wolf edmbet
Vimian Group AB (publ) ( OTCMKTS:VIMGF – Get Free Report ) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 65,900 shares, a drop of 16.4% from the November 30th total of 78,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently ∞ days. Vimian Group AB (publ) Stock Up 7.3 % Shares of VIMGF stock opened at C$3.89 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$3.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$3.43. Vimian Group AB has a 1 year low of C$2.68 and a 1 year high of C$4.12. About Vimian Group AB (publ) ( Get Free Report ) Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Vimian Group AB (publ) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Vimian Group AB (publ) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
The leader of Sinn Fein has expressed determination to form a government of the left in Ireland as she insisted her party’s performance in the General Election had broken the state’s political mould. Despite Mary Lou McDonald’s confidence around shaping a coalition without Fine Gael and Fianna Fail – the two parties that have dominated the landscape of Irish politics for a century – the pathway to government for Sinn Fein still appears challenging. With counting following Friday’s election still in the relatively early stages – after an exit poll that showed the main three parties effectively neck-and-neck – there is some way to go before the final picture emerges and the options for government formation crystalise. Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, Simon Harris, has dismissed talk of a Sinn Fein surge and said he was “cautiously optimistic” about where his party will stand after all the votes are counted. Meanwhile, Ireland’s deputy premier and Fianna Fail leader, Micheal Martin, insisted his party has a “very clear route back to government” as he predicted seat gains. The counting process could last days because of Ireland’s complex system of proportional representation with a single transferable vote (PR-STV), where candidates are ranked by preference. The early indications have turned the focus to the tricky arithmetic of government formation, as the country’s several smaller parties and many independents potentially jockey for a place in government. Ms McDonald told reporters at the RDS count centre in Dublin that she would be “very, very actively pursuing” the potential to form a government with other parties on the left of the political spectrum. The smaller, left-leaning parties in Ireland include the Social Democrats, the Irish Labour Party, the Green Party and People Before Profit-Solidarity. Ms McDonald said her party had delivered an “incredible performance” in the election. “I think it’s fair to say that we have now confirmed that we have broken the political mould here in this state,” she said. “Two party politics is now gone. It’s consigned to the dustbin of history and that, in itself, is very significant.” She added: “I am looking to bring about a government of change, and I’m going to go and look at all formulations. “If you want my bottom line, the idea of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael for another five years, in our strong opinion, is not a good outcome for Irish society. “Obviously, I want to talk to other parties of the left and those that we share very significant policy objectives with. So I’m going to do that first and just hear their mind, hear their thinking. But be very clear, we will be very, very actively pursuing entrance into government.” In Friday night’s exit poll, Sinn Fein was predicted to take 21.1% of first-preference votes, narrowly ahead of outgoing coalition partners Fine Gael and Fianna Fail at 21% and 19.5% respectively. Prior to the election, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael both ruled out entering government with Sinn Fein. Fine Gael leader Mr Harris rejected suggestions Sinn Fein had broken new ground. He told reporters in his count centre in Greystones, Co Wicklow: “Certainly we haven’t seen a Sinn Fein surge or anything like it. “I mean, it looks likely, on the figures that we’ve seen now, fewer people, many fewer people would have voted Sinn Fein in this election than the last one. “In fact, I think they’re down by around 5% and actually the parties, particularly the two parties, the two larger parties in government, are likely to receive significant support from the electorate. So definitely, politics in Ireland has gotten much more fragmented.” He said it was too early to tell what the next government would look like. “I think anybody who makes any suggestion about who is going to be the largest party or the construct of the next government, they’re a braver person than I am,” he said. “Our electoral system dictates that there’ll be many, many transfers that will go on for hours, if not days, before we know the final computations at all. “But what I am very confident about is that my party will have a very significant role to play in the years ahead, and I’m cautiously optimistic and excited.” Fianna Fail’s Mr Martin told reporters at a count centre in Cork he was confident that the numbers exist to form a government with parties that shared his political viewpoint. Mr Martin said it “remains to be seen” whether he would return to the role of Taoiseach – a position he held between 2020 and 2022 – but he expressed confidence his party would outperform the exit poll prediction. “It’s a bit too early yet to call the