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Willy Adames has agreed to a $182 million, seven-year contract with San Francisco, providing the Giants with a power-hitting shortstop in the prime of his career, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * Willy Adames has agreed to a $182 million, seven-year contract with San Francisco, providing the Giants with a power-hitting shortstop in the prime of his career, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Willy Adames has agreed to a $182 million, seven-year contract with San Francisco, providing the Giants with a power-hitting shortstop in the prime of his career, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Saturday on condition of anonymity because the agreement was pending a physical. ESPN first reported the move. The 29-year-old Adames is coming off his best offensive season in the big leagues after hitting .251 with a career-high 32 homers and 112 RBIs with the Milwaukee Brewers. He’s a solid shortstop with a strong arm and good range, though his defensive metrics slipped a little in 2024. He also has provided consistent power with 150 homers over seven seasons. He broke into the big leagues in 2018 with Tampa Bay and hit 20 homers in his first full season in 2019. He was traded to the Brewers in 2021 and had one of his best seasons in 2022, slugging 31 homers with 98 RBIs and had a 4.3 WAR. Adames was signed by the Detroit Tigers in 2012 as a 16-year-old in the Dominican Republic. ___ AP Baseball Writer Jay Cohen contributed to this report. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb Advertisement

Andrei Markov returns to the Bell Centre for the first time since 2017

Stronger privacy protections will be put in place to protect the identities of Australians online when a world-first teen social media plan is legislated, as the Coalition works to soothe backbench worries about over-regulation of the internet. Peter Dutton is determined to work with Labor this week to secure passage of the bill banning children under 16 from social media sites, but a growing number of backbenchers including former LNP ministers Keith Pitt and Matt Canavan and MP Garth Hamilton have been expressing concerns about handing over identifying documents to tech giants. LNP senator Matt Canavan. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen In parliament on Monday, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said she welcomed opposition MPs’ assessment of the bill and Labor sources said they were open to good faith amendments from Coalition communications spokesman David Coleman, who first floated the ban in an interview with this masthead in April and who has been working closely with Labor in recent weeks. Labor has played down the prospect of a digital ID but Coalition MPs were told in a joint party room meeting that amendments would be made to the bill to explicitly rule out the use of a digital ID and documents such as passports. Several Coalition MPs in the Canberra party room meeting, speaking anonymously to disclose confidential discussions, confirmed the Coalition had been working on stronger privacy protections with Labor. MPs including leading moderate Bridget Archer, shadow assistant minister Paul Scarr and Canavan expressed concern in the meeting about rushing the bill. This masthead revealed earlier on Monday that a growing number of Coalition MPs were uneasy with Dutton’s intention to go along with Labor’s bill, which many experts, the Greens and teals have described as rushed. MPs were only given three hours to scrutinise the bill in a condensed inquiry on Monday. Experts who appeared at the inquiry were mixed in their views on the extent of social disharmony and mental ill health caused by teens’ use of social media. Leaders of mental health group Headspace said being online affected how teens felt about themselves but the communities they found on digital platforms were also invaluable. Clinical psychologist Danielle Einstein, whose research is in the intersection between technology use and mental health, said the few studies used by social media advocates were flawed, outdated and being used to make disingenuous claims. Schools were becoming more hostile places as teens took the easier option of making connections online and shunning real-world interactions, she added. “I don’t think the evidence actually shows benefit when you look really carefully,” she said. LNP senator Matt Canavan asked a representative for Meta and other social platforms, DIGI’s Sunita Bose, whether Australians could get around the laws by using a VPN to make it appear they were in another country. Bose said this was “certainly” a risk. “I reckon my 10-year-old could figure it out,” Canavan said. “It’s great we are rushing this.” Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter .Origin Investments' Multilytics®️ Report: Year-Over-Year Class A Multifamily Rent Growth Returns to Historical Levels, Will Continue Positive Trajectory IndefinitelyThe No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions (11-1), led by quarterback Drew Allar, meet the No. 1 Oregon Ducks , led by quarterback Dillon Gabriel, (12-0) in the Big Ten Championship on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 (12/7/24) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. How to watch: Fans can watch the game for FREE via a trial of DirecTV Stream or fuboTV . You can also watch via a subscription to Sling TV . After your free trial: — DirecTV Stream is offering $30 off on Entertainment with Sports Pack featuring NFL RedZone, BIG Ten Network and more. — fuboTV plans start at $79.99 per month. — Sling TV is offering plans for as low as $20 for your first month. Here’s what you need to know: What: Big Ten Football Championship Game Who: Oregon vs. Penn State When: Dec. 7, 2024 Where: Lucas Oil Stadium Time: 8 p.m. ET TV: CBS Live stream: DirecTV Stream , fuboTV and Sling TV Channel finder: Verizon Fios , AT&T U-verse , Comcast Xfinity , Spectrum/Charter , Optimum/Altice , Cox , DIRECTV , Dish , Hulu , fuboTV , Sling . Here’s the AP capsule: Series record: Penn State leads 3-1. What’s at stake? Both teams look like locks for the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff field, so this game will be all about two things: Capturing a league title and postseason seeding. The winner probably gets a first-round bye and possibly the No. 1 overall seed while the loser probably settles for hosting a first-round game. Big Ten newcomer Oregon is chasing its first conference crown since winning Pac-12 titles in 2019 and 2020 and has the nation’s longest winning streak (13). Penn State’s last league title came in 2016. Key matchup Oregon run defense vs. Penn State ground game. Nittany Lions RBs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen have been a dynamic combination this year, rushing for a total of 1,431 yards and 12 scores. The emergence of TE Tyler Warren and backup QB Beau Pribula has added other elements to Penn State’s rushing attack. Oregon has been stout against the run all season, allowing just 112.2 yards per game (22nd in FBS). But if they struggle to contain Singleton and Allen, the Nittany Lions could keep the ball away from the Ducks’ offense — a potentially decisive twist. Players to watch Oregon: QB Dillon Gabriel. In a game featuring two of the nation’s most efficient quarterbacks, all eyes will be on Gabriel. The Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Year has been the catalyst for Oregon’s high-octane offense. The 23-year-old and FBS career leader in total TDs (183) is playing in his first conference championship game. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow Hawaiian star Marcus Mariota by leading the Ducks to a national championship game. Penn State: DE Abdul Carter. The athletic junior has been a menace to opponents all year, and the Nittany Lions need him to equally effective. Carter leads the Nittany Lions with 10 sacks, is tied for third in passes defensed (three) and is fourth in tackles (54). But stats don’t tell the whole story. His presence frees up others to make plays, which could be a key factor in slowing down the Ducks. Facts & figures This will be the first meeting in this series since Penn State completed its perfect season by winning the 1995 Rose Bowl 38-20. ... It also will be the first Big Ten title game that does not feature division champs. ... Oregon has been ranked No. 1 for seven straight weeks and was a unanimous choice this week. It also is the last remaining unbeaten FBS team this season. It’s the Ducks’ first 12-0 season since 2010 ... The Nittany Lions made only one other Big Ten championship game appearance, beating Wisconsin 38-31. ... ... Gabriel will be making his 62nd career start , an FBS record. He leads the league in yards passing (3,275) while WR Tez Johnson’s nine TD catches rank third in the conference. ... Warren broke the Big Ten’s single-season record for receptions by a tight end with 81. ... Oregon DEs Matayo Uiagalelei and Jordan Burch have combined for 19 sacks. ... Franklin’s next win will be his 100th in the 11 seasons since taking the Nittany Lions job. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.

