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jili donnalyn Wisconsin faces its first losing season in 23 years and the end of a bowl streak when the Badgers host arch-rival Minnesota on Friday in the annual Big Ten battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe. Minnesota (6-5, 4-4) lost to No. 4 Penn State 26-25. Wisconsin (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten) lost its fourth straight, 44-25, at Nebraska in a game that was not as close as the score. "Well 1890 is the first time we played this football team coming up and this is what it's all about," Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said of the rivalry. "And you wouldn't want to have it any other way, being able to end the season with one of your biggest rivals. I know our guys will be ready to go, ready to play." Wisconsin has 22 consecutive winning seasons since going 5-7 under Barry Alvarez in 2001, the longest active streak among Power 4 teams. The Badgers also have played in a bowl game in each of the last 22 seasons, the longest active streak in the Big Ten and third-longest in FBS. Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell is more concerned with the rivalry game than the winning season and bowl streaks. "I'm not downplaying it, I'm not saying it's not important, I'm not saying it's another thing that's on our plate," Fickell said Monday. "But when it gets down to this last week, it's about one thing, it's about the rivalry. It's about preparing to play in the most important game of the year." The Gophers have dropped their last two games after winning four in a row. Minnesota averages 26.6 points per game, while allowing 18.5, 15th-best in the country. Max Brosmer has completed 67 percent of his passes for 221 per game with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. Daniel Jackson is the top target with 69 catches for 802 yards and three scores, and Darius Taylor is the top rusher with 730 yards at 4.8 per carry with nine touchdowns. One week after leading Oregon after three quarters, the Wisconsin defense was shredded for 473 yards and five touchdowns by Nebraska. Braedyn Locke, who took over at quarterback when Tyler Van Dyke suffered an early season-ending knee injury, has thrown at least one interception in eight consecutive games. Locke has completed 56.4 percent of his passes for 180.6 yards per game, with 12 touchdowns and 10 picks. Tawee Walker is the leading rusher with 828 yards at 4.7 per carry with 10 touchdowns. He has failed to reach 60 yards in three of the last four games. Former Wisconsin and NFL standout JJ Watt posted on social media his assessment - and frustration - with the Badgers after the Nebraska game. "Losing happens, it's part of the game. Hearing announcers talk about how much tougher and more physical Nebraska & Iowa are while getting blown out ... that's the issue," Watt wrote on X. "We are Wisconsin. Physicality, running game, great O-Line and great defense. That is our identity." Wisconsin defeated the Gophers 28-14 last after Minnesota had won the previous two meetings. The Badgers have won 7 of the last 10 and lead the storied series 63-62-8. --Field Level Media

AP Sports SummaryBrief at 3:45 p.m. ESTExclusive -- Naval War College Arctic Founding Director: Greenland a ‘Linchpin’ for U.S. Security, Future of Free World

Even where minimalism is verging on neurosis, clutter is often not the problem. It’s tidiness, that plain, old-fashioned habit of putting things back where they belong. After an avalanche of luggage knocked my glasses smartly off my face and almost crushed my oldest JRT (she can’t corner as she used to), I had to face the fact that me and mine were covert domestic slobs. We were shovelling the couldn’t-be-bothered behind cupboard doors, postponing the pain of dealing with that dratted sheaf of envelopes — the ripped throw, that pile of books for St Vincent de Paul. The place is Spartan already. I appear to have been robbed. There was nothing on show not performing a practical role and/or that didn’t have a strong emotional pull and yet, I was failing in maintaining the well-ordered environment I wanted. At the end of most days, detritus and undone tiny jobs were littered around my rooms and more disturbingly, snowballing in my head. Have you heard of the one-touch rule? Used everywhere from hotels to homes, cooperate offices to cruise-ship kitchens if you can summon the discipline it's been a game-changer. Brought to light by Ann Gomez, a productivity consultant and the founding president of Toronto-based organisation Clear Concept Inc, one-touch thinking is an ancient practice. It involves staying in the moment and dealing with smaller repetitive tasks in one continuous arc. If you come in the door and remove your coat, you put it on a hanger and off you go. If you need a bag for work at 7.30am the next day, it’s placed in position on its return from the outside world. If you pick up a letter from the mat or see an email that requires a response, you sit down and write or tap it out, firing a torn envelope right into the recycling. As housekeepers, we cannot escape the exhaustion of being multitaskers, and women are routinely feted as superior to men in this department. However, in many cases we get so busy completing yesterday’s ridiculous little jobs, that we park only partially completed, we fudge what’s in front of us. It's procrastination over minute motions. Down the line, these collide with our productivity and comfort. Imagine this as using a domestic credit card in a really sloppy way. It’s quick, convenient, and mindless, but the interest rate accumulates and builds into a bill we cannot easily pay. If you find yourself saying “I’ll deal with that later”, you’re probably in need of one-touch. So, how do we get started with this life-altering new practice? Start small and instil some calm in what you’re doing. Centred breathing brings me right back to the now, as my chore skipping generally rides in on a ripple of anxiety about some past or future happening misting my mind. The one-touch rule is a good way to get through editing down domestic ballast in the course of a declutter too. Like flexing a lesser-used muscle, the more you do it, the easier and more natural it will become, finally reading as effortless. Think of it as getting into the now, even while keeping your place straight. Begin with that coat you’re throwing on the hall table or putting your shopping bags back in the car boot after you’ve done the Ben Hur chariot run and unloaded from the supermarket. Notice the little undone things that accumulate and give you a little spark of stress, depleting your mental energy. Be more aware of when this sly putting-off happens over an ordinary day. Laugh, forgive yourself, and commit to cleaning up your act. The laundry is one area where the system so easily breaks down. When the drying is dry and you have the time to, fold and put it away right into drawers. It’s one-touch, not two to three happenings. Life happens, and in the midst of doing something even relatively important — scraped knees, phones to answer and other slings and arrows of family life must take priority. One-touch is so positive because you can start right now. You make yourself tea, you go to leave the tea bag in the sink. You pause, think one touch, take out an unused canister and make it your new tea-bag recycling tin. Done. The chore of taking that tea bag to the recycling, and cleaning that blot off the stainless steel no longer exists. With kids try simply asking them to think about putting things away where they should go rather than putting them down. I found the three-minute toy tidy challenge with music and coloured baskets a real winner when Faelen was small. If things needed carrying upstairs, we had a basket for three to five items. It works well without flying upstairs for every sock or single item from the shopping. One-touch makes the most sense when you carry out a task in one allotted time. It could be 30 seconds, it could be an hour. Don’t plan tasks that take time and concentration into slivers of your day. This could be washing windows, cleaning out a base cupboard or setting out a meal plan. It’s better to schedule them further down the road into logical generous periods when you know you can make a beginning and end of the job in one clean motion with uninterrupted focus. Once committed to doing something, don’t allow other distractions, intersecting chores, or “while I’m here” to knock you off your primary plan – stay on task. Schedule those things for when you have time. Decluttering is often a major chore, and you can stop the drip of additional stuff drowning your good