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ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fluence Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: FLNC) (“Fluence” or the “Company”), a global market leader delivering intelligent energy storage, operational services, and asset optimization software, today announced its results for the three months and full fiscal year ended September 30, 2024. Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Highlights Record revenue for fiscal year 2024 of approximately $2.7 billion and revenue for the fourth quarter of approximately $1.2 billion, representing an increase of approximately 22% from fiscal year 2023 and an increase of approximately 82% from the same quarter last year, respectively. GAAP gross profit margin improved to approximately 12.6% and 12.8% for fiscal year 2024 and the fourth quarter, respectively, compared to approximately 6.4% and 11.3% for fiscal year 2023 and the same quarter last year, respectively, reflecting the Company's continued focus on ongoing profit improvement strategies. Net income of approximately $30.4 million and $67.7 million for fiscal year 2024 and the fourth quarter, respectively, improved from a net loss of approximately $104.8 million and net income of approximately $4.8 million, for fiscal year 2023 and the same quarter last year, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA1 of approximately $78.1 million and $86.9 million for fiscal year 2024 and the fourth quarter, respectively, improved from approximately negative $61.4 million and $19.8 million for fiscal year 2023 and the same quarter last year, respectively. Quarterly order intake of approximately $1.2 billion, compared to approximately $737 million for the same quarter last year. Backlog2 increased to approximately $4.5 billion as of September 30, 2024, compared to approximately $2.9 billion as of September 30, 2023. Financial Position Total Cash3 of approximately $518.7 million as of September 30, 2024, representing an increase of approximately $56.0 million from September 30, 2023. Net cash provided by operating activities was approximately $79.7 million, compared to approximately negative $111.9 million for fiscal year 2023. Free cash flow1 was approximately $71.6 million, compared to approximately negative $114.9 million for fiscal year 2023. Fiscal Year 2025 Outlook The Company is initiating fiscal year 2025 guidance as follows: Revenue of approximately $3.6 billion to $4.4 billion with a midpoint of $4.0 billion. Presently, approximately 65% of the midpoint of the Company's revenue guidance is covered by the Company's current backlog, in line with our fiscal 2024 revenue coverage at the same time period last year. Adjusted EBITDA4 of approximately $160 million to $200 million with a midpoint of $180 million. Annual recurring revenue ("ARR") of about $145 million by the end of fiscal year 2025. The foregoing Fiscal Year 2025 Outlook statements represent management's current best estimate as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially depending on a number of factors. Investors are urged to read the Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements included in this release. Management does not assume any obligation to update these estimates. "Our record financial results for 2024 are a testament to our team's dedication, operational efficiency, and commitment to delivering value to our stakeholders as we achieved our highest ever revenue and profitability, marking a significant milestone in the Company's growth trajectory. Furthermore, we had our second consecutive quarter of signing more than $1 billion of new orders, which brought our backlog to $4.5 billion, underscoring the market's strong confidence in our energy storage solutions," said Julian Nebreda, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "As we look forward, we see unprecedented demand for battery energy storage solutions across the world, driven principally by the U.S. market. We believe we are well positioned to continue capturing this market with our best-in-class domestic content offering which utilizes U.S. manufactured battery cells." "We are pleased with our strong fiscal year-end performance, achieving record revenue growth, robust margin expansion and free cash flow. We also generated positive net income for the first time," said Ahmed Pasha, Chief Financial Officer. "With backlog and development pipeline at record levels, we enter fiscal 2025 poised for sustained profitable growth." Share Count The shares of the Company’s common stock as of September 30, 2024 are presented below: Conference Call Information The Company will conduct a teleconference starting at 8:30 a.m. EST on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, to discuss the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2024 financial results. To participate, analysts are required to register by clicking Fluence Energy Inc. Q4 Earnings Call Registration Link . Once registered, analysts will be issued a unique PIN number and dial-in number. Analysts are encouraged to register at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. General audience participants, and non-analysts are encouraged to join the teleconference in a listen-only mode at: Fluence Energy Inc. Q4 Listen Only - Webcast , or on http://fluenceenergy.com by selecting Investors, News & Events, and Events & Presentations. Supplemental materials that may be referenced during the teleconference will be available at: http://fluenceenergy.com , by selecting Investors, News & Events, and Events & Presentations. A replay of the conference call will be available after 1:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. The replay will be available on the Company’s website at http://fluenceenergy.com by selecting Investors, News & Events, and Events & Presentations. Non-GAAP Financial Measures We present our operating results in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“GAAP”). We believe certain financial measures, such as Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Gross Profit, Adjusted Gross Profit Margin, and Free Cash Flow, which are non-GAAP measures, provide users of our financial statements with supplemental information that may be useful in evaluating our operating performance. We believe that such non-GAAP measures, when read in conjunction with our operating results presented under GAAP, can be used to better assess our performance from period to period and relative to performance of other companies in our industry, without regard to financing methods, historical cost basis or capital structure. Such non-GAAP measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. These measures have limitations as analytical tools, including that other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate these measures differently, reducing their usefulness as comparative measures. