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Los Angeles Chargers rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey, listed as questionable due to a shoulder issue, is expected to play Monday night against the visiting Baltimore Ravens, NFL Network reported. McConkey missed practice on Thursday and was limited on Friday and Saturday. Star linebacker Khalil Mack, who was questionable because of a groin injury and was a limited participant, also is expected to play, according to the report. The Chargers (7-3) made several moves Monday ahead of the game against the Ravens (7-4), placing tight end Hayden Hurst (hip) on injured reserve, activating cornerback Deane Leonard (hamstring) off IR, signing cornerback Eli Apple from the practice to the active squad, and elevating linebacker Caleb Murphy and safety Tony Jefferson for game day. McConkey, 23, has started nine of 10 games and has 43 receptions on 63 targets for 615 yards and four touchdowns. The Chargers drafted the 6-foot, 185-pound McConkey in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Georgia. Mack, 33, is a three-time first-team All-Pro, an eight-time Pro Bowl selection and the 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He has started the nine games he has played and has 26 tackles and 4.5 sacks this season. For his career, Mack has 617 tackles, 106 sacks, 141 tackles for loss, 178 quarterback hits, three interceptions -- two returned for touchdowns -- 32 forced fumbles and 13 fumble recoveries in 160 games (159 starts). He has played for the Raiders (2014-17), Chicago Bears (2018-21) and Chargers. Hurst, 31, has started two of seven games in his first season with the Chargers. He has seven receptions on 12 targets for 65 yards. A first-round pick (25th overall) by Baltimore in the 2018 NFL Draft out of South Carolina, Hurst has 202 receptions for 1,967 yards and 15 TDs in 86 games (41 starts) for the Ravens (2018-19), Atlanta Falcons (2020-21), Cincinnati Bengals (2022), Carolina Panthers (2023) and Chargers. Apple, 29, has two tackles in three games this season, his first with the Chargers. The 10th overall selection in the 2016 draft, Apple has 383 career tackles and six interceptions in 101 games (82 starts) for the New York Giants (2016-18), New Orleans Saints (2018-19), Panthers (2020), Bengals (2021-22), Miami Dolphins (2023) and Chargers. Leonard, who turned 25 last Tuesday, has four tackles in four games this season. His 21-day practice window on IR opened Wednesday. --Field Level Media
(From left) US President-elect Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Dec 7. PARIS - US President-elect Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky held talks in Paris on Dec 7, brought together by a grand ceremony to mark the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral. Mr Macron convened the trilateral meeting ahead of an evening event he was hosting to celebrate the cathedral’s restoration five years after it was ravaged by fire. President Zelensky and European leaders have been concerned that Trump, who takes office in January, could withdraw US military aid to Ukraine at a crucial juncture in Kyiv’s battle to repel Russia. Mr Zelensky said the meeting was “good and productive” and that the three men agreed to continue working together. “President Trump is, as always, resolute. I thank him,” Mr Zelensky wrote on social media platform X. “We all want this war to end as soon as possible and in a just way.” Trump was on his first trip overseas since winning November’s presidential election and the visit to Paris was seen as offering Mr Macron an early opportunity to play the role of mediator between Europe and the incoming president, a role the French leader has relished in the past. Mr Macron is a strong supporter of the Nato alliance and Ukraine’s fight, while Trump feels European nations need to pay more for their common defence. He has said a negotiated settlement is needed to end the Ukraine war. Arriving at the Elysee Palace, Trump told Mr Macron they had enjoyed “really great success” working together during his first term in office. “And it certainly seems like the world is going a little crazy right now. And we’ll be talking about that,” Trump added. Trump gave Mr Zelensky a firm handshake and patted him on the back before Mr Macron stood between them and Trump smiled for the camera. The meeting between the three men lasted about 20 minutes. By inviting Trump to the reopening of Notre-Dame, Mr Macron was repeating a personalised approach that had some limited success during Trump’s first term, said Ms Heather Conley, senior adviser to the board of the German Marshall Fund, which promotes US-European ties. “Mr Macron knows Mr Trump greatly appreciates the pomp, circumstance and grandeur of state and he provides it to him in abundance,” Ms Conley said. Trump later joined world leaders, royals and business tycoons for a