intentions by starting one-touch behaviours immediately. If you put your hand on something, avoid putting your hand on it again. Follow through. When it comes to organising a serious mess, plan what you’re hoping to achieve and be more decisive. Pick it up, analyse if it has a place in your life, and if not put it straight into the box that’s going out the door to a charity shop, to the dump or on its way to a new home. Don’t dither or make up a "maybe" box. Don’t take the boxes to a quiet place of forgetfulness like the garage. Try somewhere deliberately annoying like the back seat of the car rather than the boot. It’s important to have a place for everything, but don’t automatically introduce more storage to solve a storage issue. I do like to micro-manage as it puts very clear parameters on where my things are going once in the air. I have to finish here with a book gifted to me by a friend. The outrageous title (including the author’s name) made me laugh out loud before I slid it neatly onto my shelves for an evening revelation — Nobody Wants Your Sh*t: The Art of Decluttering Before You Die (€16, Skyhorse Publishing). I’ll have to rely on an asterisk-heavy promo to describe the work organisational savant and devoted swearer Messie Condo (surely a pseudonym), but I couldn’t sum up this roll-on-the-floor guide better: “Like a delightfully foul-mouthed best friend, this book dishes out the funny, unpretentious advice you need to hear most. You’ll discover how to deal with your sh*t like there’s no tomorrow, live in the moment without the f**king mess, and make your life and your eventual death a hell of a lot easier. Learn how to: ditch the d*mn indecision, get your sh*t together and feel fantastic and more!” It’s Swedish Death Cleaning with the quaint, polite framing stuffed into the black bin. It was hilarious and confronting.Thousands of Syrians gathered in Damascus’ main square and a historic mosque for the first Muslim Friday prayers since former President Bashar Assad was overthrown , a major symbolic moment for the country’s dramatic change of power. The rebels are now working to establish security and start a political transition after seizing the capital on Sunday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Friday, pressing ahead with efforts to unify Middle East nations in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria. It’s part of Blinken’s 12th trip to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year in Gaza but his first after Assad was ousted. The U.S. is also making a renewed push for an ceasefire in Gaza, where the war has plunged more than 2 million Palestinians into a severe humanitarian crisis. Israel’s war against Hamas has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The October 2023 attack by Hamas in southern Israel that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Here's the latest: WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has transported out of Syria an American who disappeared seven months ago into former President Bashar Assad’s notorious prison system and was among the thousands released this week by rebels, a U.S. official said Friday. Travis Timmerman was flown out of Syria on a U.S. military helicopter, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation. Timmerman, 29, told The Associated Press he had gone to Syria on a Christian pilgrimage and was not ill-treated while in Palestine Branch, a notorious detention facility operated by Syrian intelligence. He said he was freed by “the liberators who came into the prison and knocked the door down (of his cell) with a hammer.” Timmerman said he was released Monday morning alongside a young Syrian man and 70 female prisoners, some of whom had their children with them. He had been held separately from Syrian and other Arab prisoners and said he didn’t know of any other Americans held in the facility. — By Lolita C. Baldor THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Dutch court on Friday rejected a bid from human rights groups to block weapons exports to Israel and trading with the occupied territories, after finding there were sufficient checks already in place to comply with international law. The ten organizations told The Hague District Court last month that they thought the Netherlands was in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention, drawn up following World War II, by continuing to sell weapons to Israel more than a year into the conflict in Gaza. “The government uses my own tax money, that I pay, to kill my own family. I’ve lost 18 members of my own family,” Ahmed Abofoul, a legal adviser for the pro-Palestinian organization Al-Haq, one of the groups involved in the lawsuit, told the court during a hearing in November . The court ruling said that “it is not up to the interim relief judge to order the state to reconsider government policy. That is primarily a political responsibility.” Lawyers for the government argued it wasn’t up to a judge to decide foreign policy for the Netherlands. The activist groups pointed to several emergency orders from another court, the International Court of Justice, as confirming the obligation to stop weapons sales. In January, the top U.N. court said it was plausible Palestinians were being deprived of some rights protected under the Genocide Convention. The coalition said it will review the court’s ruling and is considering an appeal. CAIRO — Israeli attacks in and around a hospital in northern Gaza wounded three medical staff overnight into Friday and caused damage to the isolated medical facility, according to its director. Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya said Israeli quadcopter drones carrying explosives deliberately targeted the emergency and reception area of Kamal Adwan Hospital, where one doctor was wounded for a third time. Abu Safiya said “relentless” drone and artillery strikes throughout the night exploded “alarmingly close” to the hospital, heavily damaging nearby buildings and destroying most of the water tanks on the hospital’s roof and blowing out doors and windows. Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahiya has been hit multiple times over the past two months since Israel launched a fierce military operation against Hamas in northern Gaza. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. “We demand international protection for the hospital and its staff,” Abu Safiya said in a statement released via the U.K.-based aid group Medical Aid for Palestinians, “as well as the entry of delegations with surgical expertise, medical supplies, and essential medications to ensure we can adequately serve the people we are treating.” Abu Safiya said there were 72 wounded patients at the hospital, one of the few medical facilities left in northern Gaza. He said he expected Israeli forces would allow a World Health Organization aid convoy to bring supplies to the hospital on Friday or Saturday, as well as a team of doctors from Indonesia. Israel has allowed almost no humanitarian or medical aid to enter the three besieged communities in northern Gaza — Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and the urban Jabaliya refugee camp — and ordered tens of thousands to flee to nearby Gaza City. Israeli officials have said the three communities are mostly deserted, but the United Nations humanitarian office said Tuesday it believes around 65,000 to 75,000 people are still there, with little access to food, water, electricity or health care. Experts have warned that the north may be experiencing famine . BAGHDAD — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced stop in Iraq on Friday on his latest visit to the Middle East aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria to prevent further regional turmoil. Blinken met in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani as part of the hastily arranged trip, his 12th to the region since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but his first since the weekend ouster of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad. Blinken has already been to Jordan and Turkey on his current tour and will return to Jordan for urgent meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers to try to unify support for an inclusive post-Assad transition that does not allow the Islamic State group to take advantage of the political vacuum in Syria and secures suspected chemical weapons stocks. In Baghdad, Blinken “will underscore U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership and to Iraq’s security, stability, and sovereignty,” the State Department said. “He will also discuss regional security opportunities and challenges, as well as enduring U.S. support for engagement with all communities in Syria to establish an inclusive transition,” it said in a statement. His trip comes as the Biden administration winds down with just over a month left before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has been highly critical of Biden’s approach to the Middle East and skeptical of the U.S. military presence in both Iraq and Syria. The U.S. and Iraq agreed in September to wrap up U.S.