Oldacre scores 21 points as No. 5 Texas routs Texas Rio Grande Valley 94-35CRA Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. ( NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report ) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,073 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.2% of CRA Financial Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. CRA Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,426,767,000 after buying an additional 97,075 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after buying an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,587,576,000 after buying an additional 45,220 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03. Insider Buying and Selling In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website . Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last ninety days, insiders sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Microsoft Price Performance NASDAQ MSFT opened at $423.46 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $420.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $426.46. Microsoft ( NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year. Microsoft Increases Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%. Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued. Microsoft Profile ( Free Report ) Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services. Featured Stories Five stocks we like better than Microsoft 3 Stocks to Protect Your Portfolio from the Coronavirus Contagion The Latest 13F Filings Are In: See Where Big Money Is Flowing What are earnings reports? 3 Penny Stocks Ready to Break Out in 2025 What is a Stock Market Index and How Do You Use Them? 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Over the past two decades, has been undergoing a revolution. Billions of panels have been shipped to all parts of the globe. Lined up in vast arrays out in the desert and tucked away on discreet rooftops, they've been turning sunlight into terawatts of power. has scoured the world's surface for medium- and large-scale installations, using machine learning to pick them out of satellite imagery. The individual farms are too small to see from a distance, so we've sliced up the globe into a 50-kilometre grid and visualised them that way here. The data reveals how, in recent years, the installation of solar farms has accelerated into an all-out frenzy. This massive growth spurt has propelled solar from bit player to a sizeable chunk of the planet's energy mix. And it's taken less than two decades. A planet-wide solar boom has been beating expectations at every turn. And it's only just the beginning. Of the billions of panels in operation around the world, the vast majority of them have their intellectual origins in a lab in the Sydney suburbs. A research project at UNSW, led by Professor Martin Green, developed what is called passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) technology back in 1983. It was a transformative moment that led to his team holding the record for the most efficient solar cells for the next 31 years. And it seeded the coming revolution. As the individual cells became more efficient, they also became more economical to produce at scale. Then the market did its thing, sending the cost per kilowatt of energy into freefall. Prices have consistently fallen faster than predictions, passing several thresholds that were once thought impossible. "People talk about a future where solar is going to be insanely cheap," says Professor Green. "Just about every projection that's been made for solar has been exceeded by reality." It's now . And, as a result, it's been installed at record rates, flooding power grids with excesses of daytime electricity and quietly rewriting how entire nations are powered. The amount of solar power in the world has been doubling roughly every three years, but because it came off a low base, it's hard to get a sense of how remarkable that growth is. Kingsmill Bond for the Rocky Mountain Institute, which analyses the clean energy transition, says the next part of the transition will see solar become a dominant force in energy at a speed few are prepared for. "If I do the maths, from 0.5 per cent to 5 per cent [of global power] takes about the same time as from 5 per cent to 80 per cent," he explained. "So that's the point. You don't notice it until it gets to 5 per cent and then from 5 to 80 is actually quite quick." At current rates, solar is on track to provide 12 per cent of global electricity in three years, 24 per cent in six years, and 48 per cent in less than a decade. It's been a staggering ascent: no energy-producing technology has grown this quickly before. So, which countries are driving — and profiting from — this solar revolution? China In the race to net zero, there is one country with more influence than the rest. Through the 2000s and 2010s, China's fossil fuel emissions were rising at a rapid rate, largely due to increasing demand for coal as the country industrialised. But this trend has been quietly reversing, starting about a decade ago as China invested heavily in renewable energy. By 2017, solar farms were sprouting up all around the country, but it would only ramp up from there. , with the majority of it coming online in the country's sparsely populated west and north. That same year, its renewable capacity grew faster than its overall demand for electricity — meaning its fossil fuel usage actually went backwards. Since then, two major international climate agencies are predicting that and began declining in 2024. Located in the deserts of Qinghai Province is Golmud Solar Park, one of China's largest individual solar farms. Larger than Sydney's Botany Bay, Golmud Solar Park has a capacity of around 2.2GW — the equivalent of two coal-fired power plants. The scale of this one installation boggles the mind, and yet it represents less than 1 per cent of the country's solar output. And then there's the manufacturing industry that is underpinning all this construction. China's factories produced — far more than it needed for its own solar farms. In recent years, panels have been in oversupply, causing prices to dip and encouraging creative uses for the glut of panels. They've become so cheap they're even being used as in the Netherlands and Germany. While this