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joy slots game THE recent march towards D-Chowk in Islamabad by the main opposition political party, notorious for creating chaos across the country, has raised several questions about the party’s intent and the capacity of the government to handle a law and order situation. Also, the role of mainstream electronic media once again came under the spotlight. It was not rare to watch journalists provoking party leaders by repeatedly asking them why they did not continue with the procession, and why they did not turn it into a lengthy sit-in. This behaviour by the media was irresponsible. I did not see any journalist asking the party leaders why they opted to hold a procession at a time when dozens of inter-national guests were present in the city, just a few hundred metres on the other side of D-Chowk. The party and the media keep saying that it is their ‘democratic right’ to hold processions. No, absolutely not. What about the rights of the people who live in the vicinity of D-Chowk and get cut off from their place of work, or are unable to reach their homes, hospitals and educational institutions? And what about the businesses that get affected? What was the purpose of this ‘final’ procession? If the stock market is a barometer of the country’s sentiments, the onslaught on Islamabad led to a historic drop in the KSE-100 index, and a few hours after the procession had been called off, the stock market had its biggest jump in history. Everybody needs to let the country grow, and should not push it towards anarchy. MIAN A. AHMAD ISLAMABAD Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );None

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The acquired outfielder in exchange for third baseman , pitcher and prospect Cam Smith, the teams announced on Friday. Tucker, 27, has a career .870 OPS over seven seasons with the Astros. He's entering his final year of team control -- which means he'll be a free agent after next season -- and is likely to make around $18 million through the arbitration process. He'll become the Cubs starting right fielder with relegated to designated hitter duty -- at least for now. The team still employs INF/OF , but he's likely to be moved in a separate trade, sources told ESPN. Tucker played in only 78 games last season due to a shin injury -- but will still be the Cubs' best player. The team has been searching for star-quality production on offense, and they might have found it in the three-time All-Star, who finished fifth in AL MVP voting in 2023. Paredes, 25, spent a half season with the Cubs after being acquired from the Rays in July. He'll likely serve as a replacement for at third base if he leaves Houston via free agency. Paredes is a dead pull hitter, useful for the short left field fences at Minute Maid Park. He hit 19 home runs last season and has a career .755 OPS over five big league seasons. Wesneski, 27, has appeared in 68 career games for the Cubs, including 22 as a starter. He has a career 3.93 ERA pitching as a swingman over the past three seasons. He was acquired from the Yankees at the summer trade deadline in 2022. Smith, 21, was the 14th overall pick out of Florida State in last year's amateur draft. He made headlines during his short pro debut, hitting home runs in six straight games for Single-A Myrtle Beach in August. He played mostly third base in college.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Patagonia Gold Corp. (“Patagonia” or the “Company”) (TSXV: PGDC) announces that it has granted an aggregate of 8,000,000 incentive stock options under the Company’s stock option plan (the “Stock Option Plan”) to the directors of the Company, 3,500,000 incentive stock options to certain officers of the Company and 3,800,000 incentive stock options to members of senior management of the Company as part of a long term incentive plan (the “Option Grant”). All of the Options are exercisable for a period of five years at a price of $0.035. The Options vest as to one-third on each of the first, second and third anniversary of the date of the Option Grant. The Stock Option Plan allows for the issuance of up to 10% of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company in the form of Options. As of the date hereof, a total of 465,051,490 shares of the Company are issued and outstanding and the Option Grant represents approximately 3.3% of the issued and outstanding shares. Patagonia Gold Corp. is a South America focused, publicly traded, mining company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company seeks to grow shareholder value through exploration and development of gold and silver projects in the Patagonia region of Argentina. The Company is primarily focused on the Calcatreu project in Rio Negro and the development of the Cap-Oeste underground project. Patagonia, indirectly through its subsidiaries or under option agreements, has mineral rights to over 415 properties in several provinces of Argentina and is one of the largest landholders in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina. Christopher van Tienhoven, Chief Executive Officer Patagonia Gold Corp T: +54 11 5278 6950 E:

