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Heavy travel day starts with brief grounding of all American Airlines flightsWest Ham have sounded out former Borussia Dortmund boss Edin Terzic as a potential replacement for Julen Lopetegui, talkSPORT understands. The Hammers are preparing for the eventuality that the former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager cannot turn their poor start to the season around. As previously reported, Hammers owner David Sullivan is keen to give Lopetegui more time. However, the West Ham chief is alarmed at their record of only three wins from their first 11 Premier League games. Director of football Tim Steidten is a big admirer of Terzic, who led Dortmund to last season's Champions League final. The 42-year-old worked as a scout and coach for Dortmund's academy during ex-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp's time at the club. He then served as Slaven Bilic's assistant at Turkish club Besiktas between 2013 and 2015, before the pair went to West Ham together. They were at the club between 2015 and 2017. West Ham finished seventh and 11th, with his second season being the club's first at the London Stadium. Bilic was sacked after a poor run of results at the start of the 2017/18 season. Terzic left with him, then returning to Dortmund as a coach in 2018. He served as interim manager at the end of the 2020/21 season, and became permanent boss ahead of the 2022/23 campaign. Last season, he guided the club to fifth place, as well as the Champions League final. However, they were beaten 2-0 by Real Madrid in the showpiece event at Wembley in June. Despite being contracted until 2025, Terzic left the club at the end of last season, citing a desire to allow the club to begin a new era. Lopetegui has already under pressure this season, with the Hammers sitting in 14th in the table. They are five points above third-from-bottom Crystal Palace. Last season they finished ninth, waving goodbye to long-serving manager David Moyes. While the West Ham hierarchy have already began to sound out alternatives for Moyes' successor, talkSPORT's Rory Jennings has tipped Ruud van Nistelrooy to take over . The former Manchester United star, who just finished his interim manager spell at Old Trafford, is now available. Lopetegui will need to get results quickly, with their next clash being at Newcastle on Monday, live on talkSPORT. West Ham then host Arsenal at the end of the month.All you have to do to become a South Dakota resident is spend one night. Stay in a campground or hotel and then stop by one of the businesses that specialize in helping people become South Dakotans, and they’ll help you do the paperwork to gain residency in a state with no income tax and relatively cheap vehicle registration. The system brings in extra government revenue through vehicle fees and offers refuge to full-time travelers who wouldn’t otherwise have a permanent address or a place to vote. And that’s the problem. State leaders are at a stalemate between those who say people who don’t really live in South Dakota shouldn’t be allowed to vote in local elections and those who say efforts to impose a longer residency requirement for voting violate the principle that everyone gets to vote. And at least one state has gotten wind that its residents might be avoiding high income taxes with easy South Dakota residency and is investigating. Easy South Dakota residency for nomads has become an enterprising opportunity for businesses such as RV parks and mail forwarders. “That’s the primary concept here, is the people that have given up their sticks and bricks and now are on wheel estate, we call it, and they’re full-time traveling,” said Dane Goetz, owner of the Spearfish-based South Dakota Residency Center, which caters to full-time travelers. “They need a place to call home, and we provide that address for them to do that, and they are just perpetually on the move.” Goetz estimated more than 30,000 people are full-time traveler residents of South Dakota, but the actual number is unclear. The state Department of Public Safety, which handles driver licensing, says it doesn’t track the number of full-time traveler applications. Officials of the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office did not respond to emailed questions or a phone message seeking the state’s tally of full-time travelers registered to vote. The office is not responsible for enforcing residency requirements, Division of Elections Director Rachel Soulek said. Victor Robledo, his wife and their five kids hit the road a decade ago in a 28-foot (8.5-meter) motorhome to seek adventure and ease their high cost of living in Southern California. They found South Dakota to be an opportunity to save money, receive mail and “take a residency in a state that really nurtures us,” he said. They filed for residency in 2020. “It was as simple as coming into the state, staying one night in one of the campgrounds, and once we do that, we bring in a receipt to the office, fill out some paperwork, change our licenses. I mean, really, you can blow through there — gosh, 48 hours,” Robledo said. Residency becomes thorny around voting. Some opponents don’t want people who don’t physically live in South Dakota to vote in its elections. “I don’t want to deny somebody their right to vote, but to think that they can vote in a school