might seem like a novelty, there is evidence that ad-hoc installs have been happening on a staggering scale in other parts of the world. Pakistan A few years back, solar analyst Jenny Chase caught wind of a surprising amount of panels being imported into Pakistan. Chinese export data suggested that Pakistan could be "the sixth-largest solar market in the world", she told the ABC. But, somehow, the outside world had barely noticed it happening. The Pakistani government wasn't tracking these installations so it was unclear where all these panels were actually ending up. Her team at BloombergNEF had some theories. They identified a money laundering scheme where some of the panels never existed, and they suspected that others were likely being re-exported to Afghanistan. But neither explanation accounted for the sheer scale of imported panels. "Gigawatts of solar modules [were] leaving China and going to Pakistan," she explains. Transition Zero's analysis shows little medium- or large-scale solar in Pakistan, especially compared to some of its solar-rich neighbours. Chase teamed up with Atlas Maps, another machine-learning firm, to look for the missing panels in satellite imagery. "I think we found the modules," she says. "They're being installed on rooftops in Pakistan ... on big rooftops and also sometimes small ones." This wasn't the product of large-scale coordination, and it had nothing to do with the government. "They're not being subsidised," says Chase. "It is very much bottom-up." India Just across the border in India, the situation is almost the complete reverse. The rise of solar in the subcontinent has been all about government subsidies and massive arrays out in the desert. "India sees the opportunity to build energy security, grid diversity and reduce their massive over-reliance on imported fossil fuels," says Tim Buckley, the director of Climate Energy Finance. Clusters of industrial solar farms have sprung up in the north-west and south of the country in recent years, with smaller-scale operations dotting other regions. Nestled in with a wall of existing farms near the Pakistani border, India's Adani Group is currently building what will be the largest solar farm outside China. The under-construction Khavda Renewable Energy Park is planned to be five times the size of Paris. Its 81 billion panels will be able to power over 16 million homes. It's telling that Adani Group is embracing solar at such scale. Adani is practically synonymous with fossil fuels. It's the largest private developer of coal power stations in the world, and the owner of the controversial Carmichael coal mine in Queensland. And yet, it's set to become one of the largest solar developers outside China. According to Mr Buckley, this is a sign of how fossil fuels are in "terminal decline". "The solar disruption is inevitable," he says. "[Fossil fuels] are being eaten alive." Kingsmill Bond says the embrace of solar in the global south runs counter to the narrative that only developed countries are interested in investing in renewables. "We found that, in fact, 20 per cent of the global south has already leapfrogged what's going on in the global north," he says. "The folks in Pakistan or Namibia or Bangladesh or Uruguay or Chile or Vietnam, they too want local cheap energy, and they too can buy cheap stuff from China and harness the sun. "Why wouldn't they?" On top of those 20 per cent installing solar at record rates, he says another 60 per cent of nations in the global south are adding it at the same pace as developed economies. United States Each day as the sun sets, and the solar farms stop producing energy, there is a peak of demand in the evening as people get home from work. This has been the time when dispatchable fossil fuels — specifically gas — have been crucial. But another renewable technology is changing this. In California's grid — which has about 31 per cent of its power coming from solar — newly installed batteries are soaking up the excess power generated during the day. And then they're selling it back to the grid when demand rises in the evening. "First, the solar came for the gas plants that ran all day," says Jenny Chase. "And then batteries came for the evening peak." And this isn't limited to a single state. At the start of 2017, California was the dominant US state for solar and home to the largest solar farm in the world. Since then, the southern states have usurped California in the speed they've been installing new capacity. And none more so than the traditionally oil-rich state of Texas. In March 2024, utility-scale solar in Texas overtook coal's contribution to the energy grid for the first time. It's a familiar dynamic: fossil fuels falling into structural decline as massive new solar farms come online. And while solar continues its march towards super-cheap, super-abundant energy generation during the day, it's over to another technology to continue the clean-energy transition into the night. "Solar was the disruption of last decade," says Tim Buckley. "Batteries will be the disruption of this coming decade." An area smaller than Tasmania With all this development going on, it might sound — and look — like the world is quickly filling up with solar panels. But, according to TransitionZero's data, the world's solar took up an estimated 19,000 square kilometres in September 2024. To put that area into perspective, we need to zoom in a long way. 19,000km is roughly a third of the size of Tasmania. And you could fit all of the world's current solar infrastructure within this space. According to , "the land required for solar panels alone to provide all global energy is ... less than the current land footprint of fossil fuel infrastructure". Of course, that isn't going to be concentrated in one place. It works best when distributed around the globe. Australia With vast amounts of space, intense sunshine and a leading role in solar power's creation, Australia is an ideal candidate to take advantage of the solar revolution. But that's not been the case so far for large-scale solar. In 2023, Australia fell out of the top 10 countries for solar installations for the first time in three decades. We've seen and have been unable to fully capitalise on our geographic advantage. As is all too common in this space, large-scale solar power has been politicised, with