The end of the year is almost in sight for traders, yet the last mile will be anything but slow. Central banks in the United States, Japan and Britain meet, while Germany holds a vote of no confidence in the government. Here’s all you need to know about the coming week in world markets from Lewis Krauskopf in New York, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Naomi Rovnick, Amanda Cooper and Dhara Ranasinghe in London. The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to continue monetary easing with a 25 basis point (bps) rate cut on Wednesday, in what would be its third straight reduction, with the latest consumer price index rising in line with economists’ estimates. Investors have curtailed expectations for how much the Fed will cut next year. Traders expect rates to fall to about 3.7% by end-2025 from the current 4.5%-4.75% range, roughly 90 basis points higher than what was priced in September. That puts the focus on the Fed’s own rate projections and on any insight from Chair Jerome Powell about his expectations for future easing. Powell has said the economy is stronger now than the Fed had anticipated in September, and appeared to signal his support for a slower pace of rate cuts ahead. The pendulum of BOJ policy expectations has swung widely in the last two weeks, tying traders in knots. But as the Dec. 19 decision looms, the signal is becoming clearer – even if the outcome is still uncertain. Reuters reported on Thursday that policymakers are leaning towards a pause, waiting for further data on wages and clarity on Donald Trump’s policies before raising rates for a third time. A day earlier, Bloomberg reported that BOJ officials see “little cost” from delaying additional tightening. No doubt the BOJ decision is live, meaning market volatility could be high. One mooted risk is that the Fed surprises by not cutting rates on Dec. 18, triggering a jump in dollar/yen. But analysts note it would be very rare for the Fed to go against the grain when market conviction for a cut is so strong. Germany’s DAX index is this year’s best-performing European index, up 22%, hitting record high after record high. Defence, tech and construction stocks have more than made up for the performance of its out of favour auto sector. Corporate Germany appears to be weathering sluggish growth and political drama. A no-confidence vote in the government on Dec 16 should pave the way for a February snap election. But the devil is in the details. Goldman Sachs says just 18% of DAX sales come from Germany versus the 33% for companies on the mid-cap MDAX .MDAXI, which is down 1.1% this year. German corporate earnings shrank 5.4% on an annual basis in the third quarter, versus 8.2% growth for STOXX earnings .STOXX, based on LSEG data. German equities may start aligning a little more closely with the underlying economic and political reality. When it comes to rate cuts, the Bank of England has been driving in the slow lane. Traders expect the BoE to hold rates at 4.75% on Thursday, just 50 bps below a previous 16-year peak, and to resist a third 25 bp cut until February. Employer tax hikes in the Labour government’s October budget motivated big businesses to warn of price rises, fuelling inflation concerns and helping propel sterling to 2-1/2 year highs against the euro GBPEUR= as the ECB eases policy more rapidly than the BoE. But bond markets are querying this divergence, with two-year gilt yields GB10YT=RR, which move on rate forecasts, dropping to about 4.38% from more than 4.5% a month ago. UK employment growth is slowing as tax rises deter hiring plans and consumer confidence is weak. Sterling bulls should watch out for the BoE shifting gears. Once-robust services sectors across big economies are faltering, bringing a divergence with sluggish manufacturing activity to an end. That was the takeaway from November PMIs. December numbers, out across the globe next week, should show if the slowdown is getting deeper. The November euro zone composite PMI, seen as a good gauge of overall economic health, sank to 48.3 from October’s 50.0. Britain’s all-sector PMI fell to its lowest in a year at 50.9 – just above the marker that separates contraction from expansion. Even U.S. services sector activity slowed. U.S. tariff worries, and French and German political ructions have the potential to hurt business activity. For some observers, the PMI data paints too pessimistic a picture of underlying activity, with falling interest rates helping to bolster sentiment. Source: Reuters (Graphics by Prinz Magtulis, Pasit Kongkunakornkul, Vineet Sachdev ; Compiled by Dhara Ranasinghe, KIrsten Donovan)The lawmaker representing Abia South Senatorial District, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said that nobody approached the National Assembly with a request for a new presidential jet before the purchase was eventually made. The Presidency had in August unveiled a new Airbus A330 purchased for President Bola Tinubu. Following the new jet purchase, the Presidency faced so many criticisms from Nigerians who felt the President prioritized his luxury while neglecting the economic hardship faced by the masses. READ ALSO: Nigeria Would Probably Have Been Better If Peter Obi Won 2023 Election – Sen Abaribe Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga had in one of his explanations, said that