NoneSouth Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who declared martial law on Tuesday, was elected in 2022 as a conservative political novice promising a tougher line on North Korea. He has not had an easy ride, taking office with some of the lowest approval ratings of any democratically elected South Korean president. Those ratings dropped even further to 19% in the latest Gallup poll last week, with many expressing dissatisfaction over his handling of the economy and controversies involving his wife, Kim Keon Hee .
Franz Wagner has never been the main star. In his two years at Michigan, he didn’t lead the Wolverines in scoring and as a sophomore played alongside All-American center Hunter Dickinson. Coming out of the NBA draft, he was perhaps overshadowed by other more well-known prospects at the time. Even when Orlando drafted him No. 8 overall in 2021, there was Jalen Suggs, whom the Magic selected three spots sooner. A year later came No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero , who instantly became the face of a franchise that had been searching for one in the years since the departure of Dwight Howard. But Wagner likes it that way. He doesn’t mind playing second fiddle to the Rookie of the Year and first-time All-Star in Banchero. “I knew I wasn’t going to have the same notoriety as some of the top draft picks,” Wagner said. “It’s just the way it goes when you’re from a different country. “I really don’t have a problem with that at all,” he added. But Thursday night in Los Angeles, and for the last three weeks without Banchero (torn right abdominal muscle), Wagner showed he too can shine just as bright as his higher-drafted teammates and perhaps anyone else in the league. In a town known for its stars, Wagner was the biggest when he sank a game-winning 3-point basket with 3.1 seconds left to hand the Lakers their first home loss of the season while snapping a Los Angeles 6-game win streak despite 39 points from Anthony Davis and 31 from LeBron James. “That’s crazy. That’s like a movie moment,” Suggs said. With 37 points and 11 assists, the 23-year-old Wagner became the youngest player in Magic history to record 35-plus points and 10-plus assists in a game and just the third player in franchise history to record such a statline, joining Penny Hardaway and Tracy McGrady. Fittingly, it was McGrady (37 points, 10 assists) who did it last for the Magic on March 15, 2004, on the road against the... Lakers. When McGrady did it, however, Orlando lost in overtime to a young Kobe Bryant, who totaled 38 points that night. Led by Wagner this time, the road victory for the Magic (10-7) was just the franchise’s eighth all-time in 35 games away from home against the Lakers (10-5) in the regular season. “He’s not afraid of big moments,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “And that’s what we’ve asked him to do. I could not be happier for this team and for him, who puts in such an amazing amount of work. To see that fall ... this group, they battle. They battled this entire game. “I just can’t say enough about this group, can’t say enough about Franz and his work ethic, and this group’s grit that they continue to show,” he added. Franz Wagner lifts Magic past Lakers with game-winner, 37 points Wagner could get some help back Saturday against the Pistons (7-10) when Orlando returns to Kia Center after going 2-1 out West. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who missed Thursday’s game due to personal reasons (the birth of his family’s fifth child), isn’t listed on the injury report. Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (left foot plantar fasciitis) is listed as questionable after missing 10 consecutive contests. Regardless of who’s available, the Magic’s offense will run through Wagner once again. Although it was his final shot that rightfully deserves the attention, his 37-point performance is just the latest example of why he’s earning himself a spot in the league’s All-Star game come February. Orlando has gone 7-1 in its last eight games while Wagner has averaged 28.1 points, 6.9 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 2.1 steals in that stretch. Banchero took to Instagram to back his star counterpart, writing, “West Coast Walk Down! ALL STAR.” “This is one of those games where when we are done, 10 to 15 years later, we can hold onto this and talk about,” Suggs said. Wagner relied on his craftiness to drive in the paint and found his spots from distance to attack despite the Lakers’ best effort to contain him. When Los Angeles threw double teams or blitzed him, Wagner found open teammates such as Suggs (23 points) on the perimeter for a first-quarter 3 or a soaring Goga Bitadze (7 points, 15 rebounds) for a third-quarter alley-oop. Wagner quietly recorded his career-high 11 assists on a night where it was his scoring and, more importantly, his final shot that made the most noise. But he’s not one to make much noise like that. Never has been. And he revels in the calmness waiting to strike. Generally soft-spoken with the media, he instead lets his play speak for itself. “That’s not why I play basketball,” Wagner said of the individual attention. “Those moments, like when my teammates are super happy for me, those types of things — that’s what every player wishes for, and not all of the fame.” Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com Up next ... Magic vs. Pistons When: 7, Saturday, Kia Center TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida
Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Krispy Kreme, Inc. ( NASDAQ:DNUT – Free Report ) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,099,645 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,203 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Krispy Kreme were worth $22,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in Krispy Kreme by 86.1% in the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 216,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 100,163 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its position in Krispy Kreme by 6,993.4% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 872,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,366,000 after purchasing an additional 859,774 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Krispy Kreme in the 3rd quarter valued at about $810,000. Samlyn Capital LLC lifted its position in Krispy Kreme by 120.5% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 2,230,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Krispy Kreme in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,716,000. 81.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Krispy Kreme Stock Up 0.5 % DNUT stock opened at $9.78 on Friday. Krispy Kreme, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.18 and a 12 month high of $17.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 57.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Krispy Kreme Announces Dividend Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of analysts have commented on DNUT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Krispy Kreme from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Krispy Kreme in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Krispy Kreme from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Krispy Kreme has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.56. Read Our Latest Report on Krispy Kreme About Krispy Kreme ( Free Report ) Krispy Kreme, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, produces doughnuts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: U.S., International, and Market Development. The company offers doughnut experiences through hot light theater and fresh shops, delivered fresh daily branded cabinets and merchandising units within grocery and convenience stores, quick service restaurants, club memberships, drug stores, and ecommerce, as well as through its branded sweet treat line comprising Krispy Kreme branded sweet treats. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DNUT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Krispy Kreme, Inc. ( NASDAQ:DNUT – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Krispy Kreme Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Krispy Kreme and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .US president-elect Donald Trump had pushed for dismissal of his hush money case in light of his victory in the November presidential election. NEW YORK - US prosecutors have suggested to a New York judge the possibility of sparing Donald Trump any prison time for his conviction on charges involving hush money paid to a porn star in light of his presidential election victory, but opposed dismissing the case. In a court filing made public on Dec 10, prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office urged Justice Juan Merchan to deny the Republican businessman-turned-politicians’ request to throw out the case so it does not hang over him and impede his ability to govern once he takes office on Jan 20. Noting that many of Trump’s concerns involve the possibility that he could be incarcerated, prosecutors noted that there is no requirement that Justice Merchan sentence him to prison - and said the judge could conclude that presidential immunity from prosecution would require a non-incarceration sentence. “Such a constitutional limitation on the range of available sentences would further diminish any impact on defendant’s presidential decision-making without going so far as to discard the indictment and jury verdict altogether,” prosecutors wrote. Mr Merchan has not said when he will rule on Trump’s bid for dismissal. Trump has called the case an attempt by Mr Bragg, a Democrat, to harm his 2024 campaign. In a statement on Dec 10, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “Today’s filing by the Manhattan DA is a pathetic attempt to salvage the remains of an unconstitutional and politically motivated hoax.” The case stemmed from a US$130,000 (S$174,246) payment that Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she has said she had a decade earlier with Trump, who denies it. A Manhattan jury in May found Trump, 78, guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up his reimbursement of Mr Cohen. It was the first time a US president - former or sitting - had been convicted of or charged with a criminal offense. Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years in prison, but incarceration is not required. Before his Nov 5 election victory, legal experts told Reuters it was unlikely that Trump would be sentenced to prison due to his lack of a criminal history and advanced age, but that incarceration was not impossible. The US Supreme Court in July ruled in a separate criminal case involving Trump that presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official actions taken in office, and that evidence of official acts could not be used in prosecuting a president over personal acts. Trump’s lawyers have argued that meant the case should be dismissed because prosecutors used statements that Trump made while president and testimony from his White House aides. The filing by Mr Bragg’s office on Dec 10 said the hush money case involved “purely unofficial conduct.” “Presidential immunity is supposed to protect a president’s official decision-making only while in office, not to forever insulate the president from criminal liability - especially for his unofficial conduct,” prosecutors wrote. Mr Merchan last month delayed Trump’s previously scheduled Nov 26 sentencing indefinitely to give him the chance to seek dismissal. In their filing, prosecutors repeated their suggestion that Mr Merchan defer all proceedings - including the sentencing - until Trump leaves the White House in January 2029. Alternatively, they said a non-incarceration sentence could minimize the case’s impact on Trump’s presidency. In their motion to dismiss, Trump’s lawyers called the idea that the sentence could be delayed until after he leaves office “ridiculous.” The prosecutors wrote that while Trump should receive “temporary accommodations” to make sure the case does not interfere with his presidency, wiping out the jury’s verdict would represent an “extreme remedy.” “President-elect immunity does not exist,” they wrote. “The overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt and the critical importance of preserving public confidence in the criminal justice system, among many other factors, weigh heavily against dismissal.” Trump was charged in three other state and federal criminal cases in 2023, one involving classified documents he kept after leaving office and two others involving his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. He pleaded not guilty in all three cases. The Justice Department moved to dismiss the two federal cases after Trump’s election victory. 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Syrian insurgents reach the capital's suburbs. Worried residents flee and stock up on supplies
I turned my teen side hustle into an £8 million fortune aged 27 – here’s my top free tip & 5 expensive mistakes to avoidBEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents' stunning march across Syria accelerated Saturday with news that they had reached the gates of the capital and that government forces had abandoned the central city of Homs. The government was forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country. The loss of Homs is a potentially crippling blow for Assad. It stands at an important intersection between Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus — the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base. The pro-government Sham FM reported that government forces took positions outside Syria’s third-largest city, without elaborating. Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Syrian troops and members of different security agencies have withdrawn from the city, adding that rebels have entered parts of it. The capture of Homs is a major victory for insurgents, who have already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama , as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began Nov. 27. Analysts said Homs falling into rebel hands would be a game-changer. The rebels' moves around Damascus, reported by the monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. For the first time in the country’s long-running civil war, the government now has control of only three of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Latakia and Tartus. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Assad's government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army. The rapid rebel gains, coupled with the lack of support from Assad's erstwhile allies, posed the most serious threat to his rule since the start of the war. The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad's chief international backer, said he feels “sorry for the Syrian people.” In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to Syria's border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country. Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those still open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price. “The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions. “People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.” It was the first time that opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The U.N. said it was moving noncritical staff outside the country as a precaution. Assad's status Syria’s state media denied social media rumors that Assad left the country, saying he is performing his duties in Damascus. He has had little, if any, help from his allies. Russia, is busy with its war in Ukraine . Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Assad's forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday posted on social media that that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria. Pedersen said a date for talks in Geneva on the implementation a U.N. resolution, adopted in 2015, and calling for a Syrian-led political process, would be announced later. The resolution calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections. Later Saturday, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran, along with Pederson, gathered on the sidelines of the Doha Summit to discuss the situation in Syria. In a statement issued late Saturday, the participants affirmed their support for a political solution to the Syrian crisis “that would lead to the end of military activity and protect civilians.” They also agreed on the importance of strengthening international efforts to increase aid to the Syrian people. The insurgents' march Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were marching toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added. A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. HTS controls much of northwest Syria and in 2017 set up a “salvation government” to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has sought to remake the group’s image, cutting ties with al-Qaida, ditching hard-line officials and vowing to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance. The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama , the country’s fourth largest city. Opposition activists said Saturday that a day earlier, insurgents entered Palmyra, which is home to invaluable archaeological sites had been in government hands since being taken from the Islamic State group in 2017. To the south, Syrian troops left much of the province of Quneitra including the main Baath City, activists said. Syrian Observatory said government troops have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces. The Syrian army said in a statement that it carried out redeployment and repositioning in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints came under attack by “terrorists." The army said it was setting up a “strong and coherent defensive and security belt in the area,” apparently to defend Damascus from the south. The Syrian government has referred to opposition gunmen as terrorists since conflict broke out in March 2011. Diplomacy in Doha The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey, meeting in Qatar, called for an end to the hostilities. Turkey is a main backer of the rebels. Qatar's top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country’s underlying problems. “Assad didn’t seize this opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people,” he said. Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by how quickly the rebels have advanced and said there is a real threat to Syria’s “territorial integrity.” He said the war could “damage and destroy what is left if there is no sense of urgency” to start a political process. ____ Karam reported from London. Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria; Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad; and Josef Federman and Victoria Eastwood in Doha, Qatar, contributed to this report. Bassem Mroue And Zeina Karam, The Associated PressNone
President-elect Trump's lawyers cited President Biden's pardoning of his son in their latest bid to have Trump's hush-money conviction tossed. In the filing made public Tuesday, Trump attorneys Todd Blance and Emil Bove said that "in issuing a 10-year-pardon to Hunter Biden that covers any and all crimes whether charged or uncharged, President Biden asserted that his son was 'selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,' and 'treated differently,'" reports. They said Biden's remark that "raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice" was "an extraordinary condemnation of President Biden's own DOJ." The attorneys argued that by prosecuting Trump for falsifying business records, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg "has engaged in 'precisely the type of political theater' that President Biden has condemned." Blance and Bove also argued that the case should be dismissed because of presidential immunity, and that by potentially disrupting the transition, it "threatens the functioning of the federal government," reports. Trump has nominated both lawyers for top Justice Department posts. "As President Biden put it yesterday, 'Enough is enough.' This case, which should never have been brought, must now be dismissed," they wrote. In the New York case, Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts. Judge Juan Merchan after Trump's election victory and prosecutors said they were open to postponing it until Trump leaves office. In their filing, Blanche and Bove dismissed the idea, saying the "ridiculous suggestion that they could simply resume proceedings after President Trump leaves Office, more than a decade after they commenced their investigation in 2018, is not an option." Bragg's office has until Dec. 9 to respond to the filing. (More stories.)Iran’s UN envoy reaffirms support for Syria’s fight against terrorismA long-awaited appeal for convicted double murderer Alex Murdaugh was filed Tuesday in the South Carolina Supreme Court. Alex Murdaugh listens as his attorneys Dick Harpootlian, left, and Phil Barber speak during a judicial hearing at The Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia, S.C. on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. In the 132-plus page brief, Murdaugh’s lawyers lay out two main prongs of attack they say should be grounds for granting Murdaugh a new trial: First, they allege that former Colleton County clerk of court Becky Hill, a state official, improperly swayed one or more jurors to vote to find Murdaugh guilty. Hill’s intrusion denied Murdaugh “infected the trial with unfairness” and denied him his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury, they argue. Second, they allege