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Automobile parts giant LKQ Corporation disclosed that one of its business units in Canada was hacked, allowing threat actors to steal data from the company. LKQ is a public American company specializing in automotive replacement parts, components, and services to repair and maintain vehicles. The company has 45,000 employees in 25 countries and operates numerous brands, including Keystone, Tri Star, and ADL. In a Friday evening FORM 8-K filing filed with the SEC, the company says one of its business units in Canada was breached on November 13, disrupting business operations. "On November 13, 2024, LKQ Corporation (the "Company" or "we") detected unauthorized access to information technology (IT) systems of a single business unit in Canada ("Business Unit"). The attack disrupted the Business Unit's operations," reads the LKQ Form 8-K filing . "Upon discovery, we immediately began taking steps to investigate, contain, and recover from the incident, including activating our security incident response and recovery plans, partnering with industry leading forensic investigators, and initiating containment measures for affected systems. We also promptly notified law enforcement authorities. We are analyzing data impacted by the incident and will be notifying affected parties as appropriate." "As a result of the incident, the Company's operations within this Business Unit were adversely impacted for a few weeks while affected systems were recovered; however, the Company believes that it has effectively contained the threat and that none of its other businesses were impacted by the threat, and the Business Unit is now operating near full capacity." The company says that they do not believe the incident will have any material impact on its financials or operations for the remainder of the fiscal year. LKQ says that they will seek reimbursement for costs and expenses stemming from the cyberattack from their cyber insurance company. LKQ warns that its containment measures have caused some disruption within the breached business for a few weeks but has since restored operations. No ransomware gangs or other threat actors have claimed responsibility for the attack.
By MAE ANDERSON A recent survey shows small business owners are feeling more optimistic about the economy following the election. The National Federation of Independent Businesses’ Small Business Optimism Index rose by eight points in November to 101.7, its highest reading since June 2021. The Uncertainty Index declined 12 points in November to 98, following October’s pre-election record high of 110. NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said small business owners became more certain about future business conditions following the presidential election, breaking a nearly three-year streak of record high uncertainty. “Owners are particularly hopeful for tax and regulation policies that favor strong economic growth as well as relief from inflationary pressures,” he said in a statement. “In addition, small business owners are eager to expand their operations.” The net percent of owners expecting the economy to improve rose 41 points from October to a net 36%, the highest since June 2020. Some owners are also hoping 2025 will be a good time to grow. The percent of small business owners believing it is a good time to expand their business rose eight points to a 14%. This is also the highest reading since June 2021. While inflation has eased, it remains a top concern for owners. Twenty percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business (higher input and labor costs). It surpassed labor quality as the top issue by one point. Related Articles Business | Mayor Karen Bass and business leaders discuss homelessness, politics, Olympics Business | Rare coin issued after California Gold Rush sells at auction for $1.4 million
HARRISBURG — Spending on public education, reforming aspects of health care, loosening regulations on business and strengthening the commonwealth’s workforce were among the legislative wins achieved in 2024 in Pennsylvania’s General Assembly. Lawmakers adopted Pennsylvania’s biggest budget, to date, a $47.6 billion spending plan with a deficit balanced by $3 billion transferred from the commonwealth’s reserves. Gov. Josh Shapiro and his supporters welcomed the move, spending down on what had been a combined $14 billion in savings they viewed as a reinvestment in taxpayers whose money sat dormant. Fiscal conservatives point to a five-year outlook in the budget that forecasts all of that money being spent by 2029, warning that the structural deficit risks fiscal insolvency. The budget included a $1.2 billion increase for public education as the commonwealth grapples with a late-2023 court decision that found its funding system unconstitutional. Schools collectively saw multi-million increases in spending on special education, K-12 classroom subsidies plus additional funds for the poorest districts to backfill an “adequacy gap” identified by the court, plus more funding for mental health initiatives and security. Expect more record requests for spending on education in the immediate budget years to come as the commonwealth upturns its system on how public schools are funded. At the same