Patriots elevate tight end Jack Westover, linebacker Keshawn Banks from practice squad for Week 12CRA International, Inc. ( NASDAQ:CRAI – Get Free Report )’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $216.88 and last traded at $216.88, with a volume of 765 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $192.62. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CRAI shares. Barrington Research lifted their price target on shares of CRA International from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CRA International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on CRA International CRA International Stock Up 2.4 % CRA International ( NASDAQ:CRAI – Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The business services provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $167.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.83 million. CRA International had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 24.46%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that CRA International, Inc. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. CRA International Increases Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. This is an increase from CRA International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. CRA International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.18%. Insider Activity at CRA International In other news, CEO Paul A. Maleh sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $1,436,625.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,060,433.60. This represents a 4.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website . 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRA International Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in CRA International in the 1st quarter worth approximately $115,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of CRA International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $164,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of CRA International during the 2nd quarter valued at about $221,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of CRA International by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 3,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CRA International by 12.1% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.13% of the company’s stock. About CRA International ( Get Free Report ) CRA International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides economic, financial, and management consulting services worldwide. It advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings; and guides corporations through business strategy and performance-related issues. See Also Receive News & Ratings for CRA International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CRA International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .How many minutes does a cigarette knock off the life of a smoker? By ELLA PICKOVER Published: 00:01 GMT, 30 December 2024 | Updated: 00:29 GMT, 30 December 2024 e-mail 5 View comments Stunning analysis of the health threat from smoking has revealed how long each cigarette takes off a person’s life. Men lose 17 minutes of life with every one smoked, while a woman’s life is cut short by 22 minutes per cigarette, experts have estimated. This is an increase on previous estimates, which suggested each cigarette shortens a smoker’s life by 11 minutes. The new figures are based on more up-to-date results from studies tracking the health of the population. Researchers from University College London said that the harm caused by smoking was ‘cumulative’ and the sooner a person stopped smoking, the longer they would live. The analysis, commissioned by the Department for Health and Social Care, suggests that if a smoker who smokes ten cigarettes a day quits on January 1, then by January 8 they could ‘prevent the loss of a full day of life’. Men lose 17 minutes of life with every one smoked, while a woman’s life is cut short by 22 minutes per cigarette, analysis has found (file photo) Research found that harm caused by smoking is ‘cumulative’ and the sooner a person stopped smoking, the longer they would live (file photo) By February 20, their lives could be extended by a whole week and by August 5 they will likely live for a whole month longer than if they had continued to smoke. The authors added: ‘Studies suggest that smokers typically lose as many healthy years as total years of life. Thus smoking primarily eats into the relatively healthy middle years rather than shortening the period at the end of life, which is often marked by chronic illness or disability. ‘So a 60-year-old smoker will typically have the health profile of a 70-year-old non-smoker.’ The analysis, to be published in the Journal of Addiction, concluded: ‘The sooner smokers get off this escalator of death the longer and healthier they can expect their lives to be.’ Dr Sarah Jackson, principal research fellow from the UCL Alcohol and Tobacco Research Group, said: ‘It is vital that people understand just how harmful smoking is and how quitting can improve their health and life expectancy. ‘The sooner a person stops smoking, the longer they live. Quitting at any age substantially improves health and the benefits start almost immediately. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. ‘It’s never too late to make a positive change for your health and there are a range of effective products and treatments that can help smokers quit for good.’ Read More Social smokers are at HUGE increased risk of a deadly type cancer Health officials have said that smokers can find advice, support and resources with the NHS Quit Smoking app, as well as the online Personal Quit Plan. Public health minister Andrew Gwynne said: ‘Smoking is an expensive and deadly habit and these findings highlight how important it is to quit. The new year offers a perfect chance for smokers to make a new resolution and take that step.’ Commenting on the paper, Professor Sanjay Agrawal, special adviser on tobacco at the Royal College of Physicians, said: ‘Every cigarette smoked costs precious minutes of life, and the cumulative impact is devastating, not only for individuals but also for our healthcare system. ‘This research is a powerful reminder of the urgent need to address cigarette smoking as the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the UK.’ NHS Share or comment on this article: How many minutes does a cigarette knock off the life of a smoker? e-mail Add comment
