A pair of teams with minimal rest will face off in Nassau, Bahamas, on Sunday when No. 22 St. John takes on Georgia. St. John's (5-1), which will play its third game in four days, began the stretch in the Bahamas Championship on Thursday, dropping a heartbreaker to No. 13 Baylor. The Red Storm led by 18 in the first half before Baylor forced overtime. From there, St. John's rallied from five down with 1:47 left to send the game to a second overtime, where it saw Baylor knock down a pair of 3-pointers in the final seven seconds -- including Jeremy Roach's buzzer-beater -- to knock off the Red Storm 99-98. In the third-place game on Friday, St. John's breezed past Virginia 80-55. RJ Luis Jr. led the way with 18 points and four steals, followed by Kadary Richmond's 12 points, as the Red Storm took a one-point lead with 15:21 left in the first half and didn't trail again. "I'm really impressed with our guys, coming off a double-overtime, extremely emotional loss," St. John's head coach Rick Pitino said. "To respond that way was extremely impressive, both offensively and defensively." Pitino, in his second year with the Red Storm, was moved by something off the court on Friday, involving captain Zuby Ejiofor, who chipped in eight points, nine boards, two steals and two blocks. Ejiofor was serenaded by St. John's fans during the win, following his two missed free throws at the end of double overtime against Baylor. "When you've only been in a job for a year, you search for things you love about a place," Pitino said. "Tonight I found out what I love about St. John's. Our fans chanted Zuby's name the whole game, which doesn't happen anywhere else in America. I was really impressed with our fans and I thank them for making Zuby feel good, because he gives you all the energy." Luis leads the Red Storm with 17.3 points per game, followed by Ejiofor (10.7), Aaron Scott (10.5), Deivon Smith (10.3) and Richmond (10.2). Georgia enters Sunday's matchup looking to rebound from its first loss after falling to No. 15 Marquette 80-69 on Saturday. Georgia (5-1) battled back from a 15-point, second-half deficit, but was held to just three points over the final 4:57 in Saturday's loss. Blue Cain led the Bulldogs with a season-high 17 points, including five 3-pointers. "It's a process. It's a journey with this team," Bulldogs head coach Mike White said. "It's about continuing to make strides, continuing to protect our culture. ... At the end of the day, wins and losses are going to take care of themselves. We just have to embrace the process and enjoy it." Five-star freshman recruit Asa Newell was held to a season-low nine points but leads the team with 15.5 points per game. Silas Demary Jr. is second with 13.8. --Field Level MediaRALEIGH, N.C. — The State Board of Elections on Wednesday voted mostly along party lines to dismiss Republican Jefferson Griffin’s challenge of over 60,000 ballots cast in the North Carolina Supreme Court election. Griffin, who trails his Democratic opponent, Allison Riggs, by over 700 votes, made a variety of legal arguments claiming that ineligible voters were allowed to participate in the election — potentially changing the outcome. The board disagreed, rejecting all of Griffin’s protests. “The idea that someone could have been registered to vote, came to vote and then has their vote discarded is anathema to the democratic system and simply cannot be tolerated,” Board Chair Alan Hirsch, a Democrat, said. The board’s Republicans voted against dismissing some of the protests, saying they would’ve preferred to proceed to a further hearing to gather more evidence. After the hearing, Riggs told reporters she was grateful that all lawful votes would be counted. “These are eligible voters,” she said. “My job is now — and will continue to be, because the voters of North Carolina saw fit to keep me in my seat — is to defend the constitutional rights of North Carolinians and to do so with no regard for political ideology, with no regard for political goals or dreams or aspirations.” The chair of the NC GOP, Jason Simmons, blasted the board’s ruling in a statement released after the vote. “Unsurprisingly, the most partisan State Board of Elections in history has once again failed the people of North Carolina,” he said. “The board’s continued efforts to engineer political outcomes for Democrats is shameful. We will review the board’s decision and reserve the right to any future actions to protect the integrity of our elections.” The board’s rulings are the latest development in a race that still does not have an official winner over a month after Election Day. A statewide machine recount and a partial hand recount of the results both affirmed Riggs’ lead, but the board could not declare a winner until hearing Griffin’s protests. Democrats have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to invalidate the protests, arguing that they could disenfranchise valid voters. Now, the protests could head to state court. State law allows Griffin to appeal the board’s rejection to Wake County Superior Court. From there, the case could work its way all the way up to the Supreme Court itself. The board also rejected election protests filed by several Republicans who lost legislative races. That included Granville County Rep. Frank Sossamon, whose loss to Democrat Bryan Cohn was decisive