Croatia's President Zoran Milanovic will face conservative rival Dragan Primorac in an election run-off in two weeks' time after the incumbent narrowly missed out an outright victory on Sunday, official results showed. The results came after an exit poll, released immediately after the polling stations closed, showed that Milanovic, backed by the opposition left-wing Social Democrats, had scooped more than 50 percent of the first round vote and would thus avoid the January 12 run-off. Milanovic won 49.11 percent of the first round vote and Primorac, backed by the ruling conservative HDZ party, took 19.37 percent, according to results released by the state electoral commission from nearly all of the polling stations. Such a strong lead for Milanovic, whom surveys labelled a favourite ahead of the vote, raises serious concerns for Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic's HDZ. The election comes as the European Union and NATO member country of 3.8 million people struggles with biting inflation, widespread corruption and a labour shortage. Among the eight contenders, centre-right MP Marija Selak Raspudic and green-left MP Ivana Kekin followed the two main rivals, the exit poll showed. They each won around nine percent of the vote. Croatia's president commands the country's armed forces and has a say in foreign policy. But despite limited powers, many believe the office is key for the political balance of power in a country mainly governed by the HDZ since independence in 1991. "All the eggs should not be in one basket," Nenad Horvat, a salesman in his 40s, told AFP. He sees Milanovic, a former leftist prime minister, as the "last barrier to all levers of power falling into the hands of HDZ", echoing the view of many that was reflected in Sunday's vote results. The 58-year-old Milanovic has been one of Croatia's leading and most colourful political figures for nearly two decades. Sharp and eloquent, he won the presidency for the Social Democrats (SDP) in 2020 with pledges to advocate tolerance and liberalism. But he used the office to attack political opponents and EU officials, often with offensive and populist rhetoric. Milanovic, who condemned Russia's aggression against Ukraine, has nonetheless criticised the West's military aid to Kyiv. That prompted the prime minister to label him a pro-Russian who is "destroying Croatia's credibility in NATO and the EU". Milanovic countered that he wanted to protect Croatia from being "dragged into war". "As long as I'm president no Croatian soldier will wage somebody else's wars," he said this month. Milanovic regularly pans Plenkovic and his HDZ party over systemic corruption, calling the premier a "serious threat to Croatia's democracy". "I'm a guarantee of the control of the octopus of corruption... headed by Andrej Plenkovic," he said during the campaign. For many, the election is a continuation of the longstanding feud between two powerful politicians. "This is still about the conflict between the prime minister and president," political analyst Zarko Puhovski told AFP. "All the rest are just incidental topics." Primorac, a 59-year-old physician and scientist returning to politics after 15 years, campaigned as a "unifier" promoting family values and patriotism. "Croatia needs unity, global positioning and a peaceful life," he told reporters after casting his ballot in Zagreb, adding that he would later attend a mass. Primorac repeatedly accused Milanovic of "disgracing Croatia", a claim that resonated with his supporters. ljv/bc
Middle East latest: Israeli strikes on Gaza hospital wound 3, Netanyahu vows 'iron fist' in LebanonA judge on Monday granted a request by prosecutors to dismiss the election subversion case against Donald Trump because of a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president. Judge Tanya Chutkan agreed to the request by Special Counsel Jack Smith to dismiss the case against the president-elect "without prejudice," meaning it could potentially be revived after Trump leaves the White House four years from now. "Dismissal without prejudice is appropriate here," Chutkan said, adding in the ruling that "the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office." Trump, 78, was accused of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden and removing large quantities of top secret documents after leaving the White House, but the cases never came to trial. Smith also moved on Monday to drop his appeal of the dismissal of the documents case filed against the former president in Florida. That case was tossed out earlier this year by a Trump-appointed judge on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed. The special counsel paused the election interference case and the documents case this month after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 presidential election. Smith cited the long-standing Justice Department policy of not indicting or prosecuting a sitting president in his motions to have the cases dismissed. "The Government's position on the merits of the defendant's prosecution has not changed," Smith said in the filing with Chutkan. "But the circumstances have." "It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President," Smith said. "As a result this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated." In a separate filing, Smith said he was withdrawing his appeal of the dismissal of the classified documents case against Trump but pursuing the case against his two co-defendants, Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira. Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said the cases were "empty and lawless, and should never have been brought." "Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Party's fight against their Political Opponent, ME," he said. "Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before." Trump was accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding -- the session of Congress called to certify Biden's win, which was violently attacked on January 6, 2021 by a mob of the then-president's supporters. Trump was also accused of seeking to disenfranchise US voters with his false claims that he won the 2020 election. The former and incoming president also faces two state cases -- in New York and Georgia. He was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election to stop her from revealing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter. However, Judge Juan Merchan has postponed sentencing while he considers a request from Trump's lawyers that the conviction be thrown out in light of the Supreme Court ruling in July that an ex-president has broad immunity from prosecution. In Georgia, Trump faces racketeering charges over his efforts to subvert the 2020 election results in the southern state, but that case will likely be frozen while he is in office. cl/sms
NoneLuigi Mangione Pleads Not Guilty as Lawyer Blasts Mayor Eric Adams for 'Political Spectacle with Staged Perp Walk' in CEO Murder Case
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. stock underperforms Tuesday when compared to competitorsKentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff is retiring from football with one season of eligibility left, the Lexington-Herald Leader reported Sunday. The publication said the school confirmed Vandagriff's retirement. Vandagriff didn't play in the Wildcats' season finale against Louisville. He passed for 1,593 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 11 games this season. Kentucky has added former Incarnate Word signal-caller Zach Calzada out of the transfer portal since the end of the season. Calzada also was the starting quarterback in 2021 for Texas A&M and the 2025 season will be his seventh as a college player. Vandagriff was a five-star recruit in the 2021 class who initially committed to Oklahoma before flipping and choosing Georgia. However, he didn't get much playing time in three seasons with the Bulldogs with Stetson Bennett and Carson Beck ahead of him. He chose to transfer following the 2023 season. This season, Vandagriff was benched on two occasions and only topped 200 passing yards twice. He had a good chance at a third 200-yard outing on Nov. 2 when he had 123 midway through the third quarter before getting knocked out of the 28-18 loss to then-No. 7 Tennessee due to a concussion. Cutter Boley started the 41-14 loss to Louisville. Another quarterback, Gavin Wimsatt, entered the transfer portal after throwing four interceptions in 39 attempts this season. --Field Level Media
Titans S Julius Wood suspended 6 games for PEDsAustralian stock exchange targets 2029 for Phase 2 of trading software overhaulSuper Micro Computer, Inc. SMCI stock is trading higher on Friday. On Wednesday the company announced that it submitted a compliance plan to Nasdaq. The Details: Super Micro, in the compliance plan, said it believes it will be able to file both its 2024 fiscal-year earnings and its 2025 fiscal-year first-quarter earnings within Nasdaq’s acceptable discretionary time. Previously, the company reported that it was unable to file its earnings on time for multiple reasons, including the resignation of its previous independent accounting firm, Ernest & Young. The company also explained that its management team needs to time to review the company’s financial statements and internal controls. On Monday the company announced that it has appointed BDO USA as its independent auditor. "BDO is a highly respected accounting firm with global capabilities. This is an important next step to bring our financial statements current, an effort we are pursuing with both diligence and urgency," said Charles Liang , president and CEO of SuperMicro. How To Buy Super Micro Computer Stock By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Super Micro Computer – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company. Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy ‘fractional shares,' which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. For example, some stock, like Berkshire Hathaway, can cost thousands of dollars to own just one share. However, if you only want to invest a fraction of that, brokerages will allow you to do so. If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to ‘go short' a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline. Related Link: After Plunging 16%, MicroStrategy Makes Modest Recovery In Friday Pre-Market: Is There Still Hope For A $100K BTC Effect? SMCI Price Action: At the time of writing, Super Micro shares are trading 11.2% higher at $33.02, per data from Benzinga Pro . Image: Image via Shutterstock © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Carlos Santana, who won the first Gold Glove of his 15-year major league career with the Twins last season, signed a contract with the Cleveland Guardians for next season. The 38-year-old first baseman will be on a one-year, $12 million deal to return to the team for which he has been an All-Star. Santana hit 23 home runs in 150 games for the Twins, 146 of them at first base. He had four errors in 1,094 total chances and led MLB first basemen in fielding run value and outs above average. The Guardians traded their first baseman, Josh Naylor, to Arizona on Saturday after trading Gold Glove second baseman Andres Gimenez to Toronto earlier in the offseason. The 27-year-old Naylor, who hit 31 home runs and drove in 108 runs, will be a free agent following the 2025 season. Santana broke into the majors with Cleveland in 2010 and played 10 seasons there . He made $5.25 million with the Twins last season, signing as a free agent before the season. The Guardians were 92-69 won the American League Central title with a payroll of $105 million. The Twins were 82-80 with a payroll of $129 million .
