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Bunnings hardware store was the most trusted brand in Australia in the 12 months to September, according to a new survey from research company Roy Morgan. The first six places in the most trusted list remained unchanged from the June results, with Aldi at number two, then Kmart (3), Toyota (4), Apple (5) and Australia Post (6). Big W climbed from eighth to seventh most trusted, and the NRMA went up from ninth to eighth. The final two Top 10 spots for most trusted brands went to Myer (which fell from seventh most trusted to ninth) and Samsung, unchanged at 10. JB Hi-Fi is knocking on the door of the Top 10 most trusted brands, rising from 12 to 11. The latest Roy Morgan charts. The most distrusted brand in Australia was again Optus – for the sixth consecutive quarter. The second most distrusted brand was Woolworths (up three spots) followed by Coles (up one spot). “The rapid slide down the rankings for both major supermarkets – which have each slid more than 200 spots in the rankings this year – shows how quickly distrust can gain momentum and devalue a brand’s reputation,” said Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine. “The high trust ratings for Aldi, and independent grocer IGA (13 th ), show that the distrust for the two majors is not industry-wide, as it is their brands specifically which have become associated with ‘price gouging, high profits and corporate greed’ over the last year whereas as their closest competitors haven’t.” Three social media platforms and one media company were among the Top 10 most distrusted brands in Australia. Facebook went from the third most distrusted brand to the fifth; Temu climbed from the tenth most distrusted to the eighth; X dropped from the eighth most distrusted to the ninth; and TikTok went from ninth most distrusted to tenth. News Corp remained stable as the seventh most distrusted brand in Australia.CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Ian Jackson scored a season-high 26 points, RJ Davis added 23 points, including five 3-pointers, and North Carolina beat Campbell 97-81 Sunday night in the Tar Heels' final nonconference game of the season. Elliot Cadeau added 12 points and a career-high 12 assists, Drake Powell also scored 12 points and Jalen Washington added 10 for North Carolina (8-5). Cadeau made a jumper to spark a 15-3 run, Davis followed with a 3-pointer that gave UNC the lead for good with 16:09 left in the first half and Cadeau capped the spurt with a layup that made it 22-12 with 12:41 to go until halftime. Colby Duggan responded with back-to-back 3-pointers for the Fighting Camels to make it 22-18 less than a minute later and Nolan Dorsey's tip-in again trimmed the deficit to four points with 7:51 left in the first half. North Carolina scored 12 of the final 17 points to take a 40-29 lead into the intermission and Campbell got no closer than nine from there. Duggan hit a jumper to open the scoring in the second half, but Washington threw down a dunk with 18:53 to play and the Tar Heels led by double figures the rest of the way. Duggan led Campbell (5-8) with a career-high 32 points on 11-of-18 shooting, 5 of 9 from 3-point range. The rest of the Camels combined to make 17 of 45 from the field (37.8%). Jasin Sinani scored 15 and Cam Gregory 14 for Campbell. Seth Trimble (upper-body injury), who is averaging 14.8 points per game this season, did not play for North Carolina. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up . AP college basketball: and The Associated PressThe Houston Rockets and Miami Heat did not wait for New Year’s Eve to set off some fireworks. Tensioned flared as the Heat led the Rockets, 99-94, with just over 30 seconds left in the contest at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. As Miami prepared to inbound from the sideline, Rockets forward Amen Thompson got into it with Heat guard Tyler Herro. Thompson grabbed Herro by the jersey and slammed him to the ground. Terry Rozier immediately came to Herro’s aid and tackled Thompson. Jalen Green also got entangled in the tussle as players and referees tried to diffuse the situation. Chaos ensues at the end of Heat vs. Rockets Four players and two coaches were ejected after this scuffle. pic.twitter.com/suYWuxrX8B Here’s another angle of Thompson’s takedown of Herro and the ensuing chaos. Can't lose your composure like that... pic.twitter.com/5DDAWJldAy — HEAT on FanDuel Sports Network (@FanDuelSN_Heat) December 30, 2024 Herro, Thompson, Rozier, and Green were all ejected from the contest. Rockets coaches Ime Udoka and Ben Sullivan were also tossed. The entire incident happened just moments after Rockets veteran Fred VanVleet was also ejected for bumping into referee Marc Davis . Herro got the last laugh as the Heat held on for a 104-100 win. He also appeared to be in good spirits as his attacker was forced to leave the floor. “Go home bro, you lost!” Herro was seen saying as Thompson walked off the floor. The Heat guard was the star of the night with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting to go along with six rebounds and nine assists. This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.
