go slot 777 ALBANY (TNS) — The ability of New York's energy grid to adequately handle future electricity needs is narrowing as power plants are aging and not being replaced, demand is expected to increase, and the zero-emission mandates of the state's Climate Act are looming, according to a biennial assessment conducted recently by the New York Independent System Operator. "So we're adding a lot of load, projected to add a lot of load in the future, but we're retiring generation, and we're not adding new generation fast enough and commensurate enough to close the gap," said Kevin Lanahan, a vice president with the not-for-profit organization that's tasked with operating and managing New York's power grid. Gas shortages also are expected to add stress to the future winter power supplies over the next decade during cold snaps. The sobering prognosis released last week comes as green energy advocates are ramping up pressure on lawmakers to maintain the mandates of New York's 2019 Climate Act; business and energy interests are supportive of the zero-emission goals but also calling for a full assessment of the costs and whether the mandates can be met — especially without causing crippling repercussions. A significant variable that lawmakers did not account for when they passed the 2019 Climate Act is the recent massive expansion in New York of the manufacturing sectors that develop semiconductors, crypto currency and data centers. "So we see them, we see how big they are, we see how many there are, and we're starting to understand electrically what it's going to require to accommodate all that," Lanahan said. "And all this wrapped up into one is really driving a sharp increase in the future peak demand on the system and the reliability margins, going back to how we operate the system, and the metrics there are shrinking. ... We're not adding enough generation, we keep relying on the units that are already there, but they're getting really old." The assessment conducted by NYISO every two years evaluates the reliability of New York's grid over the next decade. The last assessment, conducted in 2022, had flagged that economic changes, extreme weather and other factors would create future challenges that may require action to avoid interruptions in electric service. NY Renews, a progressive coalition of faith, labor and community groups, wrote a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul in late October imploring her administration to stay the course on the Climate Act mandates, citing fatal extreme weather events as well as environmental pollution they say is causing widespread health problems. "Not only does the Climate Law commit us to achieve the pollution reductions within the time frame that climate scientists tell us we must meet, but it also ensures that we prioritize equity and justice for those on the front lines of the climate crisis as we transform our entire economy from one powered by fossil fuels to one powered by clean renewable energy," the group wrote. "Full implementation of the Climate Law will dramatically reduce air pollution, and thereby lower the rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease, and other respiratory ailments that plague millions of New Yorkers. It will keep billions of dollars in our local economies instead of sending them out of state to import fossil fuels." ANOTHER COALITION , led by the Business Council of New York State, have been countering that message by noting the mandates, which include having 70% renewable electricity sources by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2040, are unattainable and on a collision course with reality. The business group recently urged Hochul to conduct a "deep analysis" of the state's future energy needs and supplies, including options for nuclear power plants, as the initial mandates of the 2019 Climate Act are nearing and serious concerns have been raised about the ability to meet those goals. The ramped up outreach to the governor followed state officials unveiling at an energy summit in September that nuclear reactors and similar technology may need to be an integral part of New York's clean energy goals. That was a central topic at the summit in Syracuse that was convened by Hochul's administration as state leaders have begun to acknowledge it will be difficult to meet the mandates of the 2019 Climate Act. The recent assessment by NYISO found that a reliability need is expected to begin in New York City in the summer of 2033 that "continues to demonstrate a very concerning decline in statewide resource margins such that by 2034 no surplus power would remain without further resource development." The assessment says expected increases in peak demand — along with limited supplies and state lawmakers' decision to start shutting down small gas plants — are among the factors contributing to the forecast. IN THE BACKDROP , Lanahan said, many of the state's power generators are approaching 70 years old with no clear picture of how long they may last. "For stress, we're not adding enough generation; we keep relying on the units that are already there, but they're getting really old," he said. "We do a calculus there on the probability of breakdowns, and that keeps going up. So that added cushion, it's like an insurance policy. I don't like to call it that, but it gives you added megawatts to bring on to the system in those emergency situations. We have less of that cushion on a local basis and then statewide." Some of those who attended the energy summit in Syracuse two months ago said the enormous price tag for establishing nuclear power options was noted, but that regulators and other state officials have declined for years to calculate what would be the potential costs for consumers and businesses of a transition to zero-emission technologies. Lanahan said that future winter seasons are presenting the most challenges. Solar installations have been robust, he said, especially for residences and small commercial projects that are "behind the meter," but in the winter months solar generation declines as the sun is lower in the sky and days are shorter. Some lawmakers, including New York's congressional members who have supported doling out billions of dollars in federal aid to chip fab expansions at Micron Technologies in Rochester and GlobalFoundries in Malta, among others, have asserted that "clean energy" will be able to power those facilities, even as industry stakeholders have said that's not possible in the next couple decades. And Lanahan noted the reliability margins a decade from now continue to look challenging. "We don't want to lose this economic development, and we want to keep the system reliable, but we're adding load, and again, just not enough generation right now to show with the easy math that we're ready," he said, adding the NYSIO is beginning to plan for addressing the 2033 reliability gap. Two years ago, during a cold winter snap, power generators in the New York City area switched off their gas and used oil reserves to deal with the surge in heating requirements so that natural gas could continue flowing across upstate New York. "Without that ability to switch the New York City power plants over to oil in that situation, we would be in the same trouble as the rest of the nation," Lanahan said. "And it's a story that's been, you know, (discussed) amongst the industry folks and the reliability organizations." In an interview with the Times Union in August, Doreen M. Harris, president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, confirmed that advanced nuclear technologies would be on the agenda at the September energy summit and that they would release their draft blueprint for that proposal. Harris had said the technologies are "timely to investigate ... in large part because not only of the market shifts that we've seen in bringing these technologies to commercialization, but also in the robust support by the federal government, and I want to say, bipartisan support from the federal government in considering these assets." SOME ENVIRONMENTAL groups have pushed back on the nuclear option or any delays of the Climate Act mandates, noting that the development of those plants could take years beyond the dates set for the lower- and zero-emission goals. In July, the state comptroller's office issued an audit that found New York's Public Service Commission relied on outdated data and made miscalculations about the state's ability to reach the Climate Act's energy mandates, including failing to develop a backup plan for not meeting those goals. Power industry experts over the past year have said at the time the 2019 legislation was passed, there was no analysis done on what was achievable and at what cost, and no real plan for pulling away from a power grid that's more than 70 years old. While renewable energy sources power much of upstate, more than 85 percent of electricity being supplied to New York City and Long Island is from gas and oil. ___ (c)2024 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) Visit the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) at www.timesunion.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Action RPGs are complex and players are simple: They want power any way they can get it, even if it completely trivializes the entire game. Just about every Diablo 4 season has had something that does way more damage than it should, forcing Blizzard to play whack-a-mole to keep it balanced without pissing everyone off. Jonathan Rogers, game director of Path of Exile 2, jokingly acknowledged Diablo 4's ridiculous damage numbers when explaining why he doesn't think his game will have that problem on a recent episode of the Tavern Talk podcast , which is hosted by streamers Darth Microtransaction and GhazzyTV. "Look, PoE 1 obviously did get pretty crazy, but at the same time we had a lot of years—like a lot of years—where things weren't like that," he said. "Our numbers don't scale as fast as some games' do and they don't go quite as exponential which means we're not going to have to be worrying about trillions of damage or anything like that." Rogers said the team is "careful" when it comes to giving players power increases that feel good versus power increases that break the game. For one, numbers in PoE 2 are much smaller. An item might give you nine intelligence to Diablo 4's 200. This helps keep the numbers legible during combat, so players aren't trying to squint to see which attack had more zeroes. "I don't think we're ever going to have to do a numbers squish or anything like that," he said, possibly referencing what Blizzard tried and failed to do with the Vessel of Hatred expansion. It was only partially a success: damage numbers are lower in Diablo 4 than they were before until the moment you hit max level and have a thousand ways to ramp them back up again. PoE 2 doesn't work like that, and seems to have the kind of slow-paced combat encounters you'd normally see in a soulslike. You won't be teleporting through dungeons with a trail of bodies in your wake. It's still an ongoing consideration for Grinding Gear Games though. Rogers says the team has regular back and forths about how high the numbers should go. "Together with that I think we come to some kind of medium ground where we don't get things too out of control." Personally, I love trying broken stuff out in Diablo 4. It isn't a MOBA where balance problems ruin the experience for everyone else. Sometimes you just want to see big numbers. But at the same time, I can appreciate GGG wanting to keep PoE 2 from becoming a flavor-of-the-month action RPG every season. Players will always identify what the best and worst is, but trying to keep the gap in between those things small is certainly admirable. It's never fun spending hours working on a build to watch someone else barrel through the entire game due to some bug. I hope nothing like that crops up during PoE 2's early access, but I can't promise I won't hop on the bandwagon to try it out if it does. PoE 2 will launch in early access on December 6. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.