the Nationals calling for all renewables projects in regional areas to be scrapped. But that's not the whole story. Australia is a world leader in rooftop solar, which . And this is just another manifestation of the inevitability of solar's rise. Even when large-scale projects are stymied, the low prices and simplicity of installing solar panels make them attractive for households. "The thing about solar is that there's always more of it than you think," says Jenny Chase. "It will pop up in really unexpected places — you can put it on a small roof. You can put it on a big roof. You can put it on the ground. You can put it on a parking lot." This flexibility is a large part of why, as of June 2024, solar was producing around 18 per cent of the world's renewable energy. When Professor Green reflects on his team's contribution to the solar rush — from their technology sitting on household rooftops to industrial-scale installations — he is filled with pride. "When you look around the houses in this area," he says, "[there's] a good chance that the solar panels use the technology that was developed at the University of NSW." The next few years will determine whether these panels become a symbol of Australia's role as a global player in the solar revolution, or a footnote in a history that plays out elsewhere. Credits Data sources Related topics China Climate Change Germany India Netherlands Pakistan Solar Energy United States UtilitiesNew Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS): From being led in science and innovative research, India is today in a position to lead others across the world, proven by recent success stories accomplished under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including space sector, biotechnology and vaccine breakthroughs, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, said on Saturday. Addressing the eighth convocation of the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) in the national Capital, Dr Singh said India has progressed from a single-digit count of space startups to over 300, while the biotechnology sector now boasts nearly 9,000 startups, contributing significantly to the country’s economy. The minister celebrated the accomplishments of women in science, noting the historic appointment of CSIR’s first woman Director General, Nallathamby Kalaiselvi. “India’s woman power has always been the foundation of great achievements, but it is now receiving the recognition it deserves,” the minister stated. Dr Singh also highlighted AcSIR’s role in fostering interdisciplinary learning, promoting industry-academia collaboration, and driving India’s ascent in global science and technology rankings. He called the institution’s futuristic academic approach a cornerstone for achieving PM Modi’s vision of a ‘Viksit Bharat 2047.’ AcSIR is ranked among the top three per cent of global universities, despite being a relatively young institution. “AcSIR is not just an academic institution, it’s a torchbearer of a new academic culture in India,” said the minister, adding that its partnerships with 82 institutions, including CSIR, ICMR, and DST, exemplify effective collaboration in research and development. AcSIR offers an innovative Integrated PhD (iPhD) programme. “iPhD links innovation, imagination, and industry right from the start of research journeys, ensuring sustainable startups,” said Dr Singh. The minister tied such efforts to India’s meteoric rise in the global innovation ecosystem, moving from 81st to 40th in the Global Innovation Index under the PM Modi government.
Giants release quarterback Daniel Jones just days after benching him EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The Daniel Jones era in New York is over. The Giants quarterback was granted his release by the team just days after the franchise said it was benching him in favor of third-stringer Tommy DeVito. New York president John Mara said Jones approached the team about releasing him and the club obliged. Mara added he was “disappointed” at the quick dissolution of a once-promising relationship between Jones and the team. Giants coach Brian Daboll benched Jones in favor of DeVito following a loss to the Panthers in Germany that dropped New York's record to 2-8. Week 16 game between Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers flexed to Thursday night spot The Los Angeles Chargers have played their way into another prime time appearance. Justin Herbert and company have had their Dec. 22 game against the Denver Broncos flexed to Thursday night, Dec. 19. Friday’s announcement makes this the first time a game has been flexed to the Thursday night spot. The league amended its policy last season where Thursday night games in Weeks 13 through 17 could be flexed with at least 28 days notice prior to the game. The matchup of AFC West division rivals bumps the game between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals to Sunday afternoon. NBA memo to players urges increased vigilance regarding home security following break-ins MIAMI (AP) — The NBA is urging its players to take additional precautions to secure their homes following reports of recent high-profile burglaries of dwellings owned by Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis and Kansas City Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. In a memo sent to team officials, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, the NBA revealed that the FBI has connected some burglaries to “transnational South American Theft Groups” that are “reportedly well-organized, sophisticated rings that incorporate advanced techniques and technologies, including pre-surveillance, drones, and signal jamming devices.” Noodles and wine are the secret ingredients for a strange new twist in China's doping saga Blame it on the noodles. That's what one Chinese official suggested when anti-doping leaders were looking for answers for the doping scandal that cast a shadow over this year's Olympic swim meet. Earlier this year, reports that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for a banned heart medication emerged. None were sanctioned because Chinese authorities determined the swimmers were contaminated by traces of the drug spread about a hotel kitchen. In a strange twist, the leader of China's anti-doping agency suggested this case could have been