what was purchased was not a new jet as was reported but a “refurbished jet.” National Assembly members were not spared in the criticisms regarding the jet purchase, as many labelled them as rubber stamp easy approval of the Presidency’s request to purchase a new jet. However, Senator Abaribe, who appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, said such a request was never brought to the National Assembly. “I am in the national assembly, but I can tell you for a fact that nobody, quote me, nobody brought anything to the national assembly to say please approve this for purchase of a new plane,” Abaribe said on the programme. “It was done without my knowledge, nobody brought anything. I never saw any document and I have always been in the national assembly. Ask anyone, none.” He said that the failure of the Presidency to approach the National Assembly with a request means that part of the job of the legislator to be a check on the executive is not being efficiently carried out. The senator said he is worried that the public perceives the National Assembly members as rubber-stamped noting that it is like that because the lawmakers feel that they have fought a lot without much, yet it has not yielded much to the public and tried to have some cooperation with the executive.S&P Dow Jones Indices Announces Dow Jones Sustainability Indices 2024 Review ResultsWASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors moved Monday to dismiss the criminal charges against President-elect Donald Trump that accused him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election and to abandon the classified documents case against him, citing longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. The decision by special counsel Jack Smith, who had fiercely sought to hold Trump criminally accountable for his efforts to subvert the 2020 election, represented the end of the federal effort against the former president following his election victory this month despite the election-related cases and multiple other unrelated criminal charges against him and is headed back to the White House. The decision, revealed in court filings, also amounts to a predictable but nonetheless stunning conclusion to criminal cases that had been seen as the most perilous of the multiple legal threats Trump has faced. It reflects the practical consequences of Trump’s victory, ensuring he enters office free from scrutiny over his hoarding of top secret documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Smith’s team emphasized that the move to abandon the prosecutions, in federal courts in Washington and Florida, was not a reflection of their view on the merits of the cases but rather a reflection of their commitment to longstanding department policy. “That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” the prosecutors wrote in Monday’s court filing in the election interference case. The decision was expected after Smith's team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The Justice Department believes Trump can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted. Trump has cast both cases as politically motivated, and had vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. The 2020 election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing the Republican as he vied to reclaim the White House. But it quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House. The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial. The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence they planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of using “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden. How N.J. voted in the 2024 presidential election Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris won New Jersey's 14 Electoral College votes but her performance against Republican former President Donald Trump trailed President Biden's victory in 2020. Below is a county-by-county breakdown. Gallery Credit: New Jersey 101.5

Beirut, Nov 25 (AP) Israel's military launched airstrikes across Lebanon on Monday, unleashing explosions throughout the country and killing at least 12 while Israeli leaders appeared to be closing in on a negotiated ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group. Israeli strikes hit commercial and residential buildings in Beirut as well as in the port city of Tyre. Military officials said they targeted areas known as Hezbollah strongholds. They issued evacuation orders for Beirut's southern suburbs, and strikes landed across the city, including metres from a Lebanese police base and the city's largest public park. The barrage came as officials indicated they were nearing agreement on a ceasefire, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Security Cabinet prepared to discuss an offer on the table. Airstrikes kill at least 12 Massive explosions lit up Lebanon's skies with flashes of orange, sending towering plumes of smoke into the air as Israeli airstrikes pounded Beirut's southern suburbs Monday. The blasts damaged buildings and left shattered glass and debris scattered across nearby streets. No casualties were reported after many residents fled the targeted sites. Some of the strikes landed close to central Beirut and near Christian neighbourhoods and other targets where Israel had issued evacuation warnings, including in Tyre and Nabatieh province. Israeli airstrikes also hit the northeast Baalbek-Hermel region without warning. Lebanon's Health Ministry said Monday that at least 12 people were killed in the strikes in the Tyre province, adding to the more than 3,700 people in Lebanon who have been killed since Israel launched its invasion two months ago. Many of those killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah have been civilians, and health officials said some of the recovered bodies were so severely damaged that DNA testing would be required to confirm their identities. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Lebanon's Health Ministry says the war has displaced 1.2 million people. The latest round of airstrikes came weeks after Israeli ground forces invaded southern Lebanon in early October, meeting heavy resistance in a narrow strip of land along the border. The military had previously exchanged attacks across the border with Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group that began firing rockets into Israel the day after the war in Gaza began last year. Lebanese politicians have decried the ongoing airstrikes and said they are impeding US-led ceasefire negotiations. The country's deputy parliament speaker accused Israel of ramping up its bombardment in order to pressure Lebanon to make concessions in indirect ceasefire negotiations with Hezbollah. Elias Bousaab, an ally of the militant group, said on Monday that the pressure has increased because “we are close to the hour that is decisive regarding reaching a ceasefire”. Hopes grow for a ceasefire Israeli officials voiced similar optimism Monday about prospects for a ceasefire. Mike Herzog, the country's ambassador to Washington, earlier in the day told Israeli Army Radio that several points had yet to be finalized. Though any deal would require agreement from the government, Herzog said Israel and Hezbollah were “close to a deal". “It can happen within days,” he said. Israeli officials have said the sides are close to an agreement that would include withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and a pullback of Hezbollah fighters from the Israeli border. But several sticking points remain. Two Israeli officials told The Associated Press that Netanyahu's security Cabinet had scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, but they said it remained unclear whether the Cabinet would vote to approve the deal. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal deliberations. Danny Danon, Israel's UN ambassador, told reporters Monday that he expected a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah to have stages and to be discussed by leaders Monday or Tuesday. Still, he warned, “it's not going to happen overnight”. After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, US officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted that there could be last-minute hitches that either delay or destroy an agreement. "Nothing is done until everything is done," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Monday. The proposal under discussion to end the fighting calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River. The withdrawals would be accompanied by an influx of thousands more Lebanese army troops, who have been largely sidelined in the war, to patrol the border area along with an existing UN peacekeeping force. Western diplomats and Israeli officials said Israel is demanding the right to strike in Lebanon if it believes Hezbollah is violating the terms. The Lebanese government has said that such an arrangement would authorise violations of the country's sovereignty. A ceasefire could mark a step toward ending the regionwide war that ballooned after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. The lack of a ceasefire has emerged as a political liability for Israeli leaders including Netanyahu, particularly while 60,000 Israelis remain away from their homes in the country's north after more than a year of cross-border violence. Hezbollah rockets have reached as far south into Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers died fighting in the ground offensive in Lebanon. The Israeli military said about 250 projectiles were fired Sunday, with some intercepted. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest of Iran's armed proxies, is expected to significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition. While the proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah”. If the ceasefire talks fail, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said, “it will mean more destruction and more and more animosity and more dehumanization and more hatred and more bitterness”. Speaking at a G7 meeting in Fiuggi, Italy, the last summit of its kind before US President Joe Biden leaves office, Safadi said such a failure "will doom the future of the region to more conflict and more killing and more destruction”. (AP) PY PY (This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)

Rays will play 13 of first 16 games at home and 47 of 59, then have 69 of last 103 on roadWill Utah State or Boise State forfeit vs. San Jose State in the Mountain West semifinals?