LOS ANGELES — The locker room after the Rams’ 37-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was as quiet as any this season. Players shouldered blame in quiet, shorts responses to reporters’ questions before filing out and into the night. As they dissected what had just happened, the Rams (5-6) also looked ahead and stated they could not afford for this game to spiral into the next game, which is Sunday’s matchup with the New Orleans Saints (4-7). “Just make sure you turn the page. Obviously, there are things that we want to correct from the game and find ways to be better moving forward, but make sure that we come out with great energy today. It starts today,” Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said before Wednesday’s practice. “There are going to be things we want to clean up from practice, make sure we do that and move on day-to-day with the right attitude and the right spirit.” As the Rams have gone about making those corrections, a consistent word has come to mind: Consistency. Asked what he’s looking for from the defense Sunday after its worst performance since the early weeks of the season, head coach Sean McVay used that word. He spoke about playing as a unit, sticking to assignments, coverage and pass rush complementing each other. Then he added with a smile, “Same things I’m looking for on the defense would be exactly how I would answer your offensive question as well.” Even 11 games into the season, we still haven’t seen the Rams offense perform with the type of consistency you would expect from a group with this much talent. Against the Eagles, the Rams moved the ball well in the first quarter, reaching the red zone twice without needing a third down. But any momentum was quickly lost with a 10-play second quarter that resulted in a loss of six yards. It was the same story a week before, with the offense blazing in the second and third quarters against the Patriots while going nowhere in the first and fourth quarters. “It’s kind of the word ‘consistency’ right now,” Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. “There are times where it feels like we go right down the field and put it in, and there are other times where it just feels a little bit harder than it should. I think that’s the biggest key right now.” The defense is facing a similar obstacle. The Rams are among the best in the NFL at holding teams without a touchdown in the red zone, limiting opponents to a 48.8% success rate. That ranks eighth in the league, but the flip side is that the Rams allow teams 3.7 trips into the red zone per game, which is tied for 28th. Defensive tackle and captain Kobie Turner raised the issue of allowing too many long drives following the Eagles loss, and defensive coordinator Chris Shula agreed with the assessment. “Some of that, especially the other night, they were in third downs a decent amount of time and it was a third and favorable,” Shula said. “Then, finding a way to get stops, finding a way to play, get them off track, get them into 2nd-and-longs where you get those 3rd-longs, and you can earn the right to rush the passer.” Related Articles Entering Week 13, it’s not encouraging that the Rams are still struggling to find consistency in their execution. But to this point, it hasn’t upended their season. The wild card might be out of reach, but the NFC West title is still up for grabs. But that starts with a road win against a Saints team playing with nothing to lose. “We know that it’s going to be a great challenge, especially at their place. It’ll be rocking atmosphere and environment with the holidays and the momentum they have,” McVay said. “We’ve a lot of guys that are experiencing things for the first time. I have seen the resolve of this group show itself. Now, we’ve to do it.” When: 1:05 p.m. Sunday Where: Superdome, New Orleans TV/radio: FOX (Ch. 11)/710 AM; 93.1 FM; 1330 AM (Spanish); Sirius 382, 226Georgia quarterback Carson Beck on Saturday announced his plans to enter the NFL draft, five days after having season-ending elbow surgery . Beck, a fifth-year senior, made his NFL plans official on social media. He suffered a right elbow injury in the first half of the Bulldogs’ 22-19 overtime win over Texas in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 7 in Atlanta. Beck had surgery on Monday to repair his ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow. The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. Beck is expected to begin throwing next spring. He could have returned for a sixth season but instead will enter the NFL draft. Beck posted on Instagram: “The past five years at the University of Georgia have been nothing short of a dream come true and I will forever cherish the memories that have been made.” Gunner Stockton, who took over for Beck in the second half against Texas, will make his first start for Georgia on Wednesday in the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Beck has started every game of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He was 24-3 as a starter. Beck passed for 3,941 yards with 24 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 2023 but had more difficulties with turnovers this season as he passed for 28 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. He completed 7 of 13 passes for 56 yards before his injury in the SEC championship game. Georgia coach Kirby Smart stuck with Beck despite a midseason string of eight interceptions in three games. “Obviously, you look at the stats and they aren’t the same stats as the year before,” offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said Saturday when reflecting on Beck's career. “The goal in this league is to win the SEC championship. And he was the quarterback of that team that got us to that game and put us in that position.” Added offensive guard Tate Ratledge: “I think Carson should be remembered as a great player. He’s who got us to this point of the season.” Stockton, a sophomore, completed 12 of 16 passes for 71 yards with one interception against Texas. He signed with Georgia as a highly recruited in-state player from Rabun County High School, where he broke Trevor Lawrence's state high school record for most career touchdown passes and Deshaun Watson's state record for combined rushing and passing touchdowns in a career. “Obviously when he was in high school, he was one of the best to ever do it in Georgia,” Bulldogs linebacker Chaz Chambliss said of Stockton before adding that he “just has that fire in him.” Georgia was preparing to start Stockton before announcing Beck's season-ending injury. Stockton will attempt to join a short list of quarterbacks who have been promoted from backup jobs to win national championships. The list includes Georgia's Stetson Bennett, who began the 2021 season as the backup to JT Daniels before taking over the starting job in October. Lawrence took over for Kelly Bryant during Clemson's 2018 championship season. The best comparison to Stockton's challenge during the CFP era may be Cardale Jones on the 2014 Ohio State national championship team. Jones' first start was the Big Ten championship game following an injury to J.T. Barrett, who began the preseason as the expected backup before Braxton Miller's injury. Stockton led Georgia to a touchdown on his first drive against Texas and has had extra practice time during the Bulldogs' break after receiving a first-round bye in the playoff. “To see his growth since he’s been here, he’s been waiting patiently, he’s been sitting and putting his time in and he’s been working while he was waiting,” Georgia safety Malaki Starks said Friday. “And now he gets a chance to go out there and prove what he can do. And, you know, I believe in him 100%.” Starks, who is from Jefferson, Ga., often faced Stockton's Rabun County teams in high school. “He’s always been, you know, that guy, you know, since I’ve been growing up,” Starks said. “He’s an easy guy to follow. I mean, Gunner is a great guy, you know, very respectful, great parents. I mean, he’s the guy that you want to lead. And a lot of guys have confidence in him. And I think you saw it during games in the SEC (championship game), how much the guys believed in him.” ___ 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-football Charles Odum, The Associated Press

Pooches in pullovers strut their stuff at London's canine Christmas sweater paradeNEW YORK (AP) — Edmonton Oilers forward Jeff Skinner has been fined $2,000 for embellishment during a recent game against the New York Rangers, the NHL said Monday. Skinner was issued a warning after a diving/embellishment incident in an Oct. 22 game against the Carolina Hurricanes, the league said. His second citation, which triggered the fine, came in the second period of a 6-2 victory over the Rangers on Nov. 23. Skinner was being followed by Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller as he had the puck along the boards in the New York zone. Skinner lost his footing and the puck despite minimal contact from Miller. The Oilers forward looked toward the referee as he got up but no penalty call was made on the play. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