ceremony that got under way with the tolling of Notre-Dame’s great bourdon bell. Trump, who will be sworn in on Jan 20, has already held discussions with a number of world leaders and members of his team are trying to get up to speed on a number of world crises, including Ukraine and the Middle East. Global spectacle Trump, a Republican, was in power when Notre-Dame was devastated by fire in 2019 and visited France four times while president from 2017-2021, including D-Day anniversary ceremonies in 2019. “Symbolically, both Mr Trump’s presidency and Notre-Dame have been restored in approximately the same time period. His visit to Paris is also the opening salvo of his return to the world stage, further diminishing the final days of the Biden administration,” Ms Conley said. President Joe Biden’s wife, first lady Jill Biden, was representing the United States at the Notre-Dame event. Republican strategist Doug Heye said Trump would convey a statesman-like position in Paris. “It’s not images of him at Mar-a-Lago,” Mr Heye said, referring to Trump’s Florida home where he has spent the bulk of his time since the election. “This is the biggest event of the world and he’ll be peer-to-peer with other leaders.” Mr Macron, who is grappling with a deep political crisis at home after his government was ousted by parliament this week, pursued a non-confrontational approach towards Trump during the latter’s first term, hoping that by engaging with him he could win concessions. But as the years passed, policy decisions on climate, taxation and Iran in particular caused friction between the two leaders. By the end it was a more fractious relationship. There could well be disputes in Trump’s second administration, fuelled by Trump’s desire to impose sweeping tariffs on Europe and other US trade partners, and disagreement over how to handle the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Mr Macron invited Trump to the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris in July 2017, a spectacle that inspired Trump to order up his own military parade in Washington to mark America’s Independence Day in 2019. Trump hosted Mr Macron at a White House state dinner in 2018, but a year later the two quarrelled over comments Mr Macron made about the state of Nato. “Trump coming to Paris is a ‘good coup’ by Emmanuel Macron,” said Mr Gerard Araud, a former French ambassador to Washington. “It is indispensable to have a direct relationship with the only man who counts in the Trump administration, Trump himself.” REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards Spin the wheel nowJamshedpur: Former CM Champai Soren on Sunday said the BJP’s movement against the alleged increasing Bangladeshi infiltration in Jharkhand was social in nature and not political or aimed at elections. Soren, who won the Seraikela seat in the assembly polls, claimed that tribals have become a minority in many districts of the state, including Pakur and Sahibganj. “As we have said earlier, our movement against the ever-increasing Bangladeshi infiltration in Jharkhand is not a political or election issue, but a social campaign. We clearly believe that infiltrators should not get any kind of protection on this land of heroes,” he said in a post on X in Hindi. “Today, the tribal community has become a minority in many districts, including Pakur and Sahibganj. What will happen if we cannot protect the lands of the indigenous people and the dignity of our women?” he added. Soren announced the BJP would very soon launch the next phase of its campaign in the Santhal Parganas over the issue. जोहार साथियों, जैसा कि हमने पहले भी कहा था, झारखंड में लगातार बढ़ रहे बांग्लादेशी घुसपैठ के खिलाफ हमारा आंदोलन कोई राजनैतिक या चुनावी मुद्दा नहीं, बल्कि एक सामाजिक अभियान है। हमारा स्पष्ट तौर पर मानना है कि वीरों की इस माटी पर घुसपैठियों को किसी भी प्रकार का संरक्षण नहीं मिलना... “Governments will come and go, parties will be formed and dissolved but our society must remain, our tribal identity must remain, otherwise nothing will be left,” he said. Alleged infiltration from Bangladesh was one of the key issues on which BJP fought the assembly elections, but it failed to cut much ice among the people. The alliance it led won 24 seats against the JMM-led coalition’s 56 in the 81-member House.