Simmons scores 19 as Gardner-Webb takes down SE Louisiana 73-69GAINESVILLE — The list of animals hit by airplanes in Florida so far this year reads like a tragic version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”: five opossums, four iguanas, three turtles, two alligators and a coyote on a runway that, luckily, narrowly missed meeting with a 737 landing in Tampa. Other strange terrestrials have found their way in the paths of planes in recent years, including snakes, deer, foxes, armadillos, raccoons and cats as reports of wildlife strikes continue to rise in the state, according to the latest data from the Federal Aviation Administration. It ends badly for animals when they’re hit by a plane that weighs over 100,000 pounds traveling 170 mph down a runway. Last year, Florida plane strikes with all species reached the highest number in the FAA database’s history, which stretches back to 1990, at 1,717 reports. So far, this year’s count is 833, of which nearly all are birds — an expectation in the aviation industry. The number of strikes with ground animals has increased since the government began tracking them. No strikes involving animals besides birds were reported in 1990. Compare that to 43 in 2021, 42 in 2022, 40 last year and 24 through August of this year, according to the latest figures. This year’s incidents include a small private jet at the regional airport in Gainesville — college hometown to the Florida Gators — that hit an alligator one night while taxiing in July. The same month, a United Airlines 737 hit another alligator while taxiing at Orlando International Airport and returned to the terminal. Airport workers found remains of green iguanas hit by planes on runways at Key West in April, and Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach in May. A dead deer and a dead armadillo were spotted on the same day in July at Tampa’s busy airport. An Allegiant passenger jet hit a gopher tortoise crawling on the runway in March at the St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport. The incident with the coyote that escaped disaster in Tampa happened in January. The coyote scampered into a nearby treeline, as the Southwest pilot aborted the landing. Another coyote wasn’t as lucky: An Allegiant jet hit one with its left gear during landing in August at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport in the Panhandle. Private pilot Eric Beach joined the club when he “totally smoked a deer.” Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport charts course for 1,000-foot runway addition. Will it get a thumbs up? Beach had already made a couple flights in February 2021 from an airstrip in his neighborhood, where pilots, mechanics and flight instructors live in a community built around a love of aviation. Beach’s friend was working on his airplane when he asked if Beach would take one of his friends up for a quick flight. “Well, sure. I’m not going to say no, you know? We want to expose and share aviation to everybody. That’s what we do, right?,” he said. At dusk, the two set off on their journey. “The sun’s just going down, so the winds are super calm and it’s going to be a really awesome flight,” he said. The pair didn’t even make it off the ground. As they traveled down the runway, picking up speed, a deer sprinted from the right side of the track. “This deer darted right out in front of me. I never saw it until it was too late, and we plowed right through him,” Beach said. The two men were unharmed, although the passenger was rattled. “I mean, he might be emotionally scarred a little bit, because I think that might’ve been his first time in a small airplane,” Beach said. The plane suffered damage. The impact ripped off the left landing gear door and curled skin on the wing. The propeller strike prompted a tear-down inspection, which Beach estimates cost around $25,000. Beach’s story is one example of why the FAA ranks deer as the No. 1 most hazardous animal for aviation in terms of damage. Small airports like the one where Beach flew face unique struggles in preventing wildlife strikes. They generally lack access to specialized tools and technology available to larger airports, and may find it difficult to find hunters willing to take down problematic, local wildlife populations. Larger Florida airports continue to develop complex strategies to prevent wildlife strikes. Wildlife strike prevention requires everyday upkeep, including pyrotechnics, shooing away flocks of birds and keeping the grass on the airfield mowed, said Sarah Brammell, director of operations at Tampa International Airport. “We’re trying to minimize habitat wherever we can, because it’s better for both the animals and for humans if they’re not here,” she said. Brammell said there are multiple factors contributing to the rise of strikes nationwide. “Really, it’s come on since the Miracle on the Hudson,” she said. Brammell was referring to the United Airlines flight in January 2009 that landed in the Hudson River in New York after colliding with a flock of geese shortly after takeoff, cripping its engines. The captain, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, saved the lives of all 155 passengers and heightened concerns about wildlife strikes. Increases in strikes can be explained by an