8k88

8k88 The Chicago Bulls, mired in a three-game losing skid, welcome the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday for the second matchup between the Central Division counterparts in six days. Milwaukee returns to Chicago for the second time this week, having routed the Bulls 112-91 on Monday despite missing All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton picked up the slack, each posting 21 points with NBA scoring leader Antetokounmpo sidelined with an illness. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. As property values continue to outpace inflation, property taxes are taking a bigger bite out of homeowners’ wallets. A new analysis from Construction Coverage breaks down property tax rates by state, county, and city to reveal where homeowners have the greatest burden. Click for more. Where Are U.S. Property Taxes Highest and Lowest? A State, County, and City Analysis

I remember where I was when I first heard the term. It was early 1998 and I was in a McDonald's drive-thru. My friend was explaining to me why he and his family had decided to move to rural Arkansas next year. "Y2K," I said. "What's that?" ADVERTISEMENT Y2K. The "millenium bug" arriving in the year 2000. The new millennium. Some of you might well remember this time. For those under about age 30, let me catch you up. Many of the computers used in government and business in the late 20th century, including ones that powered the early internet, supposedly had something of a ticking time bomb inside of them. "It's very hard to tell how bad the situation will be. I'm sure things will break. It's very hard to dispel a nightmare scenario," Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft's chief technology officer, was cited as saying in a January 1999 Forum column. "The dark-side scenario of airplanes falling out of the sky and bank computers crashing is possible. But it's fundamentally very, very hard to know whether the impact will be big or little." The problem was the two-digit-year date field (think "93" as in "1/1/93"). Theoretically, the arrival of the new millennium — the year 2000 — would reset all these computer clocks to "00" as in "1/1/00," wrecking anything that counted on dates to function properly. Theoretically, anyway. The list of public fears was a long one, illustrating how central computer technology had become in our lives, and mirroring larger uncertainty about the new millennium. And while company officials and local, state and federal officials sought to reassure the public, ongoing reporting indicated nobody was quite sure nothing would fail. So the fears remained up until the last minute. ADVERTISEMENT "Up against the deadline for fixing an unprecedented technological blunder, the world exhibited some jitters Thursday over the prospect of failures in the computers on which we depend," wrote the Associated Press, as printed by The Forum on New Year's Eve, 1999. "There was testing galore and a few confessions of Y2K-unreadiness." Some religious figures took the moment to insist the coming apocalypse was God's judgment on a wayward culture. "(God) may be preparing to confound our language, to jam our communications, scatter our efforts and judge us for our sin and rebellion against his lordship," evangelical Christian leader Jerry Falwell said in August 1998. "We are hearing from many sources that Jan. 1, 2000, will be a fateful day in the history of the world." As if to embody the looming fears, WWE wrestler Chris Jericho gave himself the moniker Y2J (for Jericho), playing off the Y2K term. His entrance to arenas was marked by a countdown video that, when it got to zero, included shutting off the venue lights, leaving people in noisy darkness before Jericho was revealed. As the year 2000 approached, the fears began to grow into something of a hysteria for some people, sparking drastic decisions, like my friend's family's decision to move to the woods. Others took money out of the bank. Some stocked up on supplies and guns and ammunition to survive the coming failure of civilization. The growing fears were in odd juxtaposition to the more joyful expressions by some about the year 2000. Big millennium parties were planned. Monopoly put out a millennium edition with fancy holographic cards. The boy band Backstreet Boys released their "Millennium" album, still iconic among my generation (OK, fine — I'm listening to it right now). Many people dismissed the fears and planned to go about their lives, expecting the furor was overblown. ADVERTISEMENT I moved from North Dakota to South Dakota in 1999, and as the new millennium approached, I was about 55% convinced Y2K was going to cause big problems. I remember counting down the last days of the 1900s and thinking everything was possibly about to change. It didn't, of course. While there were some hiccups among some computer systems, much of the billions of dollars in preparation worked. A concerted global effort to stave off disaster was effective. The apocalypse never arrived, civilization continued. In fact, my daughter was born later that year — one of many "millennium" babies who are now 24 years old. So what happened to my friend who moved to Arkansas? I don't know. I'd like to think he and his family went on to live their best life in a cabin in the Ozarks, ready for the end of the world that never arrived. Have a moment or person in history that you think is especially interesting? Contact me at jfugleberg@forumcomm.com and tell me why you think it would be a great subject for this column.Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULTP) Declares $0.32 Quarterly DividendEV-maker Ola Electric's CMO, CTO resign citing 'personal reasons'

ROME (AP) — Robert Lewandowski joined Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the only players in Champions League history with 100 or more goals. But Erling Haaland is on a faster pace than anyone by boosting his total to 46 goals at age 24 on Tuesday. Still, Haaland's brace wasn't enough for Manchester City in a 3-3 draw with Feyenoord that extended the Premier League champion's winless streak to six matches. Lewandowski’s early penalty kick started Barcelona off to a 3-0 win over previously unbeaten Brest to move into second place in the new single-league format. The Poland striker added goal No. 101 in second-half stoppage time. Ronaldo leads the all-time scoring list with 140 goals and Messi is next with 129. But neither Ronaldo nor Messi play in the Champions League anymore following moves to Saudi Arabia and the United States, respectively. The 36-year-old Lewandowski required 125 matches to reach the century mark, two more than Messi (123) and 12 fewer than Ronaldo (137). Barcelona also got a second-half score from Dani Olmo. The top eight finishers in the standings advance directly to the round of 16 in March. Teams ranked ninth to 24th go into a knockout playoffs round in February, while the bottom 12 teams are eliminated. Haaland converted a first-half penalty to eclipse Messi as the youngest player to reach 45 goals then scored City's third after the break to raise his total to 46 goals in 44 games. Ilkay Gundogan had City's second. But then Feyenoord struck back with goals from Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Gimenez and David Hancko. Inter Milan beat Leipzig 1-0 with an own goal to move atop the standings with 13 points, one more than Barcelona and Liverpool, which faces Real Madrid on Wednesday. The Serie A champion is the only club that hasn't conceded a goal. Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 — the same score from the 2020 final between the two teams. PSG ended with 10 men and remained in the elimination zone. The French powerhouse has struggled in Europe after Kylian Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid. Kim Min-jae’s first-half header was enough for Bayern, especially after Ousmane Dembelé was sent off in the 56th with his second yellow. Atalanta moved within two points of the lead with a 6-1 win at Young Boys. Charles De Ketelaere scored two and assisted on three other goals for Atalanta. Also, Arsenal kept red-hot striker Viktor Gyokeres quiet in a 5-1 win over Sporting Lisbon; and Germany star Florian Wirtz scored two goals and was involved in two more as Bayer Leverkusen boosted its chances of finishing in the top eight with a 5-0 rout of Salzburg. AC Milan followed up its win at Real Madrid with a 3-2 victory at last-place Slovan Bratislava in an early match. Christian Pulisic put the seven-time champion ahead midway through the first half by finishing off a counterattack. Then Rafael Leao restored the Rossoneri’s advantage after Tigran Barseghyan had equalized for Bratislava and Tammy Abraham quickly added another. Nino Marcelli scored with a long-range strike in the 88th for Bratislava, which ended with 10 men. Bratislava has lost all five of its matches. Argentina World Cup winner Julian Alvarez scored twice and Atletico Madrid routed Sparta Prague 6-0 in the other early game. Alvarez scored with a free kick 15 minutes in and Marcos Llorente added a long-range strike before the break. Alvarez finished off a counterattack early in the second half after being set up by substitute Antoine Griezmann, who then marked his 100th Champions League game by getting on the scoresheet himself. Angel Correa added a late brace for Atletico, which earned its biggest away win in Europe. Atletico beat Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round and extended its winning streak across all competitions to six matches. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerTORONTO - Losses in the tech sector led Canada’s main stock index lower in late-morning trading on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also fell. The S&P/TSX composite index was down 93.03 points at 24,753.79. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 437.35 points at 42,888.45. The S&P 500 index was down 86.37 points at 5,951.22, while the Nasdaq composite was down 402.43 points at 19,617.93. The Canadian dollar traded for 69.39 cents US compared with 69.51 cents US on Tuesday. The February crude oil contract was up 66 cents at US$70.28 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was up five cents at US$3.37 per mmBTU. The February gold contract was down US$19.70 at US$2.634.20 an ounce and the March copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.12 a pound. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

Mitesco, Inc. ( OTCMKTS:MITI – Get Free Report )’s stock price was down 2.8% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $0.27 and last traded at $0.39. Approximately 1,365 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 6,971 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.40. Mitesco Stock Performance The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $0.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $0.36. About Mitesco ( Get Free Report ) Mitesco, Inc does not have significant operations. Previously, it was engaged in healthcare technology and services business. Mitesco, Inc is based in Vero Beach, Florida. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Mitesco Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mitesco and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .The neglected southern side of Bourke Street Mall is undergoing a transformation with new hotels, shops and “the Mecca of all Meccas” getting closer to completion. The $150 million Melbourne Walk hotel and retail development in the former Walk Arcade building and Mecca’s giant flagship store in the former David Jones building are both on track to open next year. CEO and founder of Mecca Jo Horgan at Mecca’s Sydney boutique. She is opening what she believes will be the biggest beauty store in the world in Bourke Street Mall. Credit: Louise Kennerley Bourke Street Mall, once a prized shopping strip, experienced some lean years after Walk Arcade closed in 2020 and was left empty, and then David Jones shut its menswear store in 2022 . Jo Horgan, founder and chief executive of Mecca , said she believed the Bourke Street Mall Mecca store would be the biggest dedicated beauty store in the world when completed and would become a destination in its own right. “27 years later everything we have done before has culminated in us opening what we hope will be the Mecca of all Meccas,” she said. “I have always been foolishly optimistic and I totally believe in people and consumers and I think if we build it, they will come.” Loading Mecca’s store will span three floors and 4000 square metres stocking more than 200 beauty brands. Advertising firm Clemenger will occupy the floors above Mecca. The store will house a perfumeria dedicated to fragrances, an apothecary wellness hub, a salon for make-up, hair and nail services and ‘Meccaversity’ – a 150-seat educational space for Mecca staff and customers housed in a suspended pod installed on the first floor of the building. Horgan said signing up in the middle of COVID lockdowns to a very complicated project came with its challenges, especially with an “old, culturally significant building”. The site first housed the Coles Book Arcade, a three-storey book store that was once the largest bookstore in the world. “We fell in love with the site, Coles was the largest bookstore in the world, there was a romance in going from the largest bookstore to the largest beauty store,” Horgan said. The former David Jones store is being transformed into a Mecca store on three levels. Credit: Justin McManus However, Mecca’s redevelopment is running behind schedule with a key permit only lodged with Heritage Victoria this month. Horgan said her team got handover in September and “we are now like women possessed to launch it within the timeframe allowed to our build”. “The driving sentiment of the whole team is: how spectacular can we make it, how can we imagine the future of beauty,” she said. “We are so motivated to create an ode to beauty or a Mecca to beauty which will really compel people to make the pilgrimage.” Next door, on a walk through of the Melbourne Walk site, project manager Michael Jansen from builder Hickory