(The Center Square) – Prosecutors introduced secretly recorded audio and video along with a troubled star witness at the public corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Former Chicago Alderman Daniel Solis returned to the Everett McKinley U.S. Courthouse Monday. Solis is facing one federal count of bribery under a deferred prosecution agreement. The ex-alderman began cooperating with federal investigators in 2016. Separately Monday, former Chicago Alderman Daniel Solis, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and Madigan codefendant Michael McClain enter the federal court building in Chicago Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. U.S. government attorney Diane MacArthur first introduced a recording of Madigan and Solis nearly two years before the alderman started cooperating with the government. The recording involved a conversation with Chinese developer, See Wong, who wanted to build a hotel on a parcel of land in Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood. The land was owned by the state of Illinois at the time, but Solis said a zoning change would be required from the city in order for a hotel to be built. At Madigan’s request, Solis said he facilitated the meeting on Aug. 8, 2014, at Madigan’s law firm, Madigan and Getzendanner, about the land along Wentworth Avenue between Archer Avenue and Cermak Road. Madigan’s law partner, Bud Getzendanner, discussed how successful the firm had been in working with hotels to make sure they were not taxed more than necessary. ”A large component of your expense for hotels is real estate taxes,” Getzendanner said during the recorded meeting. Getzendanner said the firm charged 12.5% of the tax savings obtained. Madigan told Wong and an interpreter about the quality of service his firm provided. “We don’t take a second seat to anybody,” Madigan said. The developer then asked for a picture with Madigan and Solis. Solis told the group that Wong would benefit from working with Madigan. “If he works with the Speaker, he will get anything he needs for that hotel,” Solis said on the recording. Solis testified that he meant the city would provide the zoning change the developer needed from the city if the developer hired Madigan’s law firm. Solis said the zoning change was approved, but the proposed hotel was never built. MacArthur asked Solis about the bribery charge he is still facing, which Solis said involved the redevelopment of a property in Chicago from a restaurant to a residential building in 2015. Solis said two problems prevented the project from moving forward: labor unions’ perceived lack of representation in the development and residents' concerns in the ward. The former alderman admitted that he solicited a campaign contribution from the developer or from one or more of the developer’s vendors while the project’s zoning change was still under consideration. Solis said he believed the developer was on board and that he would be getting donations from the developers’ vendors. The zoning change was approved by the city council, Solis said. He testified he solicited and accepted campaign contributions from other developers who had matters pending before the city council’s zoning committee. Solis then testified about about a variety of things like massages that turned sexual, trips to Las Vegas, tickets to professional sporting events, no-paperwork six-figure loans he'd paid back. He even admitted to an extramarital affair he had with an interpreter. Solis said he was separated from his wife for about five years and their house went into foreclosure. He also confessed that he lied to a collection agency by saying he was out of work. MacArthur asked Solis about his sister, Patti Solis Doyle, who worked on campaigns for former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, former President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, D-New York. Solis Doyle also managed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008. Solis said his sister was involved in a hotel project in which the developer offered her $100,000. Solis said his sister offered to split the sum with her brother. As chairman of the city’s zoning committee, Solis said he told his sister he could not accept money regarding a hotel development. Solis said his sister told him there would be another way she could compensate him. The former alderman said he did receive funds from his sister for referring her to his friend Brian Hynes’ state vendor assistance program. Monday afternoon, Solis testified that FBI agents visited his home on June 1, 2016, and played audio and video recordings. After considering an attorney, Solis said he decided to cooperate with the FBI a few days later and agreed to let investigators tap his phone. Solis also said he told an attorney friend that he was cooperating with the FBI in regard to an investigation of an organization he was involved in. More from this section Solis said he made recordings for several investigations he was involved in as part of his deferred prosecution agreement. He began communicating with Madigan after receiving a voicemail message on June 12, 2017. Solis said he discussed the Chinatown land deal, his interest in getting a state board appointment, and referring clients to Madigan’s law firm while cooperating with the government from June 2016 to December 2017. Solis admitted that he was not really interested in a state board appointment, but he raised the issue with Madigan at the direction of law enforcement. Solis said he began communicating with Madigan codefendant Michael McClain about the Chinatown parcel in the fall of 2017. He said he had to continue to perform his duties as an alderman while cooperating with the FBI because of “the farce” that he was involved in. Solis discussed a 2017 redevelopment project that required a zoning change involving a Union West development in Chicago’s West Loop. MacArthur played a recording, dated June 12, 2017, of Madigan asking Solis about the development. During the call, Solis told the speaker he would try to arrange an introduction for Madigan with the developers. In a subsequent call, Solis promised to arrange a meeting and said, “I think these guys get it, the quid pro quo and how it works.” When MacArthur asked Solis why he said that, Solis said he didn’t know and said it was “dumb.” MacArthur asked Solis if he used the words “quid pro quo” at the direction of law enforcement. “No,” Solis said. Union West developer Andrew Cretal agreed to meet with Madigan and told Solis, “confidentially,” that his company was working with Goldman Sachs as an equity partner and that he would “circle back” with Solis. MacArthur played a recording of Madigan privately telling Solis not to use the words, “quid quo pro.” The conversation immediately preceded the meeting Cretal and the Union West group had at Madigan's and Getzendanner’s law office. During the meeting, Madigan repeated to Cretal’s group what he had said to See Wong. “We don’t take a second seat to anybody,” Madigan said. Solis said he met with Madigan again privately after the meeting with the intention of discussing the Chinatown parcel. Solis said he had been having frequent meetings about the land with potential developers. During the recording, Solis said that nothing could really happen until the state transferred the land. Connie Mixon, professor of Political Science and director of the Urban Studies Program at Elmhurst University, served as an expert witness at the corruption trial of longtime Chicago Democrat Ed Burke, who served on the city council from 1969 to 2023. A jury convicted Burke in December 2023 on 18 counts of racketeering, bribery, attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion and using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity. Mixon said that Solis also testified as a cooperating witness during Burke’s trial. “It seemed as if, in the sentencing for the Burke trial, the judge did take a bit of exception to the fact that Solis, who also had potential criminal charges, was essentially getting away without any sort of repercussions,” Mixon told The Center Square. Mixon described Solis as a damaged witness. “He’s absolutely damaged, but as much as he’s damaged, you have the words on the wiretap. Having the defendants’ words played in the courtroom, they are really the witness against themselves when you have those wiretaps,” Mixon explained. Before the jury was seated Monday morning, prosecutors said they would provide the court with revised jury instructions by Dec. 3. Judge John Robert Blakey said he could deny admittance of new materials after that date if he deemed them to be untimely. Madigan and McClain are charged with 23 counts of bribery, racketeering and official misconduct. The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday morning in Chicago.The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama A&M fired football coach Connell Maynor after seven seasons on Monday. Athletic director Paul A. Bryant announced the decision in a statement. The Bulldogs went 6-6 this season, including a 4-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference mark, and won three straight games before a season-ending loss to Florida A&M. Maynor finished 40-32 at Alabama A&M, including a 28-21 SWAC record. Maynor led Alabama A&M to its first SWAC championship in 15 years during the shortened 2021 season that played in the spring. The Bulldogs went 5-0 and beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 40-33 to claim the program’s second SWAC football title. Maynor is a former Arena Football League player who played quarterback for Winston-Salem State and North Carolina A&T. The program suffered a tragedy when linebacker Medrick Burnett Jr. died last week from an injury sustained during the annual Magic City Classic against in-state rival Alabama State on Oct. 26. ___ 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-football

TORONTO , Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - DeFi Technologies Inc. (the " Company " or " DeFi Technologies ") (CBOE CA: DEFI ) (GR: R9B) DEFTF , a financial technology company that pioneers the convergence of traditional capital markets with the world of decentralised finance (" DeFi "), announces that Russell Starr , Head of Capital Markets, will be a featured guest on Stocktwits Daily Rip Live on December 3, 2024 , at 9:00 AM EST . Daily Rip Live airs every market day, delivering Stocktwits' vibrant community the latest market updates, trading insights, and in-depth analysis of emerging financial trends. Anchored by Shay Boloor and Jordan Lee , renowned for their expertise and engaging social media presence, the show features a lineup of expert guests, making it a go-to resource for active traders and investors. Tune in live via: Watch the live show on: https://stocktwits.com/ @Stocktwits on X : https://x.com/Stocktwits Stocktwits YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/stocktwits Learn more about DeFi Technologies at defi .tech About Stocktwits Stocktwits is the premier social media platform dedicated to investors and traders. With an active community of over 10 million users, Stocktwits has established itself as a leading voice in the investing world. Driven by the mission to help investors enhance their returns, Stocktwits offers a rich ecosystem of community interaction, data, content, and tools that empower investors to connect, learn, profit, and have fun in the process. For more information, visit https://stocktwits.com/ About DeFi Technologies DeFi Technologies Inc. ( CBOE CA: DEFI ) ( GR: R9B ) (( DEFTF ) is a financial technology company that pioneers the convergence of traditional capital markets with the world of decentralized finance ( DeFi ). With a dedicated