increase in reporting by pilots — who are encouraged but not required by the FAA to file reports when it happens — and the revitalization of some species, such as bald eagles. Planes hit bald eagles four times across Florida so far this year. A Frontier passenger jet hit a bald eagle landing near dawn at Orlando International Airport in February, and an Allegiant jet destroyed an engine when it sucked an eagle inside on takeoff in April from Punta Gorda Airport in southwest Florida. A Virgin Atlantic jet landing in Orlando in April hit another eagle, but the bird survived and was taken to a wildlife sanctuary to recover. Another factor for such strikes is increased development around airports, driving animals to the only green spaces left, on airport property. “Where there used to be more habitat outside the airport, a lot of airports are seeing growth and development around them that’s removing some of those green spaces,” Brammell said. “And the green spaces that are left might be on the airport.” Some airports now employ wildlife biologists and ecologists to advise them on keeping animals away from arriving and departing planes. Some animal carcasses found on runways are sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington to forensically identify their species. Sometimes only a few feathers are all that remain. Discouraging a gopher tortoise from walking across a runway may require a strategy different from a softshell turtle. “Hitting a turtle in the early days of the strike database might’ve been ‘boy, we have a mess on the runway.’ You know? ‘Let’s scoop it up and get it in the dumpster,’ as opposed to ‘let’s swab it, put it in a package and FedEx it to the Smithsonian,” said Ann Hodgson, who works with the volunteer group Bird Strike Committee USA on such matters. Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers — which found a dead softshell turtle on a runway in May – has been removing vegetation that attracts birds and other wildlife and maintains fences to keep deer and other large wildlife away from runways and taxiways, spokeswoman Victoria Moreland said. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport blasts noises to scare away birds and uses spikes on structures to discourage birds from nesting, spokeswoman Arlene Satchell said. This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at julialejnar@freshtakeflorida.com. You can donate to support our students here .

US equity close: Big bids arrive late

From entrepreneurs opening a flagship location to franchisees helping national brands grow, Austin-area business owners met on , to discuss their plans and share progress. The latest installment of What Now Media Group’s Austin event occurred at the recently opened at , located within The Domain. More than a dozen representatives from businesses featured on What Now Austin, including restaurants and retail concepts and industry-leading experts in What Now Media Group’s network of Preferred Partners, were in attendance. Guests mingled while enjoying bites and beverages. opened earlier this year with over 10,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space. The new restaurant transports guests to wine country with vineyard-inspired shareable bites and entrées, perfectly paired with 60 wines on tap. Sixty Vines offers pours by the flight, half glass, full glass, or bottle. During a presentation led by , Founder and CEO of What Now Media Group, entrepreneurs shared their stories, updated attendees on their progress, and reflected on the significance of their businesses. Some key takeaways included the idea that passion is essential for success, knowing how to pivot effectively and the transformative power of connecting with others in the community. One important topic we discussed was sales tax automation. Managing taxes is a monthly task that takes up valuable time and resources, and any mistakes can be expensive. Our partners at by Avalara provide a robust solution that automates the entire sales tax process, including collection, filing, and payment. It integrates smoothly with your POS system, so you won’t have to do anything further once it’s set up. DAVO simplifies sales tax management with a one-time setup process. Once you complete this simple setup, DAVO handles everything for you. They collect and set aside sales tax daily, using data from your POS system, so you don’t have to worry about having enough cash at the end of the month. Additionally, DAVO automatically files your state sales tax on time, guaranteed. Did you know that ? If you’re interested in learning how to eliminate the stress of sales tax, or contact them directly for more information. This is the type of essential service that restaurant owners can learn about at Accelerate events, where they can connect with service providers and experts who can solve their problems or questions. A handful of eager business owners attended this event, including and of . The two provided updates on their business and how the independent ice cream shop has been received since opening. “There were many reasons to open,” Abusaada told What Now Austin earlier this year. “There are no ice cream stores in the area; people love ice cream, and the location is near a school.” Also in attendance were and , the co-owner