similar to one in which criminals were responsible for tainting noodles that were later eaten by another Chinese athlete who also tested positive for the drug. Conor McGregor must pay woman $250K in sexual assault case, civil jury rules LONDON (AP) — A civil jury in Ireland has found that mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor sexually assaulted a woman in a hotel penthouse after a night of heavy partying. The Dublin jury awarded the woman more than $250,000 for her lawsuit that claimed McGregor “brutally raped and battered” her on Dec. 9, 2018. The lawsuit says the assault left her heavily bruised and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. McGregor testified he never forced her to do anything and that the woman had fabricated her allegations after the two had consensual sex. The jury found for the woman on Friday. Nick Chubb plows through heavy snow for 2-yard TD, giving Browns 24-19 win over Steelers CLEVELAND (AP) — Nick Chubb ran for a 2-yard touchdown in heavy snow with 57 seconds left, and the Cleveland Browns stunned division rival Pittsburgh 24-19, ending the Steelers’ five-game winning streak. The Browns had blown a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and were down 19-18 before getting the ball back with 3:22 remaining after Pittsburgh punter Corliss Waitman shanked a 16-yarder. With snow piling up and covering the yard lines on the field, Cleveland’s Jameis Winston completed a third-down pass to Jerry Jeudy to the Pittsburgh 9. Two plays later, Chubb barreled into the end zone. The AFC North-leading Steelers fell to 8-3 while the Browns are 3-8. Shohei Ohtani in early stages of rehab from shoulder surgery and hopes to be ready for opening day LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani is in the early stages of rehabilitation from left shoulder surgery after the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar says the goal is for him to be ready to pitch and hit by opening day next March, but he's going to be conservative in his approach and make sure he's totally healthy first. Ohtani won his third MVP award Thursday, and first in the National League. He was in Los Angeles with his wife and beloved dog, Decoy, although because of his surgery four days after the Dodgers' World Series victory over the New York Yankees, the family hasn't been able to celebrate. Caitlin Clark to join Cincinnati bid for 16th National Women's Soccer League team WNBA star Caitlin Clark has joined Cincinnati’s bid for an expansion National Women’s Soccer League team. Major League Soccer franchise FC Cincinnati is heading the group vying to bring a women’s pro team to the city. The club issued a statement confirming Clark had joined the bid group. NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman has said the league plans to announce the league’s 16th team by the end of the year. The league's 15th team will begin play in 2026 in Boston. In a 'Final Four-type weekend,' two top-6 clashes put women's college basketball focus on West Coast LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two games featuring four powerhouse teams has put the focus in women's college basketball on the West Coast this weekend. JuJu Watkins and No. 3 Southern California host Hannah Hidalgo and No. 6 Notre Dame on Saturday. Top-ranked South Carolina visits Lauren Betts and fifth-ranked UCLA on Sunday. Both games are nationally televised and the arenas are expected to be packed. WNBA scouts will be on hand to check out some of the nation's top talent. Two teams will come away with their first losses of the season. USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb calls it “a Final Four-type weekend.” A documentary featuring Watkins will air on NBC ahead of USC's game, which leads into the Army-Notre Dame football game. Shohei Ohtani wins third MVP award, first in NL. Aaron Judge earns second AL honor in 3 seasons NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani won his third Most Valuable Player Award and first in the National League, and Aaron Judge earned his second American League honor on Thursday. Ohtani was a unanimous MVP for the third time, receiving all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was second with 263 points and Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte third with 229. Judge was a unanimous pick for the first time. Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. got all 30 second-place votes for 270 points, and Yankees outfielder Juan Soto was third with 21 third-place votes and 229 points.
Former US president dies aged 100CHICAGO — In the days after the presidential election, Sadie Perez began carrying pepper spray with her around campus. Her mom also ordered her and her sister a self-defense kit that included keychain spikes, a hidden knife key and a personal alarm. It’s a response to an emboldened fringe of right-wing “manosphere” influencers who have seized on Republican Donald Trump ’s presidential win to justify and amplify misogynistic derision and threats online. Many have appropriated a 1960s abortion rights rallying cry, declaring “Your body, my choice” at women online and on college campuses. For many women, the words represent a worrying harbinger of what might lie ahead as some men perceive the election results as a rebuke of reproductive rights and women’s rights. “The fact that I feel like I have to carry around pepper spray like this is sad,” said Perez, a 19-year-old political science student in Wisconsin. “Women want and deserve to feel safe.” Isabelle Frances-Wright, director of technology and society at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think tank focusing on polarization and extremism, said she had seen a “very large uptick in a number of types of misogynistic rhetoric immediately after the election,” including some “extremely violent misogyny.” “I think many progressive women have been shocked by how quickly and aggressively this rhetoric has gained traction,” she said. The phrase “Your body, my choice” has been largely attributed to a post on the social platform X from Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and far-right internet personality who dined at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida two years ago. In statements responding to criticism of that event, Trump said he had “never met