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Trump’s tariffs in his first term did little to alter the economy, but this time could be differentCARSON, Calif. (AP) — The LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls have been Major League Soccer mainstays since the league's inaugural season in 1996, signing glamorous players and regularly competing for championships through years of success and setbacks in a league that's perpetually improving and expanding. Yet just a year ago, both of these clubs appeared to be a very long way from the stage they'll share Saturday in the MLS Cup Final . The Galaxy were one of MLS’ worst teams after a season of internal turmoil and public fan dissent, while the Red Bulls were merely a steady mediocrity seeking yet another coach to chart a new direction. A year later, these MLS founders are meeting in the league's first Cup final between teams from North America's two biggest markets. “Two original clubs being able to put themselves in this situation, I think it’s great,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “To see two clubs that have been at it as long as this league has been around be here, I think it’s a special moment. Couldn’t be two more different and contrasting styles as well, which could make for an interesting game, and I would imagine a high-intensity game.” Everything changed in 2024 after a dismal decade for the Galaxy , who are favored to cap their transformation by winning their team's record sixth MLS championship with a roster that's dramatically different from its past few groups — albeit with one massive injury absence in the final. The transformation of the Red Bulls happened only in the postseason, when a team that hadn't won a playoff game since 2017 suddenly turned into world-beaters under rookie coach Sandro Schwarz. New York struggled through the final three months of league play with only two wins before posting road playoff victories over defending champ Columbus , archrival New York City FC and conference finalist Orlando to storm into the Cup final. “We know about the history (of our club), and we know tomorrow will define what that could mean,” Schwarz said Friday. “To feel the pressure for tomorrow, it’s necessary, because it’s a final, and without pressure it’s not possible to bring the best quality on the field.” The Red Bulls have never won an MLS Cup, only reaching the championship match once before. What's more, they've somehow never won a Cup in any tournament, although they’ve collected three Supporters’ Shields for MLS' best regular-season record. The Galaxy’s trophy case is large and loaded, and those five MLS Cups are on the top shelf. But not much of that team success happened in the past decade for the club that famously brought David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and many other international stars to Hollywood. In fact, this season has ended a grim era for the Galaxy, who haven't lost all year at their frequently renamed home stadium — which was the site of protests and boycotts just a year ago. The club's fans were tired of LA's steady underachievement and ineptitude in the front office run by team president Chris Klein, who was fired in May 2023. One year ago Thursday, the Galaxy hired Will Kuntz, a longtime Los Angeles FC executive who engineered his new club's roster transformation, most dramatically by landing new designated players Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil — two international talents that LAFC also had in its sights. “I give Will and the group up there a ton of credit,” Vanney said. “It’s one thing to have players you like, and it’s a whole other thing to get them here and get them to connect with your group.” Pec and Paintsil combined for 32 goals and 27 assists while boosting the incumbent talents of striker Dejan Joveljic and Riqui Puig, the gifted Barcelona product who runs the offense from the midfield. The Galaxy clicked in the postseason, scoring a jaw-dropping 16 goals in four matches. Puig has been the Galaxy's most important player all season, but he won't be in the MLS Cup Final after tearing a knee ligament late in last week's conference final victory over Seattle . The loss of Puig — who somehow kept playing on his injured knee, and even delivered the game-winning pass to Joveljic — makes the Galaxy even more difficult to anticipate. “He played a lot in the regular season, so it was not so easy to analyze all these games now without him,” Schwarz said. “But the main focus is to analyze what we need to do, because it’s not clear now how they’re playing without him.” The Galaxy could give some of Puig's responsibilities to Marco Reus, the longtime Dortmund standout who joined LA in August. Reus is nursing a hamstring injury, but Vanney expects him to play. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer Greg Beacham, The Associated PressIn the northern French city of Reims, the construction of a new house has brought an ancient home to the surface. Archaeologists discovered a domus, or luxury urban house , dating to the second century during housing construction along the Rue de la Magdeleine, according to a Dec. 4 news release from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research. Once inhabited by the Gallic tribe of the Remi , Reims was conquered by the Romans and grew into an urban center. The city was developed in the classic Roman urban planning style, archaeologists said, in which residential blocks form a grid of perpendicular streets around a city center, designed as a political and religious forum. In many cases, the outside districts are far less studied than the central areas, researchers said. The newly discovered dwelling, with a two-pillar facade facing the street, is two-thirds