said the majority of development had historically always been on the northern side of the Bourke Street Mall. Teck-Lay Tay, executive director of developer Steadfast Capital, and Hayden Djakic, of architecture firm Buchan, inside the Melbourne Walk development. Credit: Simon Schluter “This is the first time that we’re seeing multiple developments, redevelopments, repositioning of assets on the southern side of Bourke Street Mall,” he said. “It’s actually bringing the southern side of the Bourke Street Mall back into play. There’s always been retail over this side, but all the big new shiny objects have always been on the northern side.” Jansen said David Jones moving its menswear department across the road to the southern side of the Bourke Street Mall had opened up the precinct for redevelopment to occur. Melbourne Walk will house two hotels, Hotel Indigo and a Holiday Inn, alongside several stores, including flagship tenant JD Sports. Hayden Djakic, associate at architecture practice Buchan, said the design team wanted to introduce something “quite different” to Melbourne. An artist’s rendering of the Melbourne Walk redevelopment in Bourke Street Mall. “This is really the melting pot of Melbourne, the fine-grain retail itself, where an arcade really celebrates a part of our city and the larger retail of the north amongst Myer, Emporium and David Jones,” he said. “The arcade itself is really a nod to the arcades of old, the likes of the Royal and Block arcades, by taking a modern approach to the classical formation architecture.” The Melbourne Walk team had to remove layers of “pigeon guano” (excrement) from the site before construction could begin. “The building was not occupied from the ground floor up, [since 1980] so we had 10 storeys of pigeons,” Djakic said. Hayden Djakic and Teck-Lay Tay outside the Melbourne Walk site in the Bourke Street Mall. Credit: Simon Schluter Teck-Lay Tay, executive director of Steadfast Capital, said the new developments turned the mall into more of a precinct. “If you look at the next development that’s next door to us [Mecca], David Jones and St Collins Lane, the vision is to have a shopping precinct,” he said. “We invigorate Bourke Street Mall and when the tenants all come in ... it’ll be a very attractive destination for everyone.” Lord mayor Nick Reece said the mall had its ups and downs over Melbourne’s history, but it was now on the up again. “Bourke Street Mall is the most central block in the Hoddle grid, and since the earliest days of Melbourne has been a focus for retail and city life, and so to see it taking on a new lease of life now with these new projects coming online, is a fantastic milestone for Melbourne,” Reece said. Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. License this article City life For subscribers Planning City of Melbourne Retail Nick Reece Cara Waters is the city editor for The Age. Connect via Twitter , Facebook or email . Most Viewed in National LoadingAgartala, Dec 21, 2024 Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the Union Cabinet recently decided to establish three semiconductor units in the northeast for the development of the semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem which would create 20,000 direct jobs and 60,000 indirect job opportunities. While addressing the 72nd plenary session of the North Eastern Council (NEC), the Home Minister said that one of the three semiconductor units, Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Private Limited, would be set up in Assam with an investment of approximately Rs 27,000 crore, which would be the largest investment so far. Shah said that keeping this future potential in mind, the Union Ministry of Education is preparing courses in collaboration with universities in the northeast to equip the youth with relevant education and knowledge. He emphasised that this would generate a large number of jobs for the youth in all eight states of the Northeast. The Home Minister said that in the last 10 years, due to the unprecedented development of infrastructure in the northeast, not only has the physical distance been reduced, but Prime Minister Modi has also worked to bridge the distance between the people of this region and Delhi. Shah said that when Prime Minister Modi gave priority to the Northeast himself, it naturally became the priority of the entire central government. Noting that today the northeast region is on the path of development despite much diversity, he said that 10 years ago, more than 200 tribal groups and more than 195 dialects and languages of the region had become our weakness in a way, causing different kinds of conflicts. It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has done the work of converting that weakness into strength and power and more than 200 tribal groups, due to their cultural diversity, have become the centre of attraction for the entire world, and over 195 dialects and languages have contributed to making the northeast one of the 36 biodiversity hotspots in the world. The Home Minister said that there are more than 7,500 species of flowers in the northeast alone, along with various types of wildlife and water resources. The Modi government has made significant efforts over the past 10 years to preserve these natural diversities and transform the region into a preferred tourist destination, he added. Shah mentioned that during former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government, the Ministry of DONER (Development of North Eastern Region) was established. Saying that the Modi government has left no stone unturned in preserving the culture of the northeast, he mentioned that it was the Modi government that worked to include most languages from the northeast in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. He noted that now, it is time to give a big push to the country’s efforts to become a 5 trillion dollar economy through the development of the northeast region. Shah mentioned that for this, the ministries of DONER and the North Eastern Council (NEC) are working to implement the mantra of “Act East, Act Fast, and Act First.” The Union Home Minister said that over the past 50 years, the NEC has served as an important platform for discussing the aspirations, needs, and potential solutions to challenges, and has worked to become the blueprint for the development of the Northeast. He stated that in the last 10 years, violent incidents in the northeast have reduced by 71 per cent, and civilian deaths have reduced by 86 per cent. He added that nearly 10,574 insurgents have surrendered, and due to several peace agreements, the Central Government has succeeded in establishing peace across the northeast. Shah said that the allocation under the PM-DevINE scheme was approximately Rs 6600 crore, but it would soon be increased to Rs 9,000 crore. He mentioned that for the development of the northeast, more than 111 projects, including roads, power, education, healthcare services, sports infrastructure, and tourism are being implemented. He added that from 2014-15, the budget for the northeast has increased by 153 per cent, and through the Bamboo Mission, the government has set an ambitious goal to make the entire northeast prosperous. Regarding the flood problem in the northeast states, the Home Minister said that by using technology to create pathways in the natural course, the budget for constructing roads could be reduced by at least 30 per cent.(Agency)