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Formula 1 on Monday at last said it will expand its grid in 2026 to make room for an American team that is partnered with General Motors. “As the pinnacle of motorsports, F1 demands boundary-pushing innovation and excellence. It’s an honor for General Motors and Cadillac to join the world’s premier racing series, and we’re committed to competing with passion and integrity to elevate the sport for race fans around the world," GM President Mark Reuss said. "This is a global stage for us to demonstrate GM’s engineering expertise and technology leadership at an entirely new level.” The approval ends years of wrangling that launched a U.S. Justice Department investigation into why Colorado-based Liberty Media, the commercial rights holder of F1, would not approve the team initially started by Michael Andretti. Andretti in September stepped aside from leading his namesake organization, so the 11th team will be called Cadillac F1 and be run by new Andretti Global majority owners Dan Towriss and Mark Walter. The team will use Ferrari engines its first two years until GM has a Cadillac engine built for competition in time for the 2028 season. Towriss is the the CEO and president of Group 1001 and entered motorsports via Andretti's IndyCar team when he signed on financial savings platform Gainbridge as a sponsor. Towriss is now a major part of the motorsports scene with ownership stakes in both Spire Motorsports' NASCAR team and Wayne Taylor Racing's sports car team. Walter is the chief executive of financial services firm Guggenheim Partners and the controlling owner of both the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and Premier League club Chelsea. “We’re excited to partner with General Motors in bringing a dynamic presence to Formula 1," Towriss said. “Together, we’re assembling a world-class team that will embody American innovation and deliver unforgettable moments to race fans around the world.” Mario Andretti, the 1978 F1 world champion, will have an ambassador role with Cadillac F1. But his son, Michael, will have no official position with the organization now that he has scaled back his involvement with Andretti Global. “The Cadillac F1 Team is made up of a strong group of people that have worked tirelessly to build an American works team,” Michael Andretti posted on social media. “I’m very proud of the hard work they have put in and congratulate all involved on this momentous next step. I will be cheering for you!” The approval has been in works for weeks but was held until after last weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix to not overshadow the showcase event of the Liberty Media portfolio. Max Verstappen won his fourth consecutive championship in Saturday night's race, the third and final stop in the United States for the top motorsports series in the world. Grid expansion in F1 is both infrequent and often unsuccessful. Four teams were granted entries in 2010 that should have pushed the grid to 13 teams and 26 cars for the first time since 1995. One team never made it to the grid and the other three had vanished by 2017. There is only one American team on the current F1 grid — owned by California businessman Gene Haas — but it is not particularly competitive and does not field American drivers. Andretti’s dream was to field a truly American team with American drivers. The fight to add this team has been going on for three-plus years and F1 initially denied the application despite approval from F1 sanctioning body FIA . The existing 10 teams, who have no voice in the matter, also largely opposed expansion because of the dilution in prize money and the billions of dollars they’ve already invested in the series. Andretti in 2020 tried and failed to buy the existing Sauber team. From there, he applied for grid expansion and partnered with GM, the top-selling manufacturer in the United States. The inclusion of GM was championed by the FIA and president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who said Michael Andretti’s application was the only one of seven applicants to meet all required criteria to expand F1’s current grid. “General Motors is a huge global brand and powerhouse in the OEM world and is working with impressive partners," Ben Sulayem said Monday. "I am fully supportive of the efforts made by the FIA, Formula 1, GM and the team to maintain dialogue and work towards this outcome of an agreement in principle to progress this application." Despite the FIA's acceptance of Andretti and General Motors from the start, F1 wasn't interested in Andretti — but did want GM. At one point, F1 asked GM to find another team to partner with besides Andretti. GM refused and F1 said it would revisit the Andretti application if and when Cadillac had an engine ready to compete. “Formula 1 has maintained a dialogue with General Motors, and its partners at TWG Global, regarding the viability of an entry following the commercial assessment and decision made by Formula 1 in January 2024,” F1 said in a statement. “Over the course of this year, they have achieved operational milestones and made clear their commitment to brand the 11th team GM/Cadillac, and that GM will enter as an engine supplier at a later time. Formula 1 is therefore pleased to move forward with this application process." Yet another major shift in the debate over grid expansion occurred earlier this month with the announced resignation of Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, who was largely believed to be one of the biggest opponents of the Andretti entry. “With Formula 1’s continued growth plans in the US, we have always believed that welcoming an impressive US brand like GM/Cadillac to the grid and GM as a future power unit supplier could bring additional value and interest to the sport," Maffei said. "We credit the leadership of General Motors and their partners with significant progress in their readiness to enter Formula 1." AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