of a mile away from where the city center once stood. But this wasn’t just any common Roman’s home. This home was occupied by the elite. The inside of the house was buried under a destroyed layer that was likely caused by a fire, archaeologists said. In the mains, pieces of a megalography fresco were found. Megalography means the figures painted on the surface are represented in their real size, researchers said. Two fresco pieces have the painted names Achilles and Deidamia, referencing the mythological scene of Achilles on Skyros, a coveted pre-Trojan War episode, archaeologists said. This is the fourth depiction of this scene found in Roman settings, including ones in Aquileia, Pompeii and Rome, according to the release. Other items found in the home, however, pointed to the social standing and financial prowess of the home’s owners, researchers said. Three intricate bronze statues were unearthed from the remains. One depicts the god Mars, a second depicts an unidentified goddess and a third statue depicts a bull, according to archaeologists. Researchers described the statues as luxurious and made with a deft touch, supporting the idea that they belonged in an elite member of society’s home. The bronze Mars’ eyes are enhanced by silver, archaeologists said, and Mars is holding a shield with a depiction of the She-Wolf, Romulus and Remus. Mars’ cuirass, or breastplate, was decorated with the head of Medusa, and the statue’s circular base has silver and copper floral decorations, researchers said. The bull sits on a rectangular base and also has a bronze body and silver eyes. The variation of the silver eyes gives the bull an expressive gaze, officials said. The woman clearly represents a goddess, archaeologists said, but her specific identification hasn’t been made. She has a helmet with a relief representing a sphinx, a face and a crown, which may represent a city, researchers said, and spots on her back look like they might have once held wings. She holds the club of Hercules wrapped by a snake and the skin of the Nemean Lion. Officials say the odd aggregation of different representations has a mysterious meaning. The statues’ quality reaffirms their value, though researchers said the location of the home, so far from the city center, does raise questions as to the wealthy homeowner’s status in the community and the function of their home. Reims is in northeastern France, about a 90-mile drive northeast from Paris. Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research.
Brightcom Group, shares of which have been suspended from regular trading for nearly seven months now, has shared a detailed plan of how will the company's shares re-list on the stock exchanges. However, there is no timeline yet on when the shares will re-list. Share Market View All Nifty Gainers View All Company Value Change %Change In a separate exchange filing other than its Sunday weekly update, Brightcom Group said that it has worked towards fulfilling all compliance requirements stipulated by the exchanges. It has updated the shareholding pattern for all pending quarters, financial results for all pending quarters have also been declared along with the annual report for financial year 2023. The Annual General Meeting was also conducted for financial year 2023 in November this year. Penalties levied by the NSE and BSE for delays in compliance have also been paid in full, according to the exchange filing. So what next? The exchanges will verify all submitted documents and filings to ensure compliance. The exchanges will also conduct a site visit to confirm the company's operational and regulatory readiness, although a timeline for this has not been shared either. Post the verification, the exchange will issue a circular notifying the date at which the shares will resume trading. Actual re-listing will follow a special exchange procedure. The re-listing process: The re-listing will happen through a Special Pre-Opening Session (SPOS ) as per the exchange rules. The Pre-Open session will take place between 9 AM to 10 AM and will be divided into three stages. Only limit orders will be allowed during the pre-open session. A limit order is an order to buy or sell the stock with a restriction on the buy price limit and a sell price limit or better than the limit. Order entry will take place between 9 AM to 9:45 AM where investors can place, modify or cancel their limit orders. Order matching will take place between 9:45 AM to 9:55 AM, where the limit orders will be matched by the exchanges to determine the opening price. Price discovery and trade confirmations will take place during this period. Transition to regular markets will take place between 9:55 AM and 10 AM where the discovered opening price will become the reference price for the regular market. Regular trading will begin at 10 AM. Price band will be set within the range of 85% lower to 50% higher than the base price, which is the last traded price of the security prior to its re-listing. Brightcom Group shares currently trade in the 'Z' group or Trade-for-Trade category, where trading takes place only on the first trading day of the week with a 5% circuit limit.Sean O'Leary Talks About His New Science Fiction Book Dan Tesson: A Thriller 12-06-2024 11:34 PM CET | Leisure, Entertainment, Miscellaneous Press release from: Getnews / PR Agency: Headlineplus Image: https://www.getnews.info/uploads/b8b6beb9f233746d80b32b6fddec5b07.jpg More than four million new books are published each year but fewer than one million become popular. One such author who has managed to grab the reader's attention is Sean O'Leary with his new book Dan Tesson: A Thriller. Sean O'Leary is one of those writers who knows what the reader wants from the book. He knows how to bring the reader