Batteries not only power electric cars, but can supply energy to buildings and stabilize power grids, through bidirectional charging. Electric cars boast increasingly powerful batteries that are charged from the energy grid or rooftop solar systems. But when the car isn't in use, its battery can serve as storage for homes and the energy grid via a bidirectional charging process that can reduce power costs. How does it work, and are there drawbacks? What is bidirectional charging? Until recently, power flowed in one direction to electric vehicle (EV) batteries from the charging station. A charged battery could not only power the electric motor, electronics, lights and heating but external devices such as a fridge when camping, a drill on a building site or even another EV. These additional functions are called V2D (vehicle-to-device), and V2L (vehicle-to-load). But using the latest bidirectional chargers, EV batteries can also supply entire buildings with electricity using vehicle-to-home (V2H), or feed electricity into the public grid via vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. They can also simply charge car batteries. However, bidirectional devices are currently only available in select charging station locations. How much electricity can a car battery store? The batteries in EVs are becoming cheaper and more powerful. The battery in the Tesla Model Y, for example, has at least 62 kilowatt hours (kWh), the VW ID.4 has 77 kWh and the Renault small car (R5) has at least 40 kWh. By comparison, the electricity consumption of a two-person household in Germany is around 54 kWh per week. A mid-range electric car could therefore completely cover this electricity requirement with a full battery charge. In addition, the new ID.4 and R5 models are already designed to power buildings and feed electricity into the grid. With a bidirectional charging station, solar power can flow from the roof of a house into the car battery during the day, and back into the building from the car in the evening. This means residents can use cheap solar power both day and night. By linking to the electric car, homeowners can save on installing additional battery storage units for the solar system. In single-family homes, solar battery systems usually have a capacity of 5 to 10 kWh, and cost up to €10,000 ($10,440). Meanwhile, bidirectional charging is "not harmful to the car battery per se," said Robert Kohrs, an expert in smart energy grids at German research body, the Fraunhofer Institute. "If you do it right, controlled charging and discharging can increase battery life by 5 to 10%." How can electric cars stabilize the power grid? Cars are driven on average less than an hour a day in Germany. During the time that e-cars are parked, grid operators could use the batteries to temporarily store electricity and thus compensate for fluctuations in the power grid. This will help use the growing amount of solar and wind power flowing into national grids. In recent years, that has amounted to 70% of power generated in Denmark and just under 50% in Germany — though it's often available when it's not needed. EV batteries can temporarily store the surplus electricity from these renewable energy sources. When demand increases, the electricity can be fed back into the grid. This also relieves the pressure on gas or coal-fired power plants during periods of high consumption, while less battery storage is required to stabilize the electricity grids. Meet you at the charging hub! To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The savings potential for the shared use of car batteries in the EU could reach €22 billion annually, according to a recent study commissioned by the European environmental organization, Transport & Environment. The report said EVs could cover up to 9% of the EU's electricity requirements, and temporarily up to 20%, making them an important pillar of the electricity system. While the affordable and climate-neutral energy supply of the future will be based primarily on solar and wind power, according to a study published in Science magazine, this will require battery storage systems with a capacity of 74 billion kWh worldwide by 2050. By 2050, there could be 1.5 billion EVs worldwide, said the researchers. With batteries averaging 60 kWh per vehicle, this global fleet could store a total of up to 90 billion kWh of electricity. What are the benefits of car batteries for car, home and grid? According to the Fraunhofer study on EV power integration, e-car owners could save between €31 and €780 per year by sharing the battery power with their own home or the power grid. In France, private owners of the new electric Renault R5 were offered 10,000 kilometers (around 6,200 miles) of free driving electricity in return for connecting their car to a bidirectional charging station for an average of 15 hours a day. The offer has been "well received in France, we are getting a lot of interest," said Thomas Raffeiner from Mobility House, a German-Swiss company that markets bidirectional charging — and the low cost of energy for consumers who utilize the flexibility of car batteries . Raffeiner told DW that more such offers are in the works. According to a survey commissioned by energy supplier Eon, 77% of respondents would use bidirectional charging technology to supply their own buildings, while 65% would support electricity grids. Experts recommend that the new generation of private and public charging stations should function bidirectionally wherever possible. The Fraunhofer study estimated that this would increase the initial costs by roughly €100 for small charging stations (up to 22 KW), and by around €250 for a fast charging station. However, these additional costs would be offset by the savings made within a few months of use. Sources: https://www.transportenvironment.org/uploads/files/2024_10_Study_V2G_EU-Potential_Final.pdf This article was originally written in German Is range anxiety real? EV charging problems and advances To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videoTrump's threat to impose tariffs could raise prices for consumers, colliding with promise for relief