exact type of government that will be formed or the composition of the next government,” he said. “But I think there are, there will be a sufficiency of seats, it seems to me, that aligns with the core principles that I articulated at the outset of this campaign and throughout the campaign, around the pro-enterprise economy, around a positively pro-European position, a government that will strongly push for home ownership and around parties that are transparently democratic in how they conduct their affairs.” Asked if it would be in a coalition with Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Social Democrats, he said that would be “racing a bit too far ahead”. The final result may dictate that if Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are to return to government, they may need more than one junior partner, or potentially the buy-in of several independent TDs. Mr Martin said it was unclear how quickly a government can be formed, as he predicted his party would gain new seats. “It will be challenging. This is not easy,” he added. The junior partner in the outgoing government – the Green Party – looks set for a bruising set of results. Green leader Roderic O’Gorman is in a fight to hold onto his seat, as are a number of party colleagues, including Media Minister Catherine Martin. “It’s clear the Green Party has not had a good day,” he said. The early counting also suggested potential trouble for Fianna Fail in Wicklow, where the party’s only candidate in the constituency, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, is considered to have a battle ahead, with the risk of losing his seat. Meanwhile, there is significant focus on independent candidate Gerard Hutch who, on Saturday evening, was sitting in fourth place in the four-seat constituency of Dublin Central. Last spring, Mr Hutch was found not guilty by the non-jury Special Criminal Court of the murder of David Byrne, in one of the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud. Mr Byrne, 33, died after being shot six times at a crowded boxing weigh-in event at the Regency Hotel in February 2016. A Special Criminal Court judge described Mr Hutch, 61, as the patriarchal figurehead of the Hutch criminal organisation and said he had engaged in “serious criminal conduct”. The constituency will be closely watched as other hopefuls wait to see if transfers from eliminated candidates may eventually rule him out of contention. In the constituency of Louth, the much-criticised selection of John McGahon appeared not to have paid off for Fine Gael. The party’s campaign was beset by questioning over footage entering the public domain of the candidate engaged in a fight outside a pub in 2018. The Social Democrats have a strong chance of emerging as the largest of the smaller parties. The party’s leader, Holly Cairns, was already celebrating before a single vote was counted however, having announced the birth of her baby girl on polling day.Us Weekly has affiliate partnerships. We receive compensation when you click on a link and make a purchase. Learn more! As fun as the holiday season is, it can be quite stressful for many of Us . From planning family meals to coordinating travel plans and actually hitting the road, stocking up on practical, functional pieces becomes more and more of a necessity. Looking for a way to keep your items secure when you’re on the go? Take a page out of Kylie Kelce ‘s playbook. Get the Ododos Adjustable Belt Bag for just $10 (originally $13) at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate at the date of publication, November 22, 2024, but are subject to change. Kelce took to Instagram on November 19, sharing footage from an adorable family trp to Disney World. She posed with her and Jason Kelce ‘s three daughters in matching green shirts. Kelce served the ultimate mom style draping a black crossbody bag over her shoulder. We haven’t confirmed the deets on her official bag, but we were inspired to find a lookalike ahead of the holiday rush. Thankfully, we stumbled across a near spot-on replica — and it only costs $10. Whether you’re engaging in family-friendly fun like Kelce or you’re running through airport terminals, the Ododos Adjustable Belt Bag is a great way to keep your possessions safe. It features a zipper closure and comes with two pockets. Even better? It’s water-resistant, so if you accidentally spill something, you won’t have to worry about your items getting damaged. The bestselling bag comes in Kelce’s black shade, but it comes in fun shades like neon, red and light pink. There’s no denying how popular this crossbody bag is. In the last month alone, it was purchased more than 2,000 times and boasts over 14,000 five-star reviews. One five-star shopper raved that it “frees your hands up for other tasks and looks great.” Another shopper gushed over the bag holding, “a small headphone case, Samsung phone, cash, dog poop bags, and car keys.” They added that the bag is “great for everyday use and traveling.” There’s no telling where your plans will take you this holiday season. If you’re in need of a practical handbag to keep your items secure, this $10 belt bag is a helpful place to start. Check our latest news in Google News Check our latest news in Apple News See it: Get the Ododos Adjustable Belt Bag for just $10 (originally $13) at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate at the date of publication, November 22, 2024, but are subject to change.