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated from the consolidated statements of operations using net income (loss) adjusted for (i) interest income, net, (ii) income taxes, (iii) depreciation and amortization, (iv) stock-based compensation, and (v) other non-recurring income or expenses. Adjusted EBITDA also includes amounts impacting net income related to estimated payments due to related parties pursuant to the Tax Receivable Agreement, dated October 27, 2021, by and among Fluence Energy, Inc., Fluence Energy, LLC, Siemens Industry, Inc. and AES Grid Stability, LLC (the “Tax Receivable Agreement”). Adjusted Gross Profit is calculated using gross profit, adjusted to exclude (i) stock-based compensation expenses, (ii) amortization, and (iii) other non-recurring income or expenses. Adjusted Gross Profit Margin is calculated using Adjusted Gross Profit divided by total revenue. Free Cash Flow is calculated from the consolidated statements of cash flows and is defined as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, less purchase of property and equipment made in the period. We expect our Free Cash Flow to fluctuate in future periods as we invest in our business to support our plans for growth. Limitations on the use of Free Cash Flow include (i) it should not be inferred that the entire Free Cash Flow amount is available for discretionary expenditures (for example, cash is still required to satisfy other working capital needs, including short-term investment policy, restricted cash, and intangible assets); (ii) Free Cash Flow has limitations as an analytical tool, and it should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of other GAAP financial measures, such as net cash provided by operating activities; and (iii) this metric does not reflect our future contractual commitments. Please refer to the reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures included in this press release and the accompanying tables contained at the end of this release. The Company is not able to provide a quantitative reconciliation of full fiscal year 2025 Adjusted EBITDA to GAAP Net Income (Loss) on a forward-looking basis within this press release because of the uncertainty around certain items that may impact Adjusted EBITDA, including stock compensation and restructuring expenses, that are not within our control or cannot be reasonably predicted without unreasonable effort. About Fluence Fluence Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: FLNC) is a global market leader delivering intelligent energy storage and optimization software for renewables and storage. The Company's solutions and operational services are helping to create a more resilient grid and unlock the full potential of renewable portfolios. With gigawatts of projects successfully contracted, deployed and under management across nearly 50 markets, the Company is transforming the way we power our world for a more sustainable future. For more information, visit our website, or follow us on LinkedIn or X. To stay up to date on the latest industry insights, sign up for Fluence's Full Potential Blog. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The statements contained in this press release and statements that are made on our earnings call that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements set forth above under “Fiscal Year 2025 Outlook,” and other statements regarding the Company's future financial and operational performance, future market and industry growth and related opportunities for the Company, anticipated Company growth and business strategy, including future incremental working capital and capital opportunities, liquidity and access to capital and cash flows, demand for electricity and impact to energy storage, demand for the Company's energy storage solutions, services, and digital applications offerings, our positioning to capture market share with domestic content offering and future offerings, expected impact and benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and U.S. Treasury domestic content guidelines on us and on our customers, anticipated timeline of U.S. battery module production and timing of our domestic content offering, expectations relating to our contracting manufacturing capacity, potential impact to tariffs, related policies, and regulations from the change in political administration, new products and solutions and product innovation, relationships with new and existing customers and suppliers, expectations relating to backlog, pipeline, and contracted backlog, future revenue recognition, future results of operations, future capital expenditures and debt service obligations, and projected costs, beliefs, assumptions, prospects, plans and objectives of management. Such statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. When used in this press release, words such as “may,” “possible,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “targets,” “projects,” “contemplates,” "commits", “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions and variations thereof and similar words and expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events, and their potential effects on our business. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance, and there can be no assurance that future developments affecting our business will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, which include, but are not limited to, our relatively limited operating and revenue history as an independent entity and the nascent clean energy industry; anticipated increasing expenses in the future and our ability to maintain prolonged profitability; fluctuations of our order intake and results of operations across fiscal periods; potential difficulties in maintaining manufacturing capacity and establishing expected mass manufacturing capacity in the future; risks relating to delays, disruptions, and quality control problems in our manufacturing operations; risks relating to quality and quantity of components provided by suppliers; risks relating to our status as a relatively low-volume purchaser as well as from supplier concentration and limited supplier capacity; risks relating to operating as a global company with a global supply chain; changes in the global trade environment; changes in the cost and availability of raw materials and underlying components; failure by manufacturers, vendors, and suppliers to use ethical business practices and comply with applicable laws and regulations; significant reduction in pricing or order volume or loss of one or more of our significant customers or their inability to perform under their contracts; risks relating to competition for our offerings and our ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers; ability to maintain and enhance our reputation and brand recognition; ability to effectively manage our recent and future growth and expansion of our business and operations; our growth depends in part on the success of our relationships with third parties; ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel; risks