TORONTO (AP) — The Utah Hockey Club said players were forced to walk to their game against the Maple Leafs after their bus got stuck in Toronto traffic Sunday night. The team posted a video on social media of team members walking to Scotiabank Arena, with player Maveric Lamoureux saying the bus was “not moving at all.” Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.Milwaukee Brewers Could See New York Yankees Steal Star Free Agent
Lawyers for a voting machine company that’s suing Fox News want to question founder Rupert Murdoch about his contentious efforts to change his family trust , the attorneys told a court Monday. Election-tech company Smartmatic's $2.7 billion defamation suit regards Fox's reporting on 2020 voting fraud claims. But Smartmatic’s attorneys suggest the separate succession fight over Murdoch's media empire might shed light on any Fox Corp. involvement in editorial matters. It's an important, if technical, question as Smartmatic seeks to hold the deep-pocketed Fox parent company responsible for statements that the news network aired. Fox contends that there's no such liability and that it was engaging in journalism, not defamation, when it broadcast election-fraud allegations made by then-President Donald Trump 's attorneys. Rupert Murdoch may already have given a deposition — out-of-court questioning under oath — in the defamation suit. Such records aren't public at this stage, but plans for his deposition were briefly mentioned at a 2022 hearing. Smartmatic now is seeking to talk to Murdoch about his efforts to rewrite his plans for his businesses after his death. The matter is playing out behind closed doors and in sealed files in a Nevada probate court. The New York Times has reported that Rupert Murdoch wants to keep his eldest son, Lachlan , in charge of the conglomerate's newspapers and television networks in order to ensure a continued conservative editorial outlook . Smartmatic wants to get the 93-year-old patriarch on record while the probate matter plays out, company attorney Edward Wipper told a judge Monday. Fox News lawyer K. Winn Allen said the probate case “has nothing at all to do with” Smartmatic's claims and is “not appropriate” fodder for the suit. Fox Corp. declined to comment after court. Fox News' lawyers, meanwhile, want Smartmatic to provide records about a U.S. federal criminal case against people, including Smartmatic co-founder Roger Piñate, accused of scheming to bribe a Filipino election official . Piñate has pleaded not guilty. Smartmatic isn't charged in the criminal case, and Smartmatic attorneys have said the matter was irrelevant to the defamation suit. Fox lost prior bids for a court order to get the information, but a hearing on the network's renewed request is set next week. It's unclear how soon Judge David B. Cohen will decide on that request or on Smartmatic's bid to dig into the Murdoch family trust case. Both requests are part of pretrial information-gathering, and no trial date has been set. Smartmatic says it was a small player, working only with California's heavily Democratic Los Angeles County, in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. In subsequent Fox News appearances, Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell portrayed Smartmatic as part of a multi-state scheme to steal the vote from the Republican. Federal and state election officials , exhaustive reviews in battleground states and Trump’s own attorney general found no widespread fraud that could have changed the outcome of the 2020 election. Nor did they uncover any credible evidence that the vote was tainted. Dozens of courts, including by judges whom Trump had appointed, rejected his fraud claims. Fox News ultimately aired an interview with an election technology expert who refuted the allegations against Smartmatic — an interview done after the company demanded a retraction . The network is countersuing Smartmatic , claiming it violated a New York law against baseless suits aimed at squelching reporting or criticism on public issues. The New York defamation suit is one of several stemming from conservative-oriented news outlets' reports on Trump’s 2020 vote-rigging claims. Smartmatic recently settled with One America News Network and Newsmax . Fox News settled for $787 million last year with Dominion Voting Systems, another election-technology company that sued over conspiracy theories