic and rarely consumed delicacies. In 1387, Richard II of England's kitchens prepared , among other ingredients, 84 pounds of salt venison, 210 geese, 1,200 pigeons and 11,000 eggs. Thirty years later, his second cousin, Henry V of Shakespearean fame, hosted a feast that offered 40 different types of fish, including roast porpoise (which is admittedly, in our modern scientific classification, a mammal). Meanwhile, peasants and poorer urban workers could expect to receive at least 12 days' worth of relief from the usual labors, which in itself may have been as much cause to celebrate as the birth of their savior. While they would not have feasted on porpoise, a goose or pig would have been heartily consumed in a time when meat was too expensive for most people to eat regularly. Alongside meat, people ate pies, puddings and frumenty – a sweet porridge made with wheat, eggs, milk and sugar. Sometimes, the manor lord or guild masters would provide at least one meal for all of their workers, a practice perhaps emulated by the modern-day workplace pizza party . Feasting did not relent after Christmas. On Dec. 27 lay the Feast of St. John, who was said to have drank a cup of poisoned wine without succumbing. Naturally, people commemorated this miracle by imbibing copious amounts of wine, or for the lower classes, beer or cider. Throughout the Twelve Days, people shared traditional mince pies with friends and family, eating a mixture within that contained 13 ingredients representing Christ and his apostles. Those ingredients typically included dried fruits, spices, meats and most importantly, chopped mutton to remember the shepherds who paid homage to Jesus in the cradle. While some people today might enjoy a Yule Log made from sponge cake and buttercream, the modern-day dessert is derived from a largely faded tradition of burning a huge, specially selected log of wood in a hearth to mark the winter solstice and symbolize the twigs the shepherds used to keep Jesus warm. In parts of Italy where the logs were particularly revered, households would decorate their ceppo di Natale and drizzle it with spices, wine or honey before setting a blaze that would be maintained until the Twelfth Night (Jan. 5 would make 12 nights including the night of the 24th), the evening before Epiphany, the last of the Twelve Days and a feast celebrating the visit of the Magi (three kings) to Jesus. One of the most important items of an English noble's Epiphany feast was the cooked head of a giant boar , the ferocious sovereign of the forest whose slaying in a hunt represented the triumph of Christ Child over sin. Not everyone could afford a boar's head or go hunting for one, of course, so lesser burghers had to make do with pies or cakes in the shape of one while the poorest didn't bother with it at all. Upending social hierarchies While monks and guild actors performed dramatic retellings of biblical stories year-round, the plays were most frequent during Christmastide. Plays performed on the Feast of the Holy Innocents (Dec. 28) invariably commemorated the story of King Herod ordering the execution of all male children in Bethlehem under two years old. One of the oldest of these plays was the "Ordo Rachelis" ("The Play of Rachel"), which centered on the titular matriarch of the Hebrews lamenting the children's death as a representation of all the Hebrew mothers of Bethlehem. Another, the "Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors," included the hauntingly mournful "Conventry Carol," a mother's lullaby to her doomed child. Other activities on the Feast of Innocents, varying in practice across Europe, were relatively less sedate. In Germany emerged so-called "Herod games" in which people would reportedly stage mock attacks on churches and assail bystanders with inflated animal bladders to ridicule the cruel absurdity of the Judean king. The more well-documented tradition of this day was the election of a choirboy by his peers to perform the duties of bishop, dressing in his vestments and conducting Church services in a reversal of hierarchy. (Sometimes, the boy bishop would hold "authority" from Dec. 6, Saint Nicholas' Day.) More than representing a kind of penance towards children, the tradition of the boy bishop also paid homage to the idea that God favored the poor and innocent — at the moment of deposuit potentes de sede ("he hath put down the mighty from their seat") in the liturgy, the bishop would step down, and the boy would take his place at et exaltavit humiles ("and hath exalted the humble and meek"). More voluntary role-swapping took place on the Feast of the Circumcision (Jan. 1), in which the sub-deacons, members of the lower clergy, would preside over the the day's observances and celebrate the biblical principle that “God chose what is foolish in the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise." By the 12th century, the day came to be known initially in southern France and later in other parts of Europe as the "Feast of the Fools," an occasion for much drinking, parades, dancing and disorderly merriment. The Lord of Misrule, normally a sub-deacon or a lay commoner, was appointed by lot to direct the entertainments, and like other Christmas traditions found close parallel to the Roman festival of Saturnalia , in which people enjoyed a day of drunken revelry and patricians served food to their slaves. This kind of sanctioned social revolution, of course, only marked the beginning of a year in which normal social hierarchies remained in place — but even this was too much for some rulers and church authorities, who tried by the 15th century were attempting to ban the practice with limited success. Exchanging gifts While Christmas trees were not widespread until the 16th century, churches and households sometimes hung branches of holly