time, a fight to establish a school voucher system will continue, too. Lifeline Scholarships were shunned two years in a row, however, Republicans remain committed to creating vouchers in the name of school choice. They’re emboldened by shifts in political party registrations and substantial victories in the 2024 election cycle. Budget battles might lead some in Harrisburg and beyond to seek libations for a brief escape and this year in Pennsylvania, those of legal age have a new option. Legislators advanced a bill into law creating a new permit for licensed bars, restaurants, grocery stores and more to sell canned cocktails to-go. The pre-packaged, pre-mixed drinks were only available in state liquor stores prior to the change. Estimates reached $145 million in new tax revenue, however, the gains will be offset to some degree by lost revenue within the state-owned system. Pennsylvania’s bars and restaurants also benefitted from other regulatory changes that expanded aggregate time allowed for happy hours from 14 hours to 24 hours a week and also permitted drink-and-meal combination discounts that were once illegal. Lawmakers approved reforms in health care with a new law that changes how pharmacy benefit managers operate in the commonwealth. The “middle men” are blamed for practices causing smaller pharmacies to close and consumer prices to rise. Pennsylvania’s legislation bars PBMs from lowering reimbursements for unaffiliated pharmacies, prevents them from spiking prices on medications above what customers might pay when using cash out of pocket, ends certain “steering practices” that lead to increased business for affiliated pharmacies and requires certain reporting requirements that will reveal which companies fail to pass on manufacturer rebates to customers. Aside from public education, state lawmakers made big changes in the realm of higher education. They created Pennsylvania’s first State Board of Higher Education directed to coordinate higher-ed across all levels and also develop recommendations to create a performance-based funding system for state-related universities including Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh. Funding for smaller schools, that is, community colleges and state-owned schools, was increased as was funding for student scholarships and grants along with a new program that for the first time will provide stipends to student teachers. A new telemedicine law assures patients that any medically necessary service they’d receive in person that’s covered by their insurance plan would also be covered if administered remotely through telemedicine. Disputes preventing Pennsylvania’s full participation in an interstate healthcare licensure compact were resolved through legislation concerning fingerprinting and background checks. With a resolution in place, nurses and doctors and others from Pennsylvania can now work in cooperating states without obtaining another license. Xylazine is now formally listed as a Schedule III narcotic in the commonwealth. Protections are included for veterinary use of the sedative developed for large animals. Illicit production of the drug led to it being cut into fentanyl and other opioids sold on the streets, greatly enhancing potency and the risk of death by overdose. Distracted driving was addressed with the passage of Paul Miller’s Law, named after a 21-year-old Scranton man killed by a distracted driver in 2010. The measure, building on an existing statute that bans texting while driving, authorizes traffic stops for similar actions on handheld mobile devices including sending an email, posting to social media, snapping a photo and recording a video. The use of hands-free functions, however, remains permissible. New state law also created a Solar for Schools program incentivizing K-12 public schools, career and technical centers and community colleges to pursue state grant funding that can fund half the construction cost of an approved solar energy project. Another law established the framework for carbon dioxide capture, utilization and sequestration toward storing the pollutant below ground, an initiative tied to the multi-billion dollar proposal to open a pair of hydrogen hubs in the Philadelphia region. The 2023-24 Legislative Session is now closed and the 2025-26 session began Dec. 1 with lawmakers already signaling the introduction of new bills and the reintroduction of old bills that haven’t yet cleared the House and Senate. When voting picks up again in January, expect continued debate and formal proposals for legislative initiatives that weren’t successful including legalizing marijuana for recreational use, enacting gun control measures, approving ballot measures for constitutional amendments on universal voter ID and opening a temporary legal window to sue alleged perpetrators or enablers of long-ago sexual abuse, creating Lifeline Scholarships for school choice, regulating skill games, expanding Sunday hunting opportunities and boosting Pennsylvania’s housing stock.Rakovina Therapeutics Announces Closing of Oversubscribed $3M Private Placement
Needed: Comprehensive solution and not piecemeal remediesNone