The corner of 53rd Avenue and 18th Street in Bettendorf received extra light Sunday night as Chabad Lubavitch of the Quad Cities lit a menorah for Hannukah. Sunday marked the fifth night of the festival which lasts eight days and nights. The event commemorates a period in Jewish history when Assyrian-Greeks took control of Jerusalem and tried to ban Jewish customs and religious practices. But a small group of Jewish people fought and drove them from Jerusalem, reclaiming the temple. Despite having a one-day supply of oil to light the menorah in the temple, it stayed lit for eight days. The holiday is celebrated by traditions such as singing songs, playing the game of dreidel and eating oil-based foods such as latke, a potato pancake, as well as lighting menorahs. Hannukah, also spelled Chanukkah, spreads the message that good triumphs evil and light will conquer darkness, according to a news release from Chabad. People are also reading... "At this fraught time for the Jewish community, with war in Israel and American Jews facing a major rise in antisemitism, this year we are doing more to celebrate Hanukkah with joy and Jewish pride,” said Rabbi Shneur Cadaner. “The menorah and Hanukkah represent freedom of the human spirit, freedom from tyranny and oppression, and of the victory of good over evil.” At Sunday's ceremony, battery operated votive candles were spread out among the crowd as the rabbi and his wife, Chana Cadaner, spoke about the significance of lighting candles to commemorate bringing light into the world. "We add light to the world and we make it a better place," she said, asking participants to turn on their lights one by one. "We are a community that spreads light no matter how dark it may seem around us." This year’s celebrations carried extra significance as it marks 50 years since the first public menorah was lit at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia in 1974. The public menorah was lit after the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, launched a worldwide campaign in 1973 to build awareness and promote observance of Hanukkah, according to a news release. As a small crowd gathered at the busy intersection in Bettendorf, Mayor Bob Gallagher lit the ceremonial first candle on the menorah and wished a peaceful and happy holiday to all. The Quad-Cities' menorah is one of more than 15,000 large public menorahs throughout the world, including menorahs in front of the White House, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the Great Wall of China and Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. Hanukkah Menorah Lightning 2023 Joe McCoy lights the giant menorah at 18th St. and 53rd Ave., the future home of the Chabad Center, on Sunday in Bettendorf. The Quad Cities Jewish community gathered to light a giant menorah on the fourth day of Hanukkah. Guests smile after the first candle is lit Sunday on the giant menorah at 18th St. and 53rd Ave. in Bettendorf. The Quad Cities Jewish community gathered to light a giant menorah on the fourth day of Hanukkah on Sunday, Dec. 10, in Bettendorf. Rabbi Shneur Cadaner holds the torch to light the giant menorah on Sunday, December 10, in Bettendorf. The Quad Cities Jewish community gathered to light a giant menorah on the fourth day of Hanukkah on Sunday, December 10, in Bettendorf. Robert Lewis, a retired chef, gives a blessing in Hebrew before lighting a candle on the menorah on Sunday, December 10, in Bettendorf. The Quad Cities Jewish community gathered to light a giant menorah on the fourth day of Hanukkah on Sunday, December 10, in Bettendorf. Mayor of Bettendorf, Bob Gallagher, speaks to guests before the menorah lighting ceremony on the fourth day of Hanukkah on Sunday, December 10, in Bettendorf. The Quad Cities Jewish community gathered to light a giant menorah on the fourth day of Hanukkah on Sunday, December 10, in Bettendorf. The Quad Cities Jewish community gathered to light a giant menorah on the fourth day of Hanukkah on Sunday, December 10, in Bettendorf. Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "dateCreated": "2024-12-03T23:31:59+02:00", "datePublished": "2024-12-03T23:31:59+02:00", "dateModified": "2024-12-03T23:32:55+02:00", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22327/news/featured/featured-bpr-bank-denmark-launch-56m-credit-guarantee-to-support-msmes", "headline": "FEATURED: BPR Bank, Denmark launch $5.6m credit guarantee to support MSMEs", "description": "BPR Bank, in partnership with the Government of Denmark through the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), has launched a $5.6 million credit...", "keywords": "", "inLanguage": "en", "mainEntityOfPage":{ "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22327/news/featured/featured-bpr-bank-denmark-launch-56m-credit-guarantee-to-support-msmes" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/12/03/65513.jpg", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/12/03/65513.jpg" }, "articleBody": "BPR Bank, in partnership with the Government of Denmark through the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), has launched a $5.6 million credit guarantee initiative aimed at enhancing access to financing for Rwanda’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The portfolio guarantee facility, launched on December 3, is designed to provide loans with up to 70% of the required collateral covered, significantly