associated with engineering and construction, utility interconnection, commissioning and installation of our energy storage solutions and products, cost overruns, and delays; risks relating to lengthy sales and installation cycle for our energy storage solutions; risks related to defects, errors, vulnerabilities and/or bugs in our products and technology; risks relating to estimation uncertainty related to our product warranties; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; risks related to our current and planned foreign operations; amounts included in our pipeline and contracted backlog may not result in actual revenue or translate into profits; risks related to acquisitions we have made or that we may pursue; events and incidents relating to storage, delivery, installation, operation, maintenance and shutdowns of our products; risks relating to our impacts to our customer relationships due to events and incidents during the project lifecycle of an energy storage solution; actual or threatened health epidemics, pandemics or similar public health threats; ability to obtain financial assurances for our projects; risks relating to whether renewable energy technologies are suitable for widespread adoption or if sufficient demand for our offerings do not develop or takes longer to develop than we anticipate; estimates on size of our total addressable market; risks relating to the cost of electricity available from alternative sources; macroeconomic uncertainty and market conditions; risk relating to interest rates or a reduction in the availability of tax equity or project debt capital in the global financial markets and corresponding effects on customers’ ability to finance energy storage systems and demand for our energy storage solutions; decline in public acceptance of renewable energy, or delay, prevent, or increase in the cost of customer projects; severe weather events; increased attention to ESG matters; restrictions set forth in our current credit agreement and future debt agreements; uncertain ability to raise additional capital to execute on business opportunities; ability to obtain, maintain and enforce proper protection for our intellectual property, including our technology; threat of lawsuits by third parties alleging intellectual property violations; adequate protection for our trademarks and trade names; ability to enforce our intellectual property rights; risks relating to our patent portfolio; ability to effectively protect data integrity of our technology infrastructure and other business systems; use of open-source software; failure to comply with third party license or technology agreements; inability to license rights to use technologies on reasonable terms; risks relating to compromises, interruptions, or shutdowns of our systems; barriers arising from current electric utility industry policies and regulations and any subsequent changes; reduction, elimination, or expiration of government incentives or regulations regarding renewable energy; potential changes in tax laws or regulations; risks relating to environmental, health, and safety laws and potential obligations, liabilities and costs thereunder; failure to comply with data privacy and data security laws, regulations and industry standards; risks relating to potential future legal proceedings, regulatory disputes, and governmental inquiries; risks related to ownership of our Class A common stock; risks related to us being a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NASDAQ rules; risks relating to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws; risks relating to our relationship with our Founders and Continuing Equity Owners; risks relating to conflicts of interest by our officers and directors due to positions with Continuing Equity Owners; risks related to short-seller activists; we depend on distributions from Fluence Energy, LLC to pay our taxes and expenses and Fluence Energy, LLC’s ability to make such distributions may be limited or restricted in certain scenarios; risks arising out of the Tax Receivable Agreement; unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of tax returns; risks relating to improper and ineffective internal control over reporting to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley Act; risks relating to changes in accounting principles or their applicability to us; risks relating to estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies; and other factors set forth under Item 1A.“Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and in other filings we make with the SEC from time to time. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the effect of all such risk factors on our business or the extent to which any factor or combination of factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements made in this press release. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur, or which we become aware of, after the date hereof, except as otherwise may be required by law. Reclassifications Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. Accounts payable with related parties of $2.5 million and Accruals with related parties of $3.7 million as of September 30, 2023, were reclassified from Deferred revenue and payables with related parties to Accounts payable and Accruals and provisions, respectively, on the consolidated balance sheet. The reclassification had no impact on the total current liabilities for any period presented. Corresponding reclassifications were also reflected on the consolidated statement of cash flows for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023 and 2022. The reclassifications had no impact on cash provided by (used in) operations for the period presented. Provision on loss contracts, net of $6.1 million and $30.0 million for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, was reclassified to current accruals and provisions on the consolidated statement of cash flows. The reclassification had no impact on cash provided by (used in) operations for the period presented. The following tables present our key operating metrics for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023. The tables below present the metrics in either Gigawatts (GW) or Gigawatt hours (GWh). Our key operating metrics focus on project milestones to measure our performance and designate each project as either “deployed”, “assets under management”, “contracted backlog”, or “pipeline”. The following table presents our order intake for the three months and fiscal years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023. The table is presented in Gigawatts (GW): Deployed Deployed represents cumulative energy storage products and solutions that have achieved substantial completion and are not decommissioned. Deployed is monitored by management to measure our performance towards achieving project milestones. Assets Under Management Assets under management for service contracts represents our long-term service contracts with