and general manager of the upcoming , which was initially scheduled to open in late 2024. With the brewery still not close to opening, the owner took the time to provide updates on the new business coming to Hutto. CEO Caleb Spivak addressed key business topics, including managing delays, having an exit plan, and effectively managing operations after expanding to multiple locations. Following the discussion, Caleb and the guests exchanged valuable tips, insights, and concerns. As a result, everyone became increasingly interested in learning more about each other’s businesses and how they could support one another. To help solve potential business issues, What Now Media Group welcomed a handful of their network of Preferred Partners, such as and of . This company provides professional work uniform rental services, laundry and cleaning programs, cleanroom services, and facility supplies. Also, they are there to help with any problems with and of . This Austin-based company is a reputable social media agency. The two helped answer any questions regarding social media and how to navigate it better so that your business gains more traction. What Now Media Group shares restaurant opening news in 31 cities across the U.S., breaking news and providing timely insight into yet-to-open brick-and-mortar businesses. The platform shares news of thousands of openings across all 31 cities annually. The industry-leading experts in What Now Media Group’s network of Preferred Partners help new businesses open and existing businesses grow. Stay tuned for future Accelerate events from What Now Media Group in 2024. For more details, see the Accelerate page . Related PostsCalifornia vows to step in if Trump kills US EV tax credit

LAS VEGAS -- The Milwaukee Bucks are making a return trip to the NBA Cup semifinals after falling short in Sin City last season. This time around, they'll have the responsibility of stopping one of the game's great entertainers in Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. Young rolled a pair of imaginary dice over the New York Knicks' midcourt logo in the closing moments of the Hawks' 108-100 win in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, a nod to the Hawks' trip to Vegas. It was yet another example of Young's showmanship, something the Knicks have seen firsthand over the years. The Bucks also got to experience a bit of Young's big-game prowess in the 2021 Eastern Conference finals, but Young suffered an ankle injury in Game 3 of that series and wasn't the same the rest of the way. If "Ice Trae" has it his way, the Bucks will be the latest victim of his prime-time heroics on Saturday night. Even if he doesn't like to linger on the memories of that series. "I don't let past things make me mad (and I don't) hold a grudge on those things," the 26-year-old Young said. "Yeah, I'm young. I'm not super young anymore, where I like, let those things really affect me. "I remember it like it was yesterday. It definitely hurts, but I mean, this is a new team. I'm part of a new team. They're a different team. So I can't let my past affect my mental and my focus on right now, because it's a totally different team and totally different place." Young is averaging 21 points per game to go along with 12.2 assists, numbers that have only been equaled by Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas over the course of an entire NBA season. He's gotten a fair bit of help too, most notably in the form of 19.8 points and a team-high 10.1 rebounds per game from fourth-year forward Jalen Johnson. The Hawks earned the No. 3 seed in NBA Cup knockout play after going 3-1 in the East Group C stage. Atlanta's among the hottest teams in the league at the moment, having won seven of its last eight games overall. The Bucks, on the other hand, are the only team of the four remaining that made it to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas last season. They had a short trip, falling 128-119 to the Pacers, but the hope is that last year's experience better prepared them for all of the outside hoopla that comes with this stage. At the very least, they have a much better understanding of what winning the NBA Cup would entail. "I think last year, most people didn't even understand what was going on until they got to the final stages," Bucks star Damian Lillard said. "When we got to the game against New York last year, where the winner got to go to Vegas, we started to have a better understanding of what was on the line. "Coming into this season, I think everybody understood better. Everybody cared more, not just because it's an opportunity to win money. Even though it's not the ultimate goal, I think it gives you an edge. We want to be the last team standing in it. We want to win the money. We want to continue going in the right direction as a team." The Bucks entered Tuesday's quarterfinal as the East's top seed in NBA Cup play, going 4-0 in East Group B play despite a turbulent 2-8 start to the season. They've won nine of their last 11 games and eclipsed .500 for the season by beating the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday and the Orlando Magic on Tuesday. Giannis Antetokounmpo sits atop the NBA scoring leaders as of Friday afternoon, averaging 32.7 points and a team-high 11.4 rebounds per game. Lillard has also played at an All-Star level, averaging 25.8 points per game in addition to 7.6 assists. Bobby Portis (13.2 ppg) and Brook Lopez (11 ppg) are the only other Bucks averaging double figures. --Will Despart, Field Level MediaTCU leading scorer Frankie Collins will miss rest of season after breaking left foot