CLEVELAND (AP) — Chase Robinson had 16 points in Cleveland State's 78-64 victory over Wright State on Sunday night. Robinson shot 6 of 9 from the field, including 2 for 3 from 3-point range, and went 2 for 4 from the line for the Vikings (9-6, 3-1 Horizon League). Dylan Arnett added 14 points while shooting 6 of 9 from the field and also had seven rebounds. Tevin Smith had 12 points and shot 4 for 10 (2 for 6 from 3-point range) and 2 of 4 from the free-throw line. Brandon Noel finished with 20 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks for the Raiders (7-8, 1-3). Jack Doumbia added 19 points and three blocks for Wright State. Michael Imariagbe had nine points and seven rebounds. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Thiago Messi, the eldest son of the Argentina star, has made his debut in the “Newell’s Cup” tournament in the countryside city of Rosario. The 12-year-old Messi played with the No. 10 jersey of an Inter Miami youth team, which lost 1-0 on Monday to host Newell’s Old Boys in the traditional under-13 competition. The team also played Tuesday. Lionel Messi took his first steps as a footballer in the Argentinian club in Rosario, 300 kilometers (186 miles) northwest of capital Buenos Aires. Thiago's mother, Antonela Roccuzzo, and several members of his family, including grandparents Jorge Messi and Celia Cuccittini, were in the stands to watch him play. Lionel Messi did not attend. Thiago, who was substituted in the second half, played with his friend Benjamín Suárez, son of Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez, Messi's teammate and close friend at Barcelona and now at Inter Miami. Messi and Suárez are in Rosario after Inter Miami’s early elimination in the MLS playoffs. On Sunday, they watched a friendly game of Inter Miami's U13 team against Unión at the same sports complex. The youth tournament in Argentina brings together eight teams from North and South America. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerWomen will for the first time make up a majority of state legislators in Colorado and New Mexico next year, but at least 13 states saw losses in female representation after the November election, according to a count released Thursday by the Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics. While women will fill a record number of state legislative seats in 2025, the overall uptick will be slight, filling just over third of legislative seats. Races in some states are still being called. "We certainly would like to see a faster rate of change and more significant increases in each election cycle to get us to a place where parity in state legislatures is less novel and more normal," said Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the CAWP, which is a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. As of Wednesday, at least 2,450 women will serve in state legislatures, representing 33.2% of the seats nationwide. The previous record was set in 2024 with 2,431 women, according to the CAWP. The number of Republican women, at least 851, will break the previous record of 815 state lawmakers set in 2024. "But still, Republican women are very underrepresented compared to Democratic women," Debbie Walsh, director of the CAWP, said. From left, House Maj. Whip Reena Szczepanski, D-Santa Fe, Rep. D. Wonda Johnson, D-Church Rock and Rep. Cristina Parajon, D-Albuquerque, talk July 18 before the start of a special session, in Santa Fe, N.M. By the most recent count, 19 states will have increased the number of women in their state legislatures, according to the CAWP. The most notable increases were in New Mexico and Colorado, where women will for the first time make up a majority of lawmakers. In New Mexico, voters sent an 11 additional women to the chambers. Colorado previously attained gender parity in 2023 and is set to tip over to a slight female majority in the upcoming year. The states follow Nevada, which was the first in the country to see a female majority in the legislature following elections in 2018. Next year, women will make up almost 62% of state lawmakers in Nevada, far exceeding parity. Women in California's Senate will make up the chamber's majority for the first time in 2025 as well. Women also made notable gains in South Dakota, increasing its number by at least nine. Four of South Carolina's Sister Senators, from left, Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, D-Walterboro, Sen. Mia McLeod, I-Columbia, Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, and Sen. Penry Gustafson, R-Camden, stand in front of the Senate on June 26 with their John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award in Columbia, S.C. At least thirteen states emerged from the election with fewer female lawmakers than before, with the most significant loss occurring in South Carolina. This year, the only three Republican women in the South Carolina Senate lost their primaries after they stopped a total abortion ban from passing. Next year, only two women, who are Democrats, will be in the 46-member Senate. No other state in the country will have fewer women in its upper chamber, according to the CAWP. Women make up 55% of the state's registered voters. Half the members in the GOP dominated state were elected in 2012 or before, so it will likely be