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Valkyries tickets 2025: Best prices, Chase Center seating chart, full schedule of Golden State WNBA games | Sporting NewsThe Los Angeles Galaxy will aim to complete one of the most remarkable transformations in Major League Soccer history on Saturday when they host the New York Red Bulls chasing a record-extending sixth MLS Cup crown. A year ago, the California franchise had hit rock bottom, plummeting to their worst ever regular season record to finish one place off the bottom of the Western Conference. The team that had once been a home to the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were engulfed in crisis, with fans boycotting fixtures after nearly a decade of failure on the field. Moreover, the Galaxy's status as one of MLS's glamour clubs had been diminished by the arrival of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, as well as the emergence of city rivals Los Angeles FC, winners of the MLS Cup in 2022. The febrile atmosphere at the Galaxy prompted team ownership to shake up their front office, with Will Kuntz appointed general manager to replace long-time predecessor Chris Klein, who was fired in May 2023. The turnaround since those changes has been dramatic. After winning just eight fixtures in the 2023 season, the Galaxy under head coach Greg Vanney won a record-equalling 19 games this season to finish joint top of the table, second only to leaders LAFC on goal difference. The Galaxy kept up their winning ways in the postseason, swatting aside Colorado 9-1 on aggregate to wrap up their first round series, before thrashing Minnesota United 6-2 and then squeezing past Seattle 1-0 last weekend. Those results have left the club on the threshold of a first MLS Cup title since 2014 and a record sixth championship overall. Victory in Saturday's showpiece in Carson would be especially sweet for Vanney, who appeared in three MLS Cup finals with the Galaxy as a player in 1996, 1999 and 2001 -- and lost all three. Reflecting on his team's journey to this year's final, Vanney said this week his team had thrived under the pressure of being expected to challenge for silverware. "The expectation is to be in games like this, to win trophies and win championships," Vanney said. "This group has come out and attacked it from day one and hasn't been afraid of it or in awe of it -- and that's one of the beauties of this group. "I'm excited for this group and this opportunity and now the objective is to win it and put the stamp on it, rewriting a new group of players and new legacy for this organisation." Vanney's task has become more complicated by an injury to star midfielder Riqui Puig, who suffered torn knee ligaments in last week's Western Conference final win over Seattle and will miss Saturday's game. "He's the ultimate competitor," Vanney said. "He wants to win, compete, and take responsibility on the field. He drives the team in so many ways. "We're going to have to adapt, and we're going to have to adapt in a collective way." The Galaxy meanwhile will be wary of a New York Red Bulls line-up that have ripped up the form book en route to the final. After finishing seventh in the Eastern Conference -- 27 points behind leaders Inter Miami -- the Red Bulls stunned reigning champions Columbus in the first round of the playoffs before wins on the road over rivals New York City FC and Orlando to book their place in their first MLS Cup since 2008. New York's Scotland international midfielder Lewis Morgan says the team is unfazed by Saturday's assignment in Los Angeles. "For me, it doesn't really matter where it is: it's playoff football," Morgan said this week. "It's not the regular season. These games are more cagey. You go 1-0 up, we defend a little bit deeper and we're relying on guys at the back. There have been massive performances." rcw/bbCHICAGO — On quiet nights during the Christmas season, Ed O’Malley enjoys visiting the Nativity scene he helps set up every year in an Arlington Heights park. He’ll check whether the wind has blown over a statue, or whether any lights have gone out. On relatively warm evenings, many families will be out and about, O’Malley said. Usually, they’ll end up in front of the depiction of infant Jesus. “Many times, you’ll see the little children will look in and they’ll touch the statues,” said O’Malley, 64, of nearby Prospect Heights. “A few times, you see a father or a mother just get down on a knee, and you can see that she’s explaining to them what this is.” Despite some misconceptions — stemming from the First Amendment’s separation of church and state — private groups can put up Nativity scenes on public property as an expression of free speech after a federal judge ruled in 1988 that religious exhibits could be erected if maintained by private groups. Private groups can put up Hanukkah menorahs on public property to celebrate the Jewish holiday. Likewise, private groups can put up atheist, satanic, artistic, political, apolitical, eco-modernist or anarcho-pacifist displays on public property, if they so desire. The right to erect religious displays on government land wasn’t always clear — especially in December 1987, when government workers in Chicago began dismantling a Nativity scene in the Loop’s Daley Plaza, almost throwing the statue of the baby Jesus into a trash bin at one point and prompting members of the public to shield what was left of the display with their bodies. O’Malley said he’s learned much about the First Amendment as president of American Nativity Scene, a group that has helped put up more than 200 Nativity scenes on public property across the country. The group was founded in 2012 by O’Malley and his father-in-law. They believe that erecting Nativity scenes on public property is a good way to help keep the birth of Jesus at the center of a Christmas season that they say has become far too commercialized. “Christ is the reason for the season,” O’Malley said. With the backing of an anonymous donor of Nativity sets and conservative public interest law firm Thomas More Society, American Nativity Scene has helped put up scenes at public libraries, parks and courthouses. The group’s main goal is to display them in the country’s 50 statehouses. When O’Malley and his father-in-law created American Nativity Scene 12 years ago, about six or seven state capitol buildings, including the one in Springfield, had regular Nativity displays, O’Malley said. Since then, under American Nativity Scene’s watch, 43 state capitols have put up Nativity displays at least once. To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, American Nativity Scene will make “an all-out push” and try to have a Nativity scene on display at every state capitol during the 2026 Christmas season, O’Malley said. Adding a state to the tally isn’t an exact science. American Nativity Scene needs to find people in that state willing to form a local committee that will approach local officials about putting up a Nativity scene on capitol property. O’Malley said he has used friends and the Thomas More Society’s network to identify people who might be interested in forming a local committee in states lacking displays in their capitols. He’s also called random churches and local religious organizations like Knights of Columbus chapters, he said. “We want to be able to say that someone has a Nativity up in every state capitol,” O’Malley said. “I mean, we got Alaska and Hawaii — we got them one. They were interesting. You talk to a lot of great people.” Steven Melia, a Wyoming resident involved with local religious groups who has helped put up a Nativity scene at the statehouse in Cheyenne for the past four years, said he doesn’t remember how exactly O’Malley got in touch with him. After Melia agreed to help advance American Nativity Scene’s mission, O’Malley sent Melia a Nativity set and Melia’s rancher friend built a wooden structure to house it, Melia said. It’s fairly easy to schedule blessings of the Nativity set at the Wyoming statehouse and get permission to leave it up during the season, Melia said. He said the capitol hosts all sorts of school, religious and community gatherings throughout the year. “The capitol belongs to everybody ... I didn’t really know that at the beginning,” Melia said. Other than finding people to attend the blessing, pretty much all Melia has to do is buy insurance for the event and fill out a few forms, he said. One optional form is for inviting the governor, who showed up to the Nativity blessing the first three years, Melia said. O’Malley said he and his father-in-law decided to start American Nativity Scene after facing pushback while trying to erect a Nativity scene in 2012 in North School Park in Arlington Heights. O’Malley’s father-in-law brought in the founder of Thomas More Society, Tom Brejcha, who wrote a “strongly worded” letter to the park district about the pair’s right to put up religious displays on public property, according to O’Malley. Brejcha said he considers the 1988 ruling that protects the right of private groups to put up religious displays on public property as forms of free speech a “landmark” ruling. In summer 1987, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Nativity scene in Chicago’s City Hall violated the First Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion. Judge Joel Flaum wrote that City Hall visitors would be left with the unavoidable impression that the city tacitly endorses Christianity. In December 1987, a group put up a Nativity scene in Daley Plaza without posting a $100,000 bond demanded by the Public Building Commission of Chicago, which administered the plaza. The commission demanded the bond to cover the cost of defending itself against possible First Amendment lawsuits. After government workers began tearing down the plaza Nativity scene — almost throwing the statue of the baby Jesus into a trash bin at one point — members of the public intervened, shielding what was left of the display with their bodies. In a case stemming from the bond dispute and Nativity scene dismantling, federal judge James Parsons in November 1988 ordered the building commission to allow the Nativity group to put up a display without posting a bond. Parsons wrote that the commission had misplaced fears that allowing religious displays could violate the First Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion. He deemed the plaza a public forum and wrote that “religious expressive conduct in a traditional public forum enjoys the same protections afforded political, artistic, or other types of protected speech under the First Amendment.” O’Malley, who is also part of the group that continues to put up a Nativity scene on Daley Plaza every year, said that after the Arlington Heights park Nativity scene was successfully erected thanks to Brejcha’s letter, he and his father-and-law started to think about how they could expand. The idea of placing Nativity sets on other government land, especially state capitols, “clicked,” O’Malley said. Thomas More Society Executive Vice President Thomas Olp said the firm supports efforts to put Nativity scenes on public property and has a standard letter it sends to public officials explaining why religious displays on public property are allowed. Olp said the firm hasn’t had to file any lawsuits on behalf of American Nativity Scene. “Not to say there’s anything wrong with the free exercise of religion, but the free speech rationale cut through a lot of the opposition to this,” Brejcha said. ©2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
I'm A Celeb's GK Barry reveals the incredibly expensive impulse purchase she made after achieving overnight success with her social media Have YOU got a story? Email tips@dailymail.com By KIRSTEN MURRAY FOR MAILONLINE Published: 08:47 AEDT, 6 December 2024 | Updated: 09:38 AEDT, 6 December 2024 e-mail 30 View comments GK Barry has revealed the incredibly expensive purchase she made after achieving overnight fame following her social media success. The star, whose real name is Grace Eleanor Keeling, soared to fame during the first Covid-19 lockdown when she started making TikToks about her daily life while studying film at Nottingham Trent University. A successful podcast and guest stints on Loose Women have followed, and she's also kept fans on their toes while documenting her love life. Chatting with her pal Reverend Richard Coles she confessed she impulsively bought a Porsche after thinking: 'I could buy a Porsche and it would not be an issue.' Richard asked the star: 'So Grace did you go from working in Costa to all of a sudden being able to buy a house?' As she replied: 'Yeah,' he continued: 'So you didn't go from poor, poor, poor, a little less poor, a bit more money, you went from poor to rich?' I'm A Celeb's GK Barry has revealed the incredibly expensive impulse purchase she made after achieving overnight success with her social media The star, whose real name is Grace Eleanor Keeling, soared to fame during the first Covid-19 lockdown when she started making TikToks about her daily life while studying film at university Grace then explained: 'Yeah, pretty quick. And I remember being like, "I'm making enough money to buy a new car now". 'I remember a Porsche drove past me as I had that thought and I remember thinking, "I could buy a Porsche and it would not be an issue." 'I went to the centre, I was looking at an old one that was cheaper, but the one that I wanted was next to it and it was so nice. 