With Syrian rebels edging ever-closer to the capital, President Bashar Assad is making a last-ditch attempt to remain in power, including indirect diplomatic overtures to the U.S. and President-elect Donald Trump, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation. Assad is ordering his army to fall back to defend Damascus, essentially ceding much of the country to insurgents, who seized the major cities of Aleppo and Hama in a lightning offensive over the past week. They’re now on the outskirts of Homs, less than 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the north. As his remaining troops dig in, Syria’s longtime ruler is signaling his willingness to reach a deal that would allow him to hold on to the rump territory his army controls, or guarantee his safe passage into exile if needed, said the people. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss secret meetings. One offer Assad made to the U.S. via the United Arab Emirates is for Syria to cut all involvement with Iran-backed militant groups, such as Hezbollah, if Western powers wield influence to stem the fighting, the people said. Another initiative saw Assad dispatch a senior Christian leader to meet Hungarian President Viktor Orban to relay what he sees as an existential threat to Syria’s Christian minority if Islamist rebels prevail, according to other people familiar with the plan. The intention was that Orban, a Trump ally, would convey this danger to the incoming U.S. president, they said. It’s a dramatic turn of events for a dynasty that’s ruled Syria with an iron fist for half a century, crushed peaceful protests in 2011 and clung to power through years of civil war that spurred one of the worst humanitarian crises of modern times. Iranian and Russian military support was crucial to the survival of the 59-year-old president, but both are now distracted and stretched thin by other conflicts. “Assad is in huge danger — it’s almost like in 2015 when the insurgents were at the gates of Damascus,” said Sergei Markov, a political consultant close to the Kremlin, referring to the year Russia intervened to save him. Western nations were equally surprised, including the U.S., which had largely relinquished much of its influence in Syria to Iran, Russia and Turkey but has reacted to protect its interests, according to senior officials. Multiple Western officials said it was difficult to see Assad remaining in power. The fall of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, could cut the highway linking Damascus and the country’s west and Mediterranean coast — the stronghold of the Assads and loyalists from their Alawite sect. The president’s whereabouts are unclear, although he’s believed to be in Damascus or his hometown of Qardaha, close to Russia’s Khmeimim air base. It’s also possible he’s in the Iranian capital, Tehran, a person familiar with U.S. policy said Saturday. Assad’s office issued a statement condemning “rumors and fake news,” saying the the president remains in the capital. Assad has ordered the bulk of Syria’s remaining army — estimated at between 30,000 to 40,000 fighters — to rush to defend Damascus, according to two people familiar with the matter. An army spokesman said in a TV address on Saturday that it was strengthening its defenses around the city and in southern Syria. The main rebel offensive has been led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, a former al-Qaida affiliate, and various armed groups backed by Turkey. Other fighters have joined in, including army defectors who’d fought the regime and laid down arms in previous ceasefires, said the people. As rebels converge on Damascus from the north and south, Iran had drawn back its presence in Syria, leaving its military advisers concentrated around the capital, according to the people. Some Tehran-backed Iraqi militia have also returned their country after the government ceded the eastern city of Deir Ezzor to U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters, they said. Russian personnel now remain mainly around the capital and at the Khmeimim air base and Tartous naval base, they said. After a meeting with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts in Doha on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow is “trying to do everything not to allow terrorists to prevail.” “We don’t want them to follow the fate of Iraqis, Libyans and other nations who were disturbed by the people desiring to keep their domination,” he said. Trump said Saturday a withdrawal from Syria might “be the best thing that can happen” to Russia and that troops