Dictionary.com has revealed its pick for the 2024 word of the year , and TikToker Jools Lebron is to thank for sparking the "very mindful" craze. The word of the year is " demure, " which has been around for centuries but took on new meaning over the summer after Lebron went viral in a video showcasing how she did her makeup for work. "Very demure, very mindful," she said in a tone clearly dripping with sarcasm. From there the term took off, dominating the algorithm with videos of others showing how they were "demure," "mindful" and "cutesy." Lebron racked up followers, with a current count of 2.3 million, posting more and more videos with that signature tongue-in-cheek style. Brat summer is over. Get ready for 'demure' fall, a new viral TikTok trend. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Lebron said the meme was born when she was on break from her cashier job, crying in her car. She pulled out her phone to check whether her makeup was running and shot the video. "That video changed my life," she said, before encouraging her followers to post their own content. Newest internet villain? Man files trademark for Jools Lebron's 'very mindful, very demure' Demure definition: Why is it the Dictionary.com word of the year? Dictionary.com defines the adjective demure as "characterized by shyness and modesty; reserved." Meant to reflect the "social trends and global events that defined the year," the word of the year is often one that has seen a sharp increase in usage or taken on a different definition in the modern lexicon, the site reports. "Demure" has done both. Between January and the end of August, the word saw an increase of almost 1200% in digital web usage alone, according to Dictionary.com. Lebron also brought a new definition into focus. Her content is as much about actually being demure as it is poking fun at the concept. A makeup artist and influencer, she is a self-described "plus-size trans woman" making her way in the world of internet stardom. While traditionally demure held a connotation of being somewhat bland or modest, Lebron's page is anything but. She leans into humor, addresses her fan base as "divas" and often sports winged-eyeliner glam. For Lebron, "demure" means elegant, sophisticated and, most of all, minding your own business. As various other dictionaries prepare to announce their words of the year it is not yet clear which zeitgeist-y term will reign supreme. Honorable mentions for word of the year from Dictionary.com were "brainrot," "brat, " and " extreme weather." Is Brat summer really over? Collins Dictionary selects 'brat' as 2024 Word of the Year "Demure" has also made Oxford University Press' shortlist for word of the year. Other contenders include "lore," " romantasy" and "dynamic pricing." Should Lebron's phrase win, it might reflect a hunger for calm after a year that has been anything but "demure." Contributing: Cheyenne DerksenECB chief urges more EU integration as threats grow FRANKFURT: ECB chief Christine Lagarde on Friday stepped up calls for greater financial integration in Europe, warning of threats to free trade and of a growing gap with the United States. In a speech in Frankfurt, where the European Central Bank is headquartered, Lagarde warned that “the geopolitical environment has become less favourable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world.” “Europe’s declining innovation position has come more clearly to light. The technology gap between the United States and Europe is now unmistakeable,” she added. These factors meant that “the urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen”, she said. Donald Trump’s looming return to the White House is causing jitters across Europe due to the president-elect’s threat to hike tariffs on all imports into the United States. He has singled out the EU, and its sizeable trade surplus with the United States, for particular criticism. In her remarks Lagarde was referring to the “capital markets union”, a project long championed by the ECB aimed at helping the single currency area better compete with major economies like the United States. But she warned that the project was at risk of suffering “death by a thousand cuts”. Problems arose from a “loose definition” of capital markets union and “the piecemeal legislative approach this creates”, she said. Since 2015 numerous proposals had been put forward with regard to the project, but this allowed it “to be picked apart by national vested interests that see one or another initiative as a threat,” according to Lagarde. As a key step, Lagarde suggested the introduction of standardised, EU-wide savings products to encourage Europeans to invest more and across borders, and shift assets out of cash and bank deposits. Most European savings stay in the savers’ home countries due to fragmented markets, she said, with institutional investors preferring US markets over EU ones.

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