focus on industry-leading Web3 technologies, DeFi Technologies aims to provide widespread investor access to the future of finance. Backed by an esteemed team of experts with extensive experience in financial markets and digital assets, we are committed to revolutionizing the way individuals and institutions interact with the evolving financial ecosystem. Join DeFi Technologies' digital community on Linkedin and Twitter , and for more details, visit https:// defi .tech/ About Valour Valour Inc. and Valour Digital Securities Limited (together, " Valour ") issues exchange traded products (" ETPs" ) that enable retail and institutional investors to access digital assets like Bitcoin in a simple and secure way via their traditional bank account. Valour is part of the asset management business line of DeFi Technologies Inc. ( CBOE CA: DEFI ) ( GR: R9B ) (( DEFTF ).For more information on Valour, to subscribe, or to receive updates and financial information, visit valour.com . About Reflexivity Research Reflexivity Research LLC is a leading research firm specializing in the creation of high-quality, in-depth research reports for the bitcoin and digital asset industry, empowering investors with valuable insights. For more information please visit https://www.reflexivityresearch.com/ About Stillman Digital Stillman Digital is a leading digital asset liquidity provider that offers limitless liquidity solutions for businesses, focusing on industry-leading trade execution, settlement, and technology. For more information, please visit https://www.stillmandigital.com Cautionary note regarding forward-looking information: This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to the participation of DeFi Technologies on Stocktwits; development of ETPs; the regulatory environment with respect to the growth and adoption of decentralized finance; the pursuit by DeFi and its subsidiaries of business opportunities; and the merits or potential returns of any such opportunities. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but is not limited to the growth and development of decentralized finance and the digital asset sector; rules and regulations with respect to decentralized finance and digital assets; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. THE CBOE CANADA EXCHANGE DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/defi-technologies-to-be-featured-on-stocktwits-daily-rip-live-302320182.html SOURCE DeFi Technologies Inc. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Ocean Power Technologies Pre-Releases Preliminary Financial Results for Second Quarter Fiscal 2025

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LONDON — Pooches in pullovers paraded past Buckingham Palace on Saturday for a gathering of dogs in Christmas sweaters to raise funds for rescue charities. People and dogs take part in the Rescue Dogs of London and Friends Christmas Jumper Parade on Saturday outside Buckingham Palace in central London. About 130 pets, and their owners, walked Saturday from St. James's Park and along the Mall, the wide boulevard that leads to the royal palace as part of the Christmas Jumper Parade. Flossie the dog barks Saturday during the Rescue Dogs of London and Friends Christmas Jumper Parade in central London. Prizes were awarded for best-dressed pets, with contenders including canine Santas, puppy elves and a French bulldog dressed in a red beret and pink jacket adorned with red bows. People and dogs take part in the Rescue Dogs of London and Friends Christmas Jumper Parade on Saturday in central London. The event was organized by Rescue Dogs of London and Friends to raise money for charities that rehome dogs from overseas. People take part in the Rescue Dogs of London and Friends Christmas Jumper Parade on Saturday in central London. Christmas sweater animal parades have become something of an annual tradition in London. People and dogs take part in the Rescue Dogs of London and Friends Christmas Jumper Parade on Saturday outside Buckingham Palace in central London. There are more to come this year, including an event for corgis — the late Queen Elizabeth II's favorite breed — on Dec. 7 and the dachshund-friendly Hyde Park Sausage Walk on Dec 15. From bags of kibble in the grocery store to modern home sizes, things are getting smaller—and evidently, Americans are starting to look for furry friends that match. Small breeds like terriers and toys have largely dethroned the retrievers that once dominated the most popular breed rankings. This is a continuation of a trend that began in 2022 when the Labrador retriever lost its 31-year-long streak as #1 to the French bulldog, according to the American Kennel Club. This shift may be partially attributable to the rising costs of pet products and veterinary care since smaller dogs are more economical for tighter budgets. Moreover, as remote work and nomadic living become increasingly more common, smaller dogs may appeal to those looking for pets that require less space and are easier to transport. In fact, only two sporting dog breeds are the most popular in any American state—and neither is a Labrador retriever. The most popular dog overall represents 4% of all dogs in the country—constituting over 2.3 million out of 58 million households with dogs. Ollie used data from U.S. News & World Report to further explore which dog breeds are the most popular in which states and what factors may drive residents' preferences. Named after the northern Mexican state from which it originates, the Chihuahua is the smallest dog breed and one of the oldest, with a lineage that dates as far back as the ninth century. Today, the breed makes up a remarkable 4% of all dogs in the United States and is the most popular overall in 21 states. It ranks within the top five most common breeds in 42 states in total. Requiring just 200 to 250 calories per day but boasting a lifespan of 14 to 16 years, the Chihuahua offers owners low-cost longevity and is known for its adaptability and amusing personality. The French bulldog is a compact companion known for being friendly yet quiet, making it suitable for a range of lifestyles and homes. The breed has roots in the English bulldog, which was bred to a smaller size to accompany its working English owners, many of whom were artisans. As such trades closed amid the Industrial Revolution, these workers and their little bulldogs moved to France, where the breed's popularity began. The French developed a more standardized appearance which was iterated upon in the U.S. to develop the iconic bat ears. The breed has recently seen a massive increase in popularity, with AKC registrations surging by 1,000% between 2012 and 2022. Now, the French bulldog is the most popular dog in Florida, California, and Hawaii and is in the top five most common dogs in nearly half the remaining states. With webbed paws and an affinity for water, golden retrievers are lucky pups to be the favored breed of the Midwest. They are the most popular dogs in states bordering the Great Lakes—Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio; the entirety of the New England region minus Rhode Island; plus North Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and Virginia. The iconic golden breed was developed in 19th-century Scotland to retrieve both from land and water during hunts, hence its swimming-related adaptations. Golden retrievers are known for their affectionate nature and eagerness to please, making them well-suited for service and other working dog roles. The shih tzu, whose name means "lion" in Chinese, is king of the Empire State (New York) as well as Iowa, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. Roughly a quarter of New York state residents live in apartments, making the dog that averages 9 to 16 pounds perfect for compact households. Despite being known for its playfulness, the breed does not require much physical activity or space. The breed dates back over 1,000 years but was first brought to America surprisingly recently, following World War II. According to the American Kennel Club, every shih tzu alive today has direct lineage to just 14 shih tzus that were saved when the breed nearly went extinct during the Communist revolution. As loyal as they are intelligent, German shepherds are among the favored breeds for guide, military, police, and search and rescue roles. The breed, which first arrived in America in the early 20th century, also enjoys peak popularity in Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Athletic in nature, the breed requires lots of exercise, making them well-suited for homes with or near lots of open land. They are also well-adapted to cold temperatures and harsher climates due to their thick double coats of fur. Representing the best of both worlds, the golden retriever and poodle hybrid is known for its friendly, sociable demeanor and trainability. Bred to be guide dogs in the 1960s, the hybrid is not recognized as an official breed by the AKC, so there is no breed standard. Goldendoodles can thus range from mini-sized to about 90 pounds and may have fur that is curly, straight, or somewhere in between. While not official, the family-friendly dog has left paw prints all over the country, ranking in the top five most popular dogs in 37 states. In Idaho and Utah, the goldendoodle is the most popular overall. Maxing out at just 7 pounds, the Yorkshire terrier is the most popular breed among Maryland and Washington D.C. residents. This is not necessarily surprising considering the housing stock of the nation's capital is comprised mostly of apartment units, making the pint-sized pup perfect for metropolitans. The toy breed was bred to chase rats out of mines and mills in 19th-century England, arriving in North America in the 1870s and gaining official recognition by the AKC in 1885. Now, the breed is among the top five most common dogs in 26 states. The breed is a true terrier at heart, known for its feisty yet affectionate nature.' Additional research by Eliza Siegel. Story editing by Carren Jao. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. This story originally appeared on Ollie and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!LONDON — Pooches in pullovers paraded past Buckingham Palace on Saturday for a gathering of dogs in Christmas sweaters to raise funds for rescue charities. People and dogs take part in the Rescue Dogs of London and Friends Christmas Jumper Parade on Saturday outside Buckingham Palace in central London. About 130 pets, and their owners, walked Saturday from St. James's Park and along the Mall, the wide boulevard that leads to the royal palace as part of the Christmas Jumper Parade. Flossie the dog barks Saturday during the Rescue Dogs of London and Friends Christmas Jumper Parade in central London. Prizes were awarded for best-dressed pets, with contenders including canine Santas, puppy elves and a French bulldog dressed in a red beret and pink jacket adorned with red bows. People and dogs take part in the Rescue Dogs of London and Friends Christmas Jumper Parade on Saturday in central London. The event was organized by Rescue Dogs of London and Friends to raise money for charities that rehome dogs from overseas. People take part in the Rescue Dogs of London and Friends Christmas Jumper Parade on Saturday in central London. Christmas sweater animal parades have become something of an annual tradition in London. People and dogs take part in the Rescue Dogs of London and Friends Christmas Jumper Parade on Saturday outside Buckingham Palace in central London. There are more to come this year, including an event for corgis — the late Queen Elizabeth II's favorite breed — on Dec. 7 and the dachshund-friendly Hyde Park Sausage Walk on Dec 15. From bags of kibble in the grocery store to modern home sizes, things are getting smaller—and evidently, Americans are starting to look for furry friends that match. Small breeds like terriers and toys have largely dethroned the retrievers that once dominated the most popular breed rankings. This is a continuation of a trend that began in 2022 when the Labrador retriever lost its 31-year-long streak as #1 to the French bulldog, according to the American Kennel Club. This shift may be partially attributable to the rising costs of pet products and veterinary care since smaller dogs are more economical for tighter budgets. Moreover, as remote work and nomadic living become increasingly more common, smaller dogs may appeal to those looking for pets that require less space and are easier to transport. In fact, only two sporting dog breeds are the most popular in any American state—and neither is a Labrador retriever. The most popular dog overall represents 4% of all dogs in the country—constituting over 2.3 million out of 58 million households with dogs. Ollie used data from U.S. News & World Report to further explore which dog breeds are the most popular in which states and what factors may drive residents' preferences. The French bulldog is a compact companion known for being friendly yet quiet, making it suitable for a range of lifestyles and homes. The breed has roots in the English bulldog, which was bred to a smaller size to accompany its working English owners, many of whom were artisans. As such trades closed amid the Industrial Revolution, these workers and their little bulldogs moved to France, where the breed's popularity began. The French developed a more standardized appearance which was iterated upon in the U.S. to develop the iconic bat ears. The breed has recently seen a massive increase in popularity, with AKC registrations surging by 1,000% between 2012 and 2022. Now, the French bulldog is the most popular dog in Florida, California, and Hawaii and is in the top five most common dogs in nearly half the remaining states. The shih tzu, whose name means "lion" in Chinese, is king of the Empire State (New York) as well as Iowa, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. Roughly a quarter of New York state residents live in apartments, making the dog that averages 9 to 16 pounds perfect for compact households. Despite being known for its playfulness, the breed does not require much physical activity or space. The breed dates back over 1,000 years but was first brought to America surprisingly recently, following World War II. According to the American Kennel Club, every shih tzu alive today has direct lineage to just 14 shih tzus that were saved when the breed nearly went extinct during the Communist revolution. Representing the best of both worlds, the golden retriever and poodle hybrid is known for its friendly, sociable demeanor and trainability. Bred to be guide dogs in the 1960s, the hybrid is not recognized as an official breed by the AKC, so there is no breed standard. Goldendoodles can thus range from mini-sized to about 90 pounds and may have fur that is curly, straight, or somewhere in between. While not official, the family-friendly dog has left paw prints all over the country, ranking in the top five most popular dogs in 37 states. In Idaho and Utah, the goldendoodle is the most popular overall. Maxing out at just 7 pounds, the Yorkshire terrier is the most popular breed among Maryland and Washington D.C. residents. This is not necessarily surprising considering the housing stock of the nation's capital is comprised mostly of apartment units, making the pint-sized pup perfect for metropolitans. The toy breed was bred to chase rats out of mines and mills in 19th-century England, arriving in North America in the 1870s and gaining official recognition by the AKC in 1885. Now, the breed is among the top five most common dogs in 26 states. The breed is a true terrier at heart, known for its feisty yet affectionate nature.' Additional research by Eliza Siegel. Story editing by Carren Jao. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. This story originally appeared on Ollie and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. Named after the northern Mexican state from which it originates, the Chihuahua is the smallest dog breed and one of the oldest, with a lineage that dates as far back as the ninth century. Today, the breed makes up a remarkable 4% of all dogs in the United States and is the most popular overall in 21 states. It ranks within the top five most common breeds in 42 states in total. Requiring just 200 to 250 calories per day but boasting a lifespan of 14 to 16 years, the Chihuahua offers owners low-cost longevity and is known for its adaptability and amusing personality. With webbed paws and an affinity for water, golden retrievers are lucky pups to be the favored breed of the Midwest. They are the most popular dogs in states bordering the Great Lakes—Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio; the entirety of the New England region minus Rhode Island; plus North Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and Virginia. The iconic golden breed was developed in 19th-century Scotland to retrieve both from land and water during hunts, hence its swimming-related adaptations. Golden retrievers are known for their affectionate nature and eagerness to please, making them well-suited for service and other working dog roles. As loyal as they are intelligent, German shepherds are among the favored breeds for guide, military, police, and search and rescue roles. The breed, which first arrived in America in the early 20th century, also enjoys peak popularity in Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Athletic in nature, the breed requires lots of exercise, making them well-suited for homes with or near lots of open land. They are also well-adapted to cold temperatures and harsher climates due to their thick double coats of fur. Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!

Less than two weeks removed from blowing out the candles and celebrating her 38th birthday, Marta , one of the most influential and decorated players in women's soccer history, was back on the pitch whipping crosses to her teammates in search of a breakthrough and arguing with referees for fouls and yellow cards. As Orlando Pride midfielder Summer Yates would tell you, Marta is extremely passionate and intense on the field. Even if it's during a closed-doors preseason scrimmage in March at home against the Florida State Seminoles, the reigning 2023 NCAA champions, with a roster that featured some teenagers that may one day become stars of the NWSL. "She's over here, like, 'Whoa, that's a card. That's a foul,'" Yates recalled. "Just crazy, and we're like, 'OK, this is a preseason [game].' But we know we need to step up. We need to have that same drive that she does." It has been a special year for Marta, as she had the opportunity to finish her Olympic career with a silver medal after an inspired Brazil team without her services defeated Spain to reach the final against the United States. Back in Orlando, she's in the final year of her contract with the Orlando Pride and preparing for Saturday's NWSL Championship match against the Washington Spirit , in what could be her last chance at lifting an NWSL championship trophy for the first time in her storied career. "Everything she does is so influential, and just like her vibe in general," Yates said. "I think she wants this [Championship] more than anything, and coming up short at the Olympics really fueled her even more. She just has a crazy drive right now." You can catch the NWSL Championship Saturday at 8 p.m. ET only on CBS and Paramount+ . Marta has had a profound impact on the game. In addition to playing on the world's biggest stages, she's inspired others through both her play and off-field candor. Her profile is vast, and even though the Spirit and Pride are rivals this week, Marta's influence can be felt on both sides of the ball in the buildup to Saturday's big game. On Saturday, she'll take the field for the first time in America with her mother in the stands , and she'll be by far the biggest reason why Orlando has turned a string of mediocre seasons into perhaps the best NWSL run in history. Though, even for her that transformation is difficult to explain. "It's crazy sometimes to find an explanation, like 'How?' I think for me, it's special because it's the answer that I try to find every single year because from 2017, I am the only player that is still on the team. I ask myself 'Why? Why am I still looking to do something special here, you know?' Eight years," said Marta in an exclusive interview with CBS ahead of Saturday's title game. "In my life, there was always something crazy. The first time I won the [award for] Best Player in the World, of course I was much younger than I am now, but I did it five times [in a row], then took a break and won it after eight years. It's been eight years here with Orlando, and it's the first time that we go to a final. It's a coincidence, but I don't know. It's some answer for me, for myself. Why am I still here? Why am I