'I rang my accountant and I was like, 'Can I do it?' And he was like, 'Yeah', so I bought it. I picked it up two days later.' Asked what colour it is she confirmed: 'Black, with a red interior.' Grace went viral after she shared a video showing off what she really looked like behind the glamour of carefully edited Instagram - and it in sparked a trend of other influencers doing the same. The video racked up almost 94,000 likes, and social media users from around the world then began replicating the video and using her voiceover to expose how they actually look when posting online. She soon gained a huge following and within a year, had amassed a whopping one million followers on the video-sharing platform. Chatting with her pal Reverend Richard Coles she confessed she impulsively bought a Porsche after thinking: 'I could buy a Porsche and it would not be an issue' She confessed: 'I rang my accountant and I was like, 'Can I do it?' And he was like, 'Yeah', so I bought it. I picked it up two days later' At present, she now has a huge 3.8million followers on TikTok and an impressive one million fans on Instagram. The star has also begun featuring on Loose Women At present, she now has a huge 3.8million followers on TikTok, 61,000 subscribers on YouTube and an impressive one million fans on Instagram. Cambridge-born Grace went on to create her very on podcast, Saving Grace, in April 2022 and has interviewed numerous celebrities including Coleen Nolan, Olivia Bowen and Alan Carr. In early 2024, GK took the podcast, which is also uploaded as a vodcast on YouTube, on a sold-out tour around the country. Since gaining recognition online, GK has made a number of TV appearances and this year was made a regular guest panelist on Loose Women - and made history as the youngest panelist to appear on the show. Instagram Loose Women Reverend Richard Coles Share or comment on this article: I'm A Celeb's GK Barry reveals the incredibly expensive impulse purchase she made after achieving overnight success with her social media e-mail Add commentNASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Scottie Scheffler brought a new putting grip to the Hero World Challenge and felt enough improvement to be satisfied with the result, a 5-under 67 that left him three shots behind Cameron Young on Thursday. Young was playing for the first time since the BMW Championship more than three months ago and found great success on and around the greens of Albany Golf Club, chipping beautifully and holing four birdie putts from 15 feet or longer for his 64. He led by two shots over Justin Thomas in his first competition since his daughter was born a few weeks ago. Thomas ran off four straight birdies late in his round and was a fraction of an inch away with a fifth. The big surprise was Scheffler, the No. 1 player in golf who looked as good as he has all year in compiling eight victories, including an Olympic gold medal. His iron play has no equal. His putting at times has kept him from winning more or winning bigger. He decided to try to a “saw” putting grip from about 20 feet or closer — the putter rests between his right thumb and his fingers, with his left index finger pointed down the shaft. “I’m always looking for ways to improve,” Scheffler said. RELATED COVERAGE Kevin Kisner will be the lead analyst for NBC’s golf coverage LPGA and USGA to require players to be assigned female at birth or transition before male puberty Tiger Woods in favor of Americans getting paid at the Ryder Cup as long as it goes to charity Scheffler last year began working with renowned putting instructor Phil Kenyon, and he says Kenyon mentioned the alternative putting grip back then. “But it was really our first time working together and it’s something that’s different than what I’ve done in the past,” Scheffler said. “This year I had thought about it from time to time, and it was something that we had just said let’s table that for the end of the season, take a look at it. “Figured this is a good week to try stuff.” He opened with a wedge to 2 feet and he missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the par-5 third. But he holed a birdie from about the same distance at the next par 5, No. 6, and holed a sliding 6-footer on the ninth to save par. His longest putt was his last hole, from 12 feet for a closing birdie. “I really enjoyed the way it felt,” he said. “I felt like I’m seeing some improvements in my stroke.” Young, regarded as the best active player without a PGA Tour victory, is treating this holiday tournament as the start of a new season. He worked on getting stronger and got back to the basics in his powerful golf swing. And on this day, he was dialed in with his short game. He only struggled to save par twice and kept piling up birdies in his bogey-free round on an ideal day in the Bahamas. “The wind wasn’t blowing much so it was relatively stress-free,” Young said. Patrick Cantlay, along with Scheffler playing for the first time since the Presidents Cup, also was at 67 with Ludvig Aberg, Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala. Thomas also took this occasion to do a little experimenting against a 20-man field. He has using a 46-inch driver at home — a little more than an inch longer than his regular driver — in a bid to gain more speed. On a day with little wind, on a golf course with some room off the tee, he decided to put it in play. “Just with it being a little bit longer, I just kind of have to get the club out in front of me and get on top of it a little bit more,” Thomas said. “I drove the hell out of it on the back, so that was nice to try something different and have it go a little bit better on the back.” Thomas said the longer driver gives him 2 or 3 mph in ball speed and 10 extra yards in the air. “It’s very specific for courses, but gave it a try,” he said. Conditions were easy enough that only four players in field failed to break par, with Jason Day bringing up the rear with a 75. ___ AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
In recent years, the concept of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) has gained significant attention from the international community, including the United Nations and the G20, as a new policy paradigm for development. But understanding the risks of DPI is crucial to ensuring that its potential benefits materialise. The risks stem from the fact that "digital public infrastructure" lacks a clear definition. The term encompasses the many digital technologies that serve as economic and social infrastructure, from digital identification and payment systems to data exchanges and health services. As a policy initiative, though, DPI refers to a vague vision of using these technologies to serve the public interest. This could result in the internet and technological innovation working for everyone -- or just as easily turn them into tools for political control. In discussions about DPI, policymakers often point to cases that highlight how technology and connectivity can spur development. They frequently cite India's Unified Payments Interface, which has expanded financial inclusion and reduced the costs of digital transactions for its hundreds of millions of users. It is also understood that such infrastructure is to be built with Digital Public Goods (DPGs), a concept that encompasses open-source software, open standards, and other non-proprietary components. This definition is partly intended to position DPIs as being "for the public" but also to enhance competition and mitigate concentrations of power in the global digital economy. Lastly, proponents point out that DPI could bolster international cooperation, particularly as the 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) approaches. This important UN initiative has provided the framework for countries to collaborate on digital development. Although authoritarian states have previously sought to assert greater control over the internet's governance during these negotiations, a focus on promoting DPI could avoid this politicised debate and instead foster a constructive agenda to bridge digital divides. But basing policy on such an ill-defined concept poses significant risks. Ideally, governments would convene other stakeholders to create an enabling environment for DPI and safeguard users' rights and interests. It is easy to imagine, however, that some governments will place their own interests above civil liberties and fundamental rights, using this infrastructure for surveillance and targeting in the name of law enforcement or national security. An especially pernicious example could involve the monitoring and regulation of individual behaviour through dystopian social-credit systems. Moreover, while many proponents hope that DPI could chip away at Big Tech's outsize power, it has also been associated with narratives of digital sovereignty that could contribute to the internet's fragmentation -- a systemic threat to global communications. For example, one can imagine scenarios in which some governments challenge the multi-stakeholder model for governing global internet resources like IP addresses and domain names on the grounds that they constitute DPIs. In fact, we recently witnessed something similar in the European Union when it proposed an amendment to the Electronic Identification, Authentication, and Trust Services (eIDAS) regulation that would have empowered governments to mandate the recognition of digital certificates that did not adhere to stringent industry standards. This risked undermining the global governance model for browser security and could have allowed European governments to survey communications both within and beyond their borders. The policy vision of DPI will continue to evolve, and ongoing discussions, it is hoped, will help identify and clarify further opportunities and risks. Initiatives such as the UN's Universal DPI Safeguards Framework, which seeks to establish guardrails for DPI, are a promising start. But much more must be done. For example, the UN's framework has recognised the need for continuous learning to ensure that the right safeguards are in place. As the concept of DPI gains traction in the UN system and other multilateral organisations, vigorous and informed debate regarding its potential advantages -- and pitfalls -- will be essential. With clear-cut policy guidelines and protections, we can help prevent these technologies from becoming tools for surveillance and repression, ensure that everyone benefits from the burgeoning digital economy, and keep the internet open, globally connected, and secure. ©2024 Project Syndicate Carl Gahnberg is Director of Policy Development and Research at the Internet Society.
NoneNEW CHAPEL HILL — No matter the path, the road leads to the same place — a battle of the Bulldogs in the playoffs. For the fourth straight year, Chapel Hill and Kilgore will meet in the postseason — third consecutive year in the Class 4A Division I Region III football final. The eighth meeting in four seasons between the teams will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Forney’s City Bank Stadium. In the 2021 regular season meeting, Kilgore won 41-20. Chapel Hill responded with a 41-35 win in two overtimes in the third round of the playoffs on the way to reaching the state semifinals for the first time since 2011. In 2022, Chapel Hill won the regular season meeting 32-20 and then was also victorious in the regional final with a 24-21 decision on the way to another state semifinal appearance. Kilgore took a 39-13 win over Chapel Hill in the 2023 regular season. Chapel Hill bounced back with a 21-19 win over Kilgore in the regional final and eventually advancing to the Class 4A Division I championship game. Kilgore (11-2) came away with a 42-7 victory on Oct. 11 in this year’s meeting between the two programs. “We’ve been waiting the whole year to get this rematch,” senior Jonah Riordan said. “We’ve been waiting for another opportunity because we know we’re going to make the most of it. We know we’re going to have most of our dudes back now, so it should be a good game. We’re going to come out there with all of our bullets flying as hard as we can.” “I’ve been looking for this rematch ever since we lost to them in district,” senior Rickey Stewart said. “We’ve just got to go out there and play hard all four quarters.” Like a lot of this season, Chapel Hill was shorthanded in the game. The Bulldogs (10-3) were without quarterback Demetrius Brisbon, who signed with Baylor on Wednesday, for the second of six straight games. Brisbon has been back the past two weeks but hasn’t started at quarterback, though he did throw a touchdown pass in his only attempt in last week’s 28-7 win over Stafford, and he has played receiver the past two games. Stewart, who has run for 1,617 yards this season and signed with Texas on Wednesday, had just 10 carries against Kilgore in the regular season. Stewart missed the last game of the regular season after suffering an injury against Pine Tree, but he came back with 331 yards on 23 carries in the playoff opener against Huffman-Hargrave. Chapel Hill was without other players in the first meeting against Kilgore, as well, and has had moving parts for most of the season. “There have been a lot of games this year where we haven’t had all of our guys,” senior Keldrick Davis said. “We’ve went through a lot of adversity this year.” “The adversity has been an asset really,” Chapel Hill head football coach Jeff Riordan said. “Malik Gee has become a different player and a great quarterback with all of these extra reps, starting some playoff games and winning some big-time games, including three playoff games in a row. Defensive line wise, we had a lot of guys step up because of all of those injuries. The O-line is now fully intact and healthy except Derek Tovar; he broke his ankle against Huffman, so we’re missing him, but they’re getting better every week and guys are stepping up. We’ve had to play a lot of kids this year. “It’s been an asset. It’s made some guys step up and get some very valuable experience that’s helped us in this playoff run. We are just thankful to still be playing in the fourth round. A lot of people didn’t think we would be here with the adversity we went through and the struggles we had throughout the season, but these kids just came to practice and came to work every day and got better. They’re resilient, fighters and winners. It’s a good group. I love the guys we’ve got in that locker room, and I love the coaches we’ve got on this staff. And I think that’s why we always still play because it’s kind of a family deal. We love coming to practice and being around each other, so we don’t want it to end. It gives us a little bit more of an edge in trying to keep the family together.” On the other side will be a Kilgore team that has won seven straight games and that lost two games by a total of five points to Gilmer and Henderson. “To get past them, we’re going to have to give them our best shot,” Coach Riordan said. “It’s going to have to be our best game all year. We’re going to have to be solid in all three phases of the game, protect the football, make plays and execute. The district game, we were down seven guys, but we shot ourselves in the foot all night with penalties, turnovers and big plays. We’ve got to eliminate that type of stuff, because they’re a very good football team. “It’s Kilgore, they’re good every year. They’re a tradition-rich program. Coach (Clint) Fuller and his staff do an unbelievable job. They’ve got a kid (Jayden Sanders) going to Michigan. It seems like every year they have a dude, and this year is no different. They’ve got dudes everywhere. And defensively, them and Carthage are probably the best two defenses I’ve coached against in my coaching career. They are fast, and they are physical. They make the field look really small to a play caller. It’s tough to execute.” The winner of Friday’s Class 4A Division I Region III final will advance to the Class 4A Division I semifinals to face either La Vernia (10-3) or Bay City (12-1).