into the story to make them feel a party of it, and his new book is no exception. The author grew up in NYC and moved to Utah to go to the University of Utah and study Electrical Engineering. While he planned to return to the east coast one day, life has a way of redirecting our plans. He never moved back but have visited several times. With his book becoming one of the newest science fiction books available, I wanted to learn more about Dan Tesson: A Thriller, and the author, this is what Sean O'Leary had to say. You have written a new book called Dan Tesson: A Thriller, can you tell me more about the book? Dan Tesson is a play on words that started as DanTe's son . I think of the book as a modern retelling of Dante's Inferno but where punishments for sins/crimes happen in this life rather than in the one to come. Dan works for a defence contractor by day and writes political blogs by night. He is very critical of the politicians of his time (2040's). He is frustrated by the way they treat his fellow Americans and many other countries in the world. He desperately wants to make a difference in making the world a better place. Unfortunately, he is like most of us, powerless to affect meaningful change. That is until one day something happens that might give him the ability to change the world the way he wants. The question is, will he abuse his power or use it to make the world into a better place? Will he succeed? Can anyone fix the world's problems? I believe the book took you 20 years to write why was that? I have been writing as long as I can remember but have only shared those stories with my closest friends and family in the last few years. I started writing Dan Tesson when I myself was working for a defense contractor in the early 2000's. I think there are a few reasons it took so long. First, writing a novel, especially your first one, is a daunting task. Second, my style of writing involved telling myself the story over and over again adding more parts and answering questions in my mind until the story was mostly done. Then I wrote it down. That turned out to be the long way of writing. Once I sat down and started to put pen to paper, it took about 6 months. It was a learning experience. As I sit down to write my next novel, I am trying to leverage the lessons I learned writing the first book so that it does not take as long. How did you come up with the storyline for the book? I started thinking about the story in the early 2000's shortly after 9-11. I saw a lot of political corruption in our government. I and some of my coworkers went to anti-war protests while working for a defense contractor and laughed about the dichotomy of our day job verses our personal values. Much like Dan Tesson, we were unhappy with the way our government acted and wished there was a way to make a difference. I envisioned someone who had the power to make those changes. Over the next few years, I worked out what he would need to succeed and had endless discussions with my teenage son about what Dan would do in our world if he really existed. What research did you do for Dan Tesson? A lot of the stories told in the book started out as experiences that I had. I was not doing research as much as creating a character that had experiences that I could relate to. Dan and I are very different people, but many of the experiences that make us who we are, are familiar. For example, when my son was about 13, we got involved in blacksmithing. It was a wonderful adventure, and we met some the greatest people I know during that time. It was only natural that Dan and Jon would also have an affinity for the hobby but also be somewhat outsiders to the group of people who have made the craft their life. I have visited about 80 percent of the states in our country so as Dan and Jon travel across the country, many of the places they visit are familiar to me. For the rest, I used Google maps and other searches to visit those areas as though I was there. The book is set in 2040, why did you choose the time-period? I wanted the story set in the near future so that it was not current events, but not so far away as to be unfamiliar. I thought 40 years was about right, but since it took me so long to write that time looks more like 20 years now. In the early 2000's experts were talking about the possibility of a world-wide pandemic but nothing like that had really happened in my lifetime. I had no idea that life would imitate art so closely by the time I had the story completed. Who would you say the book is aimed at? They say you should never talk about politics or religion in polite conversation. While the book covers both of those topics, the main focus of the books is to decide what it means to be human. In that sense, I think it is for everyone. I most certainly have my personal opinions about all the topics in the book, but I wanted to write it in such a way as not to push my opinions as the correct answer but rather have a discussion in which everyone sitting at the table would feel comfortable expressing their perspectives. The book is not meant to be a guide to solving what ails society but rather a mirror that allows us to look at who we are and how we have chosen to construct ourselves. A lot of authors have different ways of writing, some dress up as their character while others go to a place where the story is based on, how do you write your books? I tend to live the story in my head. I imagine that I am a proverbial fly on the wall and observe the characters living their lives. I replay the story again and again, changing it, adding to it, fixing problems I see, until it feels right. Then it is just a matter of writing it down as I saw it happen. I also try and imagine myself as whatever character I am writing about