that the extensive information about Murdaugh’s financial crimes that state Judge Clifton Newman allowed the jury to hear about from 10 witnesses unfairly prejudiced the jury against Murdaugh (Murdaugh had not pleaded guilty to the crimes at that point). Those 10 witnesses testified “over a span of six days” about various Murdaugh financial crimes that involved 19 victims, the brief said. The brief also attacks various evidence offered by prosecution witnesses. The brief was submitted to the State Supreme Court nearly two years after the five-week Murdaugh murder trial, which began in January 2023 and ended in early March of that year. The trial was followed by millions on television, social media and mainstream media. The delay was caused in part by the time it took to prepare a 6,000-page transcript of the three-week trial and by an appeal Murdaugh’s lawyers made to the S.C. Court of Appeals on the alleged jury tampering issue. Normally, appeals in non-death penalty murder cases are first heard by the Court of Appeals. But in this case, Murdaugh’s attorneys sought and received permission from the Supreme Court to appeal directly to the high court. The State Attorney General’s office now has 30 days to file a reply. However, due to the holidays, and the complexity of the issues, the Supreme Court will probably grant an extension if prosecutors request one. The filing is the latest move in a case that shocked and riveted South Carolina and the world with its unexpected twists and fatal blend of violence, family dysfunction, big money and white collar crime. Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 of murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul in what prosecutors argued was a cold-blooded attempt to distract suspicion from the looming threat of public disclosure that the attorney had stolen millions of dollars from his clients and his family’s 110-year-old law firm. His trial and conviction was a stunning downfall for a fourth-generation member of a prominent South Carolina legal and political family. The murders took place on June 7, 2021, at the dog kennels on the Murdaugh 1,700-acre family estate, called Moselle, just after nightfall, in rural Colleton County. Maggie was killed with an assault rifle; Paul, by a shotgun. No weapons were ever recovered. Murdaugh, 56, who is serving two life sentences for murder in a S.C. prison, claims he is innocent and that someone else did the killing. The appeal comes almost two years after Mardaugh was sentenced to life in prison for shooting and killing his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. The delay was partly due to a pause put on the normal appeals process while his attorneys attempted to win Murdaugh a new trial following bombshell allegations that Becky Hill, the clerk of court who served on his trial, tampered with the jury. That attempt failed. Hill, who gained a small measure of celebrity during the trial, was accused of encouraging the jury to doubt Murdaugh’s testimony, pressuring the jury to reach a quick verdict and working to ensure a juror who had indicated that she was not convinced of Murdaugh’s guilt be dismissed. After the trial, she published a book based on her insider’s position at the trial, a position in which she oversaw the jury and had confidential conversations with the judge. Her goal, Murdaugh’s attorneys argued, was to ensure Murdaugh’s conviction in order to drive sales of the book she planned to write about the trial. The book was published in August 2023 and later withdrawn from publication after she admitted plagiarizing passages from a BBC’s reporter’s article. At a hearing last January before former South Carolina Supreme Court Justice Jean Toal, Hill denied the charges against her. While Toal found Hill “not completely credible,” she declined to grant Murdaugh a new trial, arguing that the state supreme court did not have the authority to grant a “a new trial in a very lengthy trial such as this on the strength of some fleeting and foolish comments by a publicity-influenced clerk of court But the controversy over Hill’s actions has not died down. Hill resigned from her position as the elected clerk of court and has been facing ethics and criminal investigations into jury tampering and allegations that she abused her position for financial gain . Defense lawyers on Murdaugh’s brief include Dick Harpootlian, Jim Griffin, Phil Barber, Andrew Hand and Maggie Fox. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
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has just become ’s third consecutive critically acclaimed project for DC, but it’s his first creative output from his new DCU slate as co-head of DC Studios. Technically speaking, it’s the fifth celebrated project in a row since he oversaw Matt Reeves’ DC Elseworlds’ HBO series, , as well as the Sundance acquisition of . Gunn did not intend for his new animated series to launch the rebooted DC universe, but immediately following the ratings juggernaut that was season one, HBO Max, now Max, asked Gunn if he had another streaming series in him. He proceeded to write all seven episodes of on spec, and just as he was dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, he was hired by Warner Bros. Discovery to shepherd the entire universe alongside his longtime friend and producer, Peter Safran. Thus, is first up to bat since the 7-episode series was already in motion. In late 2022, after turning in