the 2040s before any Republican woman elected in the future can rise to leadership or a committee chairmanship in the chamber, which doles out leadership positions based on seniority. A net loss of five women in the legislature means they will make up only about 13% of South Carolina's lawmakers, making the state the second lowest in the country for female representation. Only West Virginia has a smaller proportion of women in the legislature. West Virginia stands to lose one more women from its legislative ranks, furthering its representation problem in the legislature where women will make up just 11% of lawmakers. Many women, lawmakers and experts say that women's voices are needed in discussions on policy, especially at a time when state government is at its most powerful in decades. Walsh, director of the CAWP, said the new changes expected from the Trump administration will turn even more policy and regulation to the states. The experiences and perspectives women offer will be increasingly needed, she said, especially on topics related to reproductive rights, healthcare, education and childcare. "The states may have to pick up where the federal government may, in fact, be walking away," Walsh said. "And so who serves in those institutions is more important now than ever." November 7, 2024: Trump Victory Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!CF Industries Holdings Inc. stock falls Thursday, underperforms market
Hezbollah leaders also signalled tentative backing for the US-brokered deal, which offers both sides an off-ramp from hostilities that have driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese and 50,000 Israelis from their homes. An intense bombing campaign by Israel has killed more than 3,700 people, many of them civilians, Lebanese officials say. But while the deal, set to take effect early Wednesday, could significantly calm the tensions that have inflamed the region, it does little directly to resolve the much deadlier war that has raged in Gaza since the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people. Hezbollah, which began firing scores of rockets into Israel the following day in support of Hamas, has previously said it would keep fighting until there was a stop to the fighting in Gaza. Here’s what to know about the tentative ceasefire agreement and its potential implications: The agreement reportedly calls for a 60-day halt in fighting that would see Israeli troops retreat to their side of the border while requiring Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swathe of southern Lebanon. Us President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the deal is set to take effect at 4am local time on Wednesday. Under the deal, thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers are to deploy to the region south of the Litani River. An international panel lead by the US would monitor compliance by all sides. Mr Biden said the deal “was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the UN peacekeeping force, known as Unifil, does not provide “effective enforcement” of the deal. A Hezbollah leader said the group’s support for the deal hinged on clarity that Israel would not renew its attacks. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Qatari satellite news network Al Jazeera. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state” of Lebanon, he said. The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday that Israel’s security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France. After months of cross-border bombings, Israel can claim major victories, including the killing of Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, most of his senior commanders and the destruction of extensive militant infrastructure. A complex attack in September involving the explosion of hundreds of walkie-talkies and pagers used by Hezbollah was widely attributed to Israel, signalling a remarkable penetration of the militant group. The damage inflicted on Hezbollah has come not only in its ranks, but to the reputation it built by fighting Israel to a stalemate in the 2006 war. Still, its fighters managed to put up heavy resistance on the ground, slowing Israel’s advance while continuing to fire scores of rockets, missiles and drones across the border each day. The ceasefire offers relief to both sides, giving Israel’s overstretched army a break and allowing Hezbollah leaders to tout the group’s effectiveness in holding their ground despite Israel’s massive advantage in weaponry. But the group is likely to face a reckoning, with many Lebanese accusing it of tying their country’s fate to Gaza’s at the service of key ally Iran, inflicting great damage on a Lebanese economy that was already in a grave condition. Until now, Hezbollah has insisted that it would only halt its attacks on Israel when it agreed to stop fighting in Gaza. Some in the region are likely to view a deal between the Lebanon-based group and Israel as a capitulation. In Gaza, where officials say the war has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, Israel’s attacks have inflicted a heavy toll on Hamas, including the killing of the group’s top leaders. But Hamas fighters continue to hold scores of Israeli hostages, giving the militant group a bargaining chip if indirect ceasefire negotiations resume. Hamas is likely to continue to demand a lasting truce and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in any such deal. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas offered a pointed reminder on Tuesday of the intractability of the war, demanding urgent international intervention. “The only way to halt the dangerous escalation we are witnessing in the region, and maintain regional and international stability, security and peace, is to resolve the question of Palestine,” he said in a speech to the UN read by his ambassador.State police risky, expensive – Cattle breeders