
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, Virgin Islands (AP) — Trey Autry scored 16 points off of the bench to help lead George Washington over Illinois State 72-64 on Monday night to claim a fifth-place finish at the Paradise Jam tournament in the Virgin Islands. Autry had five rebounds for the Revolutionaries (6-1). Gerald Drumgoole Jr. scored 16 points while going 4 of 9 from the floor, including 2 for 5 from 3-point range, and 6 for 7 from the line. Darren Buchanan Jr. shot 3 of 11 from the field and 9 for 11 from the line to finish with 15 points, while adding 10 rebounds. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.None
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One by one, tycoons who built their wealth on China’s economic rise have been giving up their trophy homes in Hong Kong. Two apartments in a Frank Gehry glass-and-steel tower that twists out of the mountainside. Three European-style mansions with turrets and swimming pools. Four white villas sitting in a row. Creditors seized the homes of Evergrande chairman Hui Ka Yan, which were collectively worth more than $US190 million, after the company collapsed. One of them sold this year for $US58 million, less than half of the $US130 million that a company tied to Evergrande and Hui had paid for it in 2009. Credit: Bloomberg All but two of the properties have already sold for tens of millions of dollars each. And while it might be hard to believe, each one was a steal — snatched up for discounts of one-third to more than half of the previous values. Hong Kong’s housing market has long had an are-you-kidding-me feel to it. For nearly 20 years, property prices have climbed higher and higher, turning it into one of the most unaffordable cities in the world, where the poor rented subdivided apartments so small they were colloquially known as “coffin homes.” Loading Now, many of the same people who contributed to the housing market’s inequities, from the builders to the wealthy speculators, have found themselves being forced to sell their prized homes fast. Their riches had swelled with an unfathomable rise in China’s real estate market, and its collapse and aftermath have left many short on cash. Most notable among them is Hui Ka Yan of the onetime property giant China Evergrande. Creditors seized his European-style homes, which were collectively worth more than $US190 million ($291 million), after the company collapsed . One of them sold this year for $US58 million, less than half of the $US130 million that a company tied to Evergrande and Hui had paid for it in 2009, according to the global real estate firm Knight Frank. A Hong Kong court ordered China Evergrande to liquidate this year, setting off a search by its foreign investors who were owed money for anything that could be sold off. Chinese authorities took Hui away last year and accused him and Evergrande of fraud. “Everyone is asking for money,” said Joseph Tang, the chair of real estate firm JLL in Hong Kong. Businesses are under pressure as the economy continues to slow, the broader property market is under strain and the cost of borrowing has climbed steeply. “The only thing that is sellable is residential property because, if you lower the price enough, there will be buyers,” Tang said. China’s rich are losing so much money that 432 men and women were stripped of their status as billionaires over the past three years, according to the Hurun China Rich List, published by a wealth research firm based in Shanghai. In Gehry’s Opus Hong Kong building, which has 12 luxury apartments, two of the recent sellers were once among China’s richest men: property developers Chen Hongtian and Chen Changwei. Credit: NYT Famous for its skyline of glass towers that once symbolised the city’s economic prowess, Hong Kong’s landscape is now a visual reminder of its problems. The city is still trying to reclaim its title as a hub for international finance and recover from the collateral damage caused by years of strict pandemic policies that made travel to the city at times impossible. In addition, political changes in Hong Kong have raised the legal stakes for Western companies. It was not just the owners of fancy homes who were caught out when the tide receded. Landlords of signature Hong Kong office buildings that housed the world’s best-known financial, legal and corporate institutions are scrambling to bring in new tenants to replace companies that have left. Busy shopping areas once crammed with small stores are still suffering from fewer tourists, and some storefronts remain boarded up. Nearly 17 per cent of commercial property is empty, according to CBRE, the real estate firm. The changes are rippling through the financial system, too. Banks that were once reliable lenders to Hong Kong’s property sector have suffered a surge in defaults from commercial real estate this year. The property sector is “working through its worst downturn since the Asian financial crisis” of 1997, and the sharpest pain is being felt by financial institutions, analysts at the ratings agency S&P Global wrote in a report. In response, lenders are charging more to landlords and developers whom they lend to. Famous for its skyline of glass towers that once symbolised the city’s economic prowess, Hong Kong’s landscape is now a visual reminder of its problems. Higher interest rates and a strong currency have made it even more difficult to bounce back. The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar, and for four years, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates high to fight American inflation. As the Fed cut rates this year, Hong Kong’s monetary authority followed, lowering the interest rate in September to 5.25 per cent. But that is still the highest point since 2007. The fate of Hong Kong’s currency may depend on the US central bank, but its economy is closely linked to the rest of China, where growth has slowed and prices have fallen. Hong Kong real estate is feeling China’s pain. “Overall, the economy of China has always had a close relationship with Hong Kong, and the property market has always been highly correlated,” said Hannah Jeong, an executive director at CBRE. “When China’s economy goes down, Hong Kong’s economy follows,” she said. The high-end luxury property sales have been dominated by what are known as “distressed sellers,” including some who are heavily exposed to the Chinese economy, according to Jeong. In many of these cases, their homes have been seized by a bank or creditors that are owed money. Four villas on Plantation Road recently sold for $US141 million, a little less than half the previous sale price in 2017. Credit: NYT Most of these properties were bought during a different era, when Hong Kong was flush with money from a booming China. In Gehry’s Opus Hong Kong building, which has 12 luxury apartments, two of the recent sellers were once among China’s richest men: property developers Chen Hongtian and Chen Changwei. (They are not related.) Local news reports said Chen Hongtian’s apartment was one of a number of properties seized by lenders, including a 9000-square-foot home that he had purchased soon after the Opus property in 2015. His Opus apartment was “a little bit too tiny,” he told the local South China Morning Post in 2016. He also told the newspaper that luxury homes for sale in Hong Kong were “extremely rare.” No longer. Loading A short drive away from Opus, along a winding road, is Black’s Link, where a cluster of three mansions once tied to Hui of Evergrande is. They are on sale for more than $US190 million — one has been sold so far. The prices on the other two have come down since they were first listed last year. Nearby on Plantation Road, four mansions recently went for $US141 million, nearly half of what the sellers paid for it. Property experts expect more deals to come. Nearly two dozen properties, each worth $US50 million or more, have come on the market in Hong Kong this year. This article originally appeared in The New York Times . The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Billionaires Inside China Hong Kong Most Viewed in Business Loading