blaming its election equipment for Trump’s 2020 loss.Lindsey Vonn competes in a downhill skiing race at Copper Mountain Ski Resort, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Beaver Creek, Colo. (AP Photo/John Locher) Lindsey Vonn competes in a downhill skiing race at Copper Mountain Ski Resort, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Beaver Creek, Colo. (AP Photo/John Locher) Lindsey Vonn competes in a downhill skiing race at Copper Mountain Ski Resort, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Beaver Creek, Colo. (AP Photo/John Locher) Lindsey Vonn competes in a downhill skiing race at Copper Mountain Ski Resort, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Beaver Creek, Colo. (AP Photo/John Locher) Lindsey Vonn competes in a downhill skiing race at Copper Mountain Ski Resort, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Beaver Creek, Colo. (AP Photo/John Locher) By PAT GRAHAM COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. (AP) — For a pair of lower-level downhill events, this sure had plenty of Olympic medal-capturing and World Cup-winning ski racers. The stage belonged to Lindsey Vonn, the 40-year-old who took another step on her comeback trail Saturday with her first races in nearly six years. Vonn wasn’t particularly [...]
Google and the US government faced off in a federal court on Monday, as each side delivered closing arguments in a case revolving around the technology giant's alleged unfair domination of online advertising. The trial in a Virginia federal court is Google's second US antitrust case now under way as the US government tries to rein in the power of big tech. In a separate trial, a Washington judge ruled that Google's search business is an illegal monopoly, and the US Justice Department is asking that Google sell its Chrome browser business to resolve the case. The latest case, also brought by the Justice Department, focuses on ad technology for the open web -- the complex system determining which online ads people see when they surf the internet. The vast majority of websites use a trio of Google ad software products that together, leave no way for publishers to escape Google's advertising technology, the plaintiffs allege. Publishers -- including News Corp and Gannett publishing -- complain that they are locked into Google's advertising technology in order to run ads on their websites. "Google is once, twice, three times a monopolist," DOJ lawyer Aaron Teitelbaum told the court in closing arguments. Presiding judge Leonie Brinkema has said that she would deliver her opinion swiftly, as early as next month. Whatever Brinkema's judgment, the outcome will almost certainly be appealed, prolonging a process that could go all the way to the US Supreme Court. The government alleges that Google controls the auction-style system that advertisers use to purchase advertising space online. The US lawyers argue that this approach allows Google to charge higher prices to advertisers while sending less revenue to publishers such as news websites, many of which are struggling to stay in business. The US argues that Google used its financial power to acquire potential rivals and corner the ad tech market, leaving advertisers and publishers with no choice but to use its technology. The government wants Google to divest parts of its ad tech business. More from this section Google dismissed the allegations as an attempt by the government to pick "winners and losers" in a diverse market. The company argues that the display ads at issue are just a small share of today's ad tech business. Google says the plaintiffs' definition of the market ignores ads that are also placed in search results, apps and social media platforms and where, taken as a whole, Google does not dominate. "The law simply does not support what the plaintiffs are arguing in this case," said Google's lawyer Karen Dunn. She warned that if Google were to lose the case, the winners would be rival tech giants such as Microsoft, Meta or Amazon, whose market share in online advertising is ascendant as Google's share is falling. The DOJ countered that it simply "does not matter" that Google is competing in the broader market for online ads. "That is a different question" than the market for ads on websites that is the target of the case, said Teitelbaum. Google also points to US legal precedent, saying arguments similar to the government's have been refuted in previous antitrust cases. Dunn also warned that forcing Google to work with rivals in its ad products would amount to government central planning that the court should reject. If the judge finds Google to be at fault, a new phase of the trial would decide how the company should comply with that conclusion. And all that could be moot if the incoming Trump administration decides to drop the case. The president-elect has been a critic of Google's, but he warned earlier this month that breaking it up could be "a very dangerous thing." arp/dwBaker Mayfield mocks Tommy DeVito's celebration as the Bucs embarrass the Giants 30-7