in breaking the GOP’s veto-proof supermajority in the General Assembly. Most of the board’s votes split 3-2 along party lines. Griffin had requested that a Democratic member of the board, Siobhan Millen, recuse herself from the case because her husband is a partner at the law firm representing Riggs. Hirsch said he concluded that Millen did not have a conflict and would be able to participate in the hearing. He noted in a memo that the law firm had an ethical screen shielding Millen’s husband from any matters relating to Riggs. “Given these circumstances, it would be inappropriate for Member Millen to be removed from consideration of this matter,” Hirsch wrote. State lawmakers approved a new law last month that would shift control of the State Board of Elections to the GOP by stripping incoming Democratic Gov. Josh Stein of his appointment power and transferring it to the newly elected state auditor, Republican Dave Boliek. Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed that bill, but the House is set to vote on overriding his veto on Wednesday. What did Griffin’s protests argue? While some of Griffin’s protests dealing with factual allegations were considered at the local level, the majority of his protests dealt not with specific allegations of fraud — but rather with legal arguments about voter eligibility that have so far been rejected by state and federal courts. The State Board of Elections took jurisdiction over all protests dealing with legal issues and heard arguments from attorneys for Riggs and Griffin at a hearing on Wednesday. Attorneys for Griffin argued that the board misapplied state law and allowed ineligible voters to participate in the election. “We filed these protests because we believe the winners of these elections should be determined by eligible voters and only eligible voters,” Griffin’s attorney, Craig Schauer, told the board. Ray Bennett, Riggs’ lawyer, argued that Griffin’s protests sought to institute new voter requirements after the fact, throwing out legitimate votes in the process. “The election protests here violate a bedrock principle so basic you learn it in elementary school: If you lose, you don’t try to change the rules so you can claim that you won,” he said. The most common reason Griffin challenged voters was his allegation that the voter did not have a driver’s license number or Social Security number attached to their voter registration. In his legal brief filed with the board, Griffin’s lawyer argued that requiring this information was a “decades-old feature of American election law that protects the integrity of our elections.” The Republican National Committee also made this argument in a lawsuit filed this summer which sought to purge 225,000 voters from the rolls. A federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump rejected part of the RNC’s argument, though the case is still ongoing. Stacy “Four” Eggers, a Republican on the board, called the issue a “self-inflicted wound,” noting that the board had been made aware that its registration form did not clearly indicate to voters that they were required to provide the information. A new form was created last year to make the requirement more clear, but the board did not attempt to collect the information from voters who already registered without providing it. Democrats on the board said this was not a legitimate reason to throw out the votes, especially since all voters still had to show ID in this election. “There’s nothing those individuals could have done — as far as they could tell, they were properly registered,” Hirsch said. Bennett also noted that Griffin’s attorneys had not actually identified any voters on their lists who were ineligible to vote, based on current state law. Strach, one of Griffin’s lawyers, conceded this point, but said it was because the board hadn’t provided sufficient data for their analysis. Griffin also argued that the board should not count votes from adult children of North Carolina residents living abroad who have never resided in the state. A state law passed in 2011 explicitly permits those voters to participate in the state’s elections, but Griffin argued that that law violates the state constitution. The RNC made the same argument earlier this year, but had its lawsuit rejected by a state court. The final protest category before the board on Wednesday argued that votes from military and overseas voters who do not provide voter ID should not be counted. An administrative rule exempts these voters from the ID requirement, but Griffin argued that the rule violates state law. The board’s Republicans joined the Democratic majority to unanimously reject this protest, finding that the rule was binding. An N&O analysis of Griffin’s protests found that Black registered voters were twice as likely to have their votes challenged as white voters. ©2024 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.With a projected revenue of 1-2 billion euros over the next two decades, the VIP box pre-sales initiative represents a significant financial boost for the club and sets a new standard for leveraging brand power in the sports industry. This innovative approach to fundraising not only showcases Barcelona's commitment to excellence on and off the field but also paves the way for other clubs to explore new avenues for revenue generation.