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Universal Technical Institute, Inc . UTI reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Wednesday . The company posted quarterly earnings of 34 cents per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 30 cents per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $196.36 million which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $191.39 million. “We concluded the first stage of our North Star Strategy in fiscal 2024 achieving both strong results and momentum,” said Jerome Grant, CEO of Universal Technical Institute, Inc. “We met or exceeded guidance across all key metrics with full year revenue and adjusted EBITDA increasing over 21% and 60% year-over-year, respectively. These results reflect our consistent execution on the growth, diversification, and optimization tenets of our strategic plan as we continue ramping newly launched programs across both divisions, while further improving margins through workforce and facilities optimization. Universal Technical Institute said it sees FY25 earnings of 93 cents to $1.01 per share on revenue of $800 million to $815 million. Universal Technical Institute shares jumped 20.3% to trade at $23.92 on Thursday. These analysts made changes to their price targets on Universal Technical Institute following earnings announcement. Lake Street analyst Eric Martinuzzi maintained Universal Technical with a Buy and raised the price target from $19 to $22. Barrington Research analyst Alexander Paris maintained the stock with an Outperform rating and raised the price target from $22 to $25. Truist Securities analyst Jasper Bibb maintained Universal Technical with a Buy and raised the price target from $22 to $26. Considering buying UTI stock? Here’s what analysts think: Read This Next: This Palo Alto Networks Analyst Turns Bullish; Here Are Top 5 Upgrades For Thursday © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks wavered in afternoon trading on Wall Street Monday at the start of a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%. A handful of technology companies helped support the gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 63 points, or 0.2% as of 1:18 p.m. Eastern time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.7%. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, rose 3%. Broadcom jumped 5.2% to also help support the broader market. Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan said they are talking about combining in a deal that might also include Mitsubishi Motors. Honda rose 3.8% and Nissan rose 1.6% in Tokyo. Eli Lilly rose 3% after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first and only prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Department store Nordstrom fell 1.7% after it agreed to be taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal. The Conference Board said that consumer confidence slipped in December. Its consumer confidence index fell back to 104.7 from 112.8 in November. Wall Street was expecting a reading of 113.8. The unexpectedly weak consumer confidence update follows several generally strong economic reports last week. One report showed the overall economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate during the summer, faster than earlier thought. The latest report on unemployment benefit applications showed that the job market remains solid. A report on Friday said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than economists expected. Worries about inflation edging higher again had been weighing on Wall Street and the Fed. The central bank just delivered its third cut to interest rates this year, but inflation has been hovering stubbornly above its target of 2%. It has signaled that it could deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year than it earlier anticipated because of concerns over inflation. Expectations for more interest rate cuts have helped drive a 24% gain for the S&P 500 in 2024. That drive included 57 all-time highs this year. Inflation concerns have added to uncertainties heading into 2025, which include the labor market's path ahead and shifting economic policies under an incoming President Donald Trump. "Put simply, much of the strong market performance prior to last week was driven by expectations that a best-case scenario was the base case for 2025," said Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Treasury yields edged higher in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.58% from 4.53% late Friday. European markets were mostly lower, while markets in Asia gained ground. Wall Street has several other economic reports to look forward to this week. On Tuesday, the U.S. will release its November report for sales of newly constructed homes. A weekly update on unemployment benefits is expected on Thursday. Markets in the U.S. will close early on Tuesday for Christmas Eve and will remain closed on Wednesday for Christmas.NoneTarget PT Cut to $160 from $180 at Morgan Stanley
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Srinagar, Dec 16: The 41 RR of the Indian Army organised an education tour for youth of Kupwara to south India. The tour was organised under the aegis of 68 Mountain Brigade as part of Operation Sadbhavna. As many as 15 selected students from Kupwara visited reputed educational institutions and sports facilities in Bengaluru from December to 9 to 15. “The aim was to provide them exposure to latest academic developments in the country as well as foster a sense of integration through fascinating cultural exchange,” the official handout reads. Among the premier educational institutions of the country, the students visited the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) wherein they had valuable interaction with scholars. The students also visited the 115 year old Indian Institute of Science (IISc) wherein they were briefed at the Centre of Ecological Sciences (CES), Materials Research Centre (MRC) and Supercomputer Engineering & Research Centre (SERC). “At SERC, they were briefed on PARAM Pravega, a cutting-edge supercomputing facility which is valuable for research in various scientific domains. The students also visited Amazon Development Centre at Baghmare Tech Park which was an amazing gateway into corporate life,” the handout reads. “The visits to HAL Aerospace Museum and Heritage Centre and Visveswariya Industrial and Technological Museum (VITM) made them gain knowledge on the evolution of Aerospace technology in India.” The students also visited Madras Engineer Group (MEG) and Centre, and Parachute Regiment Training Centre (PRTC) of the Army wherein they became privy to the rich history of sacrifice and victory of the Indian Army.