shouldn’t get involved in the fighting. Back channels Russia has launched airstrikes around Homs to try and stall the rebel advance. But with signs the Kremlin’s help may not be enough, Assad is pressing on with back-channel negotiations. A key goal would be retaining control of a portion of the country and addressing Turkey’s demands for a political transition and the potential return of millions of Syrian refugees, a major issue for Ankara. Assad is also proposing a new constitution and talks with the mostly exiled political opposition, according to the people familiar with the outreach. It’s unclear if the efforts will bear fruit. Events on the battlefield have their own momentum, and even countries such as Turkey that have influence over the rebels may not be able to fully control events. “I don’t think any of these outside powers have the leverage over their proxies to change the course of what is happening on the ground,” said Andreas Krieg, director of London-based MENA Analytica Ltd. “At this moment most bets are that the Assad regime may not be able to hold out.” Patriarch visit It was against that backdrop that Assad sent Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II to Hungary on Monday to relay his fears. Syria’s Christian community makes up about 10% of the country’s 24 million population. The plan to have Orban relate this message to Trump was described by an aide to the patriarch and another person with knowledge of the encounter. People close to Trump couldn’t immediately comment, but said he had dispatched his in-law and Middle East adviser, Massad Boulos, to the UAE on Saturday to discuss the situation in the region. Assad has pursued similar tactics before. HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani and other rebels have in recent days attempted to allay the fears of Christians and Syria’s other minorities that they envision a form of Islamic rule. Assad’s own Alawite community, which has stuck by him since 2011 and paid a heavy price to defend the regime, also appears to sense the end may be near. Nariman, an Alawite woman reached by phone in Damascus on Friday said she, her husband who’s in the security forces and their 23-year-old son were fleeing to their ancestral village near Jableh in western Syria. She said there were many families like hers. Nobody is going to fight for Assad this time, she said, asking not to be identified by her last name for reasons of safety. ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Tampa Bay Rays have had six of their 2025 regular-season games shifted to the early season due to weather issues from playing outside, Major League Baseball announced Monday. The Rays' usual home, domed Tropicana Field, was damaged by Hurricane Milton last month with almost all of its roof shredded and no possibility of playing there next year. As a result, the Rays moved their 2025 home games from St. Petersburg to the New York Yankees training complex at nearby Tampa, which has an 11,000-seat outdoor stadium. An April series scheduled against the Los Angeles Angels that had been set for California will instead be played April 8-10 in Florida. A series between the two which had been set for August in Florida will now be hosted by the Angels on August 4-6. A Rays series against the Minnesota Twins planned in Minneapolis from May 26-28 will instead be played on the same dates in Tampa while a series that had been set for Tampa on July 4-6 will now be played in Minnesota. Florida summers can bring extreme heat and rain. js/bspWarren Buffett's investment success is hard to ignore, given the massive price increase of his primary investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK.A 0.12% ) ( BRK.B -0.01% ) . This is why every new Buffett stock acquisition gets huge attention on Wall Street. One of the most recent additions was Domino's Pizza ( DPZ -1.25% ) . Here are three things investors need to know before running out and buying this restaurant chain's shares just because Buffett bought it. 1. Warren Buffett isn't always right Successful investors on Wall Street are often viewed as having magical powers. To that end, Buffett's nickname is the Oracle of Omaha. That can lead smaller investors to put people like Warren Buffett on a pedestal that they may only partially deserve. Yes, Buffett's successes have built huge amounts of wealth. But he is still a human being, and he makes mistakes. As an example, Buffett backed the merger of Kraft and Heinz to form Kraft Heinz . The original plan was for it to be run by investment firm 3G Capital, which partnered with Buffett on the