The first thing I do each morning is check my watch — not for the time but for my sleep score. As a runner, when the glowing red letters say my score — and my training readiness — are poor, I feel an instant dread. Regardless, I scroll on, inspecting my heart rate variability and stress level — snapshots that influence the tone I carry into the day. What does dreading my smartwatch’s interpretation of my athletic competence say about me? That I have become a pawn in the gamification of health data. Last year, electronics represented one of the largest proportions of total Black Friday sales, according to Deloitte. That’s when I bought my first smartwatch, a Garmin. This year, I’m throwing it away. I was the perfect target. For several years, I had been preparing to run my first marathon. I watched fitness influencers, ultramarathoners and Olympians optimize their training with meticulous tracking and high-tech devices. I wanted in. I got the watch and joined Strava, a social media network for athletes. Once I had a tracker on, sleep became sacred. I traded late-night socializing for it, confident that I’d cash in on race day. I built my day around my nights, transfixed by a false sense of control over my circadian rhythm. Sleep, just like my running routine, had slowly morphed from a bodily function into a technological token of productivity. I was hooked, emboldened by the illusion that I was training intuitively. I pushed hard when my Garmin nudged me, and even harder when I wanted to prove its metrics wrong. I began to run more for the PR (personal record) badge and “your fastest 5k!” notifications than for mental clarity and solitude. I ran because I loved it, and because I loved it, I fell prey to the Strava-fication of it. Suddenly, I was no longer running for myself. I was running for public consumption. I realized this only when it literally became painfully obvious. An MRI found that the lingering pain I’d been ignoring in my heels — something my watch hadn’t picked up on — was caused by four running-induced stress fractures. I’ve realized that health optimization tools — the ones marketed as necessary for better sleep, a lower resting heart rate, higher VO2 max (a measure of how much oxygen your body absorbs) and so on — are designed to profit off our fitness anxiety. We track ourselves this way and that way, obsessing over our shortcomings to no apparent end. In doing so, we are deprogrammed from listening to innate physiological signals and reprogrammed to create shadow experiences such as posting our detailed workout stats or running paths on digital walls that no one is looking at. I don’t deny that today’s fitness gadgets are incredibly alluring, and in many ways tracking can be useful for training. I am convinced, however, that overreliance on the data collected by devices and apps — and the comparisons we draw from sharing it — can quickly corrupt and commodify what I find to be the true essence of running: being present. Related Articles When we aren’t tracking, when we are just doing, we can begin to reap the dull yet profound psychological benefits of endurance sports — the repetitive silence, the consistent failure — that can’t be captured in a post or monetized. Exercise is a rare opportunity to allow our bodies’ movement to color our thoughts from one minute to the next. When we’re in motion, we don’t need to analyze our health metrics. We can learn to accept the moment and be humbled by our limitations.Beneficient Enters into Agreement to Acquire Mercantile Bank International to Expand its Alternative Asset Custody Services
VNET Group, Inc. ( NASDAQ:VNET – Get Free Report )’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $3.72, but opened at $4.02. VNET Group shares last traded at $4.20, with a volume of 1,607,830 shares. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research firms have commented on VNET. Citigroup started coverage on shares of VNET Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $4.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of VNET Group from $6.40 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. HSBC upgraded shares of VNET Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5.20 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised VNET Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded VNET Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $3.10 to $5.00 in a research report on Friday, November 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $4.78. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on VNET Group VNET Group Price Performance Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in VNET Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Wolverine Trading LLC acquired a new stake in VNET Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. AXA S.A. purchased a new position in VNET Group in the second quarter worth approximately $65,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in VNET Group in the third quarter worth approximately $115,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in VNET Group by 785.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 42,074 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 37,322 shares in the last quarter. 72.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. VNET Group Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) VNET Group, Inc, an investment holding company, provides hosting and related services in China. It offers managed hosting services consisting of managed retail services, such as colocation services that dedicate data center space to house customers' servers and networking equipment, as well as allow customers to lease partial or entire cabinets for their servers; interconnectivity services that allow customers to connect their servers; value-added services, including hybrid IT, bare metal, firewall, server load balancing, data backup and recovery, data center management, server management, and backup server services; cloud services that allow customers to run applications over the internet using IT infrastructure; and VPN Services that extend customers' private networks by setting up connections through the public internet. See Also Receive News & Ratings for VNET Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for VNET Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
NEW YORK — Chi-Chi’s, the Mexican restaurant chain that closed 20 years ago, is staging a comeback. Hormel Foods, current owner of the Chi-Chi’s trademark, announced Tuesday it’s letting Michael McDermott, son of the chain’s co-founder, use the fabled name to reopen restaurants in 2025. Specific locations, menu items and designs weren’t immediately released. Chi-Chi’s, started in Minnesota in 1975 by Marno McDermott and Green Bay Packers player Max McGee, would eventually expand to more than 200 locations. However, the chain closed in 2004 following a hepatitis A outbreak at a Pittsburgh-area location traced to green onions served in its complimentary salsa, sickening about 650 people and resulting in four deaths and several hundred lawsuits. It’s the largest hepatitis A outbreak in United States history and led to nationwide food safety changes. People are also reading... Chi-Chi’s, the Mexican restaurant chain that closed 20 years ago, is staging a comeback. Outback Steakhouse bought Chi-Chi’s in a $40 million deal and closed the remaining restaurants. The former rival used the locations to open Outback, Bonefish Grill and other concepts that its parent company owns. Michael McDermott will revive Chi-Chi’s, which was known for its eclectic interior as well as an expansive Tex-Mex menu that served everything from fajitas to fried ice cream. He is an industry veteran who launched Kona Grill and sold it to trendy steakhouse STK’s parent company in 2019. “We have seen the impact our restaurant has had on individuals and families across the country and believe there is a strong opportunity to bring the brand back in a way that resonates with today’s consumer — an updated dining experience with the same great taste and Mexican flavor,” McDermott said in a press release. The Chi-Chi’s branding, which is still used on packaged food and margaritas, will continue to be sold at stores. Hormel has made chips, salsas and other Chi-Chi’s products since the late 1980s. The revival of Chi-Chi’s comes as other nostalgic chains are facing mixed results. Chili’s has repeatedly reported strong earnings this year , while Red Lobster and TGI Fridays both filed for bankruptcy. The seafood chain introduced a new happy hour, among other menu changes , to revive the chain under a new CEO; while Fridays has quietly closed another dozen restaurants in the past few weeks. “While restaurants continue to face challenges like rising food costs, labor shortages, and higher buildout expenses, nostalgia has emerged as a powerful driver of customer visits,” R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research at Placer.ai, told CNN. “Strategies like reintroducing beloved menu items or offering exclusive collector’s items have resonated with consumers, suggesting these tactics could also work well for reviving these classic brands.” Here’s what the Pizza Hut of the future looks like Kraft Mac & Cheese is trying to maintain its dominance with flavor drops and new shapes Small, luxury foods are great as stocking stuffers or other gifts. Ideas for under $50 The McRib is returning for the holidays. Why isn’t it sold year-round? The-CNN-WireTM & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. With our weekly newsletter packed with the latest in everything food.
SAN FRANCISCO , Dec. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Docusign, Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) today announced results for its fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2024. Prepared remarks and the news release with the financial results will be accessible on Docusign's website at investor.docusign.com prior to its webcast. "Docusign delivered powerful new innovation for customers highlighted by new capabilities to its Intelligent Agreement Management ("IAM") platform," said Allan Thygesen , CEO of Docusign. "In Q3, early IAM momentum outpaced expectations, and we continued to drive improvement in our core business with strong revenue growth and operating profit." Third Quarter Financial Highlights A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures has been provided in the tables included in this press release. An explanation of these measures is also included below under the heading "Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Key Metrics." Key Business Highlights: IAM Product Releases and Highlights : Docusign announced new product capabilities to its IAM platform. Highlights from recent product releases include: Contract Lifecycle Management ("CLM") Product Releases and Highlights : Developer Ecosystem: Guidance The company currently expects the following guidance: Total revenue $758 to $762 Subscription revenue $741 to $745 Billings $870 to $880 Non-GAAP gross margin 81.0 % to 82.0 % Non-GAAP operating margin 27.5 % to 28.5 % Non-GAAP diluted weighted-average shares outstanding 209 to 214 Total revenue $2,959 to $2,963 Subscription revenue $2,885 to $2,889 Billings $3,056 to $3,066 Non-GAAP gross margin 81.9 % to 82.1 % Non-GAAP operating margin 29.5 % to 29.7 % Non-GAAP diluted weighted-average shares outstanding 210 to 212 A reconciliation of non-GAAP guidance measures to corresponding GAAP guidance measures is not available on a forward-looking basis without unreasonable effort due to the uncertainty regarding, and the potential variability of, expenses that may be incurred in the future. Stock-based compensation-related charges, including employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions, are impacted by many factors, including the timing of employee stock transactions, the future fair market value of our common stock, and our future hiring and retention needs, all of which are difficult to predict and subject to constant change. We have provided a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures in the financial statement tables for our historical non-GAAP financial results included in this release. Webcast Conference Call Information The company will host a conference call on December 5, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. PT ( 5:00 p.m. ET ) to discuss its financial results. A live webcast of the event will be available on the Docusign Investor Relations website at investor.docusign.com . Prepared remarks and the news release with the financial results will also be accessible on Docusign's website prior to the webcast. A live dial-in will be available domestically at 877-407-0784 or internationally at 201-689-8560. A replay will be available domestically at 844-512-2921 or internationally at 412-317-6671 until midnight (EST) December 19, 2024 using the passcode 13750095. About Docusign Docusign brings agreements to life. Over 1.6 million customers and more than a billion people in over 180 countries use Docusign solutions to accelerate the process of doing business and simplify people's lives. With intelligent agreement management, Docusign unleashes business critical data that is trapped inside of documents. Until now, these were disconnected from business systems of record, costing businesses time, money, and opportunity. Using Docusign's IAM platform, companies can create, commit, and manage agreements with solutions created by the #1 company in e-signature and CLM. Learn more at www.docusign.com . Copyright 2024. Docusign, Inc. is the owner of DOCUSIGN® and all its other marks (www.docusign.com/IP). Investor Relations: Docusign Investor Relations investors@docusign.com Media Relations: Docusign Corporate Communications media@docusign.com Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are based on our management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management, and which statements involve substantial risk and uncertainties. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our future operating results and financial position, our business strategy and plans, market growth and trends, objectives for future operations, and the impact of such assumptions on our financial condition and results of operations are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release also include, among other things, statements under "Guidance" above and any other statements about expected financial metrics, such as revenue, billings, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP diluted weighted-average shares outstanding, and non-financial metrics, as well as statements related to our expectations regarding the benefits, rollout and customer demand of the Docusign IAM platform. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "target," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue" or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements about: our expectations regarding global macro-economic conditions, including the effects of inflation, volatile interest rates, and market volatility on the global economy; our ability to estimate the size and growth of our total addressable market; our ability to compete effectively in an evolving and competitive market; the impact of any data breaches, cyberattacks or other malicious activity on our technology systems; our ability to effectively sustain and manage our growth and future expenses and maintain or increase future profitability; our ability to attract new customers and maintain and expand our existing customer base; our ability to effectively implement and execute our restructuring plans; our ability to scale and update our platform to respond to customers' needs and rapid technological change, including our ability to successfully incorporate generative artificial intelligence into our existing and future products; our ability to successfully execute our technical developments, go-to-market and sales strategy for our IAM platform; our ability to expand use cases within existing customers and vertical solutions; our ability to expand our operations and increase adoption of our platform internationally; our ability to strengthen and foster our relationships with developers; our ability to retain our direct sales force, customer success team and strategic partnerships around the world; our ability to identify targets for and execute potential acquisitions and to successfully integrate and realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions; our ability to maintain, protect and enhance our brand; the sufficiency of our cash, cash equivalents and capital resources to satisfy our liquidity needs; limitations on us due to obligations we have under our credit facility or other indebtedness; our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of our stock repurchase program; our failure or the failure of our software to comply with applicable industry standards, laws and regulations; our ability to maintain, protect and enhance our intellectual property; our ability to successfully defend litigation against us; our ability to attract large organizations as users; our ability to maintain our corporate culture; our ability to offer high-quality customer support; our ability to hire, retain and motivate qualified personnel, including executive level management; our ability to successfully manage and integrate executive management transitions; uncertainties regarding the impact of general economic and market conditions, including as a result of regional and global conflicts; and our ability to maintain proper and effective internal controls. Additional risks and uncertainties that could affect our financial results are included in the sections titled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024 filed on March 21, 2024 , our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 31, 2024 , which we expect to file on December 6, 2024 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and other filings that we make from time to time with the SEC. The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date on which such statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date of this press release or to conform such statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as required by law. Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Key Metrics To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, we use certain non-GAAP financial measures, as described below, to understand and evaluate our core operating performance. These non-GAAP financial measures, which may be different than similarly-titled measures used by other companies, are presented to enhance investors' overall understanding of our financial performance and should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information about our financial performance, enhance the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to important metrics used by our management for financial and operational decision-making. We present these non-GAAP measures to assist investors in seeing our financial performance using a management view, and because we believe that these measures provide an additional tool for investors to use in comparing our core financial performance over multiple periods with other companies in our industry. However, these non-GAAP measures are not intended to be considered in isolation from, a substitute for, or superior to our GAAP results. Non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP net income per share : We define these non-GAAP financial measures as the respective GAAP measures, excluding expenses related to stock-based compensation, employer payroll tax on employee stock transactions, amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, amortization of debt discount and issuance costs, fair value adjustments to strategic investments, acquisition-related expenses, lease-related impairment and lease-related charges, restructuring and other related charges, as these costs are not reflective of ongoing operations and, as applicable, other special items. The amount of employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions is dependent on our stock price and other factors that are beyond our control and do not correlate to the operation of the business. When evaluating the performance of our business and making operating plans, we do not consider these items (for example, when considering the impact of equity award grants, we place a greater emphasis on overall stockholder dilution rather than the accounting charges associated with such grants). We believe it is useful to exclude these expenses in order to better understand the long-term performance of our core business and to facilitate comparison of our results to those of peer companies and over multiple periods. In addition to these exclusions, we subtract an assumed provision for income taxes to calculate non-GAAP net income. We utilize a fixed long-term projected tax rate in our computation of the non-GAAP income tax provision to provide better consistency across the reporting periods. For fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025, we have determined the projected non-GAAP tax rate to be 20%. Free cash flow : We define free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment. We believe free cash flow is an important liquidity measure of the cash that is available (if any), after purchases of property and equipment, for operational expenses, investment in our business, and to make acquisitions. Free cash flow is useful to investors as a liquidity measure because it measures our ability to generate or use cash in excess of our capital investments in property and equipment. Once our business needs and obligations are met, cash can be used to maintain a strong balance sheet and invest in future growth. Billings : We define billings as total revenues plus the change in our contract liabilities and refund liability less contract assets and unbilled accounts receivable in a given period. Billings reflects sales to new customers plus subscription renewals and additional sales to existing customers. Only amounts invoiced to a customer in a given period are included in billings. We believe billings can be used to measure our periodic performance, when taking into consideration the timing aspects of customer renewals, which represents a large component of our business. Given that most of our customers pay in annual installments one year in advance, but we typically recognize a majority of the related revenue ratably over time, we use billings to measure and monitor our ability to provide our business with the working capital generated by upfront payments from our customers. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, please see "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) Three Months Ended October 31, Nine Months Ended October 31, (in thousands, except per share data) 2024 2023 2024 2023 Revenue: Subscription $ 734,693 $ 682,352 $ 2,143,542 $ 1,991,026 Professional services and other 20,127 18,069 56,945 58,470 Total revenue 754,820 700,421 2,200,487 2,049,496 Cost of revenue: Subscription 134,587 114,227 393,561 339,354 Professional services and other 21,950 28,418 67,887 85,360 Total cost of revenue 156,537 142,645 461,448 424,714 Gross profit 598,283 557,776 1,739,039 1,624,782 Operating expenses: Sales and marketing 290,597 292,473 859,705 867,916 Research and development 151,101 136,640 432,992 387,964 General and administrative 97,555 108,215 277,162 316,910 Restructuring and other related charges — 710 29,721 30,293 Total operating expenses 539,253 538,038 1,599,580 1,603,083 Income from operations 59,030 19,738 139,459 21,699 Interest expense (462) (1,577) (1,150) (5,135) Interest income and other income, net 13,006 17,673 41,745 47,373 Income before provision for (benefit from) income taxes 71,574 35,834 180,054 63,937 Provision for (benefit from) income taxes 9,151 (2,971) (804,340) 17,198 Net income $ 62,423 $ 38,805 $ 984,394 $ 46,739 Net income per share attributable to common stockholders: Basic $ 0.31 $ 0.19 $ 4.81 $ 0.23 Diluted $ 0.30 $ 0.19 $ 4.69 $ 0.23 Weighted-average shares used in computing net income per share: Basic 203,567 204,456 204,674 203,609 Diluted 208,706 208,054 209,755 208,317 Stock-based compensation expense included in costs and expenses: Cost of revenue—subscription $ 14,862 $ 13,705 $ 44,636 $ 38,143 Cost of revenue—professional services and other 4,765 7,343 14,465 21,359 Sales and marketing 49,347 53,715 154,396 150,604 Research and development 53,184 48,310 150,816 129,458 General and administrative 31,070 36,337 91,239 111,271 Restructuring and other related charges — 8 4,836 4,996 CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) (in thousands) October 31, 2024 January 31, 2024 Assets Current assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 610,870 $ 797,060 Investments—current 331,506 248,402 Accounts receivable, net 300,444 439,299 Contract assets—current 13,645 15,922 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 75,412 66,984 Total current assets 1,331,877 1,567,667 Investments—noncurrent 112,805 121,977 Property and equipment, net 278,623 245,173 Operating lease right-of-use assets 113,365 123,188 Goodwill 455,678 353,138 Intangible assets, net 83,307 50,905 Deferred contract acquisition costs—noncurrent 445,987 409,627 Deferred tax assets—noncurrent 816,538 2,031 Other assets—noncurrent 132,028 97,584 Total assets $ 3,770,208 $ 2,971,290 Liabilities and Equity Current liabilities Accounts payable $ 18,144 $ 19,029 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 94,591 104,037 Accrued compensation 158,779 195,266 Contract liabilities—current 1,307,749 1,320,059 Operating lease liabilities—current 19,507 22,230 Total current liabilities 1,598,770 1,660,621 Contract liabilities—noncurrent 22,931 21,980 Best trending stories from the week. 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How to navigate the risks of DPIWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — If last month's election wasn't painful enough for Florida Democrats, they're losing another state House seat after one of their members announced Monday that she's switching parties. State Rep. Susan Valdés, a former school board member who was reelected as a Democrat last month, said on X that she is “tired of being the party of protesting.” Valdés ran to be chairperson for her local county’s Democratic executive committee earlier this month. She won her current term by nearly 5 percentage points but can't run for reelection again because of term limits. Republicans have controlled the governor’s office and both branches of the Legislature since 1999. Valdés is serving her final two years before leaving office due to term limits. Republicans now have an 86-34 majority in the House. “I got into politics to be part of the party of progress,” Valdés wrote. “I know that I won’t agree with my fellow Republican House members on every issue, but I know that in their caucus, I will be welcomed and treated with respect.” House Speaker Daniel Perez reposted Valdés’ statement and welcomed her into the House, where Republicans have a supermajority of 86-34. House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said she was surprised and disappointed by Valdés’ announcement. “It is sad that she has elevated her own aspirations above the needs of her district,” Driskell wrote in a statement on X.Vijay Sales announces Apple Days sale: Discounts on iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 15 and more
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By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court should overturn Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era practice of removing voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies, including nonviolent crimes such as forgery and timber theft, attorneys say in new court papers. Most of the people affected are disenfranchised for life because the state provides few options for restoring ballot access. “Mississippi’s harsh and unforgiving felony disenfranchisement scheme is a national outlier,” attorneys representing some who lost voting rights said in an appeal filed Wednesday. They wrote that states “have consistently moved away from lifetime felony disenfranchisement over the past few decades.” This case is the second in recent years — and the third since the late 19th century — that asks the Supreme Court to overturn Mississippi’s disenfranchisement for some felonies. The cases use different legal arguments, and the court rejected the most recent attempt in 2023. The new appeal asks justices to reverse a July ruling from the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said Mississippi legislators, not the courts, must decide whether to change the laws. Stripping away voting rights for some crimes is unconstitutional because it is cruel and unusual punishment, the appeal argues. A majority of justices rejected arguments over cruel and unusual punishment in June when they cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places. Attorneys who sued Mississippi over voting rights say the authors of the state’s 1890 constitution based disenfranchisement on a list of crimes they thought Black people were more likely to commit. A majority of the appeals judges wrote that the Supreme Court in 1974 reaffirmed constitutional law allowing states to disenfranchise felons. About 38% of Mississippi residents are Black. Nearly 50,000 people were disenfranchised under the state’s felony voting ban between 1994 and 2017. More than 29,000 of them have completed their sentences, and about 58% of that group are Black, according to an expert who analyzed data for plaintiffs challenging the voting ban. Related Articles National Politics | Trump convinced Republicans to overlook his misconduct. But can he do the same for his nominees? National Politics | Beyond evangelicals, Trump and his allies courted smaller faith groups, from the Amish to Chabad National Politics | Trump gave Interior nominee one directive for a half-billion acres of US land: ‘Drill.’ National Politics | Trump’s team is delaying transition agreements. What does it mean for security checks and governing? National Politics | Judge delays Trump hush money sentencing in order to decide where case should go now To regain voting rights in Mississippi, a person convicted of a disenfranchising crime must receive a governor’s pardon or win permission from two-thirds of the state House and Senate. In recent years, legislators have restored voting rights for only a few people. The other recent case that went to the Supreme Court argued that authors of Mississippi’s constitution showed racist intent when they chose which felonies would cause people to lose the right to vote. In that ruling, justices declined to reconsider a 2022 appeals court decision that said Mississippi remedied the discriminatory intent of the original provisions in the state constitution by later altering the list of disenfranchising crimes. In 1950, Mississippi dropped burglary from the list. Murder and rape were added in 1968. The Mississippi attorney general issued an opinion in 2009 that expanded the list to 22 crimes, including timber larceny, carjacking, felony-level shoplifting and felony-level writing bad checks. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a 2023 dissent that Mississippi’s list of disenfranchising crimes was “adopted for an illicit discriminatory purpose.”
Vast Updates Shareholders at Annual General Meeting on Significant Progress Towards Delivering ...