and knew nothing about” Fuentes before he arrived. Mary Ruth Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law, said the phrase transforms the iconic abortion rights slogan into an attack on women’s right to autonomy and a personal threat. “The implication is that men should have control over or access to sex with women,” said Ziegler, a reproductive rights expert. Fuentes' post had 35 million views on X within 24 hours, according to a report by Frances-Wright's think tank, and the phrase spread rapidly to other social media platforms. Women on TikTok have reported seeing it inundate their comment sections. The slogan also has made its way offline with boys chanting it in middle schools or men directing it at women on college campuses, according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue report and social media reports. One mother said her daughter heard the phrase on her college campus three times, the report said . School districts in Wisconsin and Minnesota have sent notices about the language to parents. T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase were pulled off Amazon. Perez said she has seen men respond to shared Snapchat stories for their college class with “Your body, my choice.” “It makes me feel disgusted and infringed upon,” she said. “... It feels like going backwards.” Misogynistic attacks have been part of the social media landscape for years. But Frances-Wright and others who track online extremism and disinformation said language glorifying violence against women or celebrating the possibility of their rights being stripped away has spiked since the election. Online declarations for women to “Get back in the kitchen” or to “Repeal the 19th,” a reference to the constitutional amendment that gave women the right to vote, have spread rapidly. In the days surrounding the election, the extremism think tank found that the top 10 posts on X calling for repeal of the 19th Amendment received more than 4 million views collectively. A man holding a sign with the words “Women Are Property” sparked an outcry at Texas State University . The man was not a student, faculty or staff, and was escorted off campus, according to the university’s president . The university is “exploring potential legal responses,” he said. Anonymous rape threats have been left on the TikTok videos of women denouncing the election results. And on the far-flung reaches of the web, 4chan forums have called for “rape squads” and the adoption of policies in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a dystopian book and TV series depicting the dehumanization and brutalization of women. “What was scary here was how quickly this also manifested in offline threats,” Frances-Wright said, emphasizing that online discourse can have real-world impacts. Previous violent rhetoric on 4chan has been connected to racially motivated and antisemitic attacks, including a 2022 shooting by a white supremacist in Buffalo that killed 10 people . Anti-Asian hate incidents also rose as politicians, including Trump , used words such as “Chinese virus” to describe the COVID-19 pandemic. And Trump’s language targeting Muslims and immigrants in his first campaign correlated with spikes in hate speech and attacks on these groups, Frances-Wright said. The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism reported similar rhetoric, with “numerous violent misogynistic trends” gaining traction on right-wing platforms such 4chan and spreading to more mainstream ones such as X since the election. Throughout the presidential race, Trump’s campaign leaned on conservative podcasts and tailored messaging toward disaffected young men . As Trump took the stage at the Republican National Convention over the summer, the song “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” by James Brown blared from the speakers. One of several factors to his success this election was modestly boosting his support among men , a shift concentrated among younger voters, according to AP VoteCast, survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide. But Trump also won support from 44% of women age 18 to 44, according to AP VoteCast. To some men, Trump's return to the White House is seen as a vindication, gender and politics experts said. For many young women, the election felt like a referendum on women’s rights and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris ’ loss felt like a rejection of their own rights and autonomy. “For some of these men, Trump’s victory represents a chance to reclaim a place in society that they think they are losing around these traditional gender roles,” Frances-Wright said. None of the current online rhetoric is being amplified by Trump or anyone in his immediate orbit. But Trump has a long history of insulting women , and the spike in such language comes after he ran a campaign that was centered on masculinity and repeatedly attacked Harris over her race and gender . His allies and surrogates also used misogynistic language about Harris throughout the campaign. “With Trump’s victory, many of these men felt like they were heard, they were victorious. They feel that they have potentially a supporter in the White House,” said Dana Brown, executive director of the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics. Brown said some young men feel they’re victims of discrimination and have expressed mounting resentment for successes of the women’s rights movement, including #MeToo . The tension also has been influenced by socioeconomic struggles. As women become the majority on college campuses and many professional industries see increasing gender diversity, it has “led to young men scapegoating women and girls, falsely claiming it’s their fault they’re not getting into college anymore as opposed to looking inward,” Brown said. Perez, the political science student, said she and her sister have been leaning on each other, their mother and other women in their lives to feel safer amid the online vitriol. They text each other to make sure they got home safely. They have girls' nights to celebrate wins, including a female majority in student government at their campus in the University of Wisconsin system. “I want to encourage my friends and the women in my life to use their voices to call out this rhetoric and to not let fear take over,” she said.