and think about what it would be like to be them. I spent a lot of time being Dan and Jon, but I was also Becca and Yabi. I don't know how I could write a convincing character if I could not imagine being that person. Are you the type of author who likes to write in the peace and quiet or can you write anywhere? It depends on what you mean by writing. If it is the actual putting words down, then yes, I need it to be quiet, without distractions so I can focus on the storyline. But a good deal of writing involves daydreaming or having a discussion with someone about a topic you intend to address in the story. In that case, it could be around a roaring fire, sitting in a car on a long drive, or talking in a crowded pub surrounded by a hundred people on a Friday night. There are millions of people out there who would love to write a book but are worried about not being able to get it published, what advice would you give to them? Writing and publishing are different animals. I would not let one interfere with the other. Write the story that nags at your inner being and won't let you sleep at night. When I have a story that I am working on, I keep reimagining it in my head until it is as I think it should be. Then I have to write it down, just so I can get some peace. If I don't, it will haunt me day and night. Write like that. When you have a story that you are proud of, then worry about publishing. As far as publishing, there are so many more way of getting your book out there then when I was growing up. There are still traditional publishers and there is no reason not to pursue those avenues, but it is easier than ever to self-publish or go a hybrid route where you work with a company that essentially helps you self-publish. Look at that as a secondary adventure to go on after the story has been written. What is next for you, when can we expect you to release another book? I have been asked if there will be a second Dan Tesson book and I think the answer is going to be yes. There are so many questions that are left to answer and parts of the story that still need to be told. I am excited about writing that next book. Right now, I am working on a story about General Daniel Florence O'Leary, born in Ireland in the early 1800's, and how he saved the world from Mayan disaster in 2012. While we are not related, as far as I know, I became fascinated about how a young man from County Cork Ireland wound up fighting alongside Simon Bolivar in South America liberating counties form Spanish Colonialism. As I read about his amazing life, I wondered what the world would be like if he lived in our time. As I was thinking about him and his life, I had a crazy dream about the Mayan Calendar ending in 2012 and what they would mean for all of us. I am very excited to finish the story and look forward to sharing it with others in 2025. Dan Tesson: A Thriller, has become a smash hit on Amazon ( http://www.amazon.com/Dan-Tesson-Thriller-Sean-OLeary/dp/B0D78ZNDKT/ ). Media Contact Company Name: Sean O'Leary Books LLC Contact Person: Media Relations Email: Send Email [ http://www.universalpressrelease.com/?pr=sean-oleary-talks-about-his-new-science-fiction-book-dan-tesson-a-thriller ] Country: United States Website: https://dantesson.seanolearybooks.com/ This release was published on openPR.
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Jimmy Carter: Many evolutions for a centenarian ‘citizen of the world’Arsenal, Manchester City and Bayern Munich all advanced to the Women’s Champions League quarterfinals with with two games to spare on Thursday. Late substitute Lina Hurtig scored the winner in Arsenal's 1-0 victory over Juventus in London. Khadija Shaw scored twice for City in a 2-1 win at Swedish club Hammarby. City stayed perfect in Group D with four victories and reached the last eight for the first time since 2021. Bayern Munich was held 1-1 at Vålerenga in Norway and still earned a quarterfinal berth after Juventus' loss. Arsenal, Bayern and City join Chelsea, Lyon and Real Madrid in the quarterfinals. Two-time defending champion Barcelona routed Austrian champion St. Pölten 4-1. The Catalan club trails City by three points in their group and is in a strong position to advance. Bayern tops Group C with 10 points, Arsenal has nine followed by Juventus (3) and Vålerenga (1). Man City responded to its first loss of the season, 2-0 at Chelsea in the Women's Super League on Saturday. Still without injured star Vivianne Miedema , Shaw took charge, proving her scoring instincts after half an hour. The forward scored from inside the penalty area with a deflected shot that flew over goalkeeper Anna Tamminen to frustrate more than 20,000 noisy fans at the Stockholm Arena in the Swedish capital. Ellen Wangerheim equalized soon after the interval from close range to rejuvenate the crowd but Shaw struck again to restore the lead just minutes later. This time, she delivered a powerful right-footed finish from the edge of the area. Bayern dominated possession but could not translate it into goals until the 75th minute. It had to rely on substitute Jovana Damnjanović, who gave the visitors a late lead after connecting on a pass from Giulia Gwinn. The Norwegians, who have retained their domestic title, equalized in the 88th on Elise Thorsnes' header following a corner. Pernille Harder, who found the back of the net five times for Bayern in the previous three games, could not do it again on Thursday and was substituted. Hurtig came on with 10 minutes remaining and made her presence immediately felt with several headers. She finally made the breakthrough with a minute remaining in regulation, tapping in from close range after Juventus’ poor clearance of a low cross by Stina Blackstenius. Hurtig won the Italian title with