reducing financial barriers for MSMEs. This innovative scheme, the first of its kind by IFU in Africa, targets critical sectors such as agriculture, tourism, renewable energy, ICT, logistics, and enterprises owned by women and youth. ALSO READ: BPR Bank Rwanda, IFC partner to support SMEs with Rwf53bn investment Patience Mutesi, Managing Director of BPR Bank, highlighted the pivotal role of MSMEs in Rwanda’s economic development. “The reason why this partnership is really important is that, as BPR, we believe that for this country to attain economic growth, SMEs need to be at the centre to drive this growth and job creation,” she said. Access to finance remains a key challenge for many businesses, often due to insufficient collateral. Mutesi explained that the guarantee scheme addresses this by mitigating risks for lenders. “The portfolio guarantee allows us to take the risk on the businesses without risking the money never coming back. It provides collateral for SMEs, covering up to 70 per cent of the security required for loans,” she explained. As an example, Mutesi noted that an agricultural SME seeking to adopt advanced technology can access funding under the scheme with only 30% of the typical collateral required. ALSO READ: BPR Bank Rwanda engages entrepreneurs, empowers SMEs with key financial insights Beyond financing, BPR Bank also offers tailored advisory services to businesses. Mutesi outlined various financing options available, such as asset-based financing, commercial mortgages, working capital loans, and collateral management. The bank also offers business support services to help businesses improve their proposals and strengthen internal structures. Ole Thonke, Undersecretary for Development Policy in Denmark, said, “Many SMEs haven’t grown enough to have sufficient collateral, making it risky for banks to lend to them. This guarantee replaces the collateral they lack, enabling BPR to open loans for SMEs to invest in new equipment, drive innovation, and create jobs,” he added. Thonke noted Rwanda’s favorable business environment and its reputation as one of Africa’s best countries for ease of doing business, describing the partnership with BPR as a natural choice. Denmark’s approach to this initiative goes beyond traditional financial returns. According to Thonke, the focus is on the developmental, economic, and social impact of the loans. “What is great about this partnership is that Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) can step in to help SMEs mature and become eligible for BPR loans under the guarantee scheme,” he added. Bosco Iyacu, CEO of AFR said that businesses often face challenges accessing capital, despite the availability of funds in financial institutions. Addressing this gap, AFR launched the ‘Terimbere MSME Support’ facility, an initiative aimed at preparing enterprises to meet banks’ lending requirements and facilitating access to financing for growth and job creation. “Our mandate is to act as a market catalyst, ensuring financial services are accessible to as many businesses as possible, leading to job creation and improved livelihoods. “Currently, we are piloting with 10 businesses, and in the next five years, we aim to reach 5,000,” Iyacu said. He added, “Through this partnership with BPR and Denmark, we will ensure tracking its impact on employment creation, particularly for youth, and ensuring it reaches those without initial capacity.”", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Umutesi" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "The New Times", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/", "sameAs": ["https://www.facebook.com/TheNewTimesRwanda/","https://twitter.com/NewTimesRwanda","https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuZbZj6DF9zWXpdZVceDZkg"], "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "/theme_newtimes/images/logo.png", "width": 270, "height": 57 } }, "copyrightHolder": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "The New Times", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/" } }
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston sets off firestorm with vows to resist Trump’s mass deportation plans
Chubb Ltd. stock falls Tuesday, underperforms market
Investing like a billionaire comes with a high price tag. But thanks to technology, the barriers to these elite opportunities are starting to crumble. Consider direct indexing, a strategy favored by the rich to lower taxes by selling underperforming stocks and using the losses to offset other gains. These personalized portfolios used to be out of reach of the merely affluent, requiring steep account minimums. Over the past five years, direct indexing has exploded as technological advancements have made it worthwhile for wealth managers to offer the services to Main Street customers. The account minimum for Fidelity's FidFolios, for example, is only $5,000. "Direct indexing has become accessible at a different level of wealth than it has been in the past," said Ranjit Kapila, the copresident and chief operating officer of Parametric. "That wouldn't have been available or possible without the technology trends we've had to be able to do this level of computation at scale in a cost-efficient manner." Parametric, the pioneer of direct indexing, is also moving downstream. By adopting fractional-share investing, Parametric lowered the minimum for its