customers associated with our completed energy storage system products and solutions. We start providing maintenance, monitoring, or other operational services after the storage product projects are completed. In some cases, services may be commenced for energy storage solutions prior to achievement of substantial completion. This is not limited to energy storage solutions delivered by Fluence. Assets under management for digital software represents contracts signed and active (post go live). Assets under management serves as an indicator of expected revenue from our customers and assists management in forecasting our expected financial performance. Contracted Backlog For our energy storage products and solutions contracts, contracted backlog includes signed customer orders or contracts under execution prior to when substantial completion is achieved. For service contracts, contracted backlog includes signed service agreements associated with our storage product projects that have not been completed and the associated service has not started. For digital applications contracts, contracted backlog includes signed agreements where the associated subscription has not started. We cannot guarantee that our contracted backlog will result in actual revenue in the originally anticipated period or at all. Contracted backlog may not generate margins equal to our historical operating results. We have only recently begun to track our contracted backlog on a consistent basis as performance measures, and as a result, we do not have significant experience in determining the level of realization that we will achieve on these contracts. Our customers may experience project delays or cancel orders as a result of external market factors and economic or other factors beyond our control. If our contracted backlog fails to result in revenue as anticipated or in a timely manner, we could experience a reduction in revenue, profitability, and liquidity. Contracted/Order Intake Contracted, which we use interchangeably with “order intake”, represents new energy storage product and solutions contracts, new service contracts and new digital contracts signed during each period presented. We define “Contracted” as a firm and binding purchase order, letter of award, change order or other signed contract (in each case an “Order”) from the customer that is received and accepted by Fluence. Our order intake is intended to convey the dollar amount and gigawatts (operating measure) contracted in the period presented. We believe that order intake provides useful information to investors and management because the order intake provides visibility into future revenue and enables evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company’s sales activity and the attractiveness of its offerings in the market. Pipeline Pipeline represents our uncontracted, potential revenue from energy storage products and solutions, service, and digital software contracts, which have a reasonable likelihood of contract execution within 24 months. Pipeline is an internal management metric that we construct from market information reported by our global sales force. Pipeline is monitored by management to understand the anticipated growth of our Company and our estimated future revenue related to customer contracts for our battery-based energy storage products and solutions, services and digital software. We cannot guarantee that our pipeline will result in actual revenue in the originally anticipated period or at all. Pipeline may not generate margins equal to our historical operating results. We have only recently begun to track our pipeline on a consistent basis as performance measures, and as a result, we do not have significant experience in determining the level of realization that we will achieve on these contracts. Our customers may experience project delays or cancel orders as a result of external market factors and economic or other factors beyond our control. If our pipeline fails to result in revenue as anticipated or in a timely manner, we could experience a reduction in revenue, profitability, and liquidity. Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) ARR represents the net annualized contracted value including software subscriptions including initial trial, licensing, long term service agreements, and extended warranty agreements as of the reporting period. ARR excludes one-time fees, revenue share or other revenue that is non-recurring and variable. The Company believes ARR is an important operating metric as it provides visibility to future revenue. It is important to management to increase this visibility as we continue to expand. ARR is not a forecast of future revenue and should be viewed independently of revenue and deferred revenue as ARR is an operating metric and is not intended to replace these items. The following tables present our non-GAAP measures for the periods indicated. ____________________________ 1 Non-GAAP Financial Metric. See the section below titled “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for more information regarding the Company's use of non-GAAP financial measures, as well as a reconciliation to the most directly comparable financials measure stated in accordance with GAAP. 2 Backlog represents the unrecognized revenue value of our contractual commitments, which include deferred revenue and amounts that will be billed and recognized as revenue in future periods. The Company’s backlog may vary significantly each reporting period based on the timing of major new contractual commitments and the backlog may fluctuate with currency movements. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Company’s customers have the right to terminate contracts or defer the timing of its services and their payments to the Company. 3 Total cash includes Cash and cash equivalents + Restricted Cash + Short term investments. Contacts Analyst Lexington May, Vice President, Finance & Investor Relations +1 713-909-5629 Email : InvestorRelations@fluenceenergy.com Media Email: media.na@fluenceenergy.comNoneTulsa fires coach Kevin Wilson a day after blowout loss to South FloridaUCLA mines Oregon State’s roster again as linebacker Isaiah Chisom transfer to Bruins