Dallas Cowboys cheerleader shocks internet with $600 Christmas gift for 40 squad members... totaling $24,000 Marissa Phillips her 40-strong squad with a $600 Dyson Airwrap each The sporting star, 24, recorded the sweet gesture in a video shared online The internet was stunned over the massive gesture By CYDNEY YEATES FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Published: 22:27 GMT, 23 December 2024 | Updated: 22:28 GMT, 23 December 2024 e-mail View comments Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Marissa Phillips pulled off the ultimate surprise by gifting her 40-strong squad with a Dyson Airwrap each – totaling an eye-watering $24,000. The sporting star, 24, recorded the sweet gesture in a video shared on her social media, which revealed the exact moment her team unwrapped their new luxury hair tool in unison. Marissa began the clip in her home with the huge pile of presents set in front of her Christmas tree. 'I am giving these away to my best friends tonight so come along with me as I pull off the best surprise ever,' she gushed. 'It's kind of hard to get 40 girls in the same room at once, so we have a Christmas party tonight and my idea was surprising them all with [the Airwraps] after the Christmas Party, so I'm gonna have them all set up [and] arranged. 'They have their names on them, and we wrapped them all, so yes, I did wrap 40 individual boxes with the help of my lovely fiancé.' Marissa then shared a clip from inside the party and showed the moment her squad opened their impressive gifts. With all 40 members sat down with their boxes, Marissa gave a quick speech where she told them that they 'deserve the world.' Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Marissa Phillips pulled off the ultimate surprise by gifting her 40-strong squad with a Dyson Airwrap each – totaling an eye-watering $24,000 The sporting star, 24, recorded the sweet gesture on her social media Shortly afterwards, the team tore off the red wrapping paper and revealed the pricey hair tool underneath, and naturally, they were shocked. Wails of excitement were heard, and one cheerleader cried out, 'There is absolutely no way.' Marissa's followers were equally stunned by her generosity and commended her for treating her teammates to such a lavish gift. Taking to the comments, one wrote: 'Wow... you are so sweet... what a great surprise and how generous of you...y ou will be blessed tenfold.' 'How sweet and generous of you,' another agreed. 'Christmas isn't always about the getting of gifts but the giving of joy. 'I'm sure you put a smile on everyone's face. Thank you for your generous spirit! Happy holidays.' A third penned: 'How beautiful honey. So so sweet.' 'The reactions are everything,' said a fourth. Marissa surprised her squad with the hair tool at their Christmas party And it's fair to say her 40-strong team were blown away by the luxurious present A fifth added: 'You have a beautiful heart Marissa, thank you for always spreading love and kindness. You deserve all the happiness in the world.' Designed to transform lacklustre hair in an instant, the Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler & Dryer is the true original does-it-all hair tool, allowing you to curl, shape, smooth and hide fly-aways in one - and fans say it makes their hairstyles 'last all day.' It comes with six attachments: a Coanda Smoothing Dryer, Firm Smoothing Brush, Soft Smoothing Brush, Round Volumizer, a 1.6' Barrel, and a 1.2' barrel. The Dyson Airwrap retails at $599 and rarely goes on sale. It appears as though Marissa might have received a little helping hand from her friends at Dyson for the stunt, however, as she made sure to thank the brand in her caption on Instagram. Alongside her surprise video, she wrote: 'Be right back... just playing one of Santa's Elves. 'Huge thank you to @dysonbeauty and @dysonusa for helping me pull of the biggest surprise to the girls who deserve it most! All the love.' Marissa has been a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys since August 2022. Marissa (second on the right) has been a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys since 2022 She announced that she'd joined the squad in an Instagram post at the time, alongside a photo in which she held up her new uniform from inside her dressing room. 'I am truly so thankful for this process, the lessons I've learned, the memories and the friends I have made and for the many more amazing experiences to come,' she said at the time. 'Thank you to everyone who helped me through the process, I am so excited and can't wait for this season! Let's go, Cowboys.' Instagram Dallas Cowboys Share or comment on this article: Dallas Cowboys cheerleader shocks internet with $600 Christmas gift for 40 squad members... totaling $24,000 e-mail Add comment