JASON Kelce's stunning appearance at a parking lot tailgate went viral on the Internet. The NFL legend was seen enjoying pre-game festivities with a familiar crowd before the Sunday Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. The former offensive lineman Kelce retired from the NFL in March after 13 seasons with the Eagles, earning seven Pro Bowl selections and winning a Super Bowl during that span. The 37-year-old has been a cultural icon for Philadelphia fans and hasn't been afraid to continue to show his fandom for the NFL squad. Before the Eagles' contest in Los Angeles, Kelce was spotted at a tailgate party in the parking lot outside SoFi Stadium. A video showed Kelce dressed in a white shirt and jeans and joining a game of beer pong. Read More on Jason Kelce And his appearance was short but memorable. Kelce stepped up and made a shot on his very first try. The crowd collectively cheered and Kelce gave a fist bump to a Rams fan before walking away from the scene. The clip was posted by Kelce's podcast New Heights account on X which received over 137,000 views. Most read in American Football NFL fans were impressed with Kelce's beer pong performance. "LEGEND. what can’t he do?!?" one wrote. "Kelce did more than play football in college," another commented. "Just when I think I couldn't love Jason any more, he goes and does something like this," a third added. Kelce would be good luck for the Eagles as he got to see the team beat the Rams 37-20. Philly has won seven straight games and is currently 9-2 for the season. Kelce is a busy man as he joined ESPN this year and is part of the Monday Night Countdown team. Last week, he confirmed during The Jimmy Kimmel Show that he will be a late-night TV host for ESPN . Read More on The US Sun The program will be called They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce and will air on Friday nights in January. Kelce's new career venture comes as he hosts the New Heights podcast alongside his brother Travis which airs every Wednesday.The state government, as directed by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, is preparing for a nine-day celebration to mark one year of the Congress in power. Reddy has directed officials to give priority to development and public welfare programmes during the celebrations, which will be held from December 1 to 9. As part of the celebrations, a ground-breaking ceremony will be held for the new integrated residential school complex buildings. The process on these buildings has already started in 28 Assembly constituencies. The government recently sanctioned integrated residential schools in 26 more constituencies. The foundation stones for these will be laid during the celebrations. Competitions for the Chief Minister Cup will be held in all villages till December 7. The Sports Authority will organise these competitions from the village to the state level. Besides, at least 16 nursing colleges and 28 para-medical colleges will be established. Along with these, 213 new ambulance vehicles will be made available. On the other hand, an exclusive clinic for transgender persons will be set up in the districts. The Chief Minister has already announced that the services of transgenders will be used to control traffic services in Hyderabad after being appointed as traffic volunteers. Foundation stones and inauguration ceremonies of various development projects in Hyderabad will be held during the celebrations. The ground-breaking ceremony for the new building of the Osmania General Hospital at Goshamahal is also on the agenda as also the inauguration of the Aramghar zoo park flyover and six STPs that have been completed recently. The foundation stone for various works to be undertaken as part of the HCIT project will be laid. Along with this, a huge project of `826 crores will be launched to develop six junctions with flyovers and underpasses near KBR park. The foundation stone of the Telangana Forest Development Corporation building will be laid. A government ITI and advanced technology centre for girls will be set up in Ghatkesar. Mallepalli, Medchal and Nalgonda ATCs, where work is already underway, will be opened. Classes of the Young India Skill University, which has already started, will be inaugurated. Foundation stone for sport university will be laid, while several agreements will be signed along with the arrangements for AI City, under the joint auspices of the IT and industries departments.Afghanistan withdrawal veterans defend Hegseth in nomination battle, denounce Austin