-led military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq next year, although Assad’s ouster and the potential for the group taking advantage of a political vacuum in Syria could complicate the timing of the withdrawal, according to American officials. DAMASCUS — The kingdom of Bahrain sent a message Friday to Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the insurgency that toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It said Bahrain is “fully prepared to consult with you continuously and to provide support in regional and international organizations to achieve what is in the interest of the brotherly Syrian people.” It added, “We look forward to Syria regaining its authentic role in the Arab League.” Bahrain is the current head of the Arab summit. Syria was readmitted to the Arab League last year after 12 years of ostracization. It is still unclear how the international community will deal officially with the new interim government in Syria. JERUSALEM - Israel’s defense minister told troops to prepare to remain through the winter months on the peak of Mount Hermon, Syria’s highest point, located in a swath of southern Syria that Israeli troops moved into after the fall of Damascus to insurgents. The comments by Defense Minister Israel Katz signaled that the military will extend its occupation of the zone along the border, which Israel says it seized to create a buffer zone. In a statement Friday, Katz said that holding the peak was of major importance for Israel’s security and that it would be necessary to build facilities there to sustain troops through the winter. The summit of Mount Hermon, the highest peak on the eastern Mediterranean coast at 2,814 meters (9,232 feet), gives a commanding view over the plains of southern Syria. It also positions Israeli troops about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the center of Damascus. The mount is divided between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Lebanon and Syria. Only the United States recognizes Israel’s control of the Golan Heights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israeli troops would remain in the zone until another force across the border in Syria could guarantee security. Israeli troops moved into the zone -– set as a demilitarized area inside Syrian territory under truce deals that ended the 1973 Mideast war -- after the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell last weekend. ANKARA, Turkey -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday there was “broad agreement” between Turkey and the United States on what they would like to see in Syria following the ouster of President Bashar Assad. “There’s broad agreement on what we would like to see going forward, starting with the interim government in Syria, one that is inclusive and non-sectarian and one that protects the rights of minorities and women” and does not “pose any kind of threat to any of Syria’s neighbors,” Blinken said in joint statements with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. The insurgent groups that toppled Assad in Syria have not made clear their policy or stance on Israel, whose military in recent days has bombed sites all over the country, saying it is trying to prevent weapons from falling into extremist hands. Blinken also said it was crucial to keep the Islamic State group under control. “We also discussed the imperative of continuing the efforts to keep ISIS down. Our countries worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of ISIS to ensure that that threat doesn’t rear its head again,” Blinken said. The Turkish foreign minister said the two discussed ways of establishing prosperity in Syria and ending terrorism in the country. “Our priority is establishing stability in Syria as soon as possible, preventing terrorism from gaining ground, and ensuring that IS and the PKK aren’t dominant,” Fidan said, in a reference to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party. Blinken said: “We’re very focused on Syria, very focused on the opportunity that now is before us and before the Syrian people to move from out from under the shackles of Bashar al-Assad to a different and better future for the Syrian people, one that the Syrian people decide for themselves.” Blinken and Fidan said they had also discussed a ceasefire for Gaza. “We’ve seen in the last couple of weeks more encouraging signs that (a ceasefire) is possible,” Blinken said. Blinken, who is making his 12th trip to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but first since the weekend ouster of Assad, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late Thursday. The outgoing Biden administration is particularly concerned that a power vacuum in Syria could exacerbate already heightened tensions in the region, which is already wracked by multiple conflicts, and create conditions for the Islamic State group to regain territory and influence. Later Friday, Blinken is to return to Jordan for meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers and senior officials from the European Union, the Arab League and the United Nations. ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey has appointed a temporary charge d’affaires to reopen its embassy in Syria, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported. The Turkish Embassy in Damascus had suspended operations in 2012 due to the escalating security problems during the Syrian civil war and embassy staff and their families were recalled to Turkey. The Anadolu Agency said late Thursday that Turkey appointed Burhan Koroglu, its ambassador in Mauritania, to the post. UNITED NATIONS- – Two U.N. aid convoys were violently attacked in Gaza, making it virtually impossible for humanitarian agencies to operate without putting staff and civilians at risk, the U.N. food agency says. On Wednesday, a 70-truck convoy from Kerem Shalom was waiting for personnel to safeguard the food and other aid destined for central Gaza when there were reported attacks by Israeli forces in the nearby humanitarian zone, the U.N. World Food Program said Thursday. More than 50 people are now estimated to have died in the attacks, including civilians and local security personnel who had been expected to ensure the convoy’s safety, WFP said. The Rome-based agency said the convoy was forced to proceed from Kerem Shalom to central Gaza without any security arrangements, using the Philadelphi corridor, an Israeli-controlled route that had been recently approved and successfully utilized twice. On the way, WFP said, conflict and insecurity led to a loss of communication with the convoy for more than 12 hours. ”Eventually, the trucks were found but all food and aid supplies were looted,” the U.N. agency said. In a second incident, Israeli soldiers approached a WFP convoy moving out of the Kissufim crossing into central Gaza, fired warning shots, conducted extensive security checks, and temporarily detained drivers and staff, the agency said. “As the trucks were delayed, four out of the five trucks were lost to violent armed looting,” WFP said. UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations chief has a message for Israel: Stop the attacks on Syria. Secretary-General António Guterres is particularly concerned about several hundred Israeli airstrikes on several Syrian locations and stresses “the urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday. The Israeli military said Tuesday it carried out more than 350 strikes in Syria over the previous 48 hours, hitting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country to stop them from falling into the hands of extremists. Israel also acknowledged pushing into a buffer zone inside Syria following last week’s overthrow of President Bashar Assad. The buffer zone was established after Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1973 war. Dujarric said Guterres condemns all actions violating the 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries that remain in force. And the U.N. chief calls on the parties to uphold the agreement and end “all unauthorized presence in the area of separation” and refrain from any action undermining the ceasefire and stability in the Golan Heights, the spokesman said.