Madison County Schools superintendent David Gilliam has been working at Madison County since 1992, first starting as a teacher and coach, and for the last six years as the Superintendent. Now, after more than 30 years, Gilliam is retiring. Randy Neely will be the new Madison County Superintendent starting in January. During the Dec. 12th Madison County School Board meeting, Gilliam delivered his final superintendent’s report. In it, he encouraged new Superintendent Neely and the board members to “look beyond those measures that people usually look at at schools.” Instead of enrollment numbers and similar stats, he encouraged the board members to instead look at “the metrics that really make a difference.” He explained that if a school system is working things like the poverty rate, the literacy rate, average household income, and the health index should all improve. “If a school system is doing what it needs to be doing, yeah the state assessment scores will be good, yes attendance will be good, yes our budget will be in line. But we should also see those other pieces move,” said Gilliam. Gilliam told the Richmond Register that he believes that the county’s investment in the Ignite Academies and their attempts to value career and technical education will have a positive impact on local industries for years to come. Gilliam said that industries seeking to move into Richmond and Madison County have spoken with him during his time as Superintendent, and before that as Chief Academic Officer, about the infrastructure that is in place at the local school systems to support the work force. “Not only the career and technical education, but also the quality of our schools in general, so that it’s producing well-rounded, capable, intelligent people,” said Gilliam. While Gilliam encouraged the board to look at other statistics to determine how the school system is doing, Madison County is performing well on state metrics. According to the Kentucky Department of Education’s Report Card for Madison County, the school has seen a drop-out rate of around 1% over the last three years, with an attendance rate of over 91%, and a graduation rate of 94%. These are all in line with averages across the state. The Report Card also states that Madison County overall has high performance on state assessments in reading, mathematics, science, social studies, and writing. “We have seen those numbers improve. But what I was talking about was the bigger picture, the real reason we are doing that,” said Gilliam. “All of those numbers are good, and we can see those immediately. But ultimately, does it really lead to quality jobs in local industry that are high paying and high functioning?” Gilliam said that the creation of the Ignite Academy has at least encouraged students, who before showed little interest in career and technical studies, to explore that education pathway. Gilliam told the Register that he is proud of the creation of the Ignite Academy, of partnerships created with local economy leaders, but that looking back at his tenure with Madison county what he was most proud of was the culture created across the district. “It’s valuing Madison County Schools as an important part of our community. I feel like we have continued to grow that over the last 10, 12 years. and I think that is probably the thing that I feel good about,” said Gilliam. Gilliam said that he hopes that as he leaves this position people look at him and think that he “left it better than he found it.” “That’s what I hope people would be able to say. ‘He came in, he worked hard, and during his time the school improved,” said Gilliam. Gilliam said that despite his retirement as Superintendent, he plans to still be involved some way in education. Though, at the same time, he shared that he has a farm and cows he plans to take care of. “I’m probably going to take some long mornings, and sit on the porch and drink coffee,” said Gilliam.I’m A Celeb fans call episode ‘most emotional ever’ and a ‘hard watch’ as campmates and viewers break down in tears