on their doors or apples on trees to commemorate Adam and Eve Day on Dec. 24. Wrapping gifts, placing them under trees and opening them on Christmas Day are a relatively modern invention — in early medieval times, some Christian rulers thought that the story of the three Magi bestowing gifts to their sovereign, Jesus the King of Kings, was a perfect justification to demand additional taxes and tribute from their own subjects. By the 12th century, however, the growing influence of the Church and its demands for secular rulers to abide by Christian virtues meant that gift-giving largely took the form of providing alms and food for the poor. Charity was encouraged throughout the year, and all but obliged on the Feast of St. Stephen (Dec. 26), on which the famously charitable St. Wenceslas, later immortalized in a Victorian carol , was said to have trekked through a blizzard to provide firewood for a poor man despite his own kingly status. Like other saints, he served as a lesson for good Christians to observe biblical principles that he represented in life — in this case, to love and care for the poor . The kind of gift-giving that most people are familiar with now — exchanges between friends and family — typically occurred among upper and middle class folk on New Year's Day, with a prince or lord typically receiving his own tribute in state, servants at hand to display them on sideboards after the presentation. This was an opportunity for subjects to please their lord with valuable and novel items, like the £30,000 gold cups that Cardinal Thomas Wolsey presented to Henry VIII of England almost annually, or, on at least one occasion, for a rebellious vassal to lull him into a false sense of security. Unfortunately for the Duke of Buckingham, his 1521 gift of a goblet engraved with the motto "With humble, true heart" did not do the trick, and he was executed the same year for high treason. Sometimes, Henry enjoyed receiving more personal gifts, like his daughter Lady Elizabeth's Latin translation of Queen Katherine Parr's "Prayers and Meditations." The future Queen Elizabeth I was 12 years old at the time — long past the age in which a ghastly crayon drawing of dad would suffice. Read more about this topic Heart of peppermint-barkness: I infiltrated Hallmark town, changing my view of its holiday movies Netflix's current Christmas slate has left us cold. What went wrong after its promising start? A new culture war is brewing — and Coca-Cola's AI Christmas ad is at the center By Nicholas Liu Nicholas (Nick) Liu is a News Fellow at Salon. He grew up in Hong Kong, earned a B.A. in History at the University of Chicago, and began writing for local publications like the Santa Barbara Independent and Straus News Manhattan. MORE FROM Nicholas Liu Related Topics ------------------------------------------ 12 Days Of Christmas Christmas Deep Dive History Holiday Middle Ages Related Articles Advertisement:
President-elect Donald Trump's Treasury secretary pick, Scott Bessent , was expected by some to reignite the post-election rally that led to one of the best post-election equity rallies of all time. Bessent was the consensus pick on Wall Street, which perhaps contributed to why Elon Musk called him the “business-as-usual” candidate for the job. Stocks rose after the long-awaited announcement and yields pulled back slightly. But some investors are already cautioning that any relief rally could be short-lived, as Trump’s personnel picks still leave questions about economic policy under Trump 2.0. "This was a good pick," Jason Furman, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and former economic adviser to President Barack Obama, told Yahoo Finance. "He's mainstream. He knows a lot about the world of finance.” "The bigger issue, though, is that the main calls on the economy are going to be President Trump's," Furman added. Pangaea Policy founder Terry Haines published a note Monday cautioning that Trump appears to be casting a “team of rivals” on economic policy, meaning “Trump’s economic policy isn’t a settled thing.” That team of rivals includes Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, two Washington outsiders tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE , a new agency Trump and Musk came up with during a live conversation on X. Furman added that the market is “ahead of itself” on the idea that Bessent will be able to curb any inflationary policies, noting he is “skeptical” of cost-cutting to come. "President Trump sent us a bit of signal about how he'd make those calls with this pick, but he hasn't sent us any signals that he's given up on large across-the-board tariffs," Furman said. "And until I hear that, I'm going to be nervous." Trump has promised a 60% tariff on Chinese goods. Costs from tariffs, which are taxes paid by companies when goods are imported from overseas, are largely passed down to consumers, which is why dozens of Nobel Laureates have warned that Trump’s tariff policies would be inflationary. “Big ticket items like tariffs , like immigration policy, all that's still coming out of the Oval Office,” said Isaac Boltansky, director of policy research at BTIG. “This is still going to be a presidency that is driven by what Trump wants and when Trump wants it.” Read more: How do tariffs work, and who really pays them? In an interview on Yahoo Finance in July, Bessent himself said that Trump's 60% tariff line wasn’t too serious. “That's the beginning of a maximalist negotiating position,” Bessent said at the time, “and that's the way President Trump negotiates. I would be surprised if we ever hit that, but I think, you know, given his record in Trump 1.0, he has a lot of credibility in using tariffs to negotiate.” Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Blake Lively's brother-in-law claims the "public got played" by Justin Baldoni's PR team. The 37-year-old actress recently launched a lawsuit against her 'It Ends With Us' director and co-star, accusing his PR team of trying to "destroy" her reputation, and Bart Johnson has now taken to social media to throw his support behind Blake. Bart - who is the husband of Blake's half-sister, Robyn Lively - said in response to an Instagram post from The New York Times about the complaint: "Her complaints were filed during the filming. On record. Long before the public conflict. The cast unfollowed him for a reason. Read this article before spiting ignorance." Bart accused Justin's PR team of trying to "bury" his sister-in-law. Bart wrote: "His PR team was stellar. Gross and disgusting but highly effective. Read the article, their text message exchanges and his PR campaign strategy to bury her by any means necessary. No one is without faults. But the public got played." Meanwhile, Justin's lawyer has accused Blake of making "categorically false accusations" against his client. Bryan Freedman, who is acting as a lawyer for the actor and his Wayfarer Studios production company, recently told Variety: "It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions." Freedman also accused the Hollywood star of trying to "publicly hurt" his client. He said: "These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media."
Rally House Opens New Arkansas Storefront in Fort Smith
C3.ai ( AI 8.08% ) stock enjoyed another day of big gains Friday. The software and consulting specialist's share price closed out the session up 8.1% and had been up as much as 8.4% earlier in the day's trading. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index ended the daily session up 0.25%, and the Nasdaq Composite index closed out the day up 0.8%. C3.ai gained ground today thanks to a promising political development and news that one of its competitors had forged a significant new defense partnership. With just a few weeks in the year remaining, the stock is now up roughly 41% across this year's trading. AI stocks jump on Trump czar announcement President-elect Donald Trump published a message on social media today announcing that he plans to name venture capitalist David Sacks as artificial intelligence ( AI ) and crypto czar in his administration. Some investors are interpreting the announcement as a signal that the incoming Trump administration will help to create favorable demand and regulatory backdrops and drive business for AI players. While it's too early to say what the net political effects for AI companies will look like under the new administration, there are good reasons to think that demand in key AI category verticals will remain very strong. Why are Palantir's partnerships good news for C3.ai? Palantir and Booz Allen Hamilton announced a new partnership that will see them collaborating on innovations for the defense industry. Palantir also announced that it was partnering with Shield AI to improve the capabilities of autonomous, unmanned vehicles. Again, the partnership has a defense-industry focus, and Shield AI will be using Palantir's Warp Speed manufacturing operating system for scalable AI solutions. While Palantir competes with C3.ai in some spaces, evidence of ramping demand in the defense industry is a broadly bullish sign. C3.ai has also won substantial deals and partnerships with the U.S. government and related defense contractors, and its recent partnership with Microsoft to expand the adoption of enterprise AI points to unfolding opportunities in the private sector as well.SAN DIEGO, Dec. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Robbins LLP reminds investors that a shareholder filed a class action on behalf of all investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH) securities between April 25, 2023 and October 22, 2024. Enphase develops, manufactures, and sells solar microinverters, which are primarily used in residential solar installations to convert solar panel output from direct current to alternating current (which can be transmitted to the power grid). For more information, submit a form , email attorney Aaron Dumas, Jr., or give us a call at (800) 350-6003. The Allegations: Robbins LLP is Investigating Allegations that Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH) Misled Investors Regarding Conflicts of Interest According to the complaint, during the class period, defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts, about the Company’s business and operations. Specifically, defendants systematically overstated the Company’s ability to maintain its pricing levels and market share for microinverter products in Europe in the face of competition from low-cost, Chinese alternatives. Plaintiff alleges that investors fully learned the truth about Enphase’s competitive positioning in Europe after the market closed on October 22, 2024, when the Company announced its third quarter 2024 financial results and revealed an approximately 15% quarter-over-quarter decline in European revenue due to “further softening in European demand.” In response to Enphase’s continued poor performance in Europe, Guggenheim downgraded Enphase stock to a sell rating from a neutral rating and explained that Enphase is “losing share to Chinese competitors who are willing to sell at less than half [Enphase]’s level.” On this news, the price of Enphase common stock declined $13.76 per share, or nearly 15%, from a close of $92.23 per share on October 22, 2024, to close at $78.47 per share on October 23, 2024. What Now: You may be eligible to participate in the class action against Enphase Energy, Inc. Shareholders who want to serve as lead plaintiff for the class must submit their application to the court by February 11, 2025. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. You do not have to participate in the case to be eligible for a recovery. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. For more information, click here . All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses. About Robbins LLP: Some law firms issuing releases about this matter do not actually litigate securities class actions; Robbins LLP does. A recognized leader in shareholder rights litigation, the attorneys and staff of Robbins LLP have been dedicated to helping shareholders recover losses, improve corporate governance structures, and hold company executives accountable for their wrongdoing since 2002. Since our inception, we have obtained over $1 billion for shareholders. To be notified if a class action against Enphase Energies, Inc. settles or to receive free alerts when corporate executives engage in wrongdoing, sign up for Stock Watch today. Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f14b620a-51df-42c4-b1b6-b88b286634aeMariam watches over her new born girl in the safety of her recently moved into rental home after a harrowing few years where she escaped an abusive ex-husband who beat her when she was previously pregnant and had a miscarriage. or signup to continue reading The 25-year-old Hazara Afghan woman grew up as a refugee in Pakistan and settled in Australia in 2016 as a teenager before getting married a few years later. But the relationship was marred by violence and turbulence. "When I was pregnant he started the violence again and he wanted me to have an abortion," she told AAP. She recounted how her ex-husband kicked her out of the house and she bounced around staying at her parents who were pressuring to get back with him, couch surfing with friends and even some nights sleeping in her car. "It was so hard, out of control, I didn't have any support, my relationship with my parents broke down. I was alone in this world." are a Shi'a minority in Afghanistan and have been long persecuted for their ethnicity and religion, which became even more extreme under the hardline Taliban who swept back into power in 2021 unseating the weak US-backed government after the 2001 invasion. Her ex-husband was also Hazara but he had threatened Mariam that he knew Taliban militants in Afghanistan who would kill her brother there if she did not abort the baby after she was 15 weeks pregnant. All the undue psychological pressure and physical beatings such as pushing her violently across the kitchen table took a toll on her body and she had a miscarriage in a Melbourne hospital, she said as she choked back tears. Mariam, who is providing a name she uses on social media in order not to be publicly identified for her safety, recently remarried with her husband visiting from Pakistan to be with her when she gave birth to a baby girl last month. With the help of the Melbourne-based charity Avalon Centre she was able to secure a two bedroom unit weeks ago in Dandenong, which has the highest number of homeless people of over 2300 in Victoria according to official figures. Deborah Holmes who heads the volunteer-run organisation says the grassroots provides stable furnished homes for vulnerable members of the community with ongoing casework support. "We've got a mission statement to help where we can, when we can, and in whatever way we can," she told AAP. "We're offering a hand up not a handout." The community organisation owns about 15 properties and relies entirely on donations from the public to pay off the loans. Ms Holmes said every dollar counts towards getting people off the streets and into new homes at a time when around the holidays. She and a team of volunteers worked around the clock to get the place ready for Mariam to move in with her baby earlier this month. "If that's just two cups of coffee a day and four friends then you can put a roof over somebody's head." RMIT Senior Lecturer Rojan Afrouz, who has conducted extensive research into , explains they contend with cultural barriers such as not being fluent in English as well as regressive community attitudes. "The main point that Afghan women raised was community pressure and shame and blame, and also that cultural and gender norms were stronger here (in Australia) than back in their own countries sometimes," she said. Dr Afrouz said even though domestic violence as a social phenomenon affects women of all backgrounds in Australia, it is doubly hard for refugees who carry multiple levels of trauma. "Afghan women face a lot of stigma and shame when they want to get a religious or civil divorce... sometimes it is more important than access to mainstream services. "This is because the main action that you need to do is making the decision whether you want to leave or not and the social consequences of that," the social work academic explained. She advocated for a woman-centred approach that is consultative in policymaking that ensures their agency is the prime objective. "We have to make sure that we put women's self determination experiences, not community self determination, at the forefront because sometimes minority women's voices are lost." This was Mariam's experience where she felt shunned from the tight-knit community by wanting to flee an abusive relationship. "My mental health was so bad... it was stressful and painful... everyone was blaming no matter what I said." She feels comfortable and safe in her new home with the ongoing support of her social worker and the Avalon Centre vowing to get back on her feet one day at a time. "Alhamdulillah (Thank God) everything is different now. I shut the door and feel safer than before," said Mariam. "My safety and my baby's safety is more important than anything... I don't want to lose everything again." 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. 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