his scripts, Gunn knew that he needed to hire a showrunner while he and Safran conceived the rest of the DCU’s first chapter. That eight- to ten-year plan is now known as featuring a handful of films, TV series and games, including 2025’s , the DCU’s “true beginning.” All the while, , who co-created Max’s beloved animated series (2019), was helping Gunn bring to fruition. But as swamped as Gunn was with and various other tasks, Lorey is grateful that the filmmaker and studio co-chair was still able to be hands-on with , versus redirecting him to other parties. “To tell you the truth, it was one of the best experiences I’ve had. I didn’t have to go through anybody else. It was one-stop shopping,” Lorey tells . Gunn adds: “[Going through multiple people] can be a pain in the ass. Honestly, [working directly] was something good that I got from Marvel. There was a very clear back and forth [with Marvel], and while there was sometimes arguing in the best of ways, it always led to something different. It wasn’t like people were taking sides. The politics of it was gone, and that’s the way that we did . It was me working together with Dean to create the best thing, and none of us had egos.” takes place shortly after season one, as Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) sidesteps the congressional ruling that she can no longer enlist human prisoners for A.R.G.U.S.’s dangerous missions by now using imprisoned monsters. As a result, Waller hands a new operation and team to Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), the father of the fallen , who was murdered by Peacemaker/Christopher Smith (John Cena) in Gunn’s DC debut, (2021). Grillo’s older Flag will also play a key role in the upcoming film and second season of , all of which serves as an example of the kind of synergy that Gunn hopes to maintain between animation and live-action. As for the DCU’s upcoming live-action launch, Gunn is currently test-screening (2025), and he remains absolutely bullish about David Corenswet’s Superman/Clark Kent. “Honestly, from the bottom of my heart, David Corenswet is going to freak everyone out with how great he is,” Gun insists. “He is one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with, and he can do everything. The man is incredible.” Gunn has also just wrapped season two, and he’s excited about the deviation that’s coming the audience’s way in late 2025. “Season two of is also going to take people by surprise,” Gunn shares. “We take a very different route than the first season, and it’s a really magical story that people are going to be blown away by.” Below, during a conversation with , Gunn and Lorey also address the question surrounding what is and isn’t canon from the now-defunct DCEU, as well as a potential second season of . *** Well, it really wasn’t meant to be that. The main thing is that it was already written. ( ) HBO Max asked me to do another show after the success of , but I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do. Committing to a TV show is a big deal, so I just started playing with different ideas, and then I started writing on spec. I wrote all seven episodes in a few weeks, and then right around the time that I was finishing those scripts, I got hired as the co-head of DC Studios. So we were ready to go [with ]. I supervised production and shepherded it forward, but James was still very involved in every step. We sent him the voice records cut together, the animatics, everything, so James was very much a part of the whole process. I don’t know how he does it! Every time I dealt with , it was like Christmas for me. Taking on a project the size of is just crazy. It’s hard and stressful. But the [ ] guys were doing such amazing work, and the cast was so incredible. They just kept sending me one great thing after another, but I also really cared about it. The pieces that I care about, I really get into the nitty-gritty of them. Of course, I worked with the actors for the recording of everything, which is relatively simple. At the end of the day, there’s seven episodes and they aren’t long. So we recorded everybody doing everything at once, and it wasn’t that much time. Yeah, they’re light canon. is pretty straightforward, with the exception of the appearance by a certain group [the former DCEU’s Justice League] at the end. ( ) They don’t exist . But the rule is: if we mention [something from the past] in one of the new DCU shows [and movies], then it happened. So that’s the way we’re dealing with it. ( ) To tell you the truth, it was one of the best experiences I’ve had. Being the creator of the show, James’ notes were very clear and very specific. I also knew that once we did them, I didn’t have to go through anybody else. It was one-stop shopping. Yeah, [going through multiple people] can be a pain in the ass. Honestly, it was something good that I got from Marvel. Normally, when you work on a movie, it’s the director’s voice, the studio’s voice and the producers’ voice. Sometimes, it’s the production company, and oftentimes, all those things can really fight each other. And working with Marvel, it was me as a director and them as the producer/studio. So there was a very clear back and forth, and while there was sometimes arguing in the best of ways, it always led to something different. It wasn’t like people were taking sides. The politics of it was gone, and that’s the way that we did . It was me working together with Dean to create