TORONTO - Losses in the tech sector led Canada’s main stock index and U.S. markets lower Friday, as investors made year-end adjustments to their holdings. The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 50.42 points at 24,796.40. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 333.59 points at 42,992.21. The S&P 500 index was down 66.75 points at 5,970.84, while the Nasdaq composite fell 298.33 points at 19,722.03. All of the markets saw larger losses earlier in the day before seeing some recovery in late trading. On the TSX, the information technology index saw the largest decline at 0.9 per cent, while utilities and industrials also fell. In the U.S., big tech names were down including Nvidia Corp., just over two per cent lower, and Microsoft Corp., down 1.7 per cent. The losses were likely more from end-of-year rebalancing than any particular outlook on the sector, said Mike Archibald, vice-president and portfolio manager with AGF Investments Inc. “Given how well stocks have done this year, there’s certainly going to be some profit taking from larger pensions, institutions and other clients, to probably rebalance,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything too nefarious about the move today. It just happens to be, you know, a little bit of profit taking from some of the real big winners.” The trend explains why the pressure can be especially seen in the magnificent seven tech stocks that have helped lead substantial gains for the year. Besides the big tech stocks, other more speculative bets like bitcoin and micro-cap stocks have also seen a retreat recently, showing a potential easing of risk appetite, said Archibald. “In the last couple of weeks we’ve seen a bit of a rollover in some of those assets, so we continue to watch those as they can be a bit of a tell for short-term trading patterns,” he said. “So we’ll see what that means as we move towards 2025.” The Canadian dollar traded for 69.37 cents US, compared with 69.51 cents US on Tuesday. The February crude oil contract was up 98 cents at US$70.60 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was up six cents at US$3.38 per mmBTU. The February gold contract was down US$22 at US$2,631.90 an ounce and the March copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.12 a pound. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

Hail Flutie: BC celebrates 40th anniversary of Miracle in Miami

Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Sunday in response to Friday’s rise in oil prices, while the Egyptian index ended lower. Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets - settled more than 1% higher on Friday, buoyed by a larger-than-expected drawdown from U.S. crude inventories last week. Optimism over Chinese economic growth has also sparked hopes of higher demand next year from the top oil importing nation. The World Bank on Thursday raised its forecast for Chinese economic growth in 2024 and 2025. Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index gained 0.4%, led by a 1.7% rise in the country’s biggest lender Saudi National Bank and an 1.8% increase in ACWA Power. Dubai index hits over a decade high again; most Gulf shares down Among other gainers, BAAN Holding Group advanced 2% after announcing the signing of two binding agreements for the acquisition of multiple real estate assets. In Qatar, the index finished 0.9% higher, with the Gulf’s biggest lender Qatar National Bank rising 0.9%. Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index fell 1.2%, with most of its constituents in negative territory including Commercial International Bank. Egypt’s central bank kept its overnight interest rates unchanged on Thursday, as expected, saying that while inflation was set to decelerate sharply in early 2025, it nonetheless remained high. SAUDI ARABIA added 0.3% to 11,893 QATAR gained 0.9% to 10,512 EGYPT lost 1.2% to 29,666 BAHRAIN was flat at 1,985 OMAN rose 1.1% to 4,516 KUWAIT eased 0.1% to 7,861Canadian foreign, finance ministers meet Trump's team on tariffsIBC speeded up recovery of Rs 10.22 lakh crore from defaulting firms: Govt

Investors quickly revisited strategies of the first after President-elect Donald Trump vowed new tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. His posts on the Truth Social platform reignited volatility in the foreign exchange market, sending the U.S. dollar soaring against the peso, loonie, and yuan. However, mature traders took his rhetoric as a continuation of his negotiation tactics that they now had better tools to deal with. Economic Effects on Global Markets As reported by earlier, Trump proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, linked to drug and immigration problems, and 10% on Chinese goods due to fentanyl-related issues. The latter has raised concerns about disruptions in the economy while heralding his familiar approach toward using tariffs as leverage in trade negotiations. The Mexican peso and Canadian dollar dropped by over 2% and 1.4%, respectively, before stabilizing. Meanwhile, the Chinese yuan hit a four-month low against the dollar. Automotive and manufacturing stocks, particularly those reliant on Mexico, faced sell-offs. Honda's shares dropped 2%, reflecting unease over trade repercussions. Chinese officials noted that drug interdiction efforts have improved and reaffirmed no party wins in trade wars. Experts do think that China could step up its drive toward greater technological independence. "China already has a template to deal with tariffs in reference to Trump 1.0," Simon Yu, the vice general manager at Panyao Asset Management in Shanghai, said. Yu added that with regard to tech-related punishments, China could have a solution to combat it through "import substitution" and self-reliance. "Regarding other clampdowns such as tech-related sanctions, China may accelerate the process of self-reliance and import substitution." Another expert, Robert St. Clair, the head of investment strategy at Fullerton Fund Management in Singapore, said that any finalized packaging could spell a slight difference from the starting positions. He added that Trump is all-in on his anti-inflation goals that's why he would continue to improve domestic manufacturing and competitiveness in the country. Therefore, this suggests, that US imports cannot be extreme to an extent. The New Normal We Should Accept While the presidential announcements surprised markets, investors anticipate that negotiations will eventually moderate the threat of even the most inflammatory rhetoric, reports. For example, Fullerton Fund Management's Robert St Clair opined that Trump's anti-inflation program would require tariffs not to harm U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. Speaking of tariffs, even for the big change that is about to come. Gaming gears, according to Tech Times are expected to increase in prices so it's recommended to buy them before the Trump inauguration. Volatility Looms Ahead Trump's unpredictable style casts a layer of uncertainty over financial markets. His propensity to make policy changes through social media increases headline risks, and thus investors need to hedge their bets. However, experienced traders remember similar market behavior during Trump's first term, hence equipping them with strategies to overcome the storm. Preparing for Policy Changes The financial world braces for another chapter of trade negotiations under Trump's administration. While his policies introduce volatility, they also offer opportunities for those willing to adapt. As one strategist aptly put it, "It feels like we've just had a time warp