You’ve got to be a pretty big deal to get an arena like SAP Center to blow up its entire concessions menu. Billie Eilish is that big of a deal. When the Grammy and Oscar-winning singer-songwriter brings “Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour” to San Jose for two sold-out shows Tuesday and Wednesday, fans will find only vegan and vegetarian options, in line with Eilish’s advocacy for plant-based diets. So what does that mean? Vegan hot dogs, chicken tenders and pizza will be on the menus, along with popcorn, pretzels and chips and salsa. Vegan Mob will be offering vegan soul food options; Arteaga’s will be making its burritos and tacos with sofritas or veggies and serving them with vegan cheese and sour cream; and Sushi Confidential will be offering veggie rolls, teriyaki veggie bowls and fried tofu for at least Tuesday night. Even the soft serve ice cream at Sugar + Ice will be made out of oat milk. And, the suites will get in on the action, too, by serving a non-meat menu with vegan chicken tenders, Impossible sliders and a crudite with hummus offered along with vegan versions of ranch dip, aioli and ketchup. SAP Center regularly has some vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, but this is believed to be the first time the arena has changed its entire menu for an artist. (The willingness to do this could even be a selling point for SAP Center should Paul McCartney, who is a vegetarian, decide to bring his “Got Back” tour to the Bay Area next year.) What if you’re not a vegetarian? Well, you could give it a try for the night or at least consider yourself forewarned and make plans to eat before the show. As part of the push, Eilish also has partnered with Google Maps to recommend vegetarian and vegan restaurants in the cities on her tour. For San Jose, her picks are Vegetarian House (520 E. Santa Clara St.), Good Karma Fine Ales (37 S. First St.), Veggie Grill at Santana Row and Merit Vegan Restaurant (548 Lawrence Expy. in Sunnyvale). I’ll add to the list Tofoo Com Chay , a great Vietnamese vegetarian restaurant at 388 E. Santa Clara St., and Vegan Bistro and Donuts , which also houses Aina’s Vegan Banh Mi , on 10th and Santa Clara Streets (though it’s regularly closed Monday through Wednesday). Pizza My Heart at 117 E. San Carlos St. also offers lots of vegan and vegetarian specialty pizzas including a vegan version of its garlic-filled Big Sur pizza. If concertgoers want to make their trip even more sustainable, they should remember that both VTA and Caltrain are good, climate-friendlier ways to get to SAP Center. ON THE RIGHT TRACK: On the subject of Caltrain, state Sen. Dave Cortese can’t believe the transit agency has agreed to transfer its entire retired fleet — 90 gallery cars and 19 diesel locomotives — to Lima, Peru after finally getting its entire fleet electrified this fall. “This is no way to run a railroad by taking the diesel off California’s carbon footprint then putting it right back on in Peru. Are we not all fighting to decarbonize the same air?” Cortese, who chairs the state Senate Transportation committee, said in a release. He introduced a bill Monday that states the intent of the Legislature to restrict the resale of decommissioned diesel trains and rolling stock for continued use. I still like the idea of planting a locomotive and gallery car on permanent display at San Jose’s Diridon Station as part of a transit museum. NINETEEN TIMES TWO FOR THE HOLIDAYS: San Jose musician Gus Kambeitz is being a tuneful Santa Claus this season, with his jazzy Nineteen Big Band performing benefit concerts for two downtown theater companies. On Dec. 10, Nineteen will provide the tunes at City Lights Theatre Company for seven actors who’ve performed in “The Rocky Horror Show,” “Kinky Boots” and other City Lights musicals. Go to www.cltc.org for tickets. Then, a week later on Dec. 17, Nineteen will be at San Jose Stage Company for its “Sounds of the Season Holiday Bash,” performing jazzy versions of holiday favorites along with some familiar San Jose Stage voices: Adrienne Herro, Allison F. Rich, Will Springhorn Jr. and Jonathan Rhys Williams. Tickets are available at www.thestage.org/tickets . And if that’s not enough, vocalist Ren Geisick has two chances to catch her 10th annual “Winter Wonderland” show at City Lights this month, bringing a mix of classic holiday tunes and originals on Dec. 8 and 15. MUSICAL TRAFFIC JAM: After the 49ers last couple of games, you might be looking for a less stressful way to spend your Sunday afternoon than seeing if they can beat the Chicago Bears. If so, there is a trio of musical options on Dec. 8 — but they’re all at 3 p.m. at different South Bay venues. The San Jose Metropolitan Band will be playing its “Holiday Spectacular” concert at the Hammer Theatre, the San Jose Wind Symphony has “Hollywood Holidays” at the McAfee Performing Arts Center in Saratoga, and the First Congregational Church of San Jose, at 1980 Hamilton Ave., is welcoming chamber orchestra Harmonia California for its Concerts on the Corner series (which will include the world premiere of Bay Area composer Alan Hebert’s “The Orchestra and the Orchard.”) Take your pick. If you don’t get to the First Congregational Church, though, you can always stop by Dec. 13 when it has its holiday program, “Carols on the Corner,” with the church’s Bell Choir, Chancel Choir and Family Band joined by guest musicians. Donations of non-perishable food items will benefit the Campbell United Church of Christ Food Pantry.NoneMon : Eurogroup Meeting; Chinese CPI & PPI (Nov), EZ Sentix (Dec), US Employment Trends (Nov) Tue : RBA Policy Announcement, EIA STEO; German Final CPI (Nov), Norwegian CPI (Nov), US NFIB (Nov), Chinese Trade Balance (Nov), Chinese Central Economic Work Conference Wed : BoC & BCB Policy Announcement, OPEC MOMR; South African CPI (Nov), US CPI (Nov) Thu : ECB & SNB Policy Announcements, Norges Bank Regional Network, IEA OMR; Australian Employment (Nov), UK GDP Estimate (Oct), US Initial Jobless Claims (w/e 7th), PPI (Nov), Japanese Tankan Index (Q4) Fri : N/A Chinese Inflation (Mon) : Chinese inflation data for November will provide the latest clues into the underlying health of the world’s second-largest economy following the slower-than-expected pace of annual growth in consumer prices and continued decline in factory gate prices seen the month before. As a reminder, the price data for October was softer than anticipated with CPI YY at 0.3% vs. Exp. 0.4% (Prev. 0.4%) and PPI YY at -2.9% vs. Exp. -2.5% (Prev. -2.8%). The monthly change in consumer prices also fell into deflation territory at -0.3% vs. Exp. -0.1% (Prev. 0.0%). The annual rise in CPI was facilitated by a 2.9% increase in food prices, as well as a 0.2% and 0.4% rise in consumer goods inflation and services prices, respectively. Conversely, housing rent fell 0.3% which attests to the ongoing property sector woes, while the costs of fuels for transport saw a double-digit percentage drop of 10.5% and contributed to a 4.8% decline in the transportation and telecommunication category. Furthermore, there was a steeper drop in China’s producer prices which was in deflation for a 25th consecutive month in October amid a 3.3% decline in the costs of production materials with a 5.1% drop in mining and 4.0% decline in raw material costs, while the factory gate price for consumer goods fell 1.6% and durable goods fell 3.1%. Nonetheless, China’s National Bureau of Statistics deputy head anticipates consumer prices to recover for the remainder of the year citing an improved economic situation, seasonal factors and a diminishing carryover effect. Of note, November CPI Y/Y is expected at 0.5% and PPI Y/Y is expected at -2.8%. RBA Policy Announcement (Tue) : The RBA is likely to keep rates unchanged at its meeting next week with a recent Reuters poll showing unanimous forecasts for the central bank to remain on pause, while money markets are pricing an 85% for the Cash Rate to be kept at 4.35% and just a 15% likelihood of a 25bps cut. As a reminder, the central bank opted to keep the Cash Rate unchanged for the 8th consecutive meeting last month which economists had unanimously forecast, while the rhetoric