Google and the US government faced off in a federal court on Monday, as each side delivered closing arguments in a case revolving around the technology giant's alleged unfair domination of online advertising. The trial in a Virginia federal court is Google's second US antitrust case now under way as the US government tries to rein in the power of big tech. In a separate trial, a Washington judge ruled that Google's search business is an illegal monopoly, and the US Justice Department is asking that Google sell its Chrome browser business to resolve the case. The latest case, also brought by the Justice Department, focuses on ad technology for the open web -- the complex system determining which online ads people see when they surf the internet. The vast majority of websites use a trio of Google ad software products that together, leave no way for publishers to escape Google's advertising technology, the plaintiffs allege. Publishers -- including News Corp and Gannett publishing -- complain that they are locked into Google's advertising technology in order to run ads on their websites. "Google is once, twice, three times a monopolist," DOJ lawyer Aaron Teitelbaum told the court in closing arguments. Presiding judge Leonie Brinkema has said that she would deliver her opinion swiftly, as early as next month. Whatever Brinkema's judgment, the outcome will almost certainly be appealed, prolonging a process that could go all the way to the US Supreme Court. The government alleges that Google controls the auction-style system that advertisers use to purchase advertising space online. The US lawyers argue that this approach allows Google to charge higher prices to advertisers while sending less revenue to publishers such as news websites, many of which are struggling to stay in business. The US argues that Google used its financial power to acquire potential rivals and corner the ad tech market, leaving advertisers and publishers with no choice but to use its technology. The government wants Google to divest parts of its ad tech business. Sign up to get our free daily email of the biggest stories! Google dismissed the allegations as an attempt by the government to pick "winners and losers" in a diverse market. The company argues that the display ads at issue are just a small share of today's ad tech business. Google says the plaintiffs' definition of the market ignores ads that are also placed in search results, apps and social media platforms and where, taken as a whole, Google does not dominate. "The law simply does not support what the plaintiffs are arguing in this case," said Google's lawyer Karen Dunn. She warned that if Google were to lose the case, the winners would be rival tech giants such as Microsoft, Meta or Amazon, whose market share in online advertising is ascendant as Google's share is falling. The DOJ countered that it simply "does not matter" that Google is competing in the broader market for online ads. "That is a different question" than the market for ads on websites that is the target of the case, said Teitelbaum. Google also points to US legal precedent, saying arguments similar to the government's have been refuted in previous antitrust cases. Dunn also warned that forcing Google to work with rivals in its ad products would amount to government central planning that the court should reject. If the judge finds Google to be at fault, a new phase of the trial would decide how the company should comply with that conclusion. And all that could be moot if the incoming Trump administration decides to drop the case. The president-elect has been a critic of Google's, but he warned earlier this month that breaking it up could be "a very dangerous thing." arp/dw
MACON, Ga. (AP) — Myles Redding returned an interception 25 yards for a first-quarter touchdown and Whitt Newbauer threw a four-yard touchdown pass to start the fourth quarter as No. 7-seeded Mercer beat No. 10 Rhode Island 17—10 on Saturday. Mercer advances to the FCS semifinals for the first time and will face No. 2 North Dakota State, which beat No. 15 Abilene Christian 51-31. Redding swooped in front of Hunter Helms' intended receiver for his seventh interception of the season with 3:33 left in the first quarter, tying him with teammate TJ Moore for the most in the nation. Rhode Island got a 17-yard field goal from Ty Groff as time expired in the first half and took the lead late in the third quarter when Helms connected with Marquis Buchanan on a 56-yard touchdown for a 10-7 lead. Senior Dwayne McGee set up two fourth-quarter scores for the Bears, slashing through the right side for a 33-yard gain to give Mercer a first-and-goal at the Rhode Island 10. On third-and-goal from the 4, Newbauer found Adjatay Dabbs for the go-ahead touchdown. After the Bears twice forced the Rams to punt in their own half of the field, McGee ran 40 yards on first down to give Mercer a first down at the Rhode Island 25, setting up a 24-yard Reice Griffith field goal for the game's final score. McGee finished with 114 yards on 21 carries and CJ Miller added 81 yards on 10 carries for Mercer (11-2), which