Valkyries tickets 2025: Best prices, Chase Center seating chart, full schedule of Golden State WNBA games | Sporting NewsThe Los Angeles Galaxy will aim to complete one of the most remarkable transformations in Major League Soccer history on Saturday when they host the New York Red Bulls chasing a record-extending sixth MLS Cup crown. A year ago, the California franchise had hit rock bottom, plummeting to their worst ever regular season record to finish one place off the bottom of the Western Conference. The team that had once been a home to the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were engulfed in crisis, with fans boycotting fixtures after nearly a decade of failure on the field. Moreover, the Galaxy's status as one of MLS's glamour clubs had been diminished by the arrival of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, as well as the emergence of city rivals Los Angeles FC, winners of the MLS Cup in 2022. The febrile atmosphere at the Galaxy prompted team ownership to shake up their front office, with Will Kuntz appointed general manager to replace long-time predecessor Chris Klein, who was fired in May 2023. The turnaround since those changes has been dramatic. After winning just eight fixtures in the 2023 season, the Galaxy under head coach Greg Vanney won a record-equalling 19 games this season to finish joint top of the table, second only to leaders LAFC on goal difference. The Galaxy kept up their winning ways in the postseason, swatting aside Colorado 9-1 on aggregate to wrap up their first round series, before thrashing Minnesota United 6-2 and then squeezing past Seattle 1-0 last weekend. Those results have left the club on the threshold of a first MLS Cup title since 2014 and a record sixth championship overall. Victory in Saturday's showpiece in Carson would be especially sweet for Vanney, who appeared in three MLS Cup finals with the Galaxy as a player in 1996, 1999 and 2001 -- and lost all three. Reflecting on his team's journey to this year's final, Vanney said this week his team had thrived under the pressure of being expected to challenge for silverware. "The expectation is to be in games like this, to win trophies and win championships," Vanney said. "This group has come out and attacked it from day one and hasn't been afraid of it or in awe of it -- and that's one of the beauties of this group. "I'm excited for this group and this opportunity and now the objective is to win it and put the stamp on it, rewriting a new group of players and new legacy for this organisation." Vanney's task has become more complicated by an injury to star midfielder Riqui Puig, who suffered torn knee ligaments in last week's Western Conference final win over Seattle and will miss Saturday's game. "He's the ultimate competitor," Vanney said. "He wants to win, compete, and take responsibility on the field. He drives the team in so many ways. "We're going to have to adapt, and we're going to have to adapt in a collective way." The Galaxy meanwhile will be wary of a New York Red Bulls line-up that have ripped up the form book en route to the final. After finishing seventh in the Eastern Conference -- 27 points behind leaders Inter Miami -- the Red Bulls stunned reigning champions Columbus in the first round of the playoffs before wins on the road over rivals New York City FC and Orlando to book their place in their first MLS Cup since 2008. New York's Scotland international midfielder Lewis Morgan says the team is unfazed by Saturday's assignment in Los Angeles. "For me, it doesn't really matter where it is: it's playoff football," Morgan said this week. "It's not the regular season. These games are more cagey. You go 1-0 up, we defend a little bit deeper and we're relying on guys at the back. There have been massive performances." rcw/bbCHICAGO — On quiet nights during the Christmas season, Ed O’Malley enjoys visiting the Nativity scene he helps set up every year in an Arlington Heights park. He’ll check whether the wind has blown over a statue, or whether any lights have gone out. On relatively warm evenings, many families will be out and about, O’Malley said. Usually, they’ll end up in front of the depiction of infant Jesus. “Many times, you’ll see the little children will look in and they’ll touch the statues,” said O’Malley, 64, of nearby Prospect Heights. “A few times, you see a father or a mother just get down on a knee, and you can see that she’s explaining to them what this is.” Despite some misconceptions — stemming from the First Amendment’s separation of church and state — private groups can put up Nativity scenes on public property as an expression of free speech after a federal judge ruled in 1988 that religious exhibits could be erected if maintained by private groups. Private groups can put up Hanukkah menorahs on public property to celebrate the Jewish holiday. Likewise, private groups can put up atheist, satanic, artistic, political, apolitical, eco-modernist or anarcho-pacifist displays on public property, if they so desire. The right to erect religious displays on government land wasn’t always clear — especially in December 1987, when government workers in Chicago began dismantling a Nativity scene in the Loop’s Daley Plaza, almost throwing the statue of the baby Jesus into a trash bin at one point and prompting members of the public to shield what was left of the display with their bodies. O’Malley said he’s learned much about the First Amendment as president of American Nativity Scene, a group that has helped put up more than 200 Nativity scenes on public property across the country. The group was founded in 2012 by O’Malley and his father-in-law. They believe that erecting Nativity scenes on public property is a good way to help keep the birth of Jesus at the center of a Christmas season that they say has become far too commercialized. “Christ is the reason for the season,” O’Malley said. With the backing of an anonymous donor of Nativity sets and conservative public interest law firm Thomas More Society, American Nativity Scene has helped put up scenes at public libraries, parks and courthouses. The group’s main goal is to display them in the country’s 50 statehouses. When O’Malley and his father-in-law created American Nativity Scene 12 years ago, about six or seven state capitol buildings, including the one in Springfield, had regular Nativity displays, O’Malley said. Since then, under American Nativity Scene’s watch, 43 state capitols have put up Nativity displays at least once. To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, American Nativity Scene will make “an all-out push” and try to have a Nativity scene on display at every state capitol during the 2026 Christmas season, O’Malley said. Adding a state to the tally isn’t an exact science. American Nativity Scene needs to find people in that state willing to form a local committee that will approach local officials about putting up a Nativity scene on capitol property. O’Malley said he has used friends and the Thomas More Society’s network to identify people who might be interested in forming a local committee in states lacking displays in their capitols. He’s also called random churches and local religious organizations like Knights of Columbus chapters, he said. “We want to be able to say that someone has a Nativity up in every state capitol,” O’Malley said. “I mean, we got Alaska and Hawaii — we got them one. They were interesting. You talk to a lot of great people.” Steven Melia, a Wyoming resident involved with local religious groups who has helped put up a Nativity scene at the statehouse in Cheyenne for the past four years, said he doesn’t remember how exactly O’Malley got in touch with him. After Melia agreed to help advance American Nativity Scene’s mission, O’Malley sent Melia a Nativity set and Melia’s rancher friend built a wooden structure to house it, Melia said. It’s fairly easy to schedule blessings of the Nativity set at the Wyoming statehouse and get permission to leave it up during the season, Melia said. He said the capitol hosts all sorts of school, religious and community gatherings throughout the year. “The capitol belongs to everybody ... I didn’t really know that at the beginning,” Melia said. Other than finding people to attend the blessing, pretty much all Melia has to do is buy insurance for the event and fill out a few forms, he said. One optional form is for inviting the governor, who showed up to the Nativity blessing the first three years, Melia said. O’Malley said he and his father-in-law decided to start American Nativity Scene after facing pushback while trying to erect a Nativity scene in 2012 in North School Park in Arlington Heights. O’Malley’s father-in-law brought in the founder of Thomas More Society, Tom Brejcha, who wrote a “strongly worded” letter to the park district about the pair’s right to put up religious displays on public property, according to O’Malley. Brejcha said he considers the 1988 ruling that protects the right of private groups to put up religious displays on public property as forms of free speech a “landmark” ruling. In summer 1987, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Nativity scene in Chicago’s City Hall violated the First Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion. Judge Joel Flaum wrote that City Hall visitors would be left with the unavoidable impression that the city tacitly endorses Christianity. In December 1987, a group put up a Nativity scene in Daley Plaza without posting a $100,000 bond demanded by the Public Building Commission of Chicago, which administered the plaza. The commission demanded the bond to cover the cost of defending itself against possible First Amendment lawsuits. After government workers began tearing down the plaza Nativity scene — almost throwing the statue of the baby Jesus into a trash bin at one point — members of the public intervened, shielding what was left of the display with their bodies. In a case stemming from the bond dispute and Nativity scene dismantling, federal judge James Parsons in November 1988 ordered the building commission to allow the Nativity group to put up a display without posting a bond. Parsons wrote that the commission had misplaced fears that allowing religious displays could violate the First Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion. He deemed the plaza a public forum and wrote that “religious expressive conduct in a traditional public forum enjoys the same protections afforded political, artistic, or other types of protected speech under the First Amendment.” O’Malley, who is also part of the group that continues to put up a Nativity scene on Daley Plaza every year, said that after the Arlington Heights park Nativity scene was successfully erected thanks to Brejcha’s letter, he and his father-and-law started to think about how they could expand. The idea of placing Nativity sets on other government land, especially state capitols, “clicked,” O’Malley said. Thomas More Society Executive Vice President Thomas Olp said the firm supports efforts to put Nativity scenes on public property and has a standard letter it sends to public officials explaining why religious displays on public property are allowed. Olp said the firm hasn’t had to file any lawsuits on behalf of American Nativity Scene. “Not to say there’s anything wrong with the free exercise of religion, but the free speech rationale cut through a lot of the opposition to this,” Brejcha said. ©2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
I'm A Celeb's GK Barry reveals the incredibly expensive impulse purchase she made after achieving overnight success with her social media Have YOU got a story? Email tips@dailymail.com By KIRSTEN MURRAY FOR MAILONLINE Published: 08:47 AEDT, 6 December 2024 | Updated: 09:38 AEDT, 6 December 2024 e-mail 30 View comments GK Barry has revealed the incredibly expensive purchase she made after achieving overnight fame following her social media success. The star, whose real name is Grace Eleanor Keeling, soared to fame during the first Covid-19 lockdown when she started making TikToks about her daily life while studying film at Nottingham Trent University. A successful podcast and guest stints on Loose Women have followed, and she's also kept fans on their toes while documenting her love life. Chatting with her pal Reverend Richard Coles she confessed she impulsively bought a Porsche after thinking: 'I could buy a Porsche and it would not be an issue.' Richard asked the star: 'So Grace did you go from working in Costa to all of a sudden being able to buy a house?' As she replied: 'Yeah,' he continued: 'So you didn't go from poor, poor, poor, a little less poor, a bit more money, you went from poor to rich?' I'm A Celeb's GK Barry has revealed the incredibly expensive impulse purchase she made after achieving overnight success with her social media The star, whose real name is Grace Eleanor Keeling, soared to fame during the first Covid-19 lockdown when she started making TikToks about her daily life while studying film at university Grace then explained: 'Yeah, pretty quick. And I remember being like, "I'm making enough money to buy a new car now". 'I remember a Porsche drove past me as I had that thought and I remember thinking, "I could buy a Porsche and it would not be an issue." 'I went to the centre, I was looking at an old one that was cheaper, but the one that I wanted was next to it and it was so nice. 