provided little fresh insight as it reiterated that the board will continue to rely upon the data and evolving assessment of risks, as well as noted that inflation remains too high and is not expected to return sustainably to the midpoint of the target until 2026. Furthermore, it stated that policy will need to be sufficiently restrictive until the board is confident that inflation is moving sustainably towards the target range and it repeated that the board is not ruling anything in or out. The post-meeting press conference also provided little in the way of fresh clues as RBA Governor Bullock stated that the last part of bringing inflation down is not easy and rates need to stay restrictive for the time being, while she thinks there are still risks on the upside for inflation but noted they will be ready to act if the economy turns down more than expected. Bullock also noted that they have the right settings at the moment and there were no discussions on specific scenarios for rate changes, as well as stated the current Cash Rate path priced by the market is as good as any. The minutes from the meeting further suggested a lack of urgency to act as it noted the Board is vigilant to upside inflation risks and policy needs to remain restrictive, while it saw no immediate need to change the Cash Rate and would need more than one good quarterly inflation report to justify a rate cut. The rhetoric from officials since then continues to suggest the central bank is keeping its options open as Governor Bullock stated the RBA will be in a position to consider rate cuts at some point, as long as inflation continues on its gradual slowing path and the Board can respond if inflation falls more quickly than forecast, as well as noted that they do not need inflation to be at the target to cut, but needs to be sure that it is heading there. Furthermore, a couple of the big 4 banks in Australia have adjusted their rate cut calls including ANZ Bank which pushed back its forecast for the first RBA rate cut to May next year from February and now only sees two 25bp cuts vs a prior view of three cuts, while Westpac also now expect the RBA to start cutting rates in May 2025 vs. a prior forecast of February 2025, although money markets have recently shifted to fully pricing a first cut in April after disappointing Australian GDP data for Q3. Chinese Trade (Tue): China will release its trade figures for November which participants will be eyeing to see if there is an improvement from the mixed figures seen in October. The prior data saw a larger-than-expected trade surplus of USD 95.72bln vs. Exp. 76.03bln (Prev. 81.71bln) and a double-digit surge in exports of 12.7% vs. Exp. 5.2% (Prev. 2.4%) but imports contracted at a steeper-than-feared pace of -2.3% vs. Exp. -1.5% (Prev. 0.3%). The rise in exports in October surpassed even the most optimistic of analysts' estimates to register the fastest growth since March 2023. It also followed a series of policy support announcements by officials in Beijing including the PBoC’s cuts to the RRR and across its short-term funding rates, while the month of October also saw a return to expansion territory of China’s factory activity after five consecutive months of contraction. However, this further improved in November and provides some encouragement for the upcoming release. Conversely, imports contracted by more than feared in October which highlights China’s weak domestic demand and consumption amid the ongoing property sector woes and trade frictions with the latter likely to worsen next year owing to the threat of increased tariffs on Trump’s return to the White House. In terms of the expectations for the upcoming data, the Trade Balance is seen at a surplus of USD 95.5bln, while exports growth is seen at 8.5% and Imports at 0.3%. Chinese Central Economic Work Conference (Tue-Wed) While no major numerical targets are expected (typically set at the Two Sessions), the market will be closely watching for shifts in tone on fiscal and monetary policy heading into next year. Currently, the stance is proactive on fiscal policy and prudent on monetary policy. The focus will likely be on whether there’s a new emphasis on boosting domestic demand or supporting the property market. Analysts will also be attentive to any changes in rhetoric that could signal a shift toward more aggressive policy support. That being said, the Chinese press played down prospects for stimulus as it warned against blindly pursuing faster growth and signalled more focus on supporting consumption in a flurry of articles ahead of the Central Economic Work Conference, according to Bloomberg. Analysts at ING “expect the markets would be satisfied with a shift to signal more aggressive policy support but may be disappointed if the release offers little new content.” BoC Policy Announcement (Wed) : The BoC is widely expected to cut rates on Wednesday 11th December, although money market pricing suggests the magnitude will be either a 25 or 50bps move. Markets were pricing in the decision to be a coin toss between a 25 or 50bps reduction. Recent data has been mixed, the latest Inflation report saw inflation come in hotter than forecast while growth data disappointed. However, the November jobs report was dovish with a notable rise in the unemployment rate, this saw markets lean more towards a 50bps rate cut, with 43bps of easing currently priced, implying a c. 70% probability of another 50bps rate cut. The prior BoC meeting saw the central bank cut rates by 50bps, a decision made to support economic growth and keep inflation close to the middle of the 1-3% target range. Participants have been questioning whether the BoC will go ahead with another 50bps rate cut to support economic growth, or perhaps slow to a 25bps rate cut due to the recent uptick in inflation, but the recent jobs report has seen these expectations lean towards the more dovish outcome. Note, that this meeting will not see an update to the monetary policy report and economic forecasts. BCB Policy Announcement (Wed): The BCB is expected to hike rates by 75bps next week, according to 31/40 economists surveyed by Reuters, with 5 expecting a 50bps hike and four looking for a 100bp hike. There has been a notable weakening in the BRL recently after the recent fiscal package announcements from the government. The spending cuts and income tax reform were perceived poorly and enhanced fiscal fears in Brazil, this took USD/BRL to a peak of 6.1150, the highest level on record. Meanwhile, recent economic data has shown the economic resilience of the Brazilian economy in Q3, with GDP growth of 0.9% Q/Q and 4.0% Y/Y, and is supported by strong domestic fundamentals like low inflation and a robust labour market, analysts have said. However, November's inflation data showed a surge, driven by food and transportation costs, with the IPCA-15 rising +0.6% M/M and 4.8% Y/Y, both higher than expected. Given these developments, the BCB is likely to maintain a cautious stance, continuing its tightening cycle to combat rising inflation and persistent inflation expectations, Pantheon Macroeconomics said. The consultancy expects that the impact of high real interest rates and external pressures, including a weak global trade environment, are expected to start weighing on economic activity ahead. Accordingly, Pantheon expects the BCB to raise its Selic rate by 50bps on December 11th, as it aims to curb inflationary pressures and anchor price stability. Looking ahead, the latest weekly analyst survey by the BCB saw the year ahead Selic rate between 12.5 and 12.75%, up from the prior week’s 12.25%. US CPI (Wed): The analyst consensus currently expects US consumer prices to rise +0.2% M/M in November, matching October's print, while the core rate of CPI is seen rising +0.3% M/M, again, matching October's print. Wells Fargo says that although some inflationary pressures, such as an overheated labour market, are easing, new challenges to disinflation have arisen, including potential tariffs and tax cuts, and warns that these could make achieving the Fed's 2% inflation target more difficult in the final stages of the inflationary cycle. Analysts expect the data will form a key part of the