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By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution’s suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea “absurd.” Related Articles National Politics | Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time National Politics | Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies National Politics | A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden’s clemency list National Politics | Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ on official trip to Luxembourg National Politics | Veteran Daniel Penny, acquitted in NYC subway chokehold, will join Trump’s suite at football game The Manhattan district attorney’s office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to “pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a blistering 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump’s lawyers filed paperwork earlier this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won’t include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn’t sentenced and his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined comment. It’s unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump’s request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution’s suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution’s suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the “ongoing threat” that he’ll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. “To be clear, President Trump will never deviate from the public interest in response to these thuggish tactics,” the defense lawyers wrote. “However, the threat itself is unconstitutional.” The prosecution’s suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they argued. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump has tabbed for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution’s novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump had died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to “fabricate” a solution “based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump” who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September “and a hypothetical dead defendant.” Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what’s already a unique case. “This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding,” prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn’t “precipitously discard” the “meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers.” Prosecutors acknowledged that “presidential immunity requires accommodation” during Trump’s impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury’s verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution . Other world leaders don’t enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza . Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records . Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. In their filing Friday, Trump’s lawyers citing a social media post in which Sen. John Fetterman used profane language to criticize Trump’s hush money prosecution. The Pennsylvania Democrat suggested that Trump deserved a pardon, comparing his case to that of President Joe Biden’s pardoned son Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “Weaponizing the judiciary for blatant, partisan gain diminishes the collective faith in our institutions and sows further division,” Fetterman wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. Trump’s hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases , which pertained to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in all. Trump had been scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November. But following Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president’s sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Merchan also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. A dismissal would erase Trump’s conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison sentence. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.Donald Trump’s “best buddy,” South African-born Elon Musk, has endorsed a post on X slamming Americans as “re***ded” workers who can’t hold a candle to skilled foreign hires in Silicon Valley. Musk was responding to a post — using a word widely considered a slur — explaining the difference between the “right right” (whom Trump claims to back) and the “tech right.” The “right right” want everything in America, including jobs, for Americans, the poster explained. The “tech right,” however, want H-1B visas for “skilled” foreign workers because American workers “ are re***ed ,” and “you can’t out train” that, the poster added. Musk responded Thursday night: “ That pretty much sums it up . This was eye-opening.” Musk, an immigrant, then clarified that he wants exceptions to MAGA’s anti-immigrant posture for the top “0.1% of [foreign] engineering talent as ... essential for America to keep winning.” America is, after all, “ mostly Americans ,” he pointed out, apparently for the sake of Americans he considers “re***ded.” Vivek Ramaswamy — Musk’s DOGE partner, both tasked by Trump to carve up the federal government — also slighted American intelligence in an X post earlier Thursday. He blamed U.S. sitcoms for extolling the virtues of the dimmer characters over those with brains, necessitating the hiring (at least in the tech world) of smarter people from other countries. “If we’re really serious about fixing the problem, we have to confront the TRUTH: Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long,” Ramaswamy schooled. He then called for changes in American childrearing: “ More math tutoring, fewer sleepovers ... more creating, less chillin’.” Both men were attacked by MAGA Trump supporters on social media — notably including far-right activist Laura Loomer over the duo’s push for H-1B visas for foreign tech workers . Loomer then suddenly lost her blue check mark on X that had made her a “verified” user. Texas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett pointed out on X that, unlike MAGA, she also believes immigrants are good for the economy (though without the class division Musk and Ramaswamy seem to embrace). “MAGA got played & is mad at who ?!” she asked. “The same 2 guys just yelling was looking out for them last week as the government was on the verge of a shutdown!”Health officials urging vaccination as whooping cough, pneumonia cases spike

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana civil court judge on Monday halted state agencies’ plans to forcibly clear homeless encampments in New Orleans. Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Ethel Julien issued a temporary restraining order blocking state police and two other agencies from evicting homeless people from their encampments in New Orleans or seizing their property without following city laws and due process. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry had called earlier this month for the City of New Orleans to remove a large encampment before Thanksgiving and warned he would intervene if the city did not comply. “If a judge believes that people have a right to be on whatever public space they choose, maybe that judge should have them move into her chambers and courtroom,” Landry said after the judge issued the restraining order Monday. Louisiana State Police spokesperson Sgt. Katharine Stegall said the agency’s legal team and the state Attorney General’s Office are reviewing the order. State police have “promptly halted activities” and are “complying with the restrictions” of the order, Stegall said. RELATED COVERAGE Wiggins scores 30, Warriors win their NBA Cup group with a 112-108 triumph over the Pelicans Court ruling stops Louisiana from requiring Ten Commandments in classrooms for now Amazon and Elon Musk’s SpaceX challenge labor agency’s constitutionality in federal court Landry and New Orleans officials have repeatedly clashed over how to address the issue of homelessness in the city. New Orleans City Councilmember Lesli Harris said Monday that directing more resources towards moving homeless people into stable housing was “infinitely more effective than punitive sweeps” of encampments. “Coordination between the government and service providers on the housing of people is imperative, and continuously moving people only makes it that much harder to house them,” Harris said. But the governor has pushed to clear homeless encampments. In late October, Louisiana State Police, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Department of Transportation and Development converged on a homeless encampment under a highway to remove and relocate dozens of people prior to pop star Taylor Swift’s concerts in the nearby Superdome. Some people who had been away at the time of the clearances returned to the area to find they had lost their personal property including family heirlooms, identification documents and medication, according to testimony in court documents. City officials and advocates for homeless people decried the evictions and said they disrupted ongoing efforts to secure long-term housing for these individuals because they became harder to locate. A judge later granted a temporary restraining order preventing more clearances but declined to extend it beyond early November after lawyers representing the state police indicated in court that removals tied to the Taylor Swift concerts had ceased. But on Friday, homeless people began receiving flyers from state police officers ordering them to leave their encampments within 24 hours, according to a motion for relief filed on behalf of two homeless plaintiffs by the Southern Poverty Law Center and two other legal groups. The planned sweeps preceded the Bayou Classic football game on Saturday between Southern University and Grambling State University at the Superdome. “Your presence is considered a violation,” the flyers stated, according to the motion for relief. However, they were halted by the new temporary restraining order. On Dec. 3, the judge is scheduled to deliberate on whether to issue a preliminary injunction against the three state agencies. “The vulnerable people with disabilities who make up the vast majority of people living in the street deserve to be treated with sensitivity and compassion,” said Joe Heeren-Mueller, director of community engagement for Unity of Greater New Orleans, a homeless outreach organization. There are about 1,450 homeless people in New Orleans and neighboring Jefferson Parish, according to a January survey by the nonprofit Unity of Greater New Orleans. The city has committed to securing housing for these individuals by the end of 2025. _____ Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96Rogers Provides Update on Its Acquisition of Bell’s 37.5% Stake in MLSE

Amusing ourselves to death Postman argues that “typographic mind” was yielding to “televisual mind” The late cultural critic Neil Postman, in his book ‘Amusing Ourselves to Death’ (1985), warned of a society losing its capacity for rational discourse, succumbing to a culture dominated by television’s relentless pursuit of entertainment. Postman argued that the “typographic mind” – one moulded by print culture, reading, analysis, and sustained attention – was yielding to the “televisual mind”, driven by images and short snippets of uncontextualised information. Today, the problem has gone beyond television’s passive consumption. With devices in hand, we encounter entertainment that is relentlessly measured and optimised to hold attention. Instead of exploring topics with patience, the information diet now consists of quick fixes: a meme here, a viral clip there, creating a false sense of being ‘informed’. Content in the form of short clips, introduced by platforms like TikTok and imitated across other social media applications, exemplifies this shift. The simple reason for this shift is that such content requires minimal attention while offering maximum gratification Why have we collectively decided to sacrifice depth for gratification, reflection for reaction, and understanding for amusement? These are not just questions of taste or trend; they are cultural signposts reflecting a deep shift in how we process information and engage with the world. The ephemeral nature of these clips caters to ever-diminishing attention spans, where the audience is often restless, scrolling mindlessly until something grabs their eye. This raises an existential question: if we continue down this path, what kind of society do we become? Without the habit of reading deeply, without the patience to understand context, nuance, or historical perspective, we risk turning into passive consumers of packaged meaning. Originality, once nurtured by a long apprenticeship with the written word and the contested realm of ideas, may die a quiet death in this sea of easily digestible content. Yet, to throw up our hands and lament this state of affairs as inevitable would be a grave mistake. It is still possible to restore balance. Educational institutes, for one, have a crucial role to play: they can arrange more in-person sessions that encourage dialogue, debate, and sustained engagement with complex texts, helping students rediscover the pleasure and power of active learning. Classroom discussions where students must defend their ideas with evidence and reasoning may stand as a barricade against the erosion of deep thinking. Outside of academia, parents and communities could become more deliberate about screen time. Perhaps a cultural shift encouraging family reading hours, local book clubs, and literary festivals can help. If we want to save ourselves from an unthinking future, we must cultivate environments that reward focus, inquiry, and meaningful conversation. Public policy can also nudge us in this direction: more libraries can be established, and existing ones can be better funded, critical media literacy courses introduced from early school years, and creative writing workshops supported as a form of community development. None of this is simple, and none of it is guaranteed to succeed. We are grappling with powerful technologies and profit-driven platforms that have mastered the art of catching our eye and holding it just long enough to move on to the next instant distraction. But the stakes are high. Our capacity for independent thought, our ability to reflect, and our understanding of complexity are all at risk. If we value these attributes – and we should – we must resist the lure of amusement for its own sake. Instead, we must strive to preserve and foster a culture where genuine engagement, intellectual depth, and originality are not only possible but prized. In doing so, we might yet avoid amusing ourselves to death. The writer is a Lahore-based lawyer.