'I rang my accountant and I was like, 'Can I do it?' And he was like, 'Yeah', so I bought it. I picked it up two days later.' Asked what colour it is she confirmed: 'Black, with a red interior.' Grace went viral after she shared a video showing off what she really looked like behind the glamour of carefully edited Instagram - and it in sparked a trend of other influencers doing the same. The video racked up almost 94,000 likes, and social media users from around the world then began replicating the video and using her voiceover to expose how they actually look when posting online. She soon gained a huge following and within a year, had amassed a whopping one million followers on the video-sharing platform. Chatting with her pal Reverend Richard Coles she confessed she impulsively bought a Porsche after thinking: 'I could buy a Porsche and it would not be an issue' She confessed: 'I rang my accountant and I was like, 'Can I do it?' And he was like, 'Yeah', so I bought it. I picked it up two days later' At present, she now has a huge 3.8million followers on TikTok and an impressive one million fans on Instagram. The star has also begun featuring on Loose Women At present, she now has a huge 3.8million followers on TikTok, 61,000 subscribers on YouTube and an impressive one million fans on Instagram. Cambridge-born Grace went on to create her very on podcast, Saving Grace, in April 2022 and has interviewed numerous celebrities including Coleen Nolan, Olivia Bowen and Alan Carr. In early 2024, GK took the podcast, which is also uploaded as a vodcast on YouTube, on a sold-out tour around the country. Since gaining recognition online, GK has made a number of TV appearances and this year was made a regular guest panelist on Loose Women - and made history as the youngest panelist to appear on the show. Instagram Loose Women Reverend Richard Coles Share or comment on this article: I'm A Celeb's GK Barry reveals the incredibly expensive impulse purchase she made after achieving overnight success with her social media e-mail Add commentNASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Scottie Scheffler brought a new putting grip to the Hero World Challenge and felt enough improvement to be satisfied with the result, a 5-under 67 that left him three shots behind Cameron Young on Thursday. Young was playing for the first time since the BMW Championship more than three months ago and found great success on and around the greens of Albany Golf Club, chipping beautifully and holing four birdie putts from 15 feet or longer for his 64. He led by two shots over Justin Thomas in his first competition since his daughter was born a few weeks ago. Thomas ran off four straight birdies late in his round and was a fraction of an inch away with a fifth. The big surprise was Scheffler, the No. 1 player in golf who looked as good as he has all year in compiling eight victories, including an Olympic gold medal. His iron play has no equal. His putting at times has kept him from winning more or winning bigger. He decided to try to a “saw” putting grip from about 20 feet or closer — the putter rests between his right thumb and his fingers, with his left index finger pointed down the shaft. “I’m always looking for ways to improve,” Scheffler said. RELATED COVERAGE Kevin Kisner will be the lead analyst for NBC’s golf coverage LPGA and USGA to require players to be assigned female at birth or transition before male puberty Tiger Woods in favor of Americans getting paid at the Ryder Cup as long as it goes to charity Scheffler last year began working with renowned putting instructor Phil Kenyon, and he says Kenyon mentioned the alternative putting grip back then. “But it was really our first time working together and it’s something that’s different than what I’ve done in the past,” Scheffler said. “This year I had thought about it from time to time, and it was something that we had just said let’s table that for the end of the season, take a look at it. “Figured this is a good week to try stuff.” He opened with a wedge to 2 feet and he missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the par-5 third. But he holed a birdie from about the same distance at the next par 5, No. 6, and holed a sliding 6-footer on the ninth to save par. His longest putt was his last hole, from 12 feet for a closing birdie. “I really enjoyed the way it felt,” he said. “I felt like I’m seeing some improvements in my stroke.” Young, regarded as the best active player without a PGA Tour victory, is treating this holiday tournament as the start of a new season. He worked on getting stronger and got back to the basics in his powerful golf swing. And on this day, he was dialed in with his short game. He only struggled to save par twice and kept piling up birdies in his bogey-free round on an ideal day in the Bahamas. “The wind wasn’t blowing much so it was relatively stress-free,” Young said. Patrick Cantlay, along with Scheffler playing for the first time since the Presidents Cup, also was at 67 with Ludvig Aberg, Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala. Thomas also took this occasion to do a little experimenting against a 20-man field. He has using a 46-inch driver at home — a little more than an inch longer than his regular driver — in a bid to gain more speed. On a day with little wind, on a golf course with some room off the tee, he decided to put it in play. “Just with it being a little bit longer, I just kind of have to get the club out in front of me and get on top of it a little bit more,” Thomas said. “I drove the hell out of it on the back, so that was nice to try something different and have it go a little bit better on the back.” Thomas said the longer driver gives him 2 or 3 mph in ball speed and 10 extra yards in the air. “It’s very specific for courses, but gave it a try,” he said. Conditions were easy enough that only four players in field failed to break par, with Jason Day bringing up the rear with a 75. ___ AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
In recent years, the concept of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) has gained significant attention from the international community, including the United Nations and the G20, as a new policy paradigm for development. But understanding the risks of DPI is crucial to ensuring that its potential benefits materialise. The risks stem from the fact that "digital public infrastructure" lacks a clear definition. The term encompasses the many digital technologies that serve as economic and social infrastructure, from digital identification and payment systems to data exchanges and health services. As a policy initiative, though, DPI refers to a vague vision of using these technologies to serve the public interest. This could result in the internet and technological innovation working for everyone -- or just as easily turn them into tools for political control. In discussions about DPI, policymakers often point to cases that highlight how technology and connectivity can spur development. They frequently cite India's Unified Payments Interface, which has expanded financial inclusion and reduced the costs of digital transactions for its hundreds of millions of users. It is also understood that such infrastructure is to be built with Digital Public Goods (DPGs), a concept that encompasses open-source software, open standards, and other non-proprietary components. This definition is partly intended to position DPIs as being "for the public" but also to enhance competition and mitigate concentrations of power in the global digital economy. Lastly, proponents point out that DPI could bolster international cooperation, particularly as the 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) approaches. This important UN initiative has provided the framework for countries to collaborate on digital development. Although authoritarian states have previously sought to assert greater control over the internet's governance during these negotiations, a focus on promoting DPI could avoid this politicised debate and instead foster a constructive agenda to bridge digital divides. But basing policy on such an ill-defined concept poses significant risks. Ideally, governments would convene other stakeholders to create an enabling environment for DPI and safeguard users' rights and interests. It is easy to imagine, however, that some governments will place their own interests above civil liberties and fundamental rights, using this infrastructure for surveillance and targeting in the name of law enforcement or national security. An especially pernicious example could involve the monitoring and regulation of individual behaviour through dystopian social-credit systems. Moreover, while many proponents hope that DPI could chip away at Big Tech's outsize power, it has also been associated with narratives of digital sovereignty that could contribute to the internet's fragmentation -- a systemic threat to global communications. For example, one can imagine scenarios in which some governments challenge the multi-stakeholder model for governing global internet resources like IP addresses and domain names on the grounds that they constitute DPIs. In fact, we recently witnessed something similar in the European Union when it proposed an amendment to the Electronic Identification, Authentication, and Trust Services (eIDAS) regulation that would have empowered governments to mandate the recognition of digital certificates that did not adhere to stringent industry standards. This risked undermining the global governance model for browser security and could have allowed European governments to survey communications both within and beyond their borders. The policy vision of DPI will continue to evolve, and ongoing discussions, it is hoped, will help identify and clarify further opportunities and risks. Initiatives such as the UN's Universal DPI Safeguards Framework, which seeks to establish guardrails for DPI, are a promising start. But much more must be done. For example, the UN's framework has recognised the need for continuous learning to ensure that the right safeguards are in place. As the concept of DPI gains traction in the UN system and other multilateral organisations, vigorous and informed debate regarding its potential advantages -- and pitfalls -- will be essential. With clear-cut policy guidelines and protections, we can help prevent these technologies from becoming tools for surveillance and repression, ensure that everyone benefits from the burgeoning digital economy, and keep the internet open, globally connected, and secure. ©2024 Project Syndicate Carl Gahnberg is Director of Policy Development and Research at the Internet Society.
NoneNEW CHAPEL HILL — No matter the path, the road leads to the same place — a battle of the Bulldogs in the playoffs. For the fourth straight year, Chapel Hill and Kilgore will meet in the postseason — third consecutive year in the Class 4A Division I Region III football final. The eighth meeting in four seasons between the teams will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Forney’s City Bank Stadium. In the 2021 regular season meeting, Kilgore won 41-20. Chapel Hill responded with a 41-35 win in two overtimes in the third round of the playoffs on the way to reaching the state semifinals for the first time since 2011. In 2022, Chapel Hill won the regular season meeting 32-20 and then was also victorious in the regional final with a 24-21 decision on the way to another state semifinal appearance. Kilgore took a 39-13 win over Chapel Hill in the 2023 regular season. Chapel Hill bounced back with a 21-19 win over Kilgore in the regional final and eventually advancing to the Class 4A Division I championship game. Kilgore (11-2) came away with a 42-7 victory on Oct. 11 in this year’s meeting between the two programs. “We’ve been waiting the whole year to get this rematch,” senior Jonah Riordan said. “We’ve been waiting for another opportunity because we know we’re going to make the most of it. We know we’re going to have most of our dudes back now, so it should be a good game. We’re going to come out there with all of our bullets flying as hard as we can.” “I’ve been looking for this rematch ever since we lost to them in district,” senior Rickey Stewart said. “We’ve just got to go out there and play hard all four quarters.” Like a lot of this season, Chapel Hill was shorthanded in the game. The Bulldogs (10-3) were without quarterback Demetrius Brisbon, who signed with Baylor on Wednesday, for the second of six straight games. Brisbon has been back the past two weeks but hasn’t started at quarterback, though he did throw a touchdown pass in his only attempt in last week’s 28-7 win over Stafford, and he has played receiver the past two games. Stewart, who has run for 1,617 yards this season and signed with Texas on Wednesday, had just 10 carries against Kilgore in the regular season. Stewart missed the last game of the regular season after suffering an injury against Pine Tree, but he came back with 331 yards on 23 carries in the playoff opener against Huffman-Hargrave. Chapel Hill was without other players in the first meeting against Kilgore, as well, and has had moving parts for most of the season. “There have been a lot of games this year where we haven’t had all of our guys,” senior Keldrick Davis said. “We’ve went through a lot of adversity this year.” “The adversity has been an asset really,” Chapel Hill head football coach Jeff Riordan said. “Malik Gee has become a different player and a great quarterback with all of these extra reps, starting some playoff games and winning some big-time games, including three playoff games in a row. Defensive line wise, we had a lot of guys step up because of all of those injuries. The O-line is now fully intact and healthy except Derek Tovar; he broke his ankle against Huffman, so we’re missing him, but they’re getting better every week and guys are stepping up. We’ve had to play a lot of kids this year. “It’s been an asset. It’s made some guys step up and get some very valuable experience that’s helped us in this playoff run. We are just thankful to still be playing in the fourth round. A lot of people didn’t think we would be here with the adversity we went through and the struggles we had throughout the season, but these kids just came to practice and came to work every day and got better. They’re resilient, fighters and winners. It’s a good group. I love the guys we’ve got in that locker room, and I love the coaches we’ve got on this staff. And I think that’s why we always still play because it’s kind of a family deal. We love coming to practice and being around each other, so we don’t want it to end. It gives us a little bit more of an edge in trying to keep the family together.” On the other side will be a Kilgore team that has won seven straight games and that lost two games by a total of five points to Gilmer and Henderson. “To get past them, we’re going to have to give them our best shot,” Coach Riordan said. “It’s going to have to be our best game all year. We’re going to have to be solid in all three phases of the game, protect the football, make plays and execute. The district game, we were down seven guys, but we shot ourselves in the foot all night with penalties, turnovers and big plays. We’ve got to eliminate that type of stuff, because they’re a very good football team. “It’s Kilgore, they’re good every year. They’re a tradition-rich program. Coach (Clint) Fuller and his staff do an unbelievable job. They’ve got a kid (Jayden Sanders) going to Michigan. It seems like every year they have a dude, and this year is no different. They’ve got dudes everywhere. And defensively, them and Carthage are probably the best two defenses I’ve coached against in my coaching career. They are fast, and they are physical. They make the field look really small to a play caller. It’s tough to execute.” The winner of Friday’s Class 4A Division I Region III final will advance to the Class 4A Division I semifinals to face either La Vernia (10-3) or Bay City (12-1).