Juventus in 2021 and 2022 before joining the Gunners. Juventus seemed to learn a lesson from its 4-0 loss to Arsenal last week as its defense held firm till Hurtig’s arrival. In an 11-minute span in the first half, Francisca Nazareth netted twice and 18-year-old Vicky Lopez scored once to put Barcelona in control. Nazareth's double was followed by Lopez hitting the third with a shot high into the net for her first Champions League goal. Alexia Putellas made it 4-0 in the second half, finishing a fast attack that tore apart the defense in Vienna. It was her 200th goal for Barcelona and the 100th the club scored in the Champions League’s group stage. Valentina Mädl, an 18-year-old forward, netted a consolation goal for the hosts. Barcelona has scored 20 goals in its past three games and can still become the first club to win its group in all four years since the introduction of the format. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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Pair of original MLS clubs to play for Cup titleCARSON, Calif. — The LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls have been Major League Soccer mainstays since the league's inaugural season in 1996, signing glamorous players and regularly competing for championships through years of success and setbacks in a league that's perpetually improving and expanding. Yet just a year ago, both of these clubs appeared to be a very long way from the stage they'll share Saturday in the MLS Cup Final. The Galaxy were one of MLS' worst teams after a season of internal turmoil and public fan dissent, while the Red Bulls were merely a steady mediocrity seeking yet another coach to chart a new direction. A year later, these MLS founders are meeting in the league's first Cup final between teams from North America's two biggest markets. "Two original clubs being able to put themselves in this situation, I think it's great," Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. "To see two clubs that have been at it as long as this league has been around be here, I think it's a special moment. Couldn't be two more different and contrasting styles as well, which could make for an interesting game, and I would imagine a high-intensity game." People are also reading... Everything changed in 2024 after a dismal decade for the Galaxy, who are favored to cap their transformation by winning their team's record sixth MLS championship with a roster that's dramatically different from its past few groups — albeit with one massive injury absence in the final. The transformation of the Red Bulls happened only in the postseason, when a team that hadn't won a playoff game since 2017 suddenly turned into world-beaters under rookie coach Sandro Schwarz. New York struggled through the final three months of league play with only two wins before posting road playoff victories over defending champ Columbus, archrival New York City FC and conference finalist Orlando to storm into the Cup final. "We know about the history (of our club), and we know tomorrow will define what that could mean," Schwarz said Friday. "To feel the pressure for tomorrow, it's necessary, because it's a final, and without pressure it's not possible to bring the best quality on the field." The Red Bulls have never won an MLS Cup, only reaching the championship match once before. What's more, they've somehow never won a Cup in any tournament, although they've collected three Supporters' Shields for MLS' best regular-season record. The Galaxy's trophy case is large and loaded, and those five MLS Cups are on the top shelf. But not much of that team success happened in the past decade for the club that famously brought David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and many other international stars to Hollywood. In fact, this season has ended a grim era for the Galaxy, who haven't lost all year at their frequently renamed home stadium — which was the site of protests and boycotts just a year ago. The club's fans were tired of LA's steady underachievement and ineptitude in the front office run by team president Chris Klein, who was fired in May 2023. One year ago Thursday, the Galaxy hired Will Kuntz, a longtime Los Angeles FC executive who engineered his new club's roster transformation, most dramatically by landing new designated players Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil — two international talents that LAFC also had in its sights. "I give Will and the group up there a ton of credit," Vanney said. "It's one thing to have players you like, and it's a whole other thing to get them here and get them to connect with your group." Pec and Paintsil combined for 32 goals and 27 assists while boosting the incumbent talents of striker Dejan Joveljic and Riqui Puig, the gifted Barcelona product who runs the offense from the midfield. The Galaxy clicked in the postseason, scoring a jaw-dropping 16 goals in four matches. Puig has been the Galaxy's most important player all season, but he won't be in the MLS Cup Final after tearing a knee ligament late in last week's conference final victory over Seattle. The loss of Puig — who somehow kept playing on his injured knee, and even delivered the game-winning pass to Joveljic — makes the Galaxy even more difficult to anticipate. "He played a lot in the regular season, so it was not so easy to analyze all these games now without him," Schwarz said. "But the main focus is to analyze what we need to do, because it's not clear now how they're playing without him." The Galaxy could give some of Puig's responsibilities to Marco Reus, the longtime Dortmund standout who joined LA in August. Reus is nursing a hamstring injury, but Vanney expects him to play. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!