By GRAHAM DUNBAR | Associated Press GENEVA — FIFA has signed Netflix to a United States broadcast deal for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil plus the 2031 edition that could be played in the U.S. The deal announced Friday is the most significant FIFA has signed with a streaming service for a major tournament. The value was not given, though international competitions in women’s soccer have struggled to draw high-value offers. RELATED: ‘ Why did we even start doing this?: Santa Clara officials say 2026 FIFA World Cup is ‘highly likely’ to be a money loser World Cups are typically broadcast on free-to-air public networks to reach the biggest audiences, and the last women’s edition in 2023 earned FIFA less than 10% of the men’s 2022 World Cup. FIFA president Gianni Infantino had publicly criticized public broadcasters , especially in Europe, for undervaluing offers to broadcast the 2023 tournament that was played in Australia and New Zealand. That tournament was broadcast by Fox in the U.S. “This agreement sends a strong message about the real value of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the global women’s game,” Infantino said Friday in a statement. FIFA will likely use the Netflix deal to drive talks with European broadcasters that likely will be hardball negotiations. Soccer finance expert Kieran Maguire, a co-host of The Price of Football podcast, suggested the deal was “a bit of a gamble” for FIFA and “saber-rattling” by Infantino. “(Netflix) get experience of football broadcasting, FIFA can say, ‘we are now partnering with a blue chip organization, so watch out you nasty Europeans,’” Maguire, an academic at the University of Liverpool, said in a telephone interview. FIFA and Infantino also want to raise the price of broadcast deals to help fund increased prize money and close the gender pay gap on the men’s World Cup. At the men’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the 32 team federations shared $440 million in prize money. For the women’s 2023 tournament , FIFA had a $152 million total fund for prize money, contributions to teams’ preparation costs and payments to players’ clubs. In FIFA’s financial accounts for 2023 , the soccer body reported total broadcasting revenue of $244 million. In the year of the men’s 2022 World Cup it was almost $2.9 billion. The next Women’s World Cup will be a 32-team, 64-game tournament in 2027, played in Brazil from June 24-July 25. The U.S. originally bid jointly with Mexico. The 2031 host has not been decided, though the U.S. likely will bid for a tournament which FIFA is expected to try to expand to 48 teams. That would match the size of the 104-game format of the men’s World Cup that debuts in 2026 in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup after the U.S. won the two previous titles — in France in 2019 and Canada in 2015. “Bringing this iconic tournament to Netflix isn’t just about streaming matches,” its chief content officer Bela Bajaria said, “it’s also about celebrating the players, the culture and the passion driving the global rise of women’s sport.” Netflix dipped into live sports last month with more than 60 million households watching a heavily hyped boxing match between retired heavyweight legend Mike Tyson and social media personality Jake Paul. Some viewers reported streaming problems , however. Related Articles Sports | Lionel Messi’s Bay Area debut headlines Earthquakes’ 2025 schedule Sports | Longtime captain departs as Earthquakes’ roster shakeup continues Sports | Bay FC trades former captain Loera to Utah, names Potter permanent sporting director Sports | Earthquakes add three players in trade with New England as Arena reshapes roster Sports | San Jose to host United States women’s national soccer team for Olympic gold-medal rematch in April 2025 More than 25 million viewers in the U.S. watched the 2015 World Cup final, a 5-2 win over Japan, played in Vancouver, Canada, in a time zone similarly favorable to Brazil. Netflix also will broadcast two NFL games on Christmas Day: the Kansas City Chiefs at the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens at the Houston Texans. That’s part of a three-year deal announced in May. FIFA tried to sign Apple+ to an exclusive global deal to broadcast the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup which is being played in 11 U.S. cities next June and July. Broadcast networks showed little interest in the FIFA club event that will now be broadcast for free on streaming service DAZN, which is building closer business ties to Saudi Arabia. Ahead of the next Women’s World Cup, Netflix will “produce exclusive documentary series in the lead-up to both tournaments, spotlighting the world’s top players, their journeys and the global growth of women’s football,” FIFA said. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Not so intelligent after allNEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks pulled Wall Street to another record amid mixed trading. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% Monday after closing November at an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. Super Micro Computer, a stock that’s been on an AI-driven roller coaster, soared after saying an investigation found no evidence of misconduct by its management or the company’s board. Retailers were mixed coming off Black Friday and heading into what’s expected to be the best Cyber Monday on record. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks are pulling Wall Street toward another record amid mixed trading on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% in afternoon trading after closing its best month of the year at an all-time high . The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 86 points, or 0.2%, with a little more than an hour remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% higher. Super Micro Computer, a stock that’s been on an AI-driven roller coaster, soared 31.1% to lead the market. Following accusations of misconduct and the resignation of its public auditor , the maker of servers used in artificial-intelligence technology said an investigation found no evidence of misconduct by its management or by the company's board. It also said it doesn’t expect to restate its past financials and that it will find a new chief financial officer, appoint a general counsel and make other moves to strengthen its governance. Big Tech stocks also helped prop up the market. Gains of 1.8% for Microsoft and 2.9% for Meta Platforms were the two strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500. Intel was another propellant during the morning, but it lost an early gain to fall 1.1% after the chip company said CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired and stepped down from the board. Intel is looking for Gelsinger’s replacement, and its chair said it’s “committed to restoring investor confidence.” Intel recently lost its spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to Nvidia, which has skyrocketed in Wall Street's frenzy around AI. Stellantis, meanwhile, skidded following the announcement of its CEO’s departure . Carlos Tavares steps down after nearly four years in the top spot of the automaker, which owns car brands like Jeep, Citroën and Ram, amid an ongoing struggle with slumping sales and an inventory backlog at dealerships. The world’s fourth-largest automaker’s stock fell 6.3% in Milan. The majority of stocks in the S&P 500 likewise fell, including California utility PG&E. It dropped 3.7% after saying it would sell $2.4 billion of stock and preferred shares to raise cash. Retailers were mixed amid what’s expected to be the best Cyber Monday on record and coming off Black Friday . Target, which recently gave a forecast for the holiday season that left investors discouraged , fell 1.6%. Walmart , which gave a more optimistic forecast, rose 0.3%. Amazon, which looks to benefit from online sales from Cyber Monday, climbed 1.3%. The stock market largely took Donald Trump’s latest threat on tariffs in stride. The president-elect on Saturday threatened 100% tariffs against a group of developing economies if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar. Trump said he wants the group, headlined by Brazil, Russia, India and China, to promise it won’t create a new currency or otherwise try to undercut the U.S. dollar. The dollar has long been the currency of choice for global trade. Speculation has also been around a long time that other currencies could knock it off its mantle, but no contender has come close. The U.S. dollar’s value rose Monday against several other currencies, but one of its strongest moves likely had less to do with the tariff threats. The euro fell amid a political battle in Paris over the French government’s budget . The euro sank 0.7% against the U.S. dollar and broke below $1.05. In the bond market, Treasury yields gave up early gains to hold relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed above 4.23% during the morning before falling back to 4.19%. That was just above its level of 4.18% late Friday. A report in the morning showed the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted again last month, but not by as much as economists expected. This upcoming week will bring several big updates on the job market, including the October job openings report, weekly unemployment benefits data and the all-important November jobs report. They could steer the next moves for Federal Reserve, which recently began pulling interest rates lower to give support to the economy. Economists expect Friday's headliner report to show U.S. employers accelerated their hiring in November, coming off October's lackluster growth that was hampered by damaging hurricanes and strikes. “We now find ourselves in the middle of this Goldilocks zone, where economic health supports earnings growth while remaining weak enough to justify potential Fed rate cuts,” according to Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. In financial markets abroad, Chinese stocks led gains worldwide as monthly surveys showed improving conditions for manufacturing, partly driven by a surge in orders ahead of Trump’s inauguration next month. Both official and private sector surveys of factory managers showed strong new orders and export orders, possibly partly linked to efforts by importers in the U.S. to beat potential tariff hikes by Trump once he takes office. Indexes rose 0.7% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Shanghai. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
NHTSA finally releases new rules for self-driving cars — but there’s a twistNone