In a remarkable display of wealth accumulation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk's net worth has surged by a staggering $133 billion in just one year. This unprecedented increase underscores Musk's status as one of the wealthiest individuals on the planet and highlights the tremendous growth trajectory of his various ventures.NoneBy ROB GILLIES, Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Donald Trump that Americans would also suffer if the president-elect follows through on a plan to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products , a Canadian minister who attended their recent dinner said Monday. Trump threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if they don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders with the United States. He said on social media last week that he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders. Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security, attended a dinner with Trump and Trudeau at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club on Friday. Trudeau requested the meeting in a bid to avoid the tariffs by convincing Trump that the northern border is nothing like the U.S. southern border with Mexico . “The prime minister of course spoke about the importance of protecting the Canadian economy and Canadian workers from tariffs, but we also discussed with our American friends the negative impact that those tariffs could have on their economy, on affordability in the United States as well,” LeBlanc said in Parliament. If Trump makes good on his threat to slap 25% tariffs on everything imported from Mexico and Canada, the price increases that could follow will collide with his campaign promise to give American families a break from inflation. Economists say companies would have little choice but to pass along the added costs, dramatically raising prices for food, clothing, automobiles, alcohol and other goods. The Produce Distributors Association, a Washington trade group, said last week that tariffs will raise prices for fresh fruit and vegetables and hurt U.S. farmers when the countries retaliate. Canada is already examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the U.S. should Trump follow through on the threat. After his dinner with Trump, Trudeau returned home without assurances the president-elect will back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner. Trump called the talks “productive” but signaled no retreat from a pledge that Canada says unfairly lumps it in with Mexico over the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States. “The idea that we came back empty handed is completely false,” LeBlanc said. “We had a very productive discussion with Mr. Trump and his future Cabinet secretaries. ... The commitment from Mr. Trump to continue to work with us was far from empty handed.” Joining Trump and Trudeau at dinner were Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, and Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice to be his national security adviser. Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, told The Associated Press on Sunday that “the message that our border is so vastly different than the Mexican border was really understood.” Hillman, who sat at an adjacent table to Trudeau and Trump, said Canada is not the problem when it comes to drugs and migrants. On Monday, Mexico’s president rejected those comments. “Mexico must be respected, especially by its trading partners,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said. She said Canada had its own problems with fentanyl consumption and “could only wish they had the cultural riches Mexico has.” Flows of migrants and seizures of drugs at the two countries’ border are vastly different. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border during the last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. Most of the fentanyl reaching the U.S. — where it causes about 70,000 overdose deaths annually — is made by Mexican drug cartels using precursor chemicals smuggled from Asia. On immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol reported 1.53 million encounters with migrants at the southwest border with Mexico between October 2023 and September 2024. That compares to 23,721 encounters at the Canadian border during that time. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports as well. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing for national security.California lawmakers begin special session to protect state laws from second Trump presidency
As players eagerly awaited the release of the skin, the hype surrounding the crossover event continued to grow, with fans speculating about potential future collaborations between Overwatch and Marvel. The success of the "Iron Deflection" skin set a high bar for future crossover events, showcasing the potential for innovative and engaging partnerships between gaming and comic book franchises.
Overall, the wave of mergers and acquisitions involving rural commercial banks in Hebei highlights the ongoing transformation of the banking industry in China. As banks continue to adapt to the evolving regulatory landscape and market conditions, it is crucial for all stakeholders to work together to promote a healthy and sustainable banking sector that can effectively support the needs of the economy and society.
Japan, known for its highly developed economy and technological advancements, has recently shown signs of a promising uptick in its GDP growth. The country's economic performance has been closely monitored by policymakers and analysts alike, as Japan continues to navigate through a series of challenges, including an aging population and deflationary pressures. The question on everyone's mind now is: with the economy showing signs of resilience, could an interest rate hike be on the horizon?