B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in SBA Communications Co. ( NASDAQ:SBAC – Free Report ) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,891 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,418,000. A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SBAC. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in SBA Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SBA Communications in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in SBA Communications during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in SBA Communications in the second quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.35% of the company’s stock. Analyst Ratings Changes SBAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on SBA Communications from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $251.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $232.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.23. SBA Communications Stock Performance SBA Communications stock opened at $220.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.68. SBA Communications Co. has a fifty-two week low of $183.64 and a fifty-two week high of $258.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $234.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.17. SBA Communications ( NASDAQ:SBAC – Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.17 by ($0.77). SBA Communications had a net margin of 25.76% and a negative return on equity of 13.13%. The firm had revenue of $667.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.56 EPS for the current fiscal year. SBA Communications Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.83%. Insider Activity In related news, EVP Donald Day sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.86, for a total value of $364,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,213,814.28. This trade represents a 23.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website . Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock. SBA Communications Profile ( Free Report ) SBA Communications Corporation is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure including towers, buildings, rooftops, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells. With a portfolio of more than 39,000 communications sites throughout the Americas, Africa and in Asia, SBA is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol SBAC. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for SBA Communications Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SBA Communications and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
Centre plans to increase financing for renewable energy projects
PALISADES TAHOE SKI RESORT — At midnight, a slender moon hangs above the snowy Sierra Nevada, casting only a faint glow on a sheer cliff and the dark canyon below. But snowcat operator “Bandit” Ferrante has laser-guided vision, measuring snow depth 150 feet ahead and to each side to sculpt the slopes with precision. By dawn, crowds will start arriving to ski and ride the weekend’s fresh powder. “These advancements are changing the way we do things,” said Ferrante, 36, who drives a new $400,000 German-made PistenBully rig with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology to prepare the trails. “I see exactly where we’re going, and what’s going on.” After two winters of heavy snow, the snowfall so far this winter has been sporadic. While Mother Nature is always fickle, climate change could create less reliable snow, spelling hardship for the businesses and mountain communities that depend on storms for their economic survival. So resorts seek to make and protect each precious flake. Big corporations running Palisades, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood and Mammoth Mountain have made major investments, worth many millions of dollars, in what’s dubbed “snow management.” With some daily lift tickets exceeding $250, the resorts seek to deliver a dependable high-end experience. Initially just farm tractors on tracks, snowcats have evolved into machines of design, detailed craftsmanship and computer-driven tools. Inside the warmth of his cab, with a chatty podcast for company, Ferrante monitors a computer screen with color-coded snow depths, guiding him on where to push and pull snow for the best coverage. Its SNOWsat LiDAR remote sensing technology uses laser pulses to measure snow depth. With accuracy to within an inch, it can construct perfect snowboard half-pipes or World Cup ski race terrain. The joystick that directs the 12-ton machine is smooth, responsive and comfortable to grasp. The blade shifts in 17 different directions, with wings to shovel the snow. With a sensor that detects incline, the powerful tiller automatically rises and falls when routes get steep. It’s turned a once lonely and tedious task into a skill-driven profession. “You keep learning new things,” said Ferrante, a South Lake Tahoe native with nearly 20 years of resort experience. A tidy tattoo — a snowcat control stick — adorns his neck. At competitive “Groomer Games” every spring, representatives of all California ski resorts gather to test their expertise by pushing a golf ball through a maze. Innovations in snow-making tools — such as the $40,000 Super PoleCat — perform alchemy, mixing massive drafts of water, air and electricity to cover miles of runs. Some have built-in automated weather stations. Snowcats maximize the efficiency of snowmaking. Some are simple utility vehicles, hauling things around the mountain. Others are “trooper carriers,” moving ski patrollers. “Dig rigs” have backhoes to excavate buried equipment. A few have forks, for installing fences and seats on race days. The smallest cats are adroit at digging out chairlifts and clearing sidewalks. “You use the right tool for the right job,” said Brendan Gibbons, director of snow surface at Palisades Tahoe. The most prized snowcats at Palisades are the new LiDAR-equipped machines. They are leading the fleets that are racing across the resort this weekend to groom freshly fallen powder, sending information by cell signal to the less well-equipped machines. Until recently, snowcats relied on GPS to measure snow depth; the technology knows how high the machine is sitting above the ground. But this tool offers a limited view of what’s directly under the rig and front blade, not what lies ahead. “It was a great start to this technology, but it only allowed us to see how deep the snow is where we’ve been, and where we are,” said Gibbons. “LIDAR shows us what the snow is before we get to it.” LiDAR also measures the volume of piles of manmade snow, helping guide its use. The tool is already in use in research and government agencies to study snow from the air. It helps water districts measure future water reserves. It can identify avalanche danger. Related Articles Technology | France rushes aid to Mayotte after Cyclone Chido leaves hundreds feared dead Technology | Here’s where burrowing owls have disappeared in California Technology | US hikes tariffs on imports of Chinese solar wafers, polysilicon and tungsten products Technology | Monarch butterflies to be listed as a threatened species in US Technology | Whittier Conservancy sues city over Greenleaf project It works by sending out up to 200,000 laser pulses per second. Then it measures the time of flight — how long it takes the laser to hit the snow and bounce back to the instrument. It calculates distance by using the known speed of light and the time it takes the laser to travel. In the summer, LiDAR builds a digital model of the bare terrain. In the winter, Bandit and other “night crawlers” creep along the mountain’s cold contours, taking snow measurements. Managers study the freshly updated maps on their phones, then strategize a nighttime plan based on weather, wind, melting and skier traffic. After a long day of wear and tear, LiDAR helps “clean up the holes, remove the moguls and return the slope back to a nice, perfect skiing surface,” said Brian Demarest, SNOWsat manager for Kassbohrer All Terrain Vehicles in Reno, which sells PistenBully (“trail worker,” loosely translated, in German). Snowcats no longer lurch and rock. An eight-hour shift “is like driving to L.A.,” said Gibbons. The snowcat’s taco-shaped blade can turn in 17 different directions. On each side of the blade is a wing that shoves the snow left or right. Its weight compresses the snow as it rolls, squeezing out dangerous air pockets and creating a more firm surface. Each track works independently, so the rig can pivot. Cleats add traction. In the back is a spinning barrel with teeth, which chews up the snow. The barrel’s spin speed is adjustable, influencing how much the flakes heat up and bind to each other. A comb, also adjustable, drags behind to deposit rows of perfect corduroy. Grooming is still dangerous, with peril on slippery and avalanche-prone slopes. One recent winter, when winds hit 192 mph gusts, machines skidded on ice. Ferrante arrives at Palisades in mid-afternoon from his home in Garnerville, Nevada, to get his assignment for the night’s “swing shift.” When he’s done, he’ll hand it off to a colleague on the graveyard shift that grooms until the lifts open. By 5 a.m., he’s in bed. “I don’t get lonely,” said Ferrante, who drinks a thermos of black tea to stay alert. Food can be heated by the exhaust pipe. Throughout the long night hours, operators coordinate with each other, traveling together when there’s avalanche danger. A winch can help secure a machine, allowing it to work on steep slopes. Ferrante sees coyotes, deer, porcupines, and occasional bear. One crew saw migrating ducks fall from the sky, lost in a storm. His crew started the season with “track packing” to compress November’s snow. Now, with the arrival of a new storm, he’ll push snow into rigid “wind rows,” like fences, to catch blowing drifts; later teams will smooth them out. Post-storm priorities are roads, then ramps, then runs. His discipline, largely unrecognized by resort visitors, is building the foundation for a whole season of sport. “There is a ‘skill ceiling’ that’s infinite,” said Ferrante. “You’re never going to be the very best. You’re never going to figure it all out.”
J&K Police recover Rs 4.48 lakh from financial frauds in PulwamaBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Celta Vigo gave 10-man Barcelona a shock by scoring two late goals and snatching a 2-2 draw at home in the Spanish league on Saturday. Barcelona was minutes away from a win to pad its league lead after Raphinha and Lewandowski had put Barcelona in control. But the game dramatically swung after Barcelona defensive midfielder Marc Casadó was sent off with a second booking in the 81st. Moments later Jules Koundé’s poor control of a ball in his area allowed Alfon González to pick his pocket and give the hosts hope in the 84th minute. Celta poured forward at Balaidos Stadium and Hugo Álvarez rifled in the 86th-minute equalizer with Barcelona unable to mark the extra man. ___ AP soccer:
Caitlin Clark honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year following her impact on women's sports Caitlin Clark has been named the AP Female Athlete of the Year after raising the profile of women’s basketball to unprecedented levels in both college and the WNBA. She led Iowa to the national championship game, was the top pick in the WNBA draft and captured rookie of the year honors in the league. Fans packed sold-out arenas and millions of television viewers followed her journey on and off the court. Clark's exploits also put other women's sports leagues in the spotlight. A group of 74 sports journalists from AP and its members voted on the award. Other athletes who received votes included Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles and boxer Imane Khelif. Clark’s only the fourth women’s basketball player to win the award since it was first given in 1931. Wemby at The Garden. LeBron vs. Steph. The NBA's Christmas Day lineup, as always, has star power LeBron James made his Christmas debut in 2003. Victor Wembanyama was born 10 days later. That’s right: James has been featured on the NBA’s big day for longer than Wembanyama has been alive. And on Wednesday the league’s oldest player and brightest young star will be big parts of the holiday showcase. It’s another Christmas quintupleheader, with Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs visiting the New York Knicks, Minnesota going to Dallas for a Western Conference finals rematch, Philadelphia heading to Boston to renew a storied rivalry, James and the Los Angeles Lakers taking on Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, and Denver playing at Phoenix. Pro Picks: Chiefs will beat the Steelers and Ravens will edge the Texans on Christmas Day Playoff berths, draft positioning and more are up for grabs in Week 17. There’s going to be plenty of football on television this holiday week with the NFL playing games on five out of six days, starting with a doubleheader on Christmas Day featuring four of the AFC’s top five teams. Patrick Mahomes and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs visit Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday. Then, two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens take on C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans. The Bears host the Seahawks on Thursday night and there are three games on Saturday, making Sunday’s schedule light at nine games. Falcons drafting Penix no longer a head-scratcher with rookie QB shining in place of benched Cousins It was the most surprising first-round pick in a long time when the Atlanta Falcons chose Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall selection in the