Qatar tribune Agencies Russian energy giant Gazprom announced on Saturday it would halt gas exports to Moldova from 5 a.m. GMT on Jan. 1 due to an unpaid debt by Moldova, which is bracing for severe power cuts. It said the company reserved the right to take any action, including terminating the supply contract with Moldova. Russia supplies Moldova with about 2 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year, which is piped via Ukraine to the breakaway region of Transdniestria, where it is used to generate cheap power that is sold to government-controlled parts of Moldova. Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean condemned the Russian decision, which is a precursor to a total shutdown of Russian gas exports via Ukraine and to Europe, where it flows further to Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Italy, once a current transit deal with Ukraine expires on Dec. 31. Moldova will be hit the hardest by the shutdown. “This decision confirms once again the intention of the Kremlin to leave the inhabitants of the Transdniestrian region without light and heat in the middle of the winter,” Recean wrote on Facebook, accusing Russia of using energy as a political weapon. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed those allegations. Russia, which is critical of Moldova’s West-leaning central government, has said Moldova should pay a debt on past supplies. According to Russian calculations, the debt is $709 million, while Moldova has estimated it at $8.6 million. Gazprom said previously that it wants Moldova to pay the debt before it starts to pump gas into the country via alternative routes. Transdniestria and the government in Chisinau agreed that all Russian gas received by Moldova would flow to the breakaway region, which traditionally does not pay for fuel. Without gas supplies, the power-generating plant could stop working and Moldova and Transdniestria would face hourslong blackouts similar to those experienced by Ukraine due to Russia’s attacks on its energy infrastructure during their war. The government of Transdniestria told businesses that, starting on Saturday, gas supplies would start to be switched off to commercial entities that were not considered critical. But it was said that supplies of gas, heating and hot water to households would continue as usual until Jan. 1. Copy 30/12/2024 10
BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) Shares Bought by Geode Capital Management LLCPetition for Tino Rangatiratanga flag emoji gains momentum
If you've been following the currents of online culture over the past couple of weeks, there's a good chance you've heard about Bluesky with increasing frequency. The microblogging site, which was founded by a former Twitter CEO, has been skyrocketing in popularity since the presidential election earlier this month, in which Donald Trump won his second term in the White House. Some users of X (formerly known as Twitter), many of whom were already growing frustrated with the many changes made by its owner, Trump mega-donor Elon Musk, are finally jumping ship to Bluesky. Aside from being less politically fraught, Bluesky is fundamentally different from X/Twitter in a few key ways. Its decentralized structure means users have more freedom with their data, and it has several features that make it easier to find the kind of content you're looking for — or avoid the content you're not. But can this brash new upstart really unseat X as the de-facto microblogging site? To find out, we took Bluesky through its paces and spoke to experts. Bluesky was founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey , along with a number of people interested in decentralized technology — tech designed so that it isn't subject to the whims of a single company or its owner. The idea was that anyone could host their own instance of Bluesky, leaving the company responsible only for its own app and not for the platform as a whole. It may seem strange for the head of a company to work on a potential competitor, but Dorsey has a reputation as an iconoclast within Silicon Valley. In fact, further Twitter alumni got in on the ground floor of Bluesky, including Parag Agrawal, the CEO whose tenure stretched from Dorsey's exit to Elon Musk's arrival at the company. But when it came time to launch as its own company, Dorsey and Agrawal tapped Lantian "Jay" Graber, a promising young developer, as Bluesky's CEO. The decision to keep Bluesky independent of Twitter proved prophetic. When Elon Musk took over the latter company in late 2022, he promptly nullified a prior agreement that would have seen Twitter folded into the decentralized web of platforms using Bluesky's technology and fired the people working to incorporate that tech. However, as Twitter changed under its new owner and was eventually rebranded as X, Bluesky continued to develop in the background. After a beta period during which sign-ups were available via invite only, Bluesky opened its doors to the general public in early 2024. Since then, it has grown slowly, but the platform began to explode in mid-November 2024. On the surface, Bluesky may look like just another Twitter clone, but under the hood, it's a very different platform. Just as on Twitter, you can post, repost, quote, and like posts. The difference is that Bluesky is decentralized, meaning anyone can host their own data and take their account with them to