the best thing, and none of us had egos. I can’t do everything, so it’s about using my time as best I can. There’s a lot of things I have to turn over to the guys to do, and it’s about really putting my time where it needs to be. I’m a micromanager. When I’m doing a movie, I’m looking at every single thing. So it’s definitely been wearing, and honestly, I can’t do what I’ve been doing the past [however many years]. Well, I wouldn’t give away any state secrets, but I haven’t tried to grill James for anything about these characters. I’d mostly like to be surprised. I hope that James writes the next batch of stuff and that I can read it all in the same way that I did this past batch. So that’s how I’d like to find out unless I’m the one writing. Yeah, we’ve talked about all of these characters in live-action and how we would do them, if we did them, in live-action. I don’t want to give away any secrets, but we use some technology in that’s completely new in regards to this kind of stuff. So we would know exactly how to do GI Robot. Absolutely. 100 percent. That’s right. Everything is very consistent in terms of the politics of the world and where the world is at and what’s going on; who are the metahumans in power, who are the metahumans not in power; who are the power brokers, who are not the power brokers. So we see a glimpse of it here, but we see more of it in and . We took elements of what the DC Frankenstein has been as this mercenary. But we also took a lot of things from Mary Shelley’s original for both the Bride and for Frankenstein, and we put them together in a way that added some other interesting elements. But I love Mary Shelley’s , and part of the real fun for me was playing with that canon in the same way that we’re playing with the DC canon. And David Harbour’s performance adds a whole other dimension to our Frankenstein. Indira’s [Varma] Bride, too. The two of them are just incredible. Yeah, I found his backstory to be heartbreaking and touching and emotional in ways that you would never associate with Weasel. It was by far the most surprising backstory. Yeah, he does. He really does. He does me favors when I need him, and he’s amazing in his episode of . Linda Cardellini, who’s another one of my close friends who I’ve worked with a lot, is amazing as Weasel’s lawyer, Elizabeth [Bates], in episode four. So I have this group of people who never ever let me down, like Nathan Fillion. Gregg Henry, who’s amazing, is in this season. So there’s just a lot of really wonderful actors that I’ve formed bonds with, and because I know the ins and outs of what they can do, I use them as appropriately as I can. Yeah, we were able to do that. We got several together. We had Indira and Zoë [Chao] together. They were great fun to watch, and they were fangirling over each other. It was terrific. Who were the others? Grillo and Harbour. And Grillo and Maria [Bakalova]. That’s right. There are these couples throughout the show, and it was important to get the energy between them so that it didn’t read like your usual thing with one line, one line, one line, one line. We wanted to really have this conversationalist, back-and-forth energy, and Indira and Zoë added little things afterwards to really keep it alive and make it feel like it’s real. So it was important to us from the beginning to keep that naturalistic style. We’ve talked about it, yeah. I feel great. is an enormous bear of a movie. It’s completely different from this show in every way, but it’s very much fantastic as well. Honestly, from the bottom of my heart, David Corenswet is going to freak everyone out with how great he is. He is one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with, and he can do everything. The man is incredible. And then season two of is also going to take people by surprise. We take a very different route than the first season, and it’s a really magical story that people are going to be blown away by. Frank Grillo, of course, is a major part of that [and ], as his character, Rick Flag Sr., from . *** premieres December 5 on Max. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day More from The Hollywood ReporterNSW to 'throw everything' at anti-Israel vandalism investigation as 'hate crime' condemned
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes drifted lower in the runup to the highlight of the week for the market, the latest update on inflation. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% Tuesday and marked its first back-to-back losses in three weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite also fell 0.3%. Oracle dragged on the market after reporting weaker growth than analysts expected. Treasury yields rose in the bond market ahead of Wednesday’s inflation report, which will be among the final big pieces of data before the Federal Reserve’s meeting on interest rates next week. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are drifting lower Tuesday in the runup to the highlight of the week for the market, the latest update on inflation that’s coming on Wednesday. The S&P 500 dipped by 0.2% in late trading, a day after pulling back from its latest all-time high . The index is on track for its first back-to-back losses in more than three weeks, as momentum slows following a big rally that has it on track for one of its best years of the millennium . The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 7 points, or less than 0.1%, with roughly an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. Tech titan Oracle dragged on the market and sank 7.8% after reporting growth for the latest quarter that fell just short of analysts’ expectations. It was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500, even though CEO Safra Catz said the company saw record demand related to artificial-intelligence technology for its cloud infrastructure business, which trains generative AI models. AI has been a big source of growth that’s helped many companies’ stock prices skyrocket. Oracle’s stock had already leaped nearly 81% for the year coming into Tuesday, which raised the bar of expectations for its profit report. C3.ai fell 2.1% despite reporting a smaller loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The AI software company increased its forecast for how big a loss it expects to take this fiscal year from its operations. In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher ahead of Wednesday’s report on the inflation that U.S. consumers are feeling. Economists expect it to show roughly similar increases as the month before. That and a report on Thursday about inflation at the wholesale level will be the final big pieces of data the Federal Reserve will get before its meeting next week, where many investors expect the year’s third cut to interest rates . The Fed has been easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high since September to lift the slowing jobs market, after bringing inflation nearly down to its 2% target. Lower rates would help give support to the economy, but they could also provide more fuel for inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.22% from 4.20% late Monday. Even though the Fed has been cutting its main interest rate, mortgage rates have been more stubborn and have been volatile since the autumn. That has hampered the housing industry, and homebuilder Toll Brothers’ stock fell 5.2% even though it beat analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. said the luxury builder has been seeing strong demand since the start of its fiscal year six weeks ago, an encouraging signal as it approaches the beginning of the spring selling season in mid-January Elsewhere on Wall Street, Alaska Air Group soared 13.6% after raising its forecast for profit in the current quarter. The airline said demand for flying around the holidays has been stronger than expected. It also approved a plan to buy back up to $1 billion of its stock, along with new service from Seattle to Tokyo and Seoul . Boeing climbed 5.2% after saying it's resuming production of its bestselling plane , the 737 Max, for the first time since 33,000 workers began a seven-week strike that ended in early November. Vail Resorts rose 2.7% after the ski resort operator reported a narrower first-quarter loss than expected in what is traditionally its worst quarter. In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in China after the world’s second-largest economy said its exports rose by less than expected in November. Stocks rose 0.6% in Shanghai but fell 0.5% in Hong Kong. ___ AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed. Stan Choe, The Associated PressElon Musk’s budget crusade could cause a constitutional clash in Trump’s second term
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- If last month's election wasn't painful enough for Florida Democrats, they're losing another state House seat after one of their members announced Monday that she's switching parties. State Rep. Susan Valdés, a former school board member who was reelected as a Democrat last month, said on X that she is “tired of being the party of protesting.” Valdés ran to be chairperson for her local county’s Democratic executive committee earlier this month. She won her current term by nearly 5 percentage points but can't run for reelection again because of term limits. Republicans have controlled the governor’s office and both branches of the Legislature since 1999. Valdés is serving her final two years before leaving office due to term limits. Republicans now have an 86-34 majority in the House. “I got into politics to be part of the party of progress,” Valdés wrote. “I know that I won’t agree with my fellow Republican House members on every issue, but I know that in their caucus, I will be welcomed and treated with respect.” House Speaker Daniel Perez reposted Valdés’ statement and welcomed her into the House, where Republicans have a supermajority of 86-34. House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said she was surprised and disappointed by Valdés’ announcement. “It is sad that she has elevated her own aspirations above the needs of her district,” Driskell wrote in a statement on X.
VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — Aidan Bouman threw a go-ahead touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and Quaron Adams followed with a 70-yard touchdown on a reverse as No. 4 seed South Dakota pulled away late to beat 13th-seeded Tarleton State 42-31 on Saturday in the second round of the FCS playoffs. South Dakota will host the winner of Saturday's matchup between No. 5 seed UC Davis and 12th-seeded Illinois State in the third round. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a week'Placed Sonia Gandhi as super PM, insulted him': Nadda rebukes Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Manmohan Singh's last rites
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