11. Franck Ribery (Sassuolo): The seasoned French winger may be nearing the twilight of his career, but his impact at Sassuolo has been significant. Will he continue playing at the Italian club or consider retirement?Mr. Market, a construct of the famous value investor Benjamin Graham, is a fickle individual. Sometimes he offers up opportunities that look attractively priced, only to change his mind far more quickly than you'd expect, running the price right back up again. When shopping for potential investments, I occasionally get access to the attractive price, which is what happened with my investment in WEC Energy (NYSE: WEC) . But after the subsequent share price rally over just a few months, I decided to sell the utility and use those funds to invest in a higher yield that remains out of favor. Are You Missing The Morning Scoop? Wake up with Breakfast news in your inbox every market day. Sign Up For Free » WEC Energy moved too quickly for me I bought WEC Energy in July 2024, when the dividend yield was north of 4%. The yield, the history of dividend growth, and the opportunity presented by the utility's ongoing shift toward cleaner energy was more than enough to get me in the door. And then, shortly after I bought WEC Energy, utility stocks rallied. The yield from WEC Energy is now around 3.4%. That's not high enough for me to add to my position. Add in the roughly 20% stock advance in just a few months, and I'm worried that WEC Energy has gone too far, too fast. At the very least, I see it as fairly valued and no longer cheap. In fact, I was kind of expecting that 20% stock advance would be spread over three years, not four months or so. I decided to lock in the profits and shift into a different utility-related investment. A yield that's 4.5x the yield on the S&P 500 index What I bought to replace WEC Energy was a unique clean energy-focused business with a 5.6% yield. That's 4.5 times larger than the yield on the S&P 500 . It is twice as high as the average utility , using Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEMKT: XLU) as an industry proxy. And it is 1.6 times that of WEC Energy. That's a worthwhile increase compared to WEC, and definitely attractive relative to the broader utility space and the market. But the real reason I bought Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE: BEP) is the opportunistic nature of its investment approach. To start, I believe there's a long runway for growth ahead as the world continues to shift toward cleaner energy alternatives. Brookfield Renewable has its fingers in just about every pie, with exposure to solar, wind, hydroelectric, storage, and nuclear. And its portfolio is globally diversified, so it can put money to work just about anywhere there's an opportunity. That sets the stage for the partnership's approach of buying low and selling high, driven by its relationship with Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) . Essentially, buying Brookfield Renewable is a way for me, a small investor, to partner with the institutional money that Brookfield Asset Management runs. With a strong financial position (Brookfield Renewable has an investment-grade-rated balance sheet) and its partnership with Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Renewable has the ability to step into troubled situations. It then restores the assets it buys to health, both financially and operationally. And if it gets a good deal, it sells the asset and repeats the process with a new investment. Right now, Brookfield Renewable is able to do both because well-capitalized, high-performing clean energy assets are selling at attractive prices, while financially troubled clean energy assets are trading hands on the cheap. Wall Street, meanwhile, is treating the clean energy sector like every asset is in trouble (leading to what I believe is an attractive price for Brookfield Renewable), which simply isn't true. And, on top of that, there's a huge runway for growth ahead as the world continues its clean energy shift. Brookfield Renewable, which has regularly increased its distribution, allows me to directly invest in that transition. Brookfield Renewable is my direct play I own Enbridge and TotalEnergies because they bridge the gap between fossil fuel-related energy and clean energy. Brookfield Renewable is my first direct play on clean energy, which I'm making after Wall Street's fascination with the sector has waned. I guess I'm trying to be opportunistic, too. In fact, there's extra pessimism right now because of fears that government subsidies will go away in the United States. On that score, Brookfield Renewable is very clear that subsidies aren't really that important to its future. I'm in, and I'm planning to hold on for a decade or more. You might want to reconsider this out-of-favor, high-yield, utility-like business, too. Should you invest $1,000 in Brookfield Renewable Partners right now? Before you buy stock in Brookfield Renewable Partners, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now... and Brookfield Renewable Partners wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $898,809 !* Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of November 18, 2024 Reuben Gregg Brewer has positions in Brookfield Renewable Partners, Enbridge, and TotalEnergies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Brookfield Asset Management and Enbridge. The Motley Fool recommends Brookfield Renewable Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . 1 Ultra-High-Yield Dividend Stock (I Just Bought) That You Can Buy and Hold for a Decade was originally published by The Motley Fool
Title: Trump Calls for Expelling Millions of Illegal Immigrants, Reaffirms Tough Immigration PoliciesIn addition to the club-specific controversies, the selection of the best goalkeeper, midfielder, and forward also has fans and experts divided. The decision to name Ederson as the best goalkeeper of the year has drawn mixed reactions, with some arguing that other custodians, such as Alisson Becker or Thibaut Courtois, deserved the recognition. Similarly, the midfield position has raised eyebrows, with some calling for the inclusion of players like N'Golo Kante or Joshua Kimmich in place of the chosen ones.