merger and had a history of successfully cutting costs to boost profitability at stodgy old companies. That plan didn't work out as well as hoped, 3G Capital is now out of the picture, and Kraft Heinz is working on a new approach. The stock has lost around two-thirds of its value since the tie-up in mid-2015. That's just one example -- there are others. In fact, Buffett himself often points out his mistakes in Berkshire Hathaway's annual reports. Yes, he is a good investor overall, and his portfolio is filled with stocks that have been huge winners. But he isn't perfect. There are losers in the mix, too. Just because he, or one of his associates, buys a company for Berkshire Hathaway doesn't mean you should. It might not work out as planned, or it might not be an appropriate stock for your portfolio because it doesn't mesh with your style of investing. KHC data by YCharts. 2. Domino's Pizza isn't cheap One of the core aspects of Buffett's approach is to try to buy great companies at an attractive price. It doesn't look like Domino's is totally in line with that standard. For starters, the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is around 28 right now. That's only a little below the company's five-year average of 30, and roughly in line with the P/E of the broader consumer discretionary sector (using the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF as a proxy). It is also about the same level as the S&P 500 index, which is trading near all-time highs. "Fairly priced" may be an appropriate description, but "cheap" certainly is not. It's true that the business is performing well in some ways right now. For example, Domino's same-store sales in the United States rose a solid 3% in the third quarter and were up 4.5% through the first three quarters of this year. However, the third quarter of 2023 saw same-store sales in the U.S. market decline 0.6%, and that figure rose just 1% through the first nine months of 2023. So 2024 results are coming off a low base, and it's pretty clear that what goes up can also go down. To highlight that fact, same-store sales in the international market, where Domino's Pizza has more stores, were up just 0.8% in Q3 2024, down from 3.3% in the same quarter of 2023. Given that Domino's valuation is similar to the market, which is near all-time highs, investors might be pricing in too much good news for a business that can be highly variable over time. And don't forget that the restaurant industry is highly competitive. 3. Domino's is huge, and moving the needle could be hard Domino's Pizza has around 6,900 U.S. locations and another 14,000 foreign restaurants. Altogether, it has well over 20,000 locations. That's a very large number, and it changes the game for a restaurant company like Domino's Pizza. There are usually two ways that restaurants grow. The first is through opening new locations, while the second is by luring more customers into its existing locations (which is what same-store sales measures). Domino's Pizza opened a net total of 72 new locations in Q3 2024 (there were 208 openings and 136 closures). Over the past year it opened 805 stores, which is 4% growth year over year. However, the openings in the third quarter amounted to less than half a percentage point of growth. It will require massive investment of time, energy, and money for store openings to keep driving the top and bottom line, which the Q3 slowdown hints could be hard to achieve. That leaves same-store sales as the more important driver of financial success. But, as highlighted above, fickle customers can render that key metric highly volatile. Buffett could have jumped aboard at the perfect time, it's always possible. But it is also just as possible that Domino's Pizza will stumble if people decide that its pizza isn't so great anymore. Given the intense competition in the restaurant sector, there's probably more risk here than many investors realize. Don't just follow anyone Buffett often laments how investors act like lemmings, unthinkingly following hot fads and trends. One of his many pithy quotes is: "A pack of lemmings looks like a group of rugged individualists compared with Wall Street when it gets a concept in its teeth." Yet, in an ironic twist, Wall Street buys the stocks Buffett buys with lemming-like consistency. There's no harm in researching the stocks Buffett buys for Berkshire Hathaway. But make sure you only buy the ones that make sense to you. That list may or may not include Domino's Pizza, but there are some very clear reasons to be skeptical of this recent purchase if you take the time to look.