FOMC's deliberations at its December 18th policy meeting; money markets are currently pricing a 25bps rate cut with around 89% certainty. The likelihood of another 25bps rate cut increased after the November jobs report, which saw a beat on the headline, but not enough for the Fed to consider a pause while the unemployment rate ticked up. ECB Policy Announcement (Thu) : Expectations are for the ECB to cut the deposit rate by 25bps to 3.0% with markets assigning a circa 85% chance of such an outcome (with a 15% probability for a 50bps rate cut). The prior meeting in October saw the ECB pull the trigger on a 25bps rate cut despite policymakers initially positioning themselves for a pause in the wake of the September meeting. Since the October meeting, focus has increasingly been on growth metrics with survey data showing a marked drop in the November Eurozone Composite PMI to 48.1 from 50.0 with heavy pessimism surrounding the French economy. The accompanying release noted “the eurozone's manufacturing sector is sinking deeper into recession, and now the services sector is starting to struggle after two months of marginal growth." On the inflation front, headline Y/Y CPI rose in November to 2.3% from 2.0%, which was largely expected on account of base effects. Core inflation remained at a stubborn level of 2.7% whilst services inflation ticked marginally lower to 3.9% from 4.0%. The tone of messaging from ECB officials has failed to endorse a 50bps move with the influential Schnabel of Germany going as far as saying that she sees only limited room for additional cuts, whilst other members have also stressed a cautious approach to rate cuts. Overall, despite the weak growth outlook for the Eurozone which is also complicated by Trump’s return to the White House, developments on the inflation front suggest there is still more work done to return inflation to target. In recent weeks, policymakers have also stressed the need for the Bank to step away from recent data dependency and focus on forward-looking expectations. On which, the accompanying macro projections are likely to be viewed as stale given that the cut-off date did not encapsulate the latest French political woes, whilst as highlighted by ING, “the ECB normally also applies a ‘no policy change’ assumption to its forecasting. ING expects projections to be little changed vs. September. As such, those on the GC looking for a 50bps cut are unlikely to be supported by the latest forecasts. Looking beyond the upcoming meeting, assuming the ECB cuts by 25bps, an additional 130bps of loosening is seen by end-2025. SNB Policy Announcement (Thu) : Expectations are for the SNB to lower rates by 25bps to 0.75% (8 surveyed look for a 25bps cut, 4 look for 50bps). Market pricing sees a 56% chance of a 50bps cut and a 44% chance of a smaller 25bps move. As such, the decision is finely poised in the eye of the market and likely to generate some traction for CHF. As a reminder, at the prior meeting, the SNB opted to cut its policy rate by 25bps to 1.0% while signalling that further cuts were likely and stated that it is prepared to intervene in the FX market as necessary. In terms of the economic backdrop for the meeting, inflation has remained lacklustre with an average rate of 0.7% over the prior quarter which is some way south of the SNB’s Q4 forecast of 1.0%. From a growth perspective, Q3 GDP slowed to 0.4% Q/Q from the Q2 rate of 0.6%. Crucially for the SNB, Capital Economics highlights that the CHF is weaker than it was at the time of the last meeting. As a reminder, the board previously highlighted the negative impact that CHF strength was having on the domestic economy. Capital Economics favours a smaller 25bps move on the basis that the SNB will likely maintain its gradual approach to loosening policy after avoiding such a move at the time of the last meeting. However, it is worth noting that the SNB only meets on a quarterly basis (ie. less frequently than most other major central banks) and comments from SNB Chair Schlegel have been particularly dovish in which he noted that he can’t currently rule out a return to negative interest rates. This allied with the soft outturn for inflation could easily make the case for a 50bps move. In the event that the SNB goes with a 25bps cut, accompanying commentary is likely to remain dovish. Looking beyond the upcoming meeting, Capital Economics looks for 25bps cuts at the March and June meetings, reaching a terminal rate of 0.25%. Australian Jobs (Thu) : The Australian jobs report for November is expected to show Employment Change ticking up to 25k (prev. 15.9k), Unemployment Rate rising to 4.2% (prev. 4.1%), and Participation Rate remaining stready67.1% (prev. 67.1%). Desks warn of seasonality factors surrounding Black Friday. “On a multi-month basis, this result would not materially change the broader narrative of a relatively solid labour market that is gradually becoming more balanced”, say analysts at Westpac, as they anticipate any strength to be associated with firmer hours rather than headcount. Westpac forecasts 20k for the Employment Change and a 4.2% Unemployment Rate. It’s also worth keeping in mind the jobs report will be released a couple of days after the RBA confab. UK GDP (Thu) : October’s GDP is expected at +0.2% on a M/M basis vs. the 0.1% contraction seen in September. As a reminder, the prior release saw a negative M/M outturn for GDP which saw the Q3 figure come in at a lackluster 0.1%. The slowdown in growth was triggered by “volatility within industry, particularly manufacturing”, according to ING. This time around, analysts at Investec look for a rebound in output for ICT industries, constrained growth in the services industry, a flat performance for the manufacturing sector and a pick-up in the construction industry. For Investec, this nets out at a 0.2% M/M increase with the desk expecting a Q4 outturn of 0.4% Q/Q with that pace to be maintained over 2025. From a policy perspective, services inflation and real wage growth are still very much front and centre at the BoE, which combined with the volatility in monthly GDP metrics, means that the release will likely have little impact on BoE pricing which currently has just 2bps of loosening for the December meeting and a total of 72bps by end-2025. This article originally appeared on Newsquawk

WINNIPEG — Mike O’Shea stood in front of reporters Friday and kept his cool while answering questions about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ 41-24 Grey Cup loss to the Toronto Argonauts last weekend. The head coach was asked if he made a mistake keeping injured quarterback Zach Collaros in the game, why star running back Brady Oliveira didn’t get the ball more and whether a flawed game plan led to Winnipeg’s third consecutive championship loss. “As an entire team, we didn’t have our best game,” O’Shea said in his end-of-the-season press conference. “We didn’t lack effort. We didn’t lack desire. “We didn’t have our best game as an entire team. Three phases. Coaches — everybody. Me especially.” O’Shea admitted he missed calling a timeout in the fourth quarter when there were only 11 Blue Bombers on the field instead of 12. “I don’t get the count over the headset as quickly as I probably need to, we can’t count. As I’m seeing a guy come off, that’s the right time for that timeout that I should have used,” O’Shea said. He also said he should have used a challenge flag earlier on a play he didn’t identify, and checked on his players more during the game. But hindsight wouldn’t change his decision to put Collaros back in the game after the index finger on his throwing hand was cut deep when it hit a defender’s helmet. “He absolutely deserves every opportunity to lead this team,” O’Shea said. “From what I saw and from chatting with him very briefly, I felt really comfortable with that. I didn’t think it was going to be easy, but I thought it’s Zach, so...” The injury to Collaros’s finger happened late in the third quarter when the Blue Bombers were trailing the Argonauts 17-10. The veteran left the game and returned with a bandaged finger that needed five stitches and a numbing agent. He wore a glove on the hand and told reporters