board election or a legislative election or a county election when they’re not part of the community, I’m troubled by that,” said Democratic Rep. Linda Duba, who cited 10,000 people or roughly 40% of her Sioux Falls constituents being essentially mailbox residents. She likes to knock on doors and meet people but said she is unable to do “relationship politics” with travelers. The law the Republican-controlled Legislature passed in 2023 added requirements for voter registration, including 30 days of residency — which don’t have to be consecutive — and having “an actual fixed permanent dwelling, establishment, or any other abode to which the person returns after a period of absence.” The bill’s prime sponsor, Republican Sen. Randy Deibert, told a Senate panel that citizens expressed concerns about “people coming to the state, being a resident overnight and voting (by) absentee ballot or another way the next day and then leaving the state.” Those registered to vote before the new law took effect remain registered, but some who tried to register since its passage had trouble. Dozens of people recently denied voter registration contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, according to the chapter’s advocacy manager, Samantha Chapman. Durational residency requirements for voting are, in general, unconstitutional because such restrictions interfere with the interstate right to travel, said David Schultz, a Hamline University professor of political science and a professor of law at the University of St. Thomas. “It’s kind of this parochialism, this idea of saying that only people who are really in our neighborhood, who really live in our city have a sufficient stake in it, and the courts have generally been unsympathetic to those types of arguments because, more often than not, they’re used for discriminatory purposes,” he said. Earlier this year, the Legislature considered a bill to roll back the 2023 law. It passed the Senate but stalled in the House. During a House hearing on that bill, Republican Rep. Jon Hansen asked one full-time traveler when he was last in South Dakota and when he intends to return. The man said he was in the state a year earlier but planned to return in coming months. Another man who moved from Iowa to work overseas said he had not lived “for any period of time, physically” in South Dakota. “I don’t think we should allow people who have never lived in this state to vote in our state,” Hansen said. Republican Sen. David Wheeler, an attorney in Huron, said he expects litigation would be what forces a change. It’s unlikely a change to the 30-day requirement would pass the Legislature now, he said. “It is a complicated topic that involves federal and state law and federal and state voting rights, and it is difficult to bring everybody together on how to appropriately address that,” Wheeler said. More than 1,600 miles (2,500 kilometers) east, Connecticut State Comptroller Sean Scanlon has asked prosecutors to look into whether some state employees who live in Connecticut may have skirted their tax obligations by claiming to be residents of South Dakota. Connecticut has a graduated income tax rate of 3.0% to 6.99%. Connecticut cities and towns also impose a property tax on vehicles. South Dakota has none. Scanlon and his office, which administers state employee retiree benefits, learned from a Hartford Courant columnist in September that some state retirees might be using South Dakota’s mail-forwarding services for nefarious reasons. Asked if there are concerns about other Connecticut taxpayers who are not state retirees possibly misusing South Dakota’s lenient residency laws, the Department of Revenue Services would only say the agency is “aware of the situation and we’re working with our partners to resolve it.” A South Dakota legislative panel broached the residency issue as recently as August, a meeting in which one lawmaker called the topic “the Gordian knot of politics.” “It seems like it’s almost impossible to come to some clear and definitive statement as to what constitutes a residency with such a mobile population with people with multiple homes and addresses and political boundaries that are easy to see on a map but there’s so much cross-transportation across them,” Republican Sen. Jim Bolin said. Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota. Associated Press Writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
By BEN FINLEY The Christmas tradition has become nearly global in scope: Children from around the world track Santa Claus as he sweeps across the earth, delivering presents and defying time. Related Articles National News | Heavy travel day off to a rough start after American Airlines briefly grounds all flights National News | Prosecutors withdraw appeal of dismissed case against Alec Baldwin in fatal movie set shooting National News | Bill Clinton is hospitalized with a fever but in good spirits, spokesperson says National News | Why Finland is vaccinating farmers against bird flu — but California isn't National News | Bluesky finds with growth comes growing pains — and bots Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow online in nine languages , from English to Japanese. On any other night, NORAD is scanning the heavens for potential threats , such as last year’s Chinese spy balloon . But on Christmas Eve, volunteers in Colorado Springs