looking to build something special for this team? "I don't know if I'm going to be here next year, but I'm already so happy with what I have given to the club and the players." It might be a mystery to Marta, but to her teammates, and even her rivals across the field, the answer lies in her legendary status. A post shared by Attacking Third (@attackingthird) Instrumental to Orlando's rise Her teammates are quick to point to exactly how she has driven them to the top of the table, as the team shattered the NWSL record for most points (60) and most wins (18) in a single season. They at one point rattled off a record 24-game unbeaten streak and she wrapped up the regular season fourth in the golden boot race with 11 goals. Her best moment yet came in the semifinals when she turned back the clock with a solo effort from near midfield that left two Kansas City defenders and the goalkeeper in the dust. Not too shabby for a 38-year-old. Orlando's rise to prominence has been years in the making. Head coach Seb Hines was an interim in 2022, and the club narrowly missed out on the playoffs in 2023. They brought in general manager Haley Carter, boosted the coaching staff, and brought on more international talent, including Zambia striker Barbra Banda, who finished second in the golden boot race with 16 goals, and fellow Brazilians Adriana and Refaelle. Including Marta, the Pride have a handful of Brazilian players on the roster, each of whom is inspired by their friend and compatriot. The Marta effect goes beyond just her Brazilian international teammates though. Yates has had a breakout sophomore season after being drafted in 2023. Fourth on the team in goals scored (trailing her veteran teammate by four goals), the second-year player credits Marta in helping her development over the season. "I think last year, it's hard when we were going kind of up and down with winning games and losing games. But I think from day one, Marta brought this different vibe to her. She was so determined, and she had that belief in all of us, and we kind of just followed that. So I think that was the biggest thing. Her passion is so influential to us," Yates said. Legendary 'respect' to a foe Several players head into the championship game off a busy summer where they have already gone toe to toe with the Brazilian during the Paris Olympics. Washington Spirit and USWNT defender Casey Krueger was on the field for the final minutes before the whistle was blown on Marta's Olympic career "She's the legend. I mean, there's no other way to put it," Krueger said. "Playing against her like, it's an honor. It's truly so special to be able to like, share the field even though, on the other side. Just playing against her and just seeing what she's done for the game, just what she means both on and off the field, it's been incredible." Spirit midfielder Andi Sullivan was part of the USWNT roster for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, and while she'll miss the NWSL Championship with an ACL injury, the Spirit co-captain is doing her part to make sure her team is prepared to go up against such an icon of the game. Part of that is giving her respect "I think we respect her tremendously, and we know what she's about, but you don't want to show her too much respect [on the pitch]. So, I think in that element, the way that you respect her is by making it very difficult for her, and I think we'll prepare in that way," Sullivan said. "She's just like a fun presence, likes to talk smack, likes to make it interesting, but so she's intense, but she's having fun, and she's been an incredible example for all of us, and I hope to ruin her party [On Saturday]." An icon for generations to come When they're not going head to head, Sullivan notes that Marta's impact on the game can be found everywhere and across generations, including her 17-year-old teammate Chloe Ricketts. The young player signed with the Spirit at 15, and is one of the up-and-coming young talents in the league. "I remember Chloe Ricketts being like, 'Oh, I really want a picture with Marta' last year. And then getting to do that, and, seeing [Marta] interact with Chloe that way was really, really cool," said Sullivan. "I think for most players in the room, she's been playing for a while and so and obviously one of the most popular players in the world. A player that paved the pathway for what we could be, and not, not just what she could be, but what we all could do. What the league could be, and what women's soccer could be. She was always someone who [you] would watch on a highlight reel, and she was always very joyful. And so to get to play against her, it's like, 'oh, like, I'm playing against this legend' and she's, she's such an incredible player," Sullivan said. While Brazil and the United States have a rivalry on the international stage, that also includes other Latin American countries, including Colombia. Spirit midfielder Leicy Santos reflected on the growth of Colombia's national team while going up against Marta in various international friendlies and international tournaments. "In South America, we've had our battles. She's definitely given me a few knocks in the head here and there," Santos joked. "Marta is the legendary player in the women's game. You know, I've had first-hand experience with the potential that she has, and that has always had. She stands out. A true standout player who, out of nothing, can create moments that are gonna just put the game away, just when you thought that nothing was gonna happen. She's incredible and is a reference point for me" 'A challenge and an honor' to compete against Spirit forward Ashley Hatch has been part of the U.S. women's national team pool since 2022, helped the team qualify for the 2023 World Cup, and has played against Marta in NWSL competition since 2018. The attacker will have a dual responsibility during the final: Try to score for the Spirit, and limit Marta's impact on the game. She's viewing the occasion as both a challenge and an honor. "I think if you're at this level, you want to compete against the best players, and I think it's an honor for all of us to step on the same pitch as her. Obviously, we respect her, but we also want to beat her. So, I think it's a combination of all those things. But I think playing against an amazing player such as Marta like, it brings so much more excitement to the game for us as players, also for fans," said Hatch. "We have to respect her as our opponent. And I think, like in 10 years, whenever I pick up my kids, [I can say] 'Yeah, I played against Marta in a final!' I mean, she's been in this league for a while, and I feel like we all always admired her and respected her when we played against her, and also when we watch her. So I would say it's a combination of both." NWSL Championship broadcast schedule All times Eastern Saturday, Nov. 23 Attacking Third pre-match show, 6:30 p.m. ( CBS Sports Golazo Network ) Attacking Third pre-match show, 7:30 p.m. ( CBS , Paramount+ ) NWSL Championship: Orlando Pride vs. Washington Spirit, 8 p.m. ( CBS , Paramount+ ) Attacking Third post-match show, 10:30 p.m. ( CBS Sports Golazo Network ) Sunday, Nov. 24 NWSL Skills Challenge, 3 p.m. or 5 p.m. (check local listings) ( CBS , Paramount+ )

The AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) — John Buggs III’s 15 points helped East Tennessee State defeat Austin Peay 79-57 on Saturday night. Buggs shot 4 for 7 (3 for 5 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line for the Buccaneers (6-2). Jaden Seymour scored 13 points and added 11 rebounds. Quimari Peterson had 13 points and went 6 of 11 from the field. The Governors (4-4) were led in scoring by LJ Thomas, who finished with 15 points. Austin Peay also got 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals from Tate McCubbin. Tekao Carpenter also had eight points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Innovation and tradition in the good Aussie pie (some with a Mexican twist)HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Ashlon Jackson scored a career-high 30 points and No. 13 Duke defeated No. 9 Kansas State, 73-62 on Monday, in the semifinals of the Ball Dawgs Classic. The Blue Devils (6-1) overcame an early 11-point deficit behind Jackon’s shooting hand to advance to Wednesday’s championship game against the winner of the game between No. 9 Oklahoma and DePaul. Jackson, who has scored in double figures in all six of Duke’s games, shot 12 of 19 (63.1%) from the floor, including 6 of 9 (66.7%) from 3-point range. Reigan Richardson added 16 points for the Blue Devils. Kansas State (5-1) was led by Ayoka Lee, who had 16 points. Serena Sundell scored 15 and Kennedy Taylor came off the bench to add 11 for the Wildcats. Kansas State: With her 16-point performance, Lee needs 48 points to pass Kendra Wecker (2001-05) for the Kansas State career scoring record. Wecker scored 2,333 points. Lee, the 2024-25 Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, is averaging 15.3 points. Duke: Jackson hit her season average of 13.3 points by the 3:54 mark of the second quarter when her pull-up jumper gave her 14. The junior guard was 8 of 11 from the floor, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and had 20 points by halftime. With the Blue Devils trailing by six midway through the second quarter, Jackson triggered a 15-0 run with 13 of the team’s points to help Duke take a lead they’d never relinquish. Duke will face the winner of No. 9 Oklahoma-DePaul on Wednesday in the championship game, while Kansas State will face the loser in the consolation game. Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