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Former Boise State coach Chris Petersen still gets asked about the Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma on the first day of 2007. That game had everything. Underdog Boise State took a 28-10 lead over one of college football's blue bloods that was followed by a 25-point Sooners run capped by what could have been a back-breaking interception return for a touchdown with 1:02 left. Then the Broncos used three trick plays that remain sensations to not only force overtime but win 43-42. And then there was the marriage proposal by Boise State running back Ian Johnson — shortly after scoring the winning two-point play — to cheerleader Chrissy Popadics that was accepted on national TV. That game put Broncos football on the national map for most fans, but looking back 18 years later, Petersen sees it differently. "Everybody wants to talk about that Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl game, which is great how it all worked out and all those things," Petersen said. "But we go back to play TCU (three years later) again on the big stage. It's not as flashy a game, but to me, that was an even better win." Going back to the Fiesta Bowl and winning, Petersen reasoned, showed the Broncos weren't a splash soon to fade away, that there was something longer lasting and more substantive happening on the famed blue turf. The winning has continued with few interruptions. No. 8 and third-seeded Boise State is preparing for another trip to the Fiesta Bowl, this time in a playoff quarterfinal against No. 5 and sixth-seeded Penn State on New Year's Eve. That success has continued through a series of coaches, though with a lot more of a common thread than readily apparent. Dirk Koetter was hired from Oregon, where Petersen was the wide receivers coach. Not only did Koetter bring Petersen with him to Oregon, Petersen introduced him to Dan Hawkins, who also was hired for the staff. So the transition from Koetter to Hawkins to Petersen ensured at least some level of consistency. Koetter and Hawkins engineered double-digit victory seasons five times over a six-year span that led to power-conference jobs. Koetter went to Arizona State after three seasons and Hawkins to Colorado after five. Then when Petersen became the coach after the 2005 season, he led Boise State to double-digit wins his first seven seasons and made bowls all eight years. He resisted the temptation to leave for a power-conference program until Washington lured him away toward the end of the 2013 season. Then former Boise State quarterback and offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin took over and posted five double-digit victory seasons over his first six years. After going 5-2 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he left for Auburn. "They just needed consistency of leadership," said Koetter, who is back as Boise State's offensive coordinator. "This program had always won at the junior-college level, the Division II level, the I-AA (now FCS) level." But Koetter referred to "an unfortunate chain of events" that made Boise State a reclamation project when he took over in 1998. Coach Pokey Allen led Boise State to the Division I-AA national championship game in 1994, but was diagnosed with cancer two days later. He died on Dec. 30, 1996, at 53. Allen coached the final two games that season, Boise State's first in Division I-A (now FBS). Houston Nutt became the coach in 1997, went 4-7 and headed to Arkansas. Then Koetter took over. "One coach dies and the other wasn't the right fit for this program," Koetter said. "Was a really good coach, did a lot of good things, but just wasn't a good fit for here." But because of Boise State's success at the lower levels, Koetter said the program was set up for success. "As Boise State has risen up the conference food chain, they've pretty much always been at the top from a player talent standpoint," Koetter said. "So it was fairly clear if we got things headed in the right direction and did a good job recruiting, we would be able to win within our conference for sure." Success didn't take long. He went 6-5 in 1998 and then won 10 games each of the following two seasons. Hawkins built on that winning and Petersen took it to another level. But there is one season, really one game, no really one half that still bugs Petersen. He thought his best team was in 2010, one that entered that late-November game at Nevada ranked No. 3 and had a legitimate chance to play for the national championship. The Colin Kaepernick-led Wolf Pack won 34-31. "I think the best team that I might've been a part of as the head coach was the team that lost one game to Nevada," Petersen said. "That team, to me, played one poor half of football on offense the entire season. We were winning by a bunch at half (24-7) and we came out and did nothing on offense in the second half and still had a chance to win. "That team would've done some damage." There aren't any what-ifs with this season's Boise State team. The Broncos are in the field of the first 12-team playoff, representing the Group of Five as its highest-ranked conference champion. That got Boise State a bye into the quarterfinals. Spencer Danielson has restored the championship-level play after taking over as the interim coach late last season during a rare downturn that led to Andy Avalos' dismissal. Danielson received the job full time after leading Boise State to the Mountain West championship. Now the Broncos are 12-1 with their only defeat to top-ranked and No. 1 seed Oregon on a last-second field goal. Running