earlier this week it was difficult to grip the ball. Collaros said he warned receivers in the huddle his throws might not have the usual zip and they should be prepared to come back for the ball. “(I) saw him delivering the ball on the sidelines. Then you see him deliver a couple balls out there and some of them are pretty damn good, right?” O’Shea said. “The awareness of Zach to say to the receivers, ‘hey, work a little harder for me,’ I think it’s natural and what should be said. I think they already know that.” When Collaros re-entered the game, he threw interceptions in back-to-back series. “On one of them he got rid of the ball and I thought it was a good ball and the defensive player made a good play,” O’Shea said of the picks. “One slipped right out of his hand or I don’t know if it got tipped or not. You’ve got to give him that opportunity.” Oliveira was questioning his lack of opportunities in the game when he spoke to reporters earlier in the week. The CFL’s newly minted most outstanding player and top Canadian only had 11 carries for 84 yards and one late touchdown. About 17 or 18 run plays were called, O’Shea said. “One starts off with a procedure penalty in the first and then six of those get pulled because there’s X number of guys in the box or the read says this is not a run play anymore, this is now a pass play,” he said. “You call that many runs and then a pile of them get pulled because of the structure of the defence. That’s OK with me at that point.” O’Shea said Bombers offensive co-ordinator Buck Pierce has been granted permission to talk to CFL teams with head-coaching job openings. The B.C. Lions are reportedly interested in Pierce. The Edmonton Elks also have a vacant head coach spot. If Pierce doesn’t become a head coach, O’Shea said he wants him to stay in Winnipeg. He believes Pierce had the offence “extremely well-prepared” for the Grey Cup. “I’m never going to question the play-calling, and I think what’s going on here is we’re questioning,” O’Shea said. “We’re trying to find blame and fault when that’s nowhere in our DNA of how we built this eight, nine, 10 years ago. We’re starting to try and find all these answers and question all these people that were 0-4 and 2-6 and then 10-1, and we just didn’t play our best game.” The Bombers finished 11-7 and claimed the West Division title that earned them a fifth consecutive trip to the Grey Cup. They won the championship in 2019 and ’21, but lost 28-24 to the Montreal Alouettes last year and 24-23 to Toronto in 2023. “We’re the same group that got there, that went on a phenomenal run after a bad start, and a bad start for a lot of reasons that we overcame,” O’Shea said. “I just, I don’t question any of it. I look for answers, too. I watch the film over and over and over again. And look to already make notes on how we’re going to be better, how we’re going to get back there again.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2024. Judy Owen, The Canadian PressI tried the one-touch rule to organise my home. Here's what happenedLos Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka thanked D'Angelo Russell for his contributions to the team following Sunday's trade with the Brooklyn Nets that saw the Lakers acquire Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton for Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks. "We want to thank D'Angelo for his second stint with us, where we celebrated some great moments and accomplishments on the court together," he said in a statement . "We want to wish him and Lewis well in their future endeavors with the Nets. With this trade, we are thrilled to add the physicality, toughness and elite shooting that Finney-Smith will bring to our core. We also greatly value the playmaking of Milton. We are excited for our fans to get both of these players out on the court." This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis. For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app , homepage and social feeds—including Twitter , Instagram , Facebook and TikTok .

The resurgence of a forgotten master

AP Business SummaryBrief at 3:36 p.m. ESTAston Villa’s disallowed goal would have counted in England – Unai EmeryBillionaires have been beating the stock market — where they are putting their money now, according to UBS

They came in hoodies, they came in masks, shuffling their feet and laughing nervously while waiting for a winner to be announced. Just a few days after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered on a New York City sidewalk, these young men had lined up in Washington Square Park to compete in a lookalike contest for the man wanted for his murder. It was sparsely attended and seen as a joke by those who did turn up, said Talia Jane, a journalist who was there. But it underlined an obsession with a murder suspect that has gripped social media since the killing on 4 December, fueled by latent anger directed at America's private health insurers. "There was a lot of tinder already there, a lot of discontent, a lot of frustration already there, and [this] sort of threw a match on it," Ms Jane said. And it has only grown since the suspect was named as Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League-educated member of a prominent Baltimore family. In TikTok videos, memes and group chats, a young man accused of shooting a father-of-two in the back on a New York City sidewalk has been fawned over and praised as a kind of folk hero. This fetishisation was remarkably widespread, not limited to radical corners of the internet or any political affiliation, troubling many observers. "We do not kill people in cold blood to resolve policy differences or express a viewpoint," said Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, where Mr Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's. "In a civil society, we are all less safe when ideologues engage in vigilante justice." Almost immediately after Mr Thompson was shot dead, the internet began to lionise his suspected killer. On TikTok, people posted videos of "CEO assassin" New York City walking tour. On Spotify, playlists dedicated to the suspect started to appear. Once Mr Mangione was arrested, these fans came to his defence. Etsy was flooded with pro-Mangione apparel, while Amazon pulled similar products from their site. The McDonald's worker alleged to have turned him in has become a target for online hate, while the fast-food franchise itself has been spammed with bad reviews. The police department in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that arrested him even received death threats. Much of this online reaction has focused on his looks, with the internet dubbing him the "hot assassin". Indeed, Mr Mangione's conventionally attractive physical appearance, which he showed off in shirtless social media posts, is now clearly part of the appeal, said cultural critic Blakely Thornton. Americans are effectively "programmed" to trust and empathise with men who look like Mr Mangione, he said. "That's why they are the protagonists in our movies, books and stories." Public adoration for handsome men accused of crimes is not new - from Ted Bundy to Jeremy Meeks, violent men have developed cult followings. But Professor Tanya Horeck, an expert on digital culture and true crime from Anglia Ruskin University, says that social media has given those sentiments massive visibility, and helped them spread. The internet has caused "a blurring of the lines between celebrity and criminality", she told the BBC, adding that when people see a good-looking person pop into their feeds, their first thought is lust, not moral criticism. "The mood around Luigi Mangione is 'thirst'," she said. Beyond his appearance, a large part of Mr Mangione's online appeal is clearly his apparent ire against the private healthcare industry and corporate elites in general. US media has reported that Mr Mangione was arrested carrying a hand-written document that said "these parasites had it coming". The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), a non-profit extremism research group based in New Jersey, said that after the shooting the hashtag #EatTheRich went viral. Since Mr Mangione's arrest, variations of "#FreeLuigi" were posted on X over 50,000 times, likely getting tens of millions of impressions. And by some measures, the NCRI said, engagement with posts about Mr Thompson's killing across platforms like X, Reddit, and others surpassed that of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump in July. An analysis of a sample of comments carried out by market research firm OneCliq found the vast majority - four-fifths - contained criticism of the US healthcare system. Mr Mangione's X account has gained more than 400,000 followers since the shooting. The shooting also seemed to inspire others to take action against healthcare insurers - "wanted" posters of other CEOs appeared around New York City, and a woman in Florida was arrested after telling an insurance agent on the phone "Delay, Deny, Depose. You people are next," alluding to the words inscribed on a bullet casing found at the murder scene. Alex Goldenberg, a senior advisor at the NCRI, called the online reaction a "turning point" and "a catalyst for the normalisation of political violence that was once confined to extremists on the fringes". He compared the wave of comments to the online activity following racist mass murders, designed to defend the killers and signal-boost their beliefs - only more widespread, and happening across mainstream social media networks. "The dynamic we are observing is eerily similar to the activity on platforms like 4chan, 8chan, Discord, and in other dark corners of the internet, where mass shootings are often met with glee," he said. Tim Weninger, a computer science professor at Notre Dame and expert in social media and artificial intelligence, said evidence suggests that the groundswell was authentic - not powered by bots or government influence operations. "People are pissed off at the healthcare industry and they are using social media to express their frustrations," he said. "They're expressing those frustrations by supporting this suspect." Recent research by Commonwealth Fund, a health policy institute, found 45% of insured working-age adults were charged for something they thought should have been free or covered by insurance, and 17% of respondents said their insurer denied coverage for care that was recommended by their doctor. There are indications that the shooting has prompted some introspection on the part of healthcare companies. "I think all of us are taking a step back and trying to understand what's happening with patients and their experiences," Pfizer's chief sustainability officer Caroline Roan told a conference in New York on Wednesday, according to Reuters. Some of the people who have been protesting against health insurance companies for years, before online criticism about UHC took off, understand some of the darker sentiments, even if they don't endorse them. "It's a horrific act of violence, and I absolutely condemn it no matter the motivation," Jenn Coffey, who has been fighting to get UHC to cover her medical bills, said of Mr Thompson's killing. "But I'm not shocked by the reaction." Ms Coffey, 53, from Manchester, New Hampshire, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and later fell ill with complex regional pain syndrome, a potentially debilitating neurological condition. When a doctor suggested that she try ketamine therapy, her UHC insurance would not cover the procedure, she said. She has since become involved in a protest campaign organised by activist group People's Action. Ms Coffey's illness forced her to stop working as an emergency medical technician. She said she started a crowdfunding drive and had to sell most of her belongings in order to pay for the treatment herself. "I get to have some normality. I can sit up and paint, or I can enjoy a meal with my family" because of the treatment, she said. "I can have a life that's worth living." UnitedHealth Group told the BBC they could not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons. At the same time, much of the online discussion has effectively ignored the victim, Brian Thompson, who was 50. "It's incredibly bleak that [Thompson's death] hasn't been covered as much because, bottom line, a person died, a person was murdered," Blakely Thornton said. "The collective rage over [the health-care industry] is really outweighing what is still a tragedy." In his last post on LinkedIn, Mr Thompson talked about efforts to make healthcare more affordable - and was criticised in the comments. CBS News, the BBC's US partner, obtained a message that UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty sent to staff this week, memorialising Mr Thompson and calling his murdered colleague "one of the good guys". "He was certainly one of the smartest guys. I think he was one of the best guys. I'm going to miss him. And I am incredibly proud to call him my friend," he wrote. In the email, the company shared messages from customers, including one who wrote about recovering from cancer, saying their treatment was paid for by the insurance company's benefits. "I'm thankful to UHC and everyone there who works within a broken system to help as many people as they can," they wrote, according to the company. Another message said: "So very sad that this world is so hateful. I have always had great experiences with UHC." Ms Coffey, the UHC policyholder and patient, said: "My heart goes out to the family and I can't imagine what they're having to struggle with that [killing]. It's awful to me that this is the catalyst for this debate." "I would have much rather sat down and had a conversation with him." With additional reporting from Grace DeanJimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100

Shares of Autodesk, Inc. ADSK are trading lower on Wednesday but they may have found support. The company posted earnings that were slightly better than estimates but investors are concerned about decreasing margins. Our team of traders and technical analysts has made it our Stock of the Day . Operating margin is the percent of profit a company has on a dollar of sales after all costs are considered. In Q3 of last year, Autodesk had an operating margin of 24%. This means that for every dollar of sales, the company kept 24 cents. But this year, the margin has dropped to 22%. This means they are now only keeping 22 cents. This may not sound like a significant drop, but it shows that the company is becoming less efficient. This may be a bearish sign for the longer-term and some investors are selling. It isn't a coincidence that the shares found support around the $293 level. Read Also: Fed’s Favorite Inflation Gauge Heats Up As Predicted, Personal Incomes Soar As you can see on the chart, this level was resistance in October. Many of the investors and traders who sold at this resistance thought they made a good decision when the price dropped soon after. But in early November the resistance broke and the stock gapped higher. When this happened, some of those who sold came to regret their decision to do so. A number of them decided to buy their shares back. But they would only do so if they could buy them at the same price they were sold for. As a result, now that the stock has dropped back to their selling prices they are placing buy orders. The large concentration of these orders has formed support at the price that had been resistance. Sometimes stocks rally after they drop to resistance. This happens because some of the buyers become nervous. They know that the sellers are going to go to whoever is willing to pay the highest price. They are afraid that they will be outbid by other buyers. So, they increase their bid prices. Other nervous buyers see this and do the same thing. It could result in a snowball effect or bidding war that pushes the price up. Levels that had been resistance can become support. Stocks tend to rally after reaching support. Shares of Autodesk may be about to move higher. Price Action : Autodesk closed Wednesday at $290.64 per share, down 8.6%. Read Next: Anthony Scaramucci: Trump Win Is ‘The Greatest Political Comeback In US History,’ Crypto Surge Following It Was 3 Years Overdue © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Hail Flutie: BC celebrates 40th anniversary of Miracle in Miami