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Vikings linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. has been placed on injured reserve after hurting his hamstring Sunday in a 30-27 overtime victory over the Chicago Bears. The move announced Tuesday means that Pace must miss at least the Vikings next four games. The Vikings also activated outside linebacker Gabriel Murphy from injured reserve and signed linebacker Jamin Davis off the Green Bay Packers practice squad. Pace, 23, had started each of the Vikings nine games this season. The 2023 undrafted free agent from Cincinnati had 56 tackles — including six for loss — and three sacks. Murphy, 24, signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent this spring. He was placed on injured reserve Aug. 27. Davis had joined the Packers practice squad Oct. 29 after getting released by the Washington Commanders a week earlier. Washington selected him out of Kentucky with the 19th overall pick in the 2021 draft. The 25-year-old Davis has 282 tackles, seven sacks, one interception, two forced fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles in his NFL career. He led the Commanders with a career-high 104 tackles in 2022. The Vikings (9-2) host the Arizona Cardinals (6-5) on Sunday. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
IoT in Smart Building Market to Scale New Heights as Market Players Focus on Innovations 2024-2030He is not yet in power but President-elect Donald Trump rattled much of the world with an off-hours warning of stiff tariffs on close allies and China -- a loud hint that Trump-style government by social media post is coming back. With word of these levies against goods imported from Mexico, Canada and China, Trump sent auto industry stocks plummeting, raised fears for global supply chains and unnerved the world's major economies. For Washington-watchers with memories of the Republican's first term, the impromptu policy volley on Monday evening foreshadowed a second term of startling announcements of all manner, fired off at all hours of the day from his smartphone. "Donald Trump is never going to change much of anything," said Larry Sabato, a leading US political scientist and director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "You can expect in the second term pretty much what he showed us about himself and his methods in the first term. Social media announcements of policy, hirings and firings will continue." The first of Trump's tariff announcements -- a 25 percent levy on everything coming in from Mexico and Canada -- came amid an angry rebuke of lax border security at 6:45 pm on Truth Social, Trump's own platform. The United States is bound by agreements on the movement of goods and services brokered by Trump in a free trade treaty with both nations during his first term. But Trump warned that the new levy would "remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country" -- sowing panic from Ottawa to Mexico City. Seconds later, another message from the incoming commander-in-chief turned the focus on Chinese imports, which he said would be hit with "an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs." The consequences were immediate. Almost every major US automaker operates plants in Mexico, and shares in General Motors and Stellantis -- which produce pickup trucks in America's southern neighbor -- plummeted. Canada, China and Mexico protested, while Germany called on its European partners to prepare for Trump to impose hefty tariffs on their exports and stick together to combat such measures. The tumult recalls Trump's first term, when journalists, business leaders and politicians at home and abroad would scan their phones for the latest pronouncements, often long after they had left the office or over breakfast. During his first four years in the Oval Office, the tweet -- in those days his newsy posts were almost exclusively limited to Twitter, now known as X -- became the quasi-official gazette for administration policy. The public learned of the president-elect's 2020 Covid-19 diagnosis via an early-hours post, and when Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani was assassinated on Trump's order, the Republican confirmed the kill by tweeting a US flag. The public and media learned of numerous other decisions big and small by the same source, from the introduction of customs duties to the dismissal of cabinet secretaries. It is not a communication method that has been favored by any previous US administration and runs counter to the policies and practices of most governments around the world. Throughout his third White House campaign, and with every twist and turn in his various entanglements with the justice system, Trump has poured his heart out on Truth Social, an app he turned to during his 20-month ban from Twitter. In recent days, the mercurial Republican has even named his attorney general secretaries of justice and health via announcements on the network. "He sees social media as a tool to shape and direct the national conversation and will do so again," said political scientist Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University professor. cjc/ft/dw/bjt
FIFA signs Netflix to US broadcast deal for the Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031
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