back Ashton Jeanty also was the runner-up to the Heisman Trophy. "Boise State has been built on the backs of years and years of success way before I got here," Danielson said. "So even this season is not because of me. It's because the group of young men wanted to leave a legacy, be different. We haven't been to the Fiesta Bowl in a decade. They said in January, 'We're going to get that done.' They went to work." As was the case with Danielson, Petersen and Koetter said attracting top talent is the primary reason Boise State has succeeded all these years. Winning, obviously, is the driving force, and with more entry points to the playoffs, the Broncos could make opportunities to keep returning to the postseason a selling point. But there's also something about the blue carpet. Petersen said he didn't get what it was about when he arrived as an assistant coach, and there was some talk about replacing it with more conventional green grass. A poll in the Idaho Statesman was completely against that idea, and Petersen has come to appreciate what that field means to the program. "It's a cumulative period of time where young kids see big-time games when they're in seventh and eighth and ninth and 10th grade and go, 'Oh, I know that blue turf. I want to go there,'" Petersen said. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Nigel Farage said he is weighing up what action to take if the Conservatives do not apologise for accusing Reform UK of “fakery” over its membership numbers. The Reform UK leader pushed back against reports suggesting that legal action would be the next step, saying he would make a decision in the next couple of days about his response if there is no apology for the “crazy conspiracy theory”. Mr Farage also said the party has “opened up our systems” to media outlets, including The Daily Telegraph and The Financial Times, in the interests of “full transparency to verify that our numbers are correct”. His remarks came after Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accused Mr Farage of “fakery” in response to Reform claiming they had surpassed the Tories in signed-up members. Mrs Badenoch said Reform’s counter was “coded to tick up automatically”. A digital counter on the Reform website showed a membership tally before lunchtime on Boxing Day ticking past the 131,680 figure declared by the Conservative Party during its leadership election earlier this year. Mr Farage, on whether he was threatening legal action or not, told the PA news agency: “I haven’t threatened anything. I’ve just said that unless I get an apology, I will take some action. “I haven’t said whether it’s legal or anything.” He added: “All I’ve said is I want an apology. If I don’t get an apology, I will take action. “I will decide in the next couple of days what that is. So I’ve not specified what it is.” Mr Farage, on the move to make membership data available to media organisations, said: “We feel our arguments are fully validated. “She (Mrs Badenoch) has put out this crazy conspiracy theory and she needs to apologise.” The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful. Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News & FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct. I am now demanding @KemiBadenoch apologises. — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) December 27, 2024 On why Mrs Badenoch had reacted as she did, Mr Farage said: “I would imagine she was at home without anybody advising her and was just angry.” Mr Farage, in a statement issued on social media site X, also said: “The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful. “Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News and FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct. “I am now demanding Kemi Badenoch apologises.” A Conservative Party source claimed Mr Farage was “rattled” that his Boxing Day “publicity stunt is facing serious questions”. They added: “Like most normal people around the UK, Kemi is enjoying Christmas with her family and looking forward to taking on the challenges of renewing the Conservative Party in the New Year.” Mrs Badenoch, in a series of messages posted on X on Thursday, said: “Farage doesn’t understand the digital age. This kind of fakery gets found out pretty quickly, although not before many are fooled.” There were 131,680 Conservative members eligible to vote during the party’s leadership election to replace Rishi Sunak in the autumn. Mrs Badenoch claimed in her thread that “the Conservative Party has gained thousands of new members since the leadership election”. Elsewhere, Mr Farage described Elon Musk as a “bloody hero” and said he believes the US billionaire can help attract younger voters to Reform. Tech entrepreneur Mr Musk met Mr Farage earlier this month at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, amid rumours of a possible donation to either Mr Farage or Reform. Mr Farage told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: “The shades, the bomber jacket, the whole vibe. Elon makes us cool – Elon is a huge help to us with the young generation, and that will be the case going on and, frankly, that’s only just starting. “Reform only wins the next election if it gets the youth vote. The youth vote is the key. Of course, you need voters of all ages, but if you get a wave of youth enthusiasm you can change everything. “And I think we’re beginning to get into that zone – we were anyway, but Elon makes the whole task much, much easier. And the idea that politics can be cool, politics can be fun, politics can be real – Elon helps us with that mission enormously.”