The first thing I do each morning is check my watch — not for the time but for my sleep score. As a runner, when the glowing red letters say my score — and my training readiness — are poor, I feel an instant dread. Regardless, I scroll on, inspecting my heart rate variability and stress level — snapshots that influence the tone I carry into the day. What does dreading my smartwatch’s interpretation of my athletic competence say about me? That I have become a pawn in the gamification of health data. Last year, electronics represented one of the largest proportions of total Black Friday sales, according to Deloitte. That’s when I bought my first smartwatch, a Garmin. This year, I’m throwing it away. I was the perfect target. For several years, I had been preparing to run my first marathon. I watched fitness influencers, ultramarathoners and Olympians optimize their training with meticulous tracking and high-tech devices. I wanted in. I got the watch and joined Strava, a social media network for athletes. Once I had a tracker on, sleep became sacred. I traded late-night socializing for it, confident that I’d cash in on race day. I built my day around my nights, transfixed by a false sense of control over my circadian rhythm. Sleep, just like my running routine, had slowly morphed from a bodily function into a technological token of productivity. I was hooked, emboldened by the illusion that I was training intuitively. I pushed hard when my Garmin nudged me, and even harder when I wanted to prove its metrics wrong. I began to run more for the PR (personal record) badge and “your fastest 5k!” notifications than for mental clarity and solitude. I ran because I loved it, and because I loved it, I fell prey to the Strava-fication of it. Suddenly, I was no longer running for myself. I was running for public consumption. I realized this only when it literally became painfully obvious. An MRI found that the lingering pain I’d been ignoring in my heels — something my watch hadn’t picked up on — was caused by four running-induced stress fractures. I’ve realized that health optimization tools — the ones marketed as necessary for better sleep, a lower resting heart rate, higher VO2 max (a measure of how much oxygen your body absorbs) and so on — are designed to profit off our fitness anxiety. We track ourselves this way and that way, obsessing over our shortcomings to no apparent end. In doing so, we are deprogrammed from listening to innate physiological signals and reprogrammed to create shadow experiences such as posting our detailed workout stats or running paths on digital walls that no one is looking at. I don’t deny that today’s fitness gadgets are incredibly alluring, and in many ways tracking can be useful for training. I am convinced, however, that overreliance on the data collected by devices and apps — and the comparisons we draw from sharing it — can quickly corrupt and commodify what I find to be the true essence of running: being present. Related Articles When we aren’t tracking, when we are just doing, we can begin to reap the dull yet profound psychological benefits of endurance sports — the repetitive silence, the consistent failure — that can’t be captured in a post or monetized. Exercise is a rare opportunity to allow our bodies’ movement to color our thoughts from one minute to the next. When we’re in motion, we don’t need to analyze our health metrics. We can learn to accept the moment and be humbled by our limitations.Beneficient Enters into Agreement to Acquire Mercantile Bank International to Expand its Alternative Asset Custody Services
VNET Group, Inc. ( NASDAQ:VNET – Get Free Report )’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $3.72, but opened at $4.02. VNET Group shares last traded at $4.20, with a volume of 1,607,830 shares. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research firms have commented on VNET. Citigroup started coverage on shares of VNET Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $4.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of VNET Group from $6.40 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. HSBC upgraded shares of VNET Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5.20 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised VNET Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded VNET Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $3.10 to $5.00 in a research report on Friday, November 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $4.78. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on VNET Group VNET Group Price Performance Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in VNET Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Wolverine Trading LLC acquired a new stake in VNET Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. AXA S.A. purchased a new position in VNET Group in the second quarter worth approximately $65,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in VNET Group in the third quarter worth approximately $115,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in VNET Group by 785.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 42,074 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 37,322 shares in the last quarter. 72.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. VNET Group Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) VNET Group, Inc, an investment holding company, provides hosting and related services in China. It offers managed hosting services consisting of managed retail services, such as colocation services that dedicate data center space to house customers' servers and networking equipment, as well as allow customers to lease partial or entire cabinets for their servers; interconnectivity services that allow customers to connect their servers; value-added services, including hybrid IT, bare metal, firewall, server load balancing, data backup and recovery, data center management, server management, and backup server services; cloud services that allow customers to run applications over the internet using IT infrastructure; and VPN Services that extend customers' private networks by setting up connections through the public internet. See Also Receive News & Ratings for VNET Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for VNET Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
NEW YORK — Chi-Chi’s, the Mexican restaurant chain that closed 20 years ago, is staging a comeback. Hormel Foods, current owner of the Chi-Chi’s trademark, announced Tuesday it’s letting Michael McDermott, son of the chain’s co-founder, use the fabled name to reopen restaurants in 2025. Specific locations, menu items and designs weren’t immediately released. Chi-Chi’s, started in Minnesota in 1975 by Marno McDermott and Green Bay Packers player Max McGee, would eventually expand to more than 200 locations. However, the chain closed in 2004 following a hepatitis A outbreak at a Pittsburgh-area location traced to green onions served in its complimentary salsa, sickening about 650 people and resulting in four deaths and several hundred lawsuits. It’s the largest hepatitis A outbreak in United States history and led to nationwide food safety changes. People are also reading... Chi-Chi’s, the Mexican restaurant chain that closed 20 years ago, is staging a comeback. Outback Steakhouse bought Chi-Chi’s in a $40 million deal and closed the remaining restaurants. The former rival used the locations to open Outback, Bonefish Grill and other concepts that its parent company owns. Michael McDermott will revive Chi-Chi’s, which was known for its eclectic interior as well as an expansive Tex-Mex menu that served everything from fajitas to fried ice cream. He is an industry veteran who launched Kona Grill and sold it to trendy steakhouse STK’s parent company in 2019. “We have seen the impact our restaurant has had on individuals and families across the country and believe there is a strong opportunity to bring the brand back in a way that resonates with today’s consumer — an updated dining experience with the same great taste and Mexican flavor,” McDermott said in a press release. The Chi-Chi’s branding, which is still used on packaged food and margaritas, will continue to be sold at stores. Hormel has made chips, salsas and other Chi-Chi’s products since the late 1980s. The revival of Chi-Chi’s comes as other nostalgic chains are facing mixed results. Chili’s has repeatedly reported strong earnings this year , while Red Lobster and TGI Fridays both filed for bankruptcy. The seafood chain introduced a new happy hour, among other menu changes , to revive the chain under a new CEO; while Fridays has quietly closed another dozen restaurants in the past few weeks. “While restaurants continue to face challenges like rising food costs, labor shortages, and higher buildout expenses, nostalgia has emerged as a powerful driver of customer visits,” R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research at Placer.ai, told CNN. “Strategies like reintroducing beloved menu items or offering exclusive collector’s items have resonated with consumers, suggesting these tactics could also work well for reviving these classic brands.” Here’s what the Pizza Hut of the future looks like Kraft Mac & Cheese is trying to maintain its dominance with flavor drops and new shapes Small, luxury foods are great as stocking stuffers or other gifts. Ideas for under $50 The McRib is returning for the holidays. Why isn’t it sold year-round? The-CNN-WireTM & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. With our weekly newsletter packed with the latest in everything food.
SAN FRANCISCO , Dec. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Docusign, Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) today announced results for its fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2024. Prepared remarks and the news release with the financial results will be accessible on Docusign's website at investor.docusign.com prior to its webcast. "Docusign delivered powerful new innovation for customers highlighted by new capabilities to its Intelligent Agreement Management ("IAM") platform," said Allan Thygesen , CEO of Docusign. "In Q3, early IAM momentum outpaced expectations, and we continued to drive improvement in our core business with strong revenue growth and operating profit." Third Quarter Financial Highlights A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures has been provided in the tables included in this press release. An explanation of these measures is also included below under the heading "Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Key Metrics." Key Business Highlights: IAM Product Releases and Highlights : Docusign announced new product capabilities to its IAM platform. Highlights from recent product releases include: Contract Lifecycle Management ("CLM") Product Releases and Highlights : Developer Ecosystem: Guidance The company currently expects the following guidance: Total revenue $758 to $762 Subscription revenue $741 to $745 Billings $870 to $880 Non-GAAP gross margin 81.0 % to 82.0 % Non-GAAP operating margin 27.5 % to 28.5 % Non-GAAP diluted weighted-average shares outstanding 209 to 214 Total revenue $2,959 to $2,963 Subscription revenue $2,885 to $2,889 Billings $3,056 to $3,066 Non-GAAP gross margin 81.9 % to 82.1 % Non-GAAP operating margin 29.5 % to 29.7 % Non-GAAP diluted weighted-average shares outstanding 210 to 212 A reconciliation of non-GAAP guidance measures to corresponding GAAP guidance measures is not available on a forward-looking basis without unreasonable effort due to the uncertainty regarding, and the potential variability of, expenses that may be incurred in the future. Stock-based compensation-related charges, including employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions, are impacted by many factors, including the timing of employee stock transactions, the future fair market value of our common stock, and our future hiring and retention needs, all of which are difficult to predict and subject to constant change. We have provided a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures in the financial statement tables for our historical non-GAAP financial results included in this release. Webcast Conference Call Information The company will host a conference call on December 5, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. PT ( 5:00 p.m. ET ) to discuss its financial results. A live webcast of the event will be available on the Docusign Investor Relations website at investor.docusign.com . Prepared remarks and the news release with the financial results will also be accessible on Docusign's website prior to the webcast. A live dial-in will be available domestically at 877-407-0784 or internationally at 201-689-8560. A replay will be available domestically at 844-512-2921 or internationally at 412-317-6671 until midnight (EST) December 19, 2024 using the passcode 13750095. About Docusign Docusign brings agreements to life. Over 1.6 million customers and more than a billion people in over 180 countries use Docusign solutions to accelerate the process of doing business and simplify people's lives. With intelligent agreement management, Docusign unleashes business critical data that is trapped inside of documents. Until now, these were disconnected from business systems of record, costing businesses time, money, and opportunity. Using Docusign's IAM platform, companies can create, commit, and manage agreements with solutions created by the #1 company in e-signature and CLM. Learn more at www.docusign.com . Copyright 2024. Docusign, Inc. is the owner of DOCUSIGN® and all its other marks (www.docusign.com/IP). Investor Relations: Docusign Investor Relations investors@docusign.com Media Relations: Docusign Corporate Communications media@docusign.com Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are based on our management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management, and which statements involve substantial risk and uncertainties. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our future operating results and financial position, our business strategy and plans, market growth and trends, objectives for future operations, and the impact of such assumptions on our financial condition and results of operations are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release also include, among other things, statements under "Guidance" above and any other statements about expected financial metrics, such as revenue, billings, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP diluted weighted-average shares outstanding, and non-financial metrics, as well as statements related to our expectations regarding the benefits, rollout and customer demand of the Docusign IAM platform. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "target," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue" or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements about: our expectations regarding global macro-economic conditions, including the effects of inflation, volatile interest rates, and market volatility on the global economy; our ability to estimate the size and growth of our total addressable market; our ability to compete effectively in an evolving and competitive market; the impact of any data breaches, cyberattacks or other malicious activity on our technology systems; our ability to effectively sustain and manage our growth and future expenses and maintain or increase future profitability; our ability to attract new customers and maintain and expand our existing customer base; our ability to effectively implement and execute our restructuring plans; our ability to scale and update our platform to respond to customers' needs and rapid technological change, including our ability to successfully incorporate generative artificial intelligence into our existing and future products; our ability to successfully execute our technical developments, go-to-market and sales strategy for our IAM platform; our ability to expand use cases within existing customers and vertical solutions; our ability to expand our operations and increase adoption of our platform internationally; our ability to strengthen and foster our relationships with developers; our ability to retain our direct sales force, customer success team and strategic partnerships around the world; our ability to identify targets for and execute potential acquisitions and to successfully integrate and realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions; our ability to maintain, protect and enhance our brand; the sufficiency of our cash, cash equivalents and capital resources to satisfy our liquidity needs; limitations on us due to obligations we have under our credit facility or other indebtedness; our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of our stock repurchase program; our failure or the failure of our software to comply with applicable industry standards, laws and regulations; our ability to maintain, protect and enhance our intellectual property; our ability to successfully defend litigation against us; our ability to attract large organizations as users; our ability to maintain our corporate culture; our ability to offer high-quality customer support; our ability to hire, retain and motivate qualified personnel, including executive level management; our ability to successfully manage and integrate executive management transitions; uncertainties regarding the impact of general economic and market conditions, including as a result of regional and global conflicts; and our ability to maintain proper and effective internal controls. Additional risks and uncertainties that could affect our financial results are included in the sections titled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024 filed on March 21, 2024 , our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 31, 2024 , which we expect to file on December 6, 2024 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and other filings that we make from time to time with the SEC. The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date on which such statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date of this press release or to conform such statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as required by law. Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Key Metrics To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, we use certain non-GAAP financial measures, as described below, to understand and evaluate our core operating performance. These non-GAAP financial measures, which may be different than similarly-titled measures used by other companies, are presented to enhance investors' overall understanding of our financial performance and should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information about our financial performance, enhance the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to important metrics used by our management for financial and operational decision-making. We present these non-GAAP measures to assist investors in seeing our financial performance using a management view, and because we believe that these measures provide an additional tool for investors to use in comparing our core financial performance over multiple periods with other companies in our industry. However, these non-GAAP measures are not intended to be considered in isolation from, a substitute for, or superior to our GAAP results. Non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP net income per share : We define these non-GAAP financial measures as the respective GAAP measures, excluding expenses related to stock-based compensation, employer payroll tax on employee stock transactions, amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, amortization of debt discount and issuance costs, fair value adjustments to strategic investments, acquisition-related expenses, lease-related impairment and lease-related charges, restructuring and other related charges, as these costs are not reflective of ongoing operations and, as applicable, other special items. The amount of employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions is dependent on our stock price and other factors that are beyond our control and do not correlate to the operation of the business. When evaluating the performance of our business and making operating plans, we do not consider these items (for example, when considering the impact of equity award grants, we place a greater emphasis on overall stockholder dilution rather than the accounting charges associated with such grants). We believe it is useful to exclude these expenses in order to better understand the long-term performance of our core business and to facilitate comparison of our results to those of peer companies and over multiple periods. In addition to these exclusions, we subtract an assumed provision for income taxes to calculate non-GAAP net income. We utilize a fixed long-term projected tax rate in our computation of the non-GAAP income tax provision to provide better consistency across the reporting periods. For fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025, we have determined the projected non-GAAP tax rate to be 20%. Free cash flow : We define free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment. We believe free cash flow is an important liquidity measure of the cash that is available (if any), after purchases of property and equipment, for operational expenses, investment in our business, and to make acquisitions. Free cash flow is useful to investors as a liquidity measure because it measures our ability to generate or use cash in excess of our capital investments in property and equipment. Once our business needs and obligations are met, cash can be used to maintain a strong balance sheet and invest in future growth. Billings : We define billings as total revenues plus the change in our contract liabilities and refund liability less contract assets and unbilled accounts receivable in a given period. Billings reflects sales to new customers plus subscription renewals and additional sales to existing customers. Only amounts invoiced to a customer in a given period are included in billings. We believe billings can be used to measure our periodic performance, when taking into consideration the timing aspects of customer renewals, which represents a large component of our business. Given that most of our customers pay in annual installments one year in advance, but we typically recognize a majority of the related revenue ratably over time, we use billings to measure and monitor our ability to provide our business with the working capital generated by upfront payments from our customers. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, please see "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) Three Months Ended October 31, Nine Months Ended October 31, (in thousands, except per share data) 2024 2023 2024 2023 Revenue: Subscription $ 734,693 $ 682,352 $ 2,143,542 $ 1,991,026 Professional services and other 20,127 18,069 56,945 58,470 Total revenue 754,820 700,421 2,200,487 2,049,496 Cost of revenue: Subscription 134,587 114,227 393,561 339,354 Professional services and other 21,950 28,418 67,887 85,360 Total cost of revenue 156,537 142,645 461,448 424,714 Gross profit 598,283 557,776 1,739,039 1,624,782 Operating expenses: Sales and marketing 290,597 292,473 859,705 867,916 Research and development 151,101 136,640 432,992 387,964 General and administrative 97,555 108,215 277,162 316,910 Restructuring and other related charges — 710 29,721 30,293 Total operating expenses 539,253 538,038 1,599,580 1,603,083 Income from operations 59,030 19,738 139,459 21,699 Interest expense (462) (1,577) (1,150) (5,135) Interest income and other income, net 13,006 17,673 41,745 47,373 Income before provision for (benefit from) income taxes 71,574 35,834 180,054 63,937 Provision for (benefit from) income taxes 9,151 (2,971) (804,340) 17,198 Net income $ 62,423 $ 38,805 $ 984,394 $ 46,739 Net income per share attributable to common stockholders: Basic $ 0.31 $ 0.19 $ 4.81 $ 0.23 Diluted $ 0.30 $ 0.19 $ 4.69 $ 0.23 Weighted-average shares used in computing net income per share: Basic 203,567 204,456 204,674 203,609 Diluted 208,706 208,054 209,755 208,317 Stock-based compensation expense included in costs and expenses: Cost of revenue—subscription $ 14,862 $ 13,705 $ 44,636 $ 38,143 Cost of revenue—professional services and other 4,765 7,343 14,465 21,359 Sales and marketing 49,347 53,715 154,396 150,604 Research and development 53,184 48,310 150,816 129,458 General and administrative 31,070 36,337 91,239 111,271 Restructuring and other related charges — 8 4,836 4,996 CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) (in thousands) October 31, 2024 January 31, 2024 Assets Current assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 610,870 $ 797,060 Investments—current 331,506 248,402 Accounts receivable, net 300,444 439,299 Contract assets—current 13,645 15,922 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 75,412 66,984 Total current assets 1,331,877 1,567,667 Investments—noncurrent 112,805 121,977 Property and equipment, net 278,623 245,173 Operating lease right-of-use assets 113,365 123,188 Goodwill 455,678 353,138 Intangible assets, net 83,307 50,905 Deferred contract acquisition costs—noncurrent 445,987 409,627 Deferred tax assets—noncurrent 816,538 2,031 Other assets—noncurrent 132,028 97,584 Total assets $ 3,770,208 $ 2,971,290 Liabilities and Equity Current liabilities Accounts payable $ 18,144 $ 19,029 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 94,591 104,037 Accrued compensation 158,779 195,266 Contract liabilities—current 1,307,749 1,320,059 Operating lease liabilities—current 19,507 22,230 Total current liabilities 1,598,770 1,660,621 Contract liabilities—noncurrent 22,931 21,980 Best trending stories from the week. 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How to navigate the risks of DPIWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — If last month's election wasn't painful enough for Florida Democrats, they're losing another state House seat after one of their members announced Monday that she's switching parties. State Rep. Susan Valdés, a former school board member who was reelected as a Democrat last month, said on X that she is “tired of being the party of protesting.” Valdés ran to be chairperson for her local county’s Democratic executive committee earlier this month. She won her current term by nearly 5 percentage points but can't run for reelection again because of term limits. Republicans have controlled the governor’s office and both branches of the Legislature since 1999. Valdés is serving her final two years before leaving office due to term limits. Republicans now have an 86-34 majority in the House. “I got into politics to be part of the party of progress,” Valdés wrote. “I know that I won’t agree with my fellow Republican House members on every issue, but I know that in their caucus, I will be welcomed and treated with respect.” House Speaker Daniel Perez reposted Valdés’ statement and welcomed her into the House, where Republicans have a supermajority of 86-34. House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said she was surprised and disappointed by Valdés’ announcement. “It is sad that she has elevated her own aspirations above the needs of her district,” Driskell wrote in a statement on X.Vijay Sales announces Apple Days sale: Discounts on iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 15 and more
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By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court should overturn Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era practice of removing voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies, including nonviolent crimes such as forgery and timber theft, attorneys say in new court papers. Most of the people affected are disenfranchised for life because the state provides few options for restoring ballot access. “Mississippi’s harsh and unforgiving felony disenfranchisement scheme is a national outlier,” attorneys representing some who lost voting rights said in an appeal filed Wednesday. They wrote that states “have consistently moved away from lifetime felony disenfranchisement over the past few decades.” This case is the second in recent years — and the third since the late 19th century — that asks the Supreme Court to overturn Mississippi’s disenfranchisement for some felonies. The cases use different legal arguments, and the court rejected the most recent attempt in 2023. The new appeal asks justices to reverse a July ruling from the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said Mississippi legislators, not the courts, must decide whether to change the laws. Stripping away voting rights for some crimes is unconstitutional because it is cruel and unusual punishment, the appeal argues. A majority of justices rejected arguments over cruel and unusual punishment in June when they cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places. Attorneys who sued Mississippi over voting rights say the authors of the state’s 1890 constitution based disenfranchisement on a list of crimes they thought Black people were more likely to commit. A majority of the appeals judges wrote that the Supreme Court in 1974 reaffirmed constitutional law allowing states to disenfranchise felons. About 38% of Mississippi residents are Black. Nearly 50,000 people were disenfranchised under the state’s felony voting ban between 1994 and 2017. More than 29,000 of them have completed their sentences, and about 58% of that group are Black, according to an expert who analyzed data for plaintiffs challenging the voting ban. Related Articles National Politics | Trump convinced Republicans to overlook his misconduct. But can he do the same for his nominees? National Politics | Beyond evangelicals, Trump and his allies courted smaller faith groups, from the Amish to Chabad National Politics | Trump gave Interior nominee one directive for a half-billion acres of US land: ‘Drill.’ National Politics | Trump’s team is delaying transition agreements. What does it mean for security checks and governing? National Politics | Judge delays Trump hush money sentencing in order to decide where case should go now To regain voting rights in Mississippi, a person convicted of a disenfranchising crime must receive a governor’s pardon or win permission from two-thirds of the state House and Senate. In recent years, legislators have restored voting rights for only a few people. The other recent case that went to the Supreme Court argued that authors of Mississippi’s constitution showed racist intent when they chose which felonies would cause people to lose the right to vote. In that ruling, justices declined to reconsider a 2022 appeals court decision that said Mississippi remedied the discriminatory intent of the original provisions in the state constitution by later altering the list of disenfranchising crimes. In 1950, Mississippi dropped burglary from the list. Murder and rape were added in 1968. The Mississippi attorney general issued an opinion in 2009 that expanded the list to 22 crimes, including timber larceny, carjacking, felony-level shoplifting and felony-level writing bad checks. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a 2023 dissent that Mississippi’s list of disenfranchising crimes was “adopted for an illicit discriminatory purpose.”
Vast Updates Shareholders at Annual General Meeting on Significant Progress Towards Delivering ...
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