Victor Wembanyama went to a park in New York City and played 1-on-1 with fans on Saturday. He even lost a couple of games. Not in basketball, though. Wemby was playing chess. And this wasn't on a whim: He knows how to play and even brought his own chess set. Before the San Antonio Spurs left New York for a flight to Minnesota, Wembanyama put out the call on social media: “Who wants to meet me at the SW corner of Washington Square park to play chess? Im there,” Wembanyama wrote. It was 9:36 a.m. People began showing up almost immediately. Washington Square Park is a known spot for chess in New York — Bobby Fischer among others have famously played there, and it's been used for multiple movie scenes featuring the game. Wembanyama was there for an hour in the rain, from about 10-11 a.m. He played four games, winning two and losing two — he told Bleacher Report afterward that both of the losses were to professional chess players — before departing to catch the Spurs' flight. Wembanyama had been trying to get somewhere to play chess for the bulk of the team's time in New York — the Spurs played the Knicks on Christmas and won at Brooklyn on Friday night. The schedule never aligned, until Saturday morning. And even with bad weather, he bundled up to make it happen. He posed for photos with a couple of dozen people who showed up, braving a morning of cold rain to play chess with one of the NBA's biggest stars. “We need an NBA players only Chess tournament, proceeds go to the charity of choice of the winner,” he wrote on social media after his chess trip was over. Wembanyama is averaging 25.2 points and 10.1 rebounds this season, his second in the NBA after winning rookie of the year last season. The Spurs play at Minnesota on Sunday. ___ AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA Tim Reynolds, The Associated PressSANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Getting blown out at Green Bay following another squandered late lead the previous week against Seattle has quickly turned the San Francisco 49ers from a Super Bowl contender into a team just fighting to get back to the playoffs. If San Francisco doesn't get healthy and eliminate the errors that led to Sunday's 38-10 loss to the Packers, the focus will turn from playoff permutations to what offseason changes are necessary. “I think everyone understands completely outside and inside what the situation is,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday. “That’s why the Seattle game was so tough of a loss and that’s why last night was even worse. We know what we got ahead of us. We know exactly what the playoff situation is. That is what it is. But really, all that matters is this week when you do need to go on a run and put a lot of wins to even think of that.” The task doesn't get any easier as the Niners (5-6) get set to play at Buffalo on Sunday night. The 49ers are hoping to get injured stars Brock Purdy , Nick Bosa and Trent Williams back for that game, but their presence alone won't fix everything that went wrong on Sunday . The defense got repeatedly gashed early and put San Francisco in a 17-0 hole before the offense even generated a first down. The running game never got going as Christian McCaffrey has looked nothing like the 2023 Offensive Player of the Year in his three games back from Achilles tendinitis. And whenever the Niners appeared to do something right, a penalty came back to haunt them. It added up to the most lopsided loss for San Francisco since the 2018 season, before Shanahan had turned the Niners into perennial contenders. “It’s probably one of the worst ones I’ve been a part of,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “It is embarrassing. You’ve got to take it on the chin, take it like a man and move on.” Despite the doom and gloom, the 49ers are only one game behind Seattle and Arizona in the NFC West standings with six games to go. But San Francisco already has three division losses and a difficult schedule featuring games against the Bills this week and Detroit in Week 17. “My optimism is not broken by any means,” tight end George Kittle said. “We still have a lot of very talented players. We will get some guys back and I still have full trust in the coaching staff to put our guys in position to make plays. I have no worry about that. But definitely an uphill grind. We'll see what we’re made of, which I’m looking forward to.” What’s working Red-zone passes to Kittle. Backup QB Brandon Allen connected on a 3-yard TD pass to Kittle late in the second quarter for San Francisco's only TD. Kittle leads the NFL with eight touchdown catches in the red zone, which is tied with Vernon Davis (2013) for the most in a season for a Niners player since 2000. Kittle was the only consistent part of the San Francisco offense with six catches for 82 yards. What needs help Avoiding penalties. San Francisco had nine penalties for 77 yards and they were costly and sloppy. The Niners had 12 men on the field on defense on back-to-back plays, three false starts, a pass interference in the end zone and three penalties on special teams, including a holding on Eric Saubert that negated an 87-yard kickoff return by Deebo Samuel to open the second half. Rookie Dominick Puni had three penalties after being penalized just once in the first 10 games. Stock up DE Leonard Floyd. There were few positive performances on defense, but Floyd had both of the team's sacks. Stock down Run defense. San Francisco allowed 169 yards rushing, including 87 in the first quarter for the team's second-worst performance in the opening quarter since 1991. The Niners missed 19 tackles, according to Pro Football Focus, as Josh Jacobs gained 83 of his 106 yards rushing after contact. Injuries Purdy took part in a light throwing session without pain on Monday and Shanahan is hopeful he can return to practice Wednesday after missing the Green Bay game with a shoulder injury. ... Bosa (hip, oblique) and Williams (ankle) also could return this week after sitting out Sunday. ... LG Aaron Banks, DT Jordan Elliott and WR Jacob Cowing all in the concussion protocol. ... RG Dominick Puni (shoulder) and CB Deommodore Lenoir (knee) underwent MRIs on Monday and the team is waiting for results. ... CB Renardo Green (neck) and LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (knee) are day to day. Key number 11 — The Niners generated only 11 first downs, tied for the fewest in any game in eight seasons under Shanahan. They also had 11 in the 2022 NFC title game loss at Philadelphia when Purdy hurt his elbow and in Week 2 against Seattle in Shanahan's first season in 2017. What’s next The 49ers visit Buffalo on Sunday night. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

NIHCM Foundation . Since she lost her job this summer as a bariatric surgeon, Lana Nelson, DO, has a phone message that tells callers, "I'm probably out on the trails" hiking near Grand Junction, Colorado. For 19 years until this fall, Nelson worked at the Norman Regional Health System's "Journey Clinic," a large weight-loss surgery program 15 miles south of Oklahoma City. For the last 12, she was its medical director. The 324-bed hospital system's two or three surgeons provided weight-loss surgery to more than 750 patients in each of the 2 years before COVID, she told MedPage Today . She did more than half of those herself. But the hospital was having financial woes, and caseloads dropped during the pandemic. Instead of bouncing back, they dropped to 387 in 2023. The chief reason: Many surgery candidates were trying the new GLP-1 receptor agonists if their insurance plans would cover them, she said. Bariatric surgery can be a lucrative service line, especially in Oklahoma, one of the most obese states in the nation. And it looked like the clinic's business was picking up a bit in 2024. Administrators asked staff to reduce their salaries. But it wasn't enough. On Monday, July 8, leadership abruptly pulled the plug, she said. They sent notices that all scheduled surgeries were immediately cancelled. That was it. "Even patients who had completed their preparation were called the day before their scheduled procedure and told the clinic is closing," Nelson said. Among the team's three physician assistants, a bariatrician, two nurse practitioners, and three dietitians, only two got other jobs within the hospital. Nelson and the two other surgeons were given 90 days' notice, time to transition their patients elsewhere. At age 51, Nelson is considering early retirement. She and her husband sold their home in Norman and moved to Colorado. Across the country, many surgeons shared similar stories about what many described as, in so many words, "a time of fear and loathing in bariatric medicine." Numerous programs have closed their doors, reduced their surgeons and staff, or transitioned to exclusive medical management. Sources pointed to many programs that had cut back their teams, but no hospital contacted acknowledged that they had. Mount Auburn Hospital in Waltham, Massachusetts, affiliated with Beth Israel Lahey Health, said in a recorded message that it closed its Weight Management Center on February 9. Grand View Hospital's program serving Bucks County Pennsylvania has also shut down. Norman Regional officials declined comment about the program, but a representative told a local news organization in July, "We have observed a trend of less demand for surgical options and more demand for non-invasive medication options for about 2 years." The GLP-1 drugs are "truly causing a lot of disruption for the surgeons and for the programs, and for patients," Thomas Tsai, MD, a bariatric surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, told MedPage Today . "I've had to see patients who had surgery at a different facility for follow-up because the program they were in doesn't exist anymore," he said. Comprehensive nutritional follow-up is an important part of patient care, he emphasized. Tsai's research published in JAMA Network Open in October found a 25.6% decrease in bariatric surgery procedures in non-diabetic patients with obesity between the last 6 months of 2022 versus the last 6 months of 2023, but a 132.6% increase in patients prescribed GLP-1 drugs. "I keep hearing about smaller programs where they're just so certain that this is going to impact their bottom line, they don't even want to put any resources into it. And that's deeply troubling," said Ann Rogers, MD, director of the Penn State Surgical Weight Loss program in Hershey and president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). Scheduled patients "are cancelling surgeries at the last minute, not saying why," though she suspects their families urged them to try the drugs first, she said. "Surgeons not near retirement are going to be hysterically looking around to find employment somewhere else in the same field," Rogers said. "There are jobs," just not necessarily in bariatric surgery or where they want to practice, she said. Several bariatric surgeons told MedPage Today they are frequently checking their specialty's job boards. Some said they're enrolling in refresher courses for other kinds of foregut surgery, such as hernia repair, gallbladder removal, or esophageal procedures. One surgeon has pivoted to telemedicine prescribing. Helmuth