remained unbeaten in seven home games. Helms finished 22 of 33 passing for 266 yards and Buchanan caught 11 passes for 119 yards to lead Rhode Island (11-3), but the Rams managed just 46 yards on 26 carries on the ground. — Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Romania's far-right candidate Calin Georgescu on Saturday urged voters to go to polling stations despite the country's top court having scrapped the presidential elections over alleged irregularities amid claims of Russian interference. The court's shock ruling, coming just before the presidential run-off which had been due Sunday, opens the way for a new electoral process starting from scratch in the EU and NATO member state bordering war-torn Ukraine. The annulment follows a spate of intelligence documents declassified by the presidency this week detailing allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including claims of "massive" social media promotion and cyberattacks. Georgescu -- who unexpectedly topped last month's first round of voting -- called for voters on Sunday "to wait to be welcomed, to wait for democracy to win through their power", said a statement from his team. "Mr. Calin Georgescu believes that voting is an earned right," said the statement. "That is why he believes that Romanians have the right to be in front of the polling stations tomorrow." Georgescu himself would go to a polling station near Bucharest at 0600 GMT, said his team. Earlier Saturday, police raided three houses in Brasov city in central Romania as part of the investigation "in connection with crimes of voter corruption, money laundering, computer forgery". Among the houses searched was that of businessman Bogdan Peschir, a TikTok user who according to the declassified documents allegedly paid $381,000 to those involved in the promotion of Georgescu, Romanian media reported. Peschir has compared his support for Georgescu to the world's richest man Elon Musk's backing of US president-elect Donald Trump. Little-known outsider Georgescu, a 62-year-old former senior civil servant, was favourite to win the second round on Sunday against centrist pro-EU mayor Elena Lasconi, 52, according to several polls. But the constitutional court on Friday unanimously decided to annul the entire electoral process as it was "marred... by multiple irregularities and violations of electoral legislation". President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday that he had discussed with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, and they agreed on the "need to strengthen the security of social media". The European Commission announced earlier this week that it had stepped up monitoring TikTok after Romania's authorities alleged "preferential treatment" of Georgescu on the platform -- a claim the company has denied. Following the court's decision, the United States said it had faith in Romania's institutions and called for a "peaceful democratic process". Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., on X branded the vote's cancellation an "attempt at rigging the outcome" and "denying the will of the people". Georgescu called it "a formalised coup d'etat" and said democracy was "under attack". His team on Saturday declined to comment on the raids, saying they "will not comment or provide answers until we have exact data". Georgescu and another far-right party, the AUR, have said they plan to appeal the decision to stop the voting to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. A past admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Georgescu, an EU and NATO sceptic, in recent days had reframed himself as "ultra pro-Trump," vowing to put Romania "on the world map" and cut aid for neighbouring Ukraine. In an interview with US broadcaster Sky News on Saturday, Georgescu said there were no links between him and Russia. Political scientist Costin Ciobanu told AFP that the annulment has "further polarised Romanian society". With trust in institutions and the ruling class already low, the vote's cancellation poses a "major danger that Romanians will think that it doesn't matter how they vote", Ciobanu added. Elsewhere in the EU, Austria annulled presidential elections in 2016 because of procedural irregularities. In Romania, a new government is expected to set another date for the presidential vote. In last weekend's legislative elections, the ruling Social Democrats came top. But far-right parties made big gains, securing an unprecedented third of the ballots on mounting anger over soaring inflation and fears over Russia's war in Ukraine. In a joint appeal on Wednesday, the Social Democrats and three other pro-EU parties -- together making up an absolute majority in parliament -- signed an agreement to form a coalition, promising "stability". bur-jza/jjUS-Google face off as ad tech antitrust trial comes to close
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