back to 2016." Markets may be jittery, but they are also prepared.It has been a rough past couple of weeks for former Texas Longhorns coaches across the country, and on Tuesday, another was shown the door. After Stan Drayton (Temple) and Tom Herman (FAU) were each fired by their respective programs last week, legendary Texas coach Mack Brown was fired by North Carolina on Tuesday. ESPN's Pete Thamel reported the news just one day after Brown had confirmed to the media that he was planning to return for the 2025 season. However, despite the fact that he is being fired, Thamel did report that Brown will be coaching the team's regular season finale against North Carolina State. "Here's some details on Brown's firing from the school," wrote Thamel. "Brown will coach on Saturday in its season finale against NC State. No decision has not been reached on whether Brown will coach in a Bowl game." Ken Ruinard-USA TODAY Sports After parting ways with Texas following the 2013 season, Brown was out of coaching for a few years before being hired by North Carolina in 2019. His six-year tenure with the Tar Heels comes after he was actually the program's head coach from 1988-97. His first stint with North Carolina was far more successful as he posted three 10-win seasons and three bowl victories, while this time around, he surpassed eight wins just once and won just one bowl game in five tries. Throughout his career, Brown has accumulated a 288-154-1 record, and also became the only coach in college football history with 100 wins at two different programs. Related: Texas A&M Player Fires Warning Shot at Texas Longhorns Ahead of Week 14Before being elected as the first transgender woman to the US Congress, 34-year-old Sarah McBride said she expected hostility. A harsh national spotlight has fallen swiftly upon her. "They may try to misgender me, they may try to say the wrong name, they will do what we can predictably assume they might do," she told the TransLash podcast last month ahead of her resounding election victory on November 5. "They are going to do that to get a rise out of me and my job will be to not give them the response they want," the Democrat from Delaware explained. Ahead of her arrival in the House of Representatives on January 3, McBride was targeted by a resolution this week from a right-wing Republican colleague that would ban transgender women from women's toilets in the Capitol. "Just because a Congressman wants to wear a mini skirt doesn’t mean he can come into a women’s bathroom," South Carolina firebrand Nancy Mace wrote on social media as she led a highly personal campaign against McBride. House Speaker Mike Johnson, after initially seeking to buy time to debate the issue, came out in support of a ban, saying that all single-sex facilities would be "reserved for individuals of that biological sex." McBride -- who wears knee-length dresses, not miniskirts -- issued a statement saying that she said would respect the rules "even if I disagree with them." "I'm not here to fight about bathrooms," said the politician and activist, who transitioned as a 21-year-old and told her parents on Christmas Day 2011. Donald Trump repeatedly raised transgender issues in the closing stages of his presidential campaign, with aides noting how questions around trans identity struck a nerve with swing voters. Two of the biggest issues -- at the heart of ongoing "culture wars" between conservatives and progressives -- are whether transgender women should be allowed in women's toilets and be admitted in women's sport. Mocking transgender athletes and "woke ideology," Trump promised to get "transgender insanity the hell out of our schools, and we will keep men out of women’s sports." McBride has long been an advocate for trans rights and she helped campaign for a law banning gender discrimination in her home state of Delaware, during which she was publicly called a "freak" and the "devil incarnate". "Listening to that was demeaning and dehumanizing for my child," her mother Sally told The Washington Post in a 2018 profile. "I still have a hard time coping with that." Undeterred, McBride rode the blows and was elected as the first US transgender state senator in 2020. She has been open about her mental health struggles growing up as a boy named Tim and the personal tragedy that has marked her life since, writing a memoir called "Tomorrow Will Be Different" in 2018. "I remember as a child praying in my bed at night that I would wake up the next day and be a girl," she told a TED talk in 2016. She first gathered major public attention with an open letter while a student leader at American University in Washington that announced her transition. She went on to encounter President Joe Biden and his family, also Delaware natives, when she became active in grassroots politics there. After interning at the White House under President Barack Obama, she secured an invitation to speak at the 2016 Democratic Party convention. The White House was also the scene of her first encounter with her late husband, Andrew Cray, a transgender man and LGTBQ+ activist. They married two years later shortly before Cray died from cancer. Knowing the attention she is destined for in the US Congress, she says her aim is to be an effective congresswoman focused on everyday voter priorities such as housing and inflation. But she knows she will be constantly pushed to be a spokeswoman -- and defender -- of the trans community. "I can't do right by the trans community if I'm not being the best member of Congress that I can be for Delaware," she told TransLash. "It's the only way that people will see that trans people can be good doctors, can be good lawyers, good educators, good members of Congress. I can't be there to put out a press release and tweet every time someone says something." adp/bgs

Israeli hospital says Netanyahu has undergone successful prostate surgerySports on TV for Sunday, Dec. 22

World number one Luke Humphries continued his bid for back-to-back World Championship titles after easing through to the last 16. While there was high drama in Alexandra Palace on the first day back after the Christmas break, where Damon Heta threw a nine-dart finish, Humphries enjoyed a serene evening. He beat Nick Kenny 4-0 to set up a mouth-watering fourth-round meeting with two-time champion Peter Wright. THE WORLD NUMBER ONE KICKS ON! Luke Humphries comfortably books his spot in the Last 16 with a 4-0 whitewash victory over Nick Kenny, averaging 98.59! 📺 https://t.co/pIQvhqYxEj #WCDarts pic.twitter.com/XAADalXD4Q — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 27, 2024 Kenny was unable to produce the form that saw him beat Raymond van Barneveld in the previous round and Humphries did not need to be anywhere near his best. “It was one of those games I didn’t want to take for granted,” he said. “I expected a tough game and I wasn’t firing, I felt there is so much more to give, I felt there was more to come out of me. “I didn’t want to give anyone an inch because they can take a mile. “I’m not going to give up this world title without a fight, I wasn’t at my best but when someone pushes me I know I can come up with the goods.” Earlier in the day Heta set the tournament alight on its resumption with a stunning nine-dart finish before bowing out. The Australian, seeded ninth, achieved darting perfection in the second set of his match with Luke Woodhouse to earn a cool £60,000 payday. However, his joy was short-lived as Woodhouse won a thrilling battle 4-3, having trailed 3-1. HEROIC HETA HITS THE NINE! 