core product to $100,000 from $250,000. The firm plans to offer a direct-indexing product with fewer customization features for $25,000 in 2025. Private markets face steeper hurdles. This opaque field was traditionally reserved for deep-pocketed investors like pension funds and ultrarich individuals. But now investors have more access to financial results for funds and privately held companies as data providers race to meet their needs. Machine learning and AI have made it easier for these firms to extract and analyze data. BlackRock views this data as the great equalizer and has grand ambitions of indexing these opaque private markets. The asset-management giant agreed this summer to acquire the data powerhouse Preqin for $3.2 billion. "We anticipate indexes and data will be important to future drivers of the democratization of all alternatives," BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said on a conference call. "And this acquisition is the unlock." Leon Sinclair, Preqin's executive vice president, argued that with the number of public companies dwindling, it's imperative for mass-affluent investors to get better access to private markets. "Clearly there's more, deeper, better sources of funding for private companies that could stay private for longer," Sinclair said. "I think it's fair that the mass affluent can — in the right way — be brought along on that journey to get exposure to that part of the mosaic earlier." Kapila described these technological developments as part of a trend in wealth management to capture customers before they make it big. "There's a desire by financial advisors to try and engage investors earlier in their wealth-accumulation cycle," Kapila said. Parametric, acquired by Morgan Stanley in 2021, operates in a competitive arena. Thanks to a wave of similar acquisitions, Parametric faces well-capitalized rivals such as BlackRock's Aperio and Franklin Templeton's Canvas. Industry stalwarts like Fidelity and upstarts like Envestnet also want a piece of the action. Kapila said the need to compete on scale and fees required Parametric's technology to be as efficient as possible. "It'll be harder," he said. "We have to do many, many more accounts to really drive growth in assets, etc. But those challenges are exciting to me as a technologist." To meet that need, Kapila is pushing Parametric to develop more automated products, such as Radius, which launched this year. Radius constructs equity and fixed-income portfolios and runs simulations to identify the best selections for portfolio managers. He plans to launch more cloud-native tools, which are easier to scale and manage, for other asset classes in 2025 and 2026. Parametric is also piloting generative-AI tools to onboard accounts more efficiently. Clients' expectations are also rising. There's demand for Parametric's tax benefits but with actively managed strategies rather than indexes, he said, spurring partnerships with asset managers. Parametric recently launched an offering that allows customers to pick equities off strategies from the financial-advisory and asset-management firm Lazard. To stay ahead of the curve, Preqin is developing more sophisticated products. Last year, the UK firm launched an Actionability Signal that uses machine learning to identify private companies likely to be open for investment. "The sole focus on public information for certain tasks around valuation and risk management are not really going to be the way that people do this," Sinclair said. "We're moving much more to a world where real proprietary private information at the asset level, which is transactionally oriented, is available to people." In June, his division launched a data tool that analyzes $4.8 trillion worth of deals across 6,500 funds. This database can be used in a slew of ways, from backing up valuations in negotiations to identifying which financial factors, such as revenue growth or debt paydown, contributed the most value to a successful deal. With the rise of generative AI, Sinclair expects that users will be able to interpret data with more ease using natural language commands. "I think you'll see that be more prominent across the industry where people expect to interact with large data sets in really natural common ways," he said. "We think all that will probably start to be visible over the coming years." On average, retail investors allocate just 5% of their portfolios to alternative investments. If BlackRock successfully indexes private markets, it could go a long way toward boosting that percentage. However, Sinclair said more work is required to help mass affluent investors feel comfortable investing in private markets. As someone who grew up working class and was only introduced to finance in college, he knows there is an education gap to overcome. "To get Joe Bloggs very excited and comfortable with committing capital, they need to be able to understand what the different basis of those returns are," Sinclair said. He added: "I think it's in the industry's interest to enable those new sources of capital, to bridge the gap in understanding, to bridge the gap in analytics, to bridge the gap in frequency of reporting, to make that an easier journey for people to go on." Read the original article on
Middle East latest: Israeli strikes on Gaza hospital wound 3, Netanyahu vows 'iron fist' in LebanonTitans S Julius Wood suspended 6 games for PEDs