Melvin OlsenAs a British investor, the first place I think about when buying shares is the . Over the past five years, the flagship index has gone up 12%. Not bad. Then again, not that good. After all, across the pond, the index has soared during the same period. Sure, that index has benefitted from strong performance by a few specific tech shares. But even the – a closer equivalent to the Footsie in terms of the mix of companies – is up in that period. That gives me pause to thought. As an investor from Blighty, ought I to be buying more shares in the S&P 500? I think there are some good reasons for me to consider it — but also some counterarguments. Here is one pro and one con I see when it comes to me buying into S&P 500 shares. Going where the big growth opportunities are This week saw strong results from UK software group , sending its share price soaring. But that also got me thinking about how few options there are as an investor . Sage is a tech company — but not exactly at the cutting edge of market growth opportunities. It supplies accountancy software to small- and medium-sized businesses. Even after its strong performance this week, the company’s market capitalisation is under £13bn. Still, an investor who bought into Sage five years ago would be sitting on a 74% return. But compare that to a tech share I own from the S&P 500, namely ( ) ( ). Its market-cap is over $2 (around £1.6trn). Over five years, Alphabet’s performance has trounced that of Sage. The Alphabet share price has soared in that period. Those are just two examples, but I think they point to a larger conclusion. The S&P 500 is stuffed full of tech shares I think are at the cutting edge of innovation. Alphabet has a cash cow in the form of its search business, though I see a risk of market share loss to platforms like as well as regulatory concerns, perhaps ultimately forcing a breakup of the group. But it is also involved in a host of other areas, from its own short form video rival to (on YouTube) to self-driving vehicles and balloon-based Internet connectivity. Such a breadth of tech innovation from a large, proven business is simply far easier to find among S&P 500 members than on the London exchange. Investing like Warren Buffett But as British retailers from to have found to their expense, the US can be a difficult market to crack. Firms like Alphabet are US-based multinationals. So I think investing in them benefits from an understanding of the US market, from its regulatory environment to Stateside . Like , I like to stick to what I can understand when buying shares. So while I am willing to invest in some S&P 500 enterprises, my comfort zone is hunting for bargains in the market I best understand. Fortunately, right now, I think a lot of UK shares are more attractively valued than their US counterparts!
As the summit concludes, participants leave with newfound insights, valuable connections, and a renewed sense of motivation to take their businesses to new heights. The Amazon Global Selling Cross-border Summit in Jiangsu has set the stage for a new era of cross-border e-commerce, where local businesses have the opportunity to compete on a global scale and reach customers beyond their borders.
Recently, the highly anticipated DJI Flip, a new drone model from leading drone manufacturer DJI, was leaked by Amazon ahead of its official release. The DJI Flip is generating a buzz in the drone community due to its ultra-lightweight design, weighing in at just 249 grams. This leak has ignited excitement and speculation about the new features and capabilities of the DJI Flip.
The decision to hold the summit in Jiangning District highlights the district's strategic importance in terms of infrastructure, logistics, and connectivity. With its well-developed transport links and modern facilities, Jiangning District offers a conducive environment for e-commerce enterprises to thrive and grow.Moreover, Fanyu Yuan's emphasis on aligning with Alibaba's cultural values and strategic direction raises concerns about whether this approach may inadvertently stifle creativity and limit the diversity of gaming content offered by Lingxi Interactive Entertainment. In an industry that thrives on diversity, innovation, and creativity, striking a balance between leveraging Alibaba's resources and maintaining creative autonomy is essential for the long-term success of the gaming business.
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has been named November's Premier League Player of the Month by fans after an impressive run of performances, scoring four goals and providing one assist in just three matches.