🔥 UNBELIEVABLE SCENES! 🤯 Damon Heta lands the second nine-darter of the tournament to raise the roof at Alexandra Palace! #WCDarts pic.twitter.com/DW6rhvFqez — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 27, 2024 Heta was millimetres away from throwing a nine-darter in the previous round when he missed the double 12, but he made no mistake this time in the first match after the Christmas break. Heta’s feat was the second time a nine-darter has been thrown in the 2025 tournament and the 16th of all time at the World Championship, following Christian Kist’s effort before Christmas. As well as landing the Australian a hefty payday, it also saw a lucky fan in Ally Pally win a £60,000, with £60,000 also being donated to Prostate Cancer UK. There were several other titanic battles, none better than Gerwyn Price’s sudden-death leg victory over Joe Cullen. Price looked like he was going to have an easy night when he coasted into a 3-0 lead, but Cullen hit back to send it to a decider, which went all the way. Cullen landed a ‘Big Fish’ 170 checkout to send the tie to a sudden-death leg on his throw but Price hit some big numbers to steal victory. “That was tough, I just wanted to get over the winning line,” he said during his on-stage interview. PRICE WINS A THRILLER! That might just be the game of the tournament so far! 💥 Gerwyn Price manages to break the Rockstars throw in the final leg of the game, and beats Joe Cullen 4-3 and books his place in the Last 16! 📺 https://t.co/pIQvhqYxEj #WCDarts pic.twitter.com/VnjnJxP0T0 — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 27, 2024 “He kept coming back, the crowd were way behind him. “I thought I was going to lose, but I kept in there right to the end and got the win. “He played some good darts at the right times. I put myself in that position, I got myself out of it and I’m still in.” Seventh seed Jonny Clayton also battled to victory after squandering a 3-0 lead against Daryl Gurney. Gurney then had six darts to send the decider to a tiebreaker but lost his nerve and Clayton stole a 4-3 win. Stephen Bunting and Peter Wright, who was suffering from a chest infection, enjoyed much more safe passages with routine wins over Madars Razma and Jermaine Wattimena respectively.Hallmark Fave Andrew Walker Goes Inside His Skincare Line and Shares Holiday Plans (VIDEO)

Rokmaster Resources Corp. ( CVE:RKR – Get Free Report )’s share price was down 25% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as C$0.02 and last traded at C$0.02. Approximately 396,000 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 182% from the average daily volume of 140,187 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.02. Rokmaster Resources Trading Down 25.0 % The company has a market cap of C$2.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.30 and a beta of 2.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 103.54. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is C$0.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$0.02. About Rokmaster Resources ( Get Free Report ) Rokmaster Resources Corp., an exploration stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in North, Central, and South America. It explores for zinc, lead, silver, copper, gold, and polymetallic deposits, as well as precious metals. The company holds a 100% in the Duncan Lake property comprising 35 contiguous mineral claims that covers an area of 3,929 hectares; and a 55% interest in the Big Copper property located in the Slocan Mining Division in southeast British Columbia, Canada. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Rokmaster Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rokmaster Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .CHICAGO — With a wave of her bangled brown fingertips to the melody of flutes and chimes, artist, theologian and academic Tricia Hersey enchanted a crowd into a dreamlike state of rest at Semicolon Books on North Michigan Avenue. “The systems can’t have you,” Hersey said into the microphone, reading mantras while leading the crowd in a group daydreaming exercise on a recent Tuesday night. The South Side native tackles many of society’s ills — racism, patriarchy, aggressive capitalism and ableism — through an undervalued yet impactful action: rest. Hersey, the founder of a movement called the Nap Ministry, dubs herself the Nap Bishop and spreads her message to over half a million followers on her Instagram account, @thenapministry . Her first book, “Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto,” became a New York Times bestseller in 2022, but Hersey has been talking about rest online and through her art for nearly a decade. Hersey, who has degrees in public health and divinity, originated the “rest as resistance” and “rest as reparations” frameworks after experimenting with rest as an exhausted graduate student in seminary. Once she started napping, she felt happier and her grades improved. But she also felt more connected to her ancestors; her work was informed by the cultural trauma of slavery that she was studying as an archivist. Hersey described the transformation as “life-changing.” The Nap Ministry began as performance art in 2017, with a small installation where 40 people joined Hersey in a collective nap. Since then, her message has morphed into multiple mediums and forms. Hersey, who now lives in Atlanta, has hosted over 100 collective naps, given lectures and facilitated meditations across the country. She’s even led a rest ritual in the bedroom of Jane Addams , and encourages her followers to dial in at her “Rest Hotline.” At Semicolon, some of those followers and newcomers came out to see Hersey in discussion with journalist Natalie Moore on Hersey’s latest book, “We Will Rest! The Art of Escape,” released this month, and to learn what it means to take a moment to rest in community. Moore recalled a time when she was trying to get ahead of chores on a weeknight. “I was like, ‘If I do this, then I’ll have less to do tomorrow.’ But then I was really tired,” Moore said. “I thought, ‘What would my Nap Bishop say? She would say go lay down.’ Tricia is in my head a lot.” At the event, Al Kelly, 33, of Rogers Park, said some of those seated in the crowd of mostly Black women woke up in tears — possibly because, for the first time, someone permitted them to rest. “It was so emotional and allowed me to think creatively about things that I want to work on and achieve,” Kelly said. Shortly after the program, Juliette Viassy, 33, a program manager who lives in the South Loop and is new to Hersey’s work, said this was her first time meditating after never being able to do it on her own. Therapist Lyndsei Howze, 33, of Printers Row, who was also seated at the book talk, said she recommends Hersey’s work “to everybody who will listen” — from her clients to her own friends. “A lot of mental health conditions come from lack of rest,” she said. “They come from exhaustion.” Before discovering Hersey’s work this spring, Howze said she and her friends sporadically napped together in one friend’s apartment after an exhausting workweek. “It felt so good just to rest in community,” she said. On Hersey’s book tour, she is leading exercises like this across the country. “I think we need to collectively do this,” Hersey explained. “We need to learn again how to daydream because we’ve been told not to do it. I don’t think most people even have a daydreaming practice.” Daydreaming, Hersey said, allows people to imagine a new world. Hersey tells her followers that yes, you can rest, even when your agenda is packed, even between caregiving, commuting, jobs, bills, emails and other daily demands. And you don’t have to do it alone. There is a community of escape artists, she said of the people who opt out of grind and hustle culture, waiting to embrace you. The book is part pocket prayer book, part instruction manual, with art and handmade typography by San Francisco-based artist George McCalman inspired by 19th-century abolitionist pamphlets, urging readers to reclaim their divine right to rest. Hersey directs her readers like an operative with instructions for a classified mission. “Let grind culture know you are not playing around,” she wrote in her book. “This is not a game or time to shrink. Your thriving depends on the art of escape.” The reluctance to rest can be rooted in capitalist culture presenting rest as a reward for productivity instead of a physical and mental necessity. Hersey deconstructs this idea of grind culture, which she says is rooted in the combined effects of white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism that “look at the body as not human.” American culture encourages grind culture, Hersey said, but slowing down and building a ritual of rest can offset its toxicity. The author eschews the ballooning billion-dollar self-care industry that encourages people to “save enough money and time off from work to fly away to an expensive retreat,” she wrote. Instead, she says rest can happen anywhere you have a place to be comfortable: in nature, on a yoga mat, in the car between shifts, on a cozy couch after work. Resting isn’t just napping either. She praises long showers, sipping warm tea, playing music, praying or numerous other relaxing activities that slow down the body. “We’re in a crisis mode of deep sleep deprivation, deep lack of self-worth, (and) mental health,” said Hersey. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2022 , in Illinois about 37% of adults aren’t getting the rest they need at night. If ignored, the effects of sleep deprivation can have bigger implications later, Hersey said. In October, she lectured at a sleep conference at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, where her humanities work was featured alongside research from the world’s top neuroscientists. Jennifer Mundt, a Northwestern clinician and professor of sleep medicine, psychiatry and behavioral sciences, praises Hersey for bringing the issue of sleep and rest to the public. In a Tribune op-ed last year, Mundt argued that our culture focuses too heavily on sleep as something that must be earned rather than a vital aspect of health and that linking sleep to productivity is harmful and stigmatizing. “Linking sleep and productivity is harmful because it overshadows the bevy of other reasons to prioritize sleep as an essential component of health,” Mundt wrote. “It also stigmatizes groups that are affected by sleep disparities and certain chronic sleep disorders.” In a 30-year longitudinal study released in the spring by the New York University School of Social Work, people who worked long hours and late shifts reported the lowest sleep quality and lowest physical and mental functions, and the highest likelihood of reporting poor health and depression at age 50. The study also showed that Black men and women with limited education “were more likely than others to shoulder the harmful links between nonstandard work schedules and sleep and health, worsening their probability of maintaining and nurturing their health as they approach middle adulthood.” The CDC links sleeping fewer than seven hours a day to an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and more. Although the Nap Ministry movement is new for her followers, Hersey’s written about her family’s practice of prioritizing rest, which informs her work. Her dad was a community organizer, a yardmaster for the Union Pacific Railroad Co. and an assistant pastor. Before long hours of work, he would dedicate hours each day to self-care. Hersey also grew up observing her grandma meditate for 30 minutes daily. Through rest, Hersey said she honors her ancestors who were enslaved and confronts generational trauma. When “Rest Is Resistance” was released in 2022, Americans were navigating a pandemic and conversations on glaring racial disparities. “We Will Rest!” comes on the heels of a historic presidential election where Black women fundraised for Vice President Kamala Harris and registered voters in a dizzying three-month campaign. Following Harris’ defeat, many of those women are finding self-care and preservation even more important. “There are a lot of Black women announcing how exhausted they are,” Moore said. “This could be their entry point to get to know (Hersey’s) work, which is bigger than whatever political wind is blowing right now.” Hersey said Chicagoans can meet kindred spirits in her environment of rest. Haji Healing Salon, a wellness center, and the social justice-focused Free Street Theater are sites where Hersey honed her craft and found community. In the fall, the theater put on “Rest/Reposo,” a performance featuring a community naptime outdoors in McKinley Park and in its Back of the Yards space. Haji is also an apothecary and hosts community healing activities, sound meditations and yoga classes. “It is in Bronzeville; it’s a beautiful space owned by my friend Aya,” Hersey said, explaining how her community has helped her build the Nap Ministry. “When I first started the Nap Ministry, before I was even understanding what it was, she was like, come do your work here.” “We Will Rest!” is a collection of poems, drawings and short passages. In contrast to her first book, Hersey said she leaned more into her artistic background; the art process alone took 18 months to complete. After a tough year for many, she considers it medicine for a “sick and exhausted” world. “It’s its own sacred document,” Hersey said. “It’s something that, if you have it in your library and you have it with you, you may feel more human.” lazu@chicagotribune.comCroatia's incumbent president gains most votes for re-election, but not enough to avoid a runoff