The city of Las Vegas, Nevada, has honoured star with a special ceremony. Las Vegas mayor Brian Knudsen proclaimed December 16 as Billy Gibbons Day and welcomed Gibbons to City Hall to mark the event. Addressing Gibbons, alongside the musician's wife and a Las Vegas showgirl, Mayor Knudsen said: "We, the Mayor and members of Las Vegas City Council, do hereby take great pride in proclaiming December 16, 2024, as Billy Gibbons Day." The mayor's official proclamation reads: "Billy Gibbons is an American rock musician, best known as the guitarist and primary vocalist for 'That Little Ol Band From Texas' – ZZ Top. "Billy began his canter in Moving Sidewalks and was the . "Billy Gibbons formed ZZ Top in late 1969 and released ZZ Top's first album in early 1971, They are known for their live performances, sly and humorous lyrics, and the matching appearances wearing sunglasses, hats and long beards. "Billy has supported Las Vegas entertainment and the local community through his musical appearances for the past 55 years." Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! You can watch the proclamation in the social media post below. Recalling that support slot his teenaged group the Moving Sidewalks performed for Hendrix in Texas in 1968, they boldly covered two Hendrix songs in their set. He said: "To try and wrap your head around those compositions, it was something so new you didn’t quite know where to begin. "We were fortunate to be able to interpret our versions of and . They were Texas interpretations. "On leaving the stage I was grabbed by the shoulders and there was Hendrix smiling. He said: ‘I got to meet you. You got a lot of nerve! I like it.'" Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.
Nordstrom is going to be acquired for $6.25 billion by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican department store chain, the department store chain announced on Monday. Upon completion of the transaction, all outstanding common shares of Nordstrom will be acquired by El Puerto de Liverpool and Erik Nordstrom, Pete Nordstrom, Jamie Nordstrom, and other members of the Nordstrom family, according to the department store chain's news release . Nordstrom, which has more than 350 locations, will go from public to private as a result of the deal and the Nordstrom Family will have a majority ownership stake, according to the company. Members of the Nordstrom family collectively own 33.4% of the company, reported Digital Commerce 360 , an e-commerce research and media outlet. Liverpool, which operates more than 300 stores and an e-commerce platform, holds a 9.6% stake in Nordstrom which it acquired in 2022 for about $300 million, the outlet said. "For over a century, Nordstrom has operated with a foundational principle of helping customers feel good and look their best," Erik Nordstrom, chief executive officer of Nordstrom, said in a statement. "Today marks an exciting new chapter for the business. On behalf of my family, we look forward to working with our teams to ensure Nordstrom thrives long into the future." Holiday deals: Shop this season’s top products and sales curated by our editors. What will common Nordstrom shareholders receive? Per the agreement, Nordstrom's common shareholders will receive $24.25 in cash for each share of the company's common stock that they hold, according to the announcement. The company got to this number based on a premium of 42% to the company's unaffected closing common stock price on March 18, which was the final trading day before media speculation about a potential transaction, the company said In addition to the payout, the board intends to authorize a special dividend of up to $0.25 per share immediately before and contingent on the close of the deal, according to Nordstrom. This dividend is based on Nordstrom's cash on hand, the company said. The Nordstrom Board of Directors, excluding Erik and Pete Nordstrom after they recused themselves, unanimously approved the proposed deal based on the input from a special committee that led the review and negotiation process. "The special committee unanimously concluded that this transaction offers greater value for all public shareholders at a significant premium to the unaffected share price," Eric Sprunk, chairman of the special committee, said in a statement. When will the deal for Nordstrom be completed? The deal for Nordstrom is expected to close in the first half of 2025, according to the company. The breakdown in Nordstrom's ownership will be 50.1% by the Nordstrom Family and 49.9% by Liverpool, the release reads. Since Nordstrom will go private, the company's common stock will no longer be listed on public markets. When the market closed on Monday, Nordstrom's stock was at $24.17.President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urge judge to toss his hush money conviction