another instance of the platform. By default, a new user will appear as @username.bsky.social, but if you don't like that, you can use your own domain. For example, SlashGear could theoretically rehost an account on its own domain, giving it a username like @username.slashgear.com. (At the time of this writing, SlashGear does not have a Bluesky account.) Another unique aspect of Bluesky is algorithmic choice. On Twitter, Threads, and many other social media sites, users are shown content based on a secretive algorithm closely guarded by the platform. On Twitter and Threads, you can choose between letting a proprietary algorithm decide what you see or sorting your timeline into pure chronological order. Bluesky, by contrast, lets you select between multiple open-source algorithms, giving users far more control over how their content gets sorted. This algorithmic control manifests most clearly in the Feeds feature, which lets users create and subscribe to custom timelines based on particular topics, sets of users, or other criteria. When creating a Feed, you can choose which algorithm you want to rank the posts and even select how much weight the algorithm will give to the recency of any given post. This feature helped Bluesky to take on a life of its own, with a community-curated DIY culture that feels both fresh and distinct from other Twitter-like competitors. Buzz around Bluesky spread quickly through tech and media circles at its initial launch, hitting a million app installs last year . Now, it's taken on new life since the 2024 presidential election. With X owner Elon Musk having thrown his weight behind President-elect Donald Trump, many X users who don't align with Musk's politics now see the platform as politically hostile. That feeling was egged on by the explosion of hate speech that coincided with Musk's loosened moderation on the site, some of which Musk himself has engaged with. SlashGear reached out to journalist and Internet culture expert Taylor Lorenz, who says of X, "It's a very intense political environment on the app, and Elon has removed user controls that used to protect people." The result has been a mass exodus of users, which has been Bluesky's gain. At the time of this writing, Bluesky is the number one app on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, where it has remained for several days. Bluesky is not the only alternative to X. Meta's Threads platform integrates seamlessly with Instagram and has already scored 175 million users as of July 2024. However, given that the point of leaving X was to escape from under the thumb of a tech billionaire, it's understandable that Threads, which is ultimately tied to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, would prove nearly as unpalatable for a large portion of expatriated X users. "Threads ended up going crazy with the content moderation," Lorenz said, "and now I think people are realizing that Bluesky is the best alternative. Bluesky offers a very comparable experience to kind of the original Twitter." While Bluesky is benefitting from the X exodus, whether the current spike in growth can continue as a long-term trend remains to be seen. Lorenz suggested that, due to Elon Musk's entrenchment in the incoming Trump administration, X will remain an important part of the media landscape. "I think political people are so incredibly addicted to Twitter," Lorenz says. "And now with Trump in office, Twitter is going to remain a politically relevant platform that keeps journalists on there because they're going to want to see what Elon says." Lorenz points out that X also remains the de-facto platform for Congresspeople and other public figures. However, she's not willing to write Bluesky off in that regard just yet. "If lawmakers and pundits and journalists all do go to Bluesky, then I think it could replicate what Twitter had," Lorenz says. Some public figures have already decamped to Bluesky from X, including journalists like New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie and celebrities like "Star Wars" star Mark Hamill. According to award-winning author Charlie Jane Anders, who referred SlashGear to a public statement on the subject, her final straw was a reported proliferation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on X. "I feel the need to make a clean break from Twitter at this point," she wrote. "After all of the proliferation of hate speech, and the random shutdowns of progressive accounts that challenge the owner's rigid orthodoxy, I was already wanting to make a break for it. But after the latest scandals involving CSAM, I really feel as though I have no choice." Whether or not Bluesky becomes the new Twitter, it's clearly promising what many people crave: a fresh start.