NFL draft last April. That came just six weeks after the Falcons had signed free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal with $100 million in guarantees. But that move is no longer a head-scratcher after Penix's solid starting debut in place of a benched and turnover-prone Cousins. Several teams have fared well with new quarterbacks this season including the Steelers, Broncos, Vikings and Commanders. Lindsey Vonn thinks her new titanium knee could start a trend in skiing. And pro sports in general ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — Lindsey Vonn thinks her new titanium knee could be the start of a trend in ski racing. The 40-year-old American standout had replacement surgery in April and returned to the World Cup circuit after nearly six years last weekend. She says her knee feels “amazing" and that "it’s something to seriously consider for athletes that have a lot of knee problems.” Her surgery was the first of its kind in World Cup skiing. Vonn had a robot-assisted surgery in April with part of the bone in her right knee cut off and replaced by two titanium pieces. She was planning her comeback a month later. Boise State's legacy includes winning coaches and championship moments No. 8 and third-seeded Boise State is preparing for its third trip to the Fiesta Bowl. This time it's in a playoff quarterfinal against No. 5 and sixth-seeded Penn State on New Year’s Eve. Boise State's first appearance on the national stage was in a memorable victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2007. But former coach Chris Petersen said the victory in that bowl three years later over TCU was even more meaningful for the program. Players have mixed feelings about being on the road on Christmas as NFL adds more holiday games OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Games on Christmas aren’t new to the NFL. The Miami Dolphins famously beat the Kansas City Chiefs in a playoff game on Dec. 25, 1971 — a double-overtime classic that still holds the record for the NFL’s longest game. In 2020, New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara tied an NFL record with six touchdowns in a game when the Saints beat Minnesota on Christmas. Lately the league has been much more aggressive about scheduling games on Christmas. That's been met with mixed feelings among the players. Baltimore tackle Ronnie Stanley says there is an offensive line Christmas party planned for Friday at center Tyler Linderbaum’s house. Quarterback Lamar Jackson’s plan is to celebrate on Thursday. Embiid ejected after drawing 2 technicals in game against Wembanyama and Spurs PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was ejected in the first half of Monday night’s game against San Antonio after drawing two technical fouls. Referee Jenna Schroeder ejected Embiid with 2 minutes, 59 seconds left in the second quarter. The seven-time All-Star received the first technical for arguing with Schroeder, and received another technical — and ejection — from Schroeder before any more game time elapsed. Embiid was close to Schroeder, but it wasn’t clear from replays whether he made contact with the official. An enraged Embiid charged toward the officials after the ejection and was restrained by teammate Kyle Lowry, head coach Nick Nurse and several assistants. Nikki Glaser uses Prime Video's NFL postgame show appearances to help prepare for Golden Globes INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Nikki Glaser has become a familiar face to football fans this season. Her breakthrough performance at the Tom Brady Roast on May 5 paved the way for five appearances on Amazon Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” postgame show. Glaser said before last Thursday’s game between the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers that doing her “Late Hits” segment was a no-brainer following her success at the Brady roast. Leaving Thunder, Bucks off the NBA's Christmas game list has those teams feeling snubbed Oklahoma City leads the Western Conference and has a MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Milwaukee has the NBA’s leading scorer in Giannis Antetokounmpo. They were the teams that made their way to the NBA Cup final. By any measure, they’re both very good teams. And neither will play on Christmas Day this year. Bah, humbug. The NBA faces the same challenge every summer, figuring out which 10 teams will get the honor of playing on Christmas Day. But the Bucks and Thunder are right to feel snubbed.When will Donald Trump dump Elon Musk? “Morning Joe” panelists predict the exact timeTimberwolves push back start time vs. Spurs because of issue with game court
The Election Commission urged provincial election commissioners and officers to gear up for provincial administration organisation elections on Feb 1. Mr Sawang Boonmee, secretary-general of the EC, yesterday presided over the opening ceremony of a trainers' workshop in preparation for the PAO elections. During his speech, Mr Sawang referred to the EC's guidelines for managing PAO elections, saying that while election officers are trained, unexpected issues require technical skills and problem-solving abilities. Local EC offices must provide close assistance to ensure timely and accurate solutions, he said. Mr Sawang also acknowledged criticism of the EC, particularly during the 2023 elections. He said most people who criticised the EC had never studied the law, including academics. Many critics, he said, sought to please their audience without contemplating the consequences, while others exploited legal loopholes for personal gain. Legal ambiguities often lead to unfairness, he said, which affects the public. He encouraged those dissatisfied with the laws to push for change. Mr Sawang suggested that critics file legal complaints if they believe the EC is at fault, rather than simply accusing the EC of bias or lack of transparency. "I hope election officers are not discouraged by the criticism they face," he said. "No matter what we do, there will always be resistance because the election is a political competition and there are always people looking to benefit. "So, we must endure and ensure we operate strictly within the law. If we follow the law, we have nothing to worry about," he said. When asked about scrutiny from parties, he said the EC aims to minimise errors as PAO elections attract attention. The EC is committed to maximising efficiency, from polling stations to vote counting and results reporting, he said. Reflecting on PAO elections held previously in 29 provinces, he said results are often reported 1-2 hours later than scheduled due to system overloads. Meanwhile, Mr Sawang commented on the audio clip allegedly revealing a conversation about someone preparing 20 million baht to be spent on the elections in Prachin Buri. He said the EC must investigate all complaints.