Billy, MD, a bariatric surgeon in Ventura, California, said next year, he's "throwing out a lifeboat to expand his practice to cosmetic/plastic abdominoplasties and tummy tucks" to past surgery patients to help his bottom line. "We have a lot of patients who can't afford plastic surgeons." One of the Journey Clinic's terminated surgeons, Azure Adkins, MD, got excited when she recently learned that a medical center just north of Charlotte, North Carolina, was recruiting a full-time bariatric surgeon. But after interviewing, they'd changed their minds, she told MedPage Today . "They said they realized their volumes had diminished enough that 'we don't really need another full-time bariatric surgeon at this point.'" Until she finds a surgery position that she likes, Adkins is now working in a non-clinical role, as a peer-to-peer utilization reviewer for hospitals. Cautious Optimism Rogers said that if surgeons think their hospitals are about to cut back or shutter surgery, they should try really hard to talk the hospital out of it, "because you know, it's going to turn around. It's going to turn around." She's not alone. Many other bariatric surgeons interviewed said they see the GLP-1 agonists as "gateway drugs" that will bring more patients to surgery . Eventually. A common lament among nearly all surgeons interviewed is that fear of surgery or social stigma have long kept 99% of patients with obesity who could be helped by bariatric surgery away from seeking any kind of help. Now, patients are swarming in, said Fernando Elli, MD, one of four surgeons who performs bariatric surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. "They want to see us not because they're interested in bariatric surgery. They want the medications," he said. But many of those patients are learning their insurance won't cover the drugs, or are alarmed that they would have to inject themselves every week indefinitely, or that if they stop, or take a drug holiday, they'll regain the weight. "What we are seeing now with more exposure to these drugs is that patients start the medications but they don't tolerate the side effects. They drop it and say, 'Let's go for surgery,'" Elli said. But that isn't happening a lot, at least not yet. His clinic's surgical volume dropped from 280 in 2023 to 220 this year, which he thinks will be stable until the limitations of the new injectable drugs become clearer, not just to patients but to their doctors as well. Surgeons also think that patients will eventually choose surgery because experience and data show surgery produces a greater and faster weight loss after a year than 52 weeks of GLP-1 injections. "At best the GLP-1s can get you to about 14% total body weight loss; surgery is more like 30%," after a year or 18 months, Rogers said, pointing to a 2022 review in Advances in Therapy . Elli thinks the comparison is 10% to 20% versus 50%, and other surgeons shared different estimates, depending on the patient and the drug. Tsai said a head-to-head comparison hasn't yet been published, and perhaps the drug companies aren't eager to fund such a study. "But at some point the NIH will fund a direct comparison." Sandi Petros, 33, a restorative dental specialist in San Diego, is an example. At 299 pounds, she never wanted to try the drugs because she knew surgery was faster and more permanent, and she wanted to lose the weight for her two young boys. Last week, 1 year after a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, she had dropped 102 pounds. She no longer has type 2 diabetes, and her LDL, 140 before surgery, is now normal. Teresa LaMasters, MD, a past president of ASMBS, expressed similar optimism. "In the long run, the drugs will actually help us." "What's going to be the thing that holds patients back on medicines is their cost, access, availability, and how people will tolerate them," said LaMasters, who also is the medical director of bariatric surgery at Unity Point Clinic at Iowa Methodist Hospital in West Des Moines. Another trend that can improve the prospect of surgery's revival is that several insurance companies have reportedly dropped some of their more rigorous requirements for bariatric preparation, and some have dropped the need for prior authorization review. Additionally, some health plans are capping how much they'll pay for the GLP-1 drugs, if they cover them at all. The Mayo Clinic has capped that lifetime spending at $20,000, Elli said. An Uptick Already Farah Husain, MD, a bariatric surgeon at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix, said her hospital has seen a small uptick in surgical patients from 550 in 2023 to about 580 this year. "I'm seeing patients sometimes with BMIs of 60, 70, 80, and no one has ever mentioned surgery to them before," she said. "The only reason they come in is because they saw something about the medications. These are people who need such a significant amount of weight loss, they need surgery on top of the drugs." Some private practice surgeons contracted with Kaiser Permanente to perform bariatric surgery for the health plan's enrollees are also reporting a bump in patients in recent months. "The GLPs have thrust a huge new cost on the Kaiser system that is probably unsustainable," said Billy, a Kaiser contractor. Lately, he said, "we're seeing more Kaiser volume than we've ever seen before." Many clinicians interviewed said that just as cancer treatment often requires a combination of surgery and drugs, combination therapy will be the treatment plan for many patients with obesity. They may take the medications to lower weight to better prepare them for surgery, or after surgery after they reach a plateau. A possible offsetting factor is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposal last month that it would pay for the new weight loss drugs in 2026, if the new administration approves. Making Adjustments The Mayo Clinic has made adjustments to respond to the change in surgical volume, Elli said. "We have shifted our practice so that we have more non-surgical practitioners to accommodate those patients who don't want surgery." Nationally, he expects many bariatric surgeons will adjust as well, diversifying their surgical repertoire. "Surgeons who are only doing bariatric surgery need to reconfigure," he said. "Current bariatric fellowship graduates may find it difficult to obtain a pure bariatric practice and may need to alternate with acute care surgery." For many bariatric surgeons, the prospect of taking on general surgery -- where often it's one-and-done -- goes against the reason they chose weight-loss surgery as a specialty. They wanted longer-term relationships with their patients. "We operate on the patients and ideally follow them for as long as they're willing to come back, to make sure they're maintaining weight loss and healthy habits and help them along the way," Husain said. "The theme in our world is that obesity is a chronic disease." The Payers Aren't Helping Benjamin Clapp, MD, a bariatric surgeon at Hospitals of Providence Memorial Campus in El Paso, Texas, chairs the ASMBS task force that tracks bariatric surgical volume every year. He said neither the official totals for 2023 nor estimates for 2024 are collected yet. However, data from centers accredited by the American College of Surgeons, which perform about 80% to 83% of all bariatric surgeries in this country, show that volumes were down by 5.5%, or more than 12,000 weight-reduction surgeries, in 2023. But 2024 is expected to be "much, much worse because of the overwhelming impact that the GLP-1 drugs have had, which really took off this year," Clapp said. This year in El Paso he expects to perform 120 bariatric surgeries, compared with 180 in 2023. "These are massive decreases in volume, at least for me," he said. "I went from seeing 15 to 20 new bariatric patients weekly to one to three." The Center for Metabolic and Weight Loss Surgery at Columbia University said earlier this year that it expected a 10% to 20% decline in 2024 from 2023. That drop in bariatric demand is one of two big reasons why Clapp has made a career decision to leave the solo practice he has built up for the last 18 years. Sometime next year, he plans to either take an academic job and devote more time to studying how brain receptors function in rats with obesity, or become an employed hospital surgeon. On staff, he would do any variety of procedures and probably far fewer bariatric procedures on which he has built his practice. The other reason is declining reimbursement. Clapp said Medicare rates for common bariatric surgery CPT codes have dropped since 2019, despite rising inflation in practice costs. A check with Medicare's physician fee lookup tool shows he's right. For example, the national payment amount for a laparoscopic gastric bypass with small intestine reconstruction dropped from $1,937.82 to $1,842.13 between 2019 and 2024. Insurance companies generally follow Medicare. What's worse is that consultation pay has also been going down or has disappeared. "Things are bundled more, so you get paid less overall," he said. "It's like death by 1,000 cuts." Solo private practice "has just become a model that's not sustainable, for myself or for my family." Clapp has filled in some of the blanks with other foregut surgeries, such as cholecystectomies and hernia repairs, but reimbursement rates have dropped for those, too, especially relative to his own practice costs. San Diego bariatric surgeon William Fuller, MD, said Scripps Mercy Hospital, one of the largest programs on the West Coast, will have performed around 800 bariatric surgeries in 2024, down from the prior year's 1,000. But he doesn't expect a year-over-year decline in perpetuity as some of his counterparts fear. "Who knows when there will be a stabilization of this whole phenomenon?" he asked rhetorically during an interview with a public relations representative present. "But we see patients who tried some of these medications -- when they had access to them -- and they haven't had the same success. They had some rebound, regained weight, or just didn't have success to begin with." Bottom line: "It's all about sustainability, which is always the case with medications," he said. "How long can you remain on them, and for efficacy purposes and economic purposes, how are these medications going to be funded, with what kind of subsidies? There's still a lot of moving parts."

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