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I never realized it as a kid, but analog horror is (and has been) my favorite horror subgenre for decades. Sure, when those zombie dogs busted through the glass windows in the original Resident Evil , I ran out of my room like I was stealing third in the World Series. But nothing would prepare me for the sheer terror of Metal Gear Solid ‘s Psycho Mantis. Years of conditioning had me fooled, thinking I was always in control of any game I would play. Until one boss fight, everything I knew about being “player one” would be subverted, warped, and mocked before my eyes. That’s what makes analog horror particularly unnerving. It’s that violation of our digital comfort zones – our TVs and desktop PCs – and helplessly watching as unknown forces manipulate them. It’s coming home to see your desktop icons slightly shifted. Unknowingly downloading a trojan virus and catching a glimpse of your mouse cursor moving on its own. Seeing a glowing “HIDEO” cast over a cold, dark CRT screen. It takes the innocuous and, with the slightest touch, makes it grossly unwelcoming. Videos by VICE Being chronically online in a post-Y2K world, analog horror is that perfect blend of fourth-wall-breaking uncanniness that shakes me more than vampires and werewolves ever could. Damn. Now that I think of it, that’s probably why I have reoccurring nightmares of my computer defiled by viruses and why I’m one of those weirdos who unironically loves Skinamarink . ‘Among Ashes’ is a disturbing twist on early internet nostalgia Rat Cliff Games’ Among Ashes is analog horror at its finest. I recently wrote about how eerily familiar it feels , as someone who grew up alongside pre- and post-Y2K internet, and how it masterfully blends realities of its game-within-a-game (within a game) premise. Most of your time in Among Ashes is spent playing a separate game on the protagonist’s computer. Night Call , a haunted PSX-era horror game uploaded to the NIGHTMARE FUEL forums, is a mix of horror classics like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. As you progress through Night Call , you’ll often tab out and converse with a friend via instant messenger. Other times, you’ll read message boards as others attempt to decipher the various unexplainable bugs that plague Night Call . Alone in your flat, you’re able to stand up from your in-game computer and peek around your quiet home at will. But, as Night Call begins to feel less and less like an ordinary horror game, there’s good reason to believe you’re not as alone as you think. ‘VILE’ is an unsettling story of obsession and misogynistic entitlement While Final Girl Games’ VILE plays entirely through a 90s-era computer, there’s no way I could boil it down to simply being “analog horror.” Its harrowing subject matter makes it much more than that, as its solo creator, Cara Cadaver, explains to GamesRadar : “It does every time, though, feel a little bit like somebody’s reading my journal. It’s a very personal game, and that was the point,” Cadaver notes on VILE ‘s reception. Dealing with themes of stalking and sexual violence, VILE exposes the ugly realities that many women face daily. As the player sifts through various files and emails, information on the disappearance of an adult film actress is slowly uncovered, peeling away scabs of truth with each click. Tech support made terrifying with ‘Home Safety Hotline’ Home Safety Hotline is a light-hearted blend of household pests, paranormal entities, and tech support calls. You’ll clock into your call center job each day and advise homeowners on how to best deal with strange happenings. Some are innocent, like termites gnawing on wooden furnishings; others, more sinister, like hearing voices within walls. An index is available on your computer to study, allowing you to be your best home safety operator. But as your daily quota grows and your boss becomes more demanding, you have to wonder if it may be time for a two-week notice. ‘CAPTURED’ is a nightmarish loop of liminal space and childhood terror CAPTURED really flew under the radar, but is a hair-raising experience worth playing. Clearly inspired by movies like Skinamarink , CAPTURED puts you in the shoes of a child with a video camera, stuck inside a loop within their own home. Each loop has you creeping through a dark hallway and identifying subtle changes with each pass. Anomalies like missing windows, out-of-place furniture, and inexplicable doorways keep each playthrough slightly different but consistently unnerving. Its limited UI and tight sound design make it uncomfortably immersive. Like Skinamarink , I decided to play it alone and in the dark, and, well – that was certainly a decision.RALEIGH, N.C. — Marcus Hill scored 19 points, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield had 10 points and nine rebounds, and NC State beat William & Mary 81-58 on Friday night. NC State has started a season 5-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 team began 6-0. NC State was coming off a 72-49 win over Colgate on Monday, marking the first time the program has held an opponent under 50 points since a 65-48 win over Bethune-Cookman on Dec. 9, 2021. NC State scored 15 straight points early in the first half against William & Mary and led by double figures for the last 10 minutes to lead 43-24 at halftime. Noah Collier scored seven straight points to get William & Mary within 59-52 before Hill scored five points during a 9-0 run to rebuild a double-digit lead. Another 9-0 run, with five points from Dontrez Styles, made it 77-54. Styles and Jayden Taylor each added 12 points, and Ben Middlebrooks scored 11 for NC State. Styles scored 10 points in the second half when the Wolfpack shot 54%. Collier scored 25 points and Gabe Dorsey added 13 for William & Mary (3-4). The Tribe turned it over 21 times, leading to 29 points for the Wolfpack. NC State plays No. 6 Purdue on Thursday at the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego. William & Mary goes against Appalachian State on Sunday.