are fielding questions like, “When is Santa coming to my house?” and, “Am I on the naughty or nice list?” “There are screams and giggles and laughter,” said Bob Sommers, 63, a civilian contractor and NORAD volunteer. Sommers often says on the call that everyone must be asleep before Santa arrives, prompting parents to say, “Do you hear what he said? We got to go to bed early.” NORAD’s annual tracking of Santa has endured since the Cold War , predating ugly sweater parties and Mariah Carey classics . The tradition continues regardless of government shutdowns, such as the one in 2018 , and this year . Here’s how it began and why the phones keep ringing. It started with a child’s accidental phone call in 1955. The Colorado Springs newspaper printed a Sears advertisement that encouraged children to call Santa, listing a phone number. A boy called. But he reached the Continental Air Defense Command, now NORAD, a joint U.S. and Canadian effort to spot potential enemy attacks. Tensions were growing with the Soviet Union, along with anxieties about nuclear war. Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup picked up an emergency-only “red phone” and was greeted by a tiny voice that began to recite a Christmas wish list. “He went on a little bit, and he takes a breath, then says, ‘Hey, you’re not Santa,’” Shoup told The Associated Press in 1999. Realizing an explanation would be lost on the youngster, Shoup summoned a deep, jolly voice and replied, “Ho, ho, ho! Yes, I am Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy?” Shoup said he learned from the boy’s mother that Sears mistakenly printed the top-secret number. He hung up, but the phone soon rang again with a young girl reciting her Christmas list. Fifty calls a day followed, he said. In the pre-digital age, the agency used a 60-by-80 foot (18-by-24 meter) plexiglass map of North America to track unidentified objects. A staff member jokingly drew Santa and his sleigh over the North Pole. The tradition was born. “Note to the kiddies,” began an AP story from Colorado Springs on Dec. 23, 1955. “Santa Claus Friday was assured safe passage into the United States by the Continental Air Defense Command.” In a likely reference to the Soviets, the article noted that Santa was guarded against possible attack from “those who do not believe in Christmas.” Some grinchy journalists have nitpicked Shoup’s story, questioning whether a misprint or a misdial prompted the boy’s call. In 2014, tech news site Gizmodo cited an International News Service story from Dec. 1, 1955, about a child’s call to Shoup. Published in the Pasadena Independent, the article said the child reversed two digits in the Sears number. “When a childish voice asked COC commander Col. Harry Shoup, if there was a Santa Claus at the North Pole, he answered much more roughly than he should — considering the season: ‘There may be a guy called Santa Claus at the North Pole, but he’s not the one I worry about coming from that direction,’” Shoup said in the brief piece. In 2015, The Atlantic magazine doubted the flood of calls to the secret line, while noting that Shoup had a flair for public relations. Phone calls aside, Shoup was indeed media savvy. In 1986, he told the Scripps Howard News Service that he recognized an opportunity when a staff member drew Santa on the glass map in 1955. A lieutenant colonel promised to have it erased. But Shoup said, “You leave it right there,” and summoned public affairs. Shoup wanted to boost morale for the troops and public alike. “Why, it made the military look good — like we’re not all a bunch of snobs who don’t care about Santa Claus,” he said. Shoup died in 2009. His children told the StoryCorps podcast in 2014 that it was a misprinted Sears ad that prompted the phone calls. “And later in life he got letters from all over the world,” said Terri Van Keuren, a daughter. “People saying ‘Thank you, Colonel, for having, you know, this sense of humor.’” NORAD’s tradition is one of the few modern additions to the centuries-old Santa story that have endured, according to Gerry Bowler, a Canadian historian who spoke to the AP in 2010. Ad campaigns or movies try to “kidnap” Santa for commercial purposes, said Bowler, who wrote “Santa Claus: A Biography.” NORAD, by contrast, takes an essential element of Santa’s story and views it through a technological lens. In a recent interview with the AP, Air Force Lt. Gen. Case Cunningham explained that NORAD radars in Alaska and Canada —- known as the northern warning system — are the first to detect Santa. He leaves the North Pole and typically heads for the international dateline in the Pacific Ocean. From there he moves west, following the night. “That’s when the satellite systems we use to track and identify targets of interest every single day start to kick in,” Cunningham said. “A probably little-known fact is that Rudolph’s nose that glows red emanates a lot of heat. And so those satellites track (Santa) through that heat source.” NORAD has an app and website, www.noradsanta.org , that will track Santa on Christmas Eve from 4 a.m. to midnight, mountain standard time. People can call 1-877-HI-NORAD to ask live operators about Santa’s location from 6 a.m. to midnight, mountain time.Buchanan scores 28 off the bench, Boise State downs South Dakota State 83-82