If Ottawa’s proposed rules are adopted, the only Canadians who will be able to open a chequing account are those who qualify for overdraft protection, have a strong credit rating, and no history of writing NSF cheques. Voided cheques sit open on a desk in a banker’s office in a shopping mall in Kitsault, B.C. on Sept. 21, 2023. Jesse Winter/The Globe and Mail John Turley-Ewart is a regulatory compliance consultant and Canadian banking historian. The most accepted payment method used by Canadian businesses is the tried-and-true cheque, a promise to pay that people have issued for generations. It is a payment option, however, that fewer Canadians will be able to exercise if Ottawa gets its way. Ottawa wants to cap non-sufficient fund (NSF) charges at $10, force banks to alert clients that they have written a bounced cheque, give them three hours to cover the shortfall and limit NSF charges to a maximum of one charge every 72 hours. If you are inclined to write bad cheques, write a batch of them all at once – Ottawa wants to provide a bulk discount. The federal government thinks this will protect consumers by saving them $5.1-billion over a 10-year period, while costing the banks $4.8 billion, creating a “net benefit to society of $314.4-million.” This may sound wonderful to advocates such as ACORN Canada, an “economic justice” organization with offices across Canada. But the unintended consequences will be anything but. If Ottawa’s proposed rules are adopted, the only Canadians who will be able to open a chequing account are those who qualify for overdraft protection, have a strong credit rating, and no history of writing NSF cheques. In short, customers who are not going to cost the banks $4.8 billion over 10 years. The very people that the Liberal government says it wants to help will find banks less inclined to open chequing accounts given the administrative and cost burdens these rules will impose on such accounts. Customers who write bad cheques today are typically given one or two chances to figure out how to balance a cheque book if they bounce a cheque. NSF fees of $40 to $50 are usually charged to cover the administrative expenses and to capture the attention of the account holder. If a customer continues to write NSF cheques, a bank has a duty to close the account to protect those people receiving the bad cheques. The account closures are likely to come much sooner under the proposed regulations. Statistics Canada’s analysis of payment methods in 2023 showed that 70 per cent of Canadian businesses accepted cheques. Just 41 per cent accepted debit cards while 52 per cent opened their registers to payments using credit cards. The cheque continues to be more popular with businesses than cash – only 53 per cent of businesses accepted cash as a payment method. The lasting business utility of cheques – Canadians wrote more than 400 million cheques in 2021 – has much to do with the tremendous efficiency with which Canada’s banking system long ago figured out how to clear cheques in a country with a small population dispersed across a vast geography. That efficiency has accelerated with new technologies that allow cheques to be deposited using the camera on a smartphone and a banking app. Such efficiency matters. The quicker payments are secured by businesses, the quicker suppliers and employees are paid. In short, it adds to business productivity. Cheques are evolving as new payment methods take hold (Interac and pre-authorized payment plans). They are mostly used for larger payments now. The average cheque written in Canada in 2021, according to Payments Canada, exceeded $8,000, a thousand dollars more than in 2020. The volume of cheques is understandably on the decline, down 49 per cent since 2016. In short, the cheque is popular with most businesses and consumers as a high-dollar, niche payment method. It is neither the preferred means of settling most payments for the poor nor the medium used by society generally to pay for everyday items. And yet, the federal Liberal government is proposing new bank regulations this month that treat it as such. This is a recipe for de-banking those who occasionally find their ability to balance a cheque book wanting and those who don’t qualify for overdraft protection (short-term credit), but who may want to have the option of writing a cheque if needed. A quick read of the Criminal Code of Canada ( Section 362 to be precise) reveals that writing bad cheques (a.k.a fraud) is a crime, and writing large bad cheques (exceeding $5,000) is so bad a conviction can lead to “imprisonment for a term not more than 10 years.” Using a chequing account to facilitate theft is not “economic justice.” Banks know this, the criminal justice system does as well, but Ottawa thinks the problem is NSF charges on cheques. Nobody has a right to a chequing account in Canada and to use it to write bad cheques, whether intended or not. If this reality is lost on the Liberal government that drafted these rules, it will be made plain in the years to come.

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Brandon Gilliam made field goals of 42, 29 and 30 yards and Alabama State beat Prairie View A&M 9-6 on Saturday to secure a third straight winning season under coach Eddie Robinson. The last time Alabama State had three straight winnings seasons was under coach Reggie Barlow, who had five consecutive from 2010-15. The teams combined for 22 first downs, 428 total yards and five turnovers. Daquon Kincey rushed for 94 yards for Alabama State (6-5, 5-3 SWAC). Kareem Keye completed 6 of 14 passes for 71 yards with an interception. Jaden Johnson was also intercepted for Prairie View (5-7, 3-5). He was 13 of 23 for 122 yards. Guillermo Garcia Rodriguez had two field goals, including a 50-yarder. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballPoulakidas' 22 help Yale beat Fairfield 91-66