Michigan rolls to 112-64 victory over Western Kentucky
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Sophie Hediger, a member of Switzerland's snowboard cross team at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, has died following an avalanche at a mountain resort, the country's skiing federation said on Tuesday. The incident occurred on Monday at the Arosa resort in Switzerland. Hediger, 26, competed at the Beijing Games in the women’s snowboard cross and the mixed team version of the same event. Hediger achieved her first two World Cup podium finishes in the 2023-24 season. Her best result was a second place in St. Moritz in January. “We are shocked and our thoughts are with Sophie’s family, to whom we offer our deepest condolences,” said Swiss-Ski CEO Walter Reusser in a statement. “(She lost her life) tragically, brutally and far too soon.” AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Sullinger leads Kent State past Div. III-Heidelberg 84-80
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling alliance won an election in Maharashtra by a wide margin, signaling policy continuity in a state which houses most of India’s billionaires and is home to some of the country’s biggest investments. The Mahayuti coalition, led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, is ahead with 228 seats of the 288-member legislative assembly, according to the Election Commission of India. The Indian National Congress-led alliance has the advantage in just 47 seats, halting a momentum they built during national elections. The margins are wide enough for the elections to be called even as the final stages of counting are in progress. “Development wins! Good governance wins! United we will soar even higher!” Modi said in a post on X on Saturday. A separate Congress alliance in Jharkhand is leading in 50 seats of the 81-member legislative assembly, according to the Election Commission. Modi has conceded in the state. Exit polls released Wednesday predicted a tight contest in both states, with a slight edge forecast for the BJP alliance in Maharashtra. Mahayuti is now expected to win by a landslide with the main opposition and other smaller regional parties barely scraping by. BJP candidates are in the lead in 90 seats and have had a win declared for 42 more. “This is the voice of the people, it is the government of the people and it is a government for the best of the people,” Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told reporters Saturday afternoon. A victory in Maharashtra, which houses the financial capital of Mumbai, is expected to give a boost to stock markets which had already made gains on Friday in anticipation of the results. It suggests Modi remains popular, even though his party lost an outright majority in national polls. In those elections, more than 20 different parties worked together, shedding ideological differences and pooling resources to take on Modi’s electoral prowess. Since the results in June, four state polls were conducted with the BJP picking up two significant ones. “The BJP has a reasonably fixed vote share which it will get,” said Neelanjan Sircar, an associate professor at Ahmedabad University. Also, “we are seeing local seat level factions taking on an importance.” Maharashtra contributes over 10% of India’s gross domestic product, with Mumbai home to companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd. and Tata Group, the country’s two main stock markets, and the Hindi film industry. The state’s economic reputation, however, is at risk of being tarnished by growing farmer distress and high unemployment. Modi and his party have introduced a series of social welfare programs, including cash handouts to women and have promised further subsidies. The state is also one of the biggest recipients of foreign investment and BJP’s win will calm investors and allow ambitious development projects already in the works to continue. Billionaire Gautam Adani aims to revamp one of Asia’s biggest slums, but his $3 billion plan to convert 620 acres (251 hectares) of Dharavi into a glitzy urban hub had become a political hot potato. The opposition has repeatedly vowed to cancel the project during campaigning. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who won both parliamentary seats he contested in June, chose to vacate his seat in Wayanad, Kerala. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is running in the by-election there in her first political match for the Congress party, winning the seat with a margin of more than 410,000 votes. ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.