Target PT Cut to $160 from $180 at Morgan Stanley
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri court on Monday upheld a new state law that bans some gender-affirming health care for minors, a victory for supporters of the ban as a multitude of lawsuits against similar bans in other states continue to play out. Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement that Missouri is the “first state in the nation to successfully defend such a law at the trial court level.” Bailey, who tried to ban minors’ access to gender-affirming health care through rule change but dropped the effort when the law passed , is responsible for defending the legislation in court. “I’m extremely proud of the thousands of hours my office put in to shine a light on the lack of evidence supporting these irreversible procedures," Bailey said. "We will never stop fighting to ensure Missouri is the safest state in the nation for children.” Every major medical organization, including the American Medical Association, has opposed the bans on gender-affirming care for minors and supported the medical care for youth when administered appropriately. Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri, which are representing the plaintiffs who sued to overturn the law, on Monday said they will appeal the ruling. Missouri is among at least 26 states that have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. Federal judges have struck down the bans in Arkansas and Florida as unconstitutional, though a federal appeals court has stayed the Florida ruling. A judge’s orders is in place temporarily blocking enforcement of the ban in Montana. New Hampshire restrictions are to take effect in January 2025. The Missouri law banned gender-affirming surgeries for children and teenagers under the age of 18, as well as hormones and puberty blockers for minors who had not started those treatments as of August 2023. The law expires in August 2027. These treatments are accepted by major medical groups as evidence-based care that transgender people should be able to access. Most adults still are allowed to access gender-affirming health care under the Missouri law, but Medicaid won’t cover it. The plaintiffs, including family of several teenagers who are transgender, argued the law takes away medically necessary treatments from transgender minors while still allowing other children to access similar surgeries and medications. Wright County Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter disagreed. In his ruling, the southern Missouri judge wrote that he believes there's “an almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics of adolescent gender dysphoria treatment.” “The evidence at trial showed severe disagreement as to whether adolescent gender dysphoria drug and surgical treatment was ethical at all, and if so, what amount of treatment was ethically allowable,” Carter wrote. Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri in a statement said the ruling signals that "for some, compassion and equal access to health care are still out of reach.” "The court’s findings signal a troubling acceptance of discrimination, ignore an extensive trial record and the voices of transgender Missourians and those who care for them, and deny transgender adolescents and Medicaid beneficiaries from their right to access to evidence-based, effective, and often life-saving medical care,” the organizations said. The states that have passed laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors include: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. Summer Ballentine, The Associated Press
Without trees to circulate moisture, the land is getting hotter and drier D ECADES OF INCREASING maize and soyabean production have turned Brazil into an agricultural powerhouse. They have also led to the destruction of vast swathes of the Amazon rainforest . That has long put farmers and environmentalists at loggerheads. But a study released in October by the Federal University of Minas Gerais ( UFMG ) and Rainforest Foundation Norway ( RFN ) shows the extent to which deforestation is hurting farmers too. Explore more Discover more Robots can learn new actions faster thanks to AI techniques They could soon show their moves in settings from car factories to care homes Scientists are learning why ultra-processed foods are bad for you A mystery is finally being solved Scientific publishers are producing more papers than ever Concerns about some of their business models are building The two types of human laugh One is caused by tickling; the other by everything else Scientists are building a catalogue of every type of cell in our bodies It has thus far shed light on everything from organ formation to the causes of inflammation How squid could help people get over their needle phobia Cephalopod ink propulsion is inspiring an alternative to syringesGuidehouse Names Shannon White Leader of Defense & Security Segment
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