Olubadan stops planned installation of Iyalode of OyoJoe Bartolo has ridden the wave of insatiable government appetites for major infrastructure projects. Symal, the civil construction company he founded more than two decades ago, has worked on Snowy Hydro, helped remove level crossings in Melbourne and built flood relief centres after the 2022 disasters. But even Bartolo thinks that diverting tradies from building much-needed homes to help governments (in all tiers) deliver on infrastructure agendas has caused problems. Symal’s Ray Dando, Andrew Fairbairn and Joe Bartolo ring the famed ASX bell. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos “I feel there was a bit too much everyone was trying to deliver at once, and if it is spread out a little bit more, it would have been much easier to deliver with the skilled people,” Bartolo says. “There’s definitely been a correction to the industry, and in a way, almost a welcome correction to some extent.” Australia is in the middle of a housing crisis, and the federal government is already struggling to deliver on its promise of building 1.2 million new homes by 2029 to keep pace with population growth. Many factors are slowing the process – including planning restrictions and the cost of building – but in September, the NSW Productivity Commission called on governments to stop spending money on infrastructure to enable the building of more homes. “A major reason the construction sector is struggling to deliver homes across Australia is because governments are diverting resources from home building to public infrastructure projects,” its report said. Bartolo says about three-quarters of Symal’s revenue comes from the private sector, so he doesn’t believe it will be affected by any significant changes to governments’ infrastructure agendas. The Melbourne-based founder and managing director was in Sydney last week, standing in the Exchange Sector to ring the famed bell, marking the debut listing of his business. Symal began trading on the ASX on Thursday, under the SYL ticket, with a $437 million market capitalisation, after raising $136 million from institutional and retail investors at $1.85 a share. “For us, listing was about growth, it was about legacy and creating something that we never want to lose,” Bartolo says. “Being listed lets us continue on that journey, continue to grow and outlive us.” It has become one of only about 20 companies floated on the stock exchange so far in 2024, but hopes are rising that a three-year drought in initial public offerings is finally nearing an end as the Australian market rides the wave of a strong Wall Street and awaits cuts to the cash rate next year. Bartolo cites the performance of Guzman y Gomez, which listed in June, as evidence that this was the right time for his business to float on the ASX. “There was also a lack of construction or material supply businesses in the IPO market as well, so we felt that we could really fill that void that was there, but in addition, we still own 70 per cent of the business, so for us it didn’t really matter what the outcome was in terms of valuation because we didn’t get the benefit upside anyway,” he says. “The timing was perfect in terms of work flow as well ... somebody needs to do something to open the market back. If you continue to wait, there was always that question, ‘could we be the first ones that spark it, and we get the benefit of that as well?’” It has been a challenging time for Australia’s IPOs, which is at the weakest pace in 15 years, amid elevated global inflation (which has just started easing) and high-interest rates dampening economic sentiment, as well as companies finding it easier than ever to gain private credit. The US, Britain and Canada are also experiencing low listing numbers since peaking in 2021. EY capital markets leader Paul Murphy says there were signs of market stability in the second half of this year, with a number of IPO candidates dusting off prospectuses. Up to a dozen companies are expected to float on the ASX over the next six weeks. “We do expect to see investor sentiment improve, subject to the geopolitical situation and better macroeconomic conditions, with lower inflation and potentially the beginning of easing of monetary policy, which should create the right conditions for business growth, consumer demand and stable cost inflation,” Murphy said. Joe Bartolo wonders “could Symal be the first ones to spark” a flurry of listings. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos “This will perhaps benefit a number of sectors and IPOs of smaller businesses.” Symal, which has about 1000 employees, generated $770 million in revenue and recorded net profit of $33 million in the 2024 financial year, according to its prospectus. It has $1.3 billion of work-in-hand, with 90 per cent of that from existing clients, on 200 projects. A quarter of the group’s revenue is from the public sector, including government departments and agencies at the three levels of government. Current projects include upgrades to Eastern Freeway in Melbourne’s east and a gas power plant in Kurri Kurri, NSW. Bartolo credits the rise of his company to Andrew Fairburn and Ray Dando, the directors of strategy, growth and delivery, who joined him 15 years ago. Fairburn and Dando own 15 per cent of Symal shares, while Bartolo is the largest shareholder with 30 per cent. The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning .
COLUMBUS, Ga. , Nov. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) announced today that it will webcast its annual Financial Analysts Briefing on December 3, 2024 at starting 8:00 a.m. (ET) . Aflac's executive management will discuss the Company's operations and strategy for the U.S. and Japan , as well as its medium-term outlook. The presentations will be available via webcast, and you must register here prior to the event. Presentation slides will be posted on investors.aflac.com after the market closes on December 2, 2024 , and an archive of the presentations will also be available on investors.aflac.com for two weeks following the conclusion of the webcast. ABOUT AFLAC INCORPORATED Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL ), a Fortune 500 company, has helped provide financial protection and peace of mind for nearly seven decades to millions of policyholders and customers through its subsidiaries in the U.S. and Japan . In the U.S., Aflac is the No. 1 provider of supplemental health insurance products. 1 In Japan , Aflac Life Insurance Japan is the leading provider of cancer and medical insurance in terms of policies in force. The company takes pride in being there for its policyholders when they need us most, as well as being included in the World's Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere for 18 consecutive years (2024), Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies for 23 years (2024) and Bloomberg's Gender-Equality Index for the fourth consecutive year (2023). In addition, the company became a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment ( PRI ) in 2021 and has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (2023) for 10 years. To find out how to get help with expenses health insurance doesn't cover, get to know us at aflac.com or aflac.com/espanol . Investors may learn more about Aflac Incorporated and its commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainability at investors.aflac.com under " Sustainability ." 1 LIMRA 2023 U.S. Supplemental Health Insurance Total Market Report FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" to encourage companies to provide prospective information, so long as those informational statements are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. The company desires to take advantage of these provisions. This document contains cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected herein, and in any other statements made by company officials in communications with the financial community and contained in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Forward-looking statements are not based on historical information and relate to future operations, strategies, financial results or other developments. Furthermore, forward-looking information is subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties. In particular, statements containing words such as "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "goal," "objective," "may," "should," "estimate," "intends," "projects," "will," "assumes," "potential," "target," "outlook" or similar words as well as specific projections of future results, generally qualify as forward-looking. Aflac undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements. The company cautions readers that the following factors, in addition to other factors mentioned from time to time, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements: difficult conditions in global capital markets and the economy, including inflation defaults and credit downgrades of investments global fluctuations in interest rates and exposure to significant interest rate risk concentration of business in Japan limited availability of acceptable yen-denominated investments foreign currency fluctuations in the yen/dollar exchange rate differing interpretations applied to investment valuations significant valuation judgments in determination of expected credit losses recorded on the Company's investments decreases in the Company's financial strength or debt ratings decline in creditworthiness of other financial institutions the Company's ability to attract and retain qualified sales associates, brokers, employees, and distribution partners deviations in actual experience from pricing and reserving assumptions ability to continue to develop and implement improvements in information technology systems and on successful execution of revenue growth and expense management initiatives interruption in telecommunication, information technology and other operational systems, or a failure to maintain the security, confidentiality, integrity or privacy of sensitive data residing on such systems interruption in telecommunication, information technology and other operational systems, or a failure to maintain the security, confidentiality or privacy of sensitive data residing on such systems subsidiaries' ability to pay dividends to the Parent Company inherent limitations to risk management policies and procedures operational risks of third-party vendors tax rates applicable to the Company may change failure to comply with restrictions on policyholder privacy and information security extensive regulation and changes in law or regulation by governmental authorities competitive environment and ability to anticipate and respond to market trends catastrophic events, including, but not limited to, as a result of climate change, epidemics, pandemics, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, war or other military action, major public health issues, terrorism or other acts of violence, and damage incidental to such events ability to protect the Aflac brand and the Company's reputation ability to effectively manage key executive succession changes in accounting standards level and outcome of litigation or regulatory inquiries allegations or determinations of worker misclassification in the United States Analyst and investor contact - David A. Young , 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667 or dyoung@aflac.com Media contact - Ines Gutzmer , 762.207.7601 or igutzmer@aflac.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aflac-incorporated-to-webcast-2024-financial-analysts-briefing-302313462.html SOURCE Aflac IncorporatedThe ruling comes after a lawsuit was filed by nine current players to challenge the conference's policies for allowing transgender players to participate.
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BOSTON , Dec. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The China Fund, Inc. (NYSE: CHN) (the "Fund") announced today that the Fund's annual stockholder meeting (the "Meeting") will be scheduled for Thursday, March 13, 2025 , via a virtual forum at 11:00 a.m. ET . Stockholders of record as of January 15, 2025 will be entitled to notice of, and to attend and vote at, the Meeting. The notice for the Meeting will be mailed to shareholders on or about February 10, 2025 . The Fund is a closed-end management investment company with the objective of seeking long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities (i) of companies for which the principal securities trading market is in the People's Republic of China (" China "), or (ii) of companies for which the principal securities trading market is outside of China , or constituting direct equity investments in companies organized outside of China , that in both cases derive at least 50% of their revenues from goods and services sold or produced, or have at least 50% of their assets, in China . While the Fund is permitted to invest in direct equity investments of companies organized in China , it presently holds no such investments. Shares of the Fund are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CHN". The Fund's investment manager is Matthews International Capital Management, LLC. For further information regarding the Fund and the Fund's holdings, please call (888)-CHN-CALL (246-2255) or visit the Fund's website at www.chinafundinc.com . View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-china-fund-inc-announces-date-of-annual-meeting-of-stockholders-302331705.html SOURCE The China Fund, Inc.
Global stocks pressured ahead of Fed decision
Global stocks pressured ahead of Fed decision