Romania's pro-European Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu was leading in the first round of presidential elections Sunday according to exit polls, with the far right not yet assured of a place in the second round, despite a breakthrough in support. With 25 percent of the vote according to two exit polls, Ciolacu appeared to be well ahead of far-right challengers looking to capitalise on this EU member's concerns about inflation and the war in neighbouring Ukraine. The same exit polls gave second place to centre-right former journalist turned small-town mayor Elena Lasconi at 18 percent, with two far-right candidates scoring 15 and 16 percent. In the absence of an outright winner in the first round -- scoring more than 50 percent -- the top two candidates go through to a second-round run-off in the poor NATO member on December 8. Ciolacu, a Social Democrat, is leading a field of 13 contenders in the race to take over from President Klaus Iohannis in the largely ceremonial post. He welcomed the exit polls putting him in the lead, but said all the votes would have to be counted before he knew who he would face in the second round. Lasconi too, was cautious. "The scores are very tight, it's not yet time to celebrate," said the 52-year-old politician. Far-right leader George Simion, 38, who some had forecast might take second place, is for the moment in fourth. Exit polls put him just behind the 62-year-old pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu. But Simion said Sunday evening: "We'll see the results of the ballot boxes at 11:00 pm (2100 GMT)." Ciolacu's party has shaped Romania's politics for more than three decades, and as he voted Sunday he promised stability and a "decent" standard of living. But political analyst Cristian Parvulescu told AFP: "The far right is by far the big winner of this election." Simion saw his popularity surge by tapping into voter anger over record inflation while promising more affordable housing. Looking for a new election breakthrough for European far-right parties, Simion warned of possible "fraud" and "foreign interference" when voting. But he added: "I am happy that we are giving Romanians hope and the prospect of a better future." The stakes are high for Romania, which has a 650-kilometre (400-mile) border with Ukraine and has become more important since Russia invaded its neighbour in 2022. The Black Sea nation now plays a "vital strategic role" for NATO -- as it is a base for more than 5,000 soldiers -- and the transit of Ukrainian grain, the New Strategy Center think tank said. Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election has further "complicated" Romania's choice, political analyst Cristian Pirvulescu told AFP. Known for his fiery speeches, Simion is a Trump fan who sometimes dons a red cap in appreciation of his idol. Simion opposes sending military aid to Ukraine, wants a "more patriotic Romania" and frequently lashes out against what he calls the "greedy corrupt bubble" running the European Union. Having campaigned hard to win over Romania's large diaspora working abroad, he said the country had only "minions and cowards as leaders". Pirvulescu predicted that if Simion reached the second round his AUR party would get a boost in the December parliamentary election. "Romanian democracy is in danger for the first time since the fall of communism in 1989," he said. "I'm really afraid we'll end up with Simion in the second round," 36-year-old IT worker Oana Diaconu told AFP, expressing concern about the far-right leader's unpredictable nature and attacks on the European Union. The campaign was marked by controversy and personal attacks, with Simion facing accusations of meeting with Russian spies -- a claim he has denied. Ciolacu has been criticised for his use of private jets. Some observers had tipped Lasconi, now mayor of the small town of Campulung and head of a centre-right opposition party, as a surprise package. Sunday's exit polls appeared to suggest they were right. During campaigning, she had said she wanted a future "where no one has to pack their suitcases and leave" the country and for "institutions that work". bur/js-jj/
Vertical Aerospace Finalises Investment AgreementI'm A Celebrity's Ant and Dec confirm ITV shake-up as show hit by 'fix' claims
See Ellen DeGeneres’ Hair Transformation Amid Move to EnglandBy The Associated Press Albany Great Danes (7-0) at Siena Saints (2-4) Loudonville, New York; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Albany visits Siena after Lilly Phillips scored 24 points in Albany’s 80-59 win over the Stonehill Skyhawks. The Saints are 1-1 on their home court. Siena is fifth in the MAAC in rebounding with 30.2 rebounds. Zyriah Price paces the Saints with 6.2 boards. The Great Danes are 3-0 on the road. Albany ranks fifth in the America East with 9.0 offensive rebounds per game led by Kayla Cooper averaging 3.0. Siena scores 58.2 points per game, 4.3 more points than the 53.9 Albany allows. Albany averages 7.7 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.7 more made shots on average than the 6.0 per game Siena allows. TOP PERFORMERS: Ahniysha Jackson is scoring 14.2 points per game with 2.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists for the Saints. Cooper is scoring 19.6 points per game and averaging 8.9 rebounds for the Great Danes. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
German authorities ignored years of warnings and threats from Christmas market attacker: Report
Amber Group's Subsidiary Amber DWM Holding Limited and Nasdaq-Listed iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited Enter into a Definitive Merger Agreement