646-ph Listed: Five of the best events to enjoy in Colchester next week

The billing of London-born former Chelsea boss Hayes against England’s Dutch manager Sarina Wiegman – arguably the best two bosses in the women’s game – had generated more buzz in the build-up than the players on the pitch, despite it being a rare encounter between the two top-ranked sides in the world. Hayes enjoyed her return to familiar shores but felt the US lacked the “killer piece” after they looked the likelier side to make the breakthrough. Elite meeting of the minds 🌟 pic.twitter.com/R4d8EArqTp — U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) November 30, 2024 Asked what was going through her mind during the national anthem, Hayes said: “I was definitely mouthing (it), and Naomi (Girma) and Lynn (Williams) could see that I was struggling with where to be and all that. “I got to the end of the anthems and I thought, ‘that’s so ridiculous. I’m proud to be English and I’m proud of our national anthem, and I’m also really proud to coach America’. “Two things are possible all at once. I don’t want to fuel a nationalist debate around it. The realities are both countries are really dear to me for lots of reasons, and I’m really proud to represent both of them.” The Lionesses did not register a shot on target in the first half but grew into the game in the second. US captain Lindsey Horan had the ball in the net after the break but the flag was up, while Hayes’ side had a penalty award for a handball reversed after a VAR check determined substitute Yazmeen Ryan’s shot hit Alex Greenwood’s chest. Hayes, who left Chelsea after 12 trophy-packed years this summer, said: “I’ve been privileged to coach a lot of top-level games, including here, so there’s a familiarity to being here for me. “It’s not new to me, and because of that there was a whole sense of I’m coming back to a place I know. I have a really healthy perspective, and I want to have a really healthy perspective on my profession. “I give everything I possibly can for a team that I really, really enjoy coaching, and I thrive, not just under pressure, but I like these opportunities, I like being in these situations. They bring out the best in me. “You’ve got two top teams now, Sarina is an amazing coach, I thought it was a good tactical match-up, and I just enjoy coaching a high-level football match, to be honest with you. I don’t think too much about it.” Hayes had travelled to London without her entire Olympic gold medal-winning ‘Triple Espresso’ forward line of Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith, all nursing niggling injuries. Before the match, the 48-year-old was spotted chatting with Wiegman and her US men’s counterpart, fellow ex-Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino, who was also in attendance. England were also missing a number of key attackers for the friendly including Lauren Hemp, Lauren James and Ella Toone, all ruled out with injury. "This shows where we are at and we need to keep improving. It is November now. This is good but we want to be better again. We have to be better again." 👊 Reaction from the boss ⬇️ — Lionesses (@Lionesses) November 30, 2024 Wiegman brushed aside suggestions from some pundits that her side were content to settle for a draw. She said: “I think we were really defending as a team, very strong. We got momentum in the second half, we did better, and of course both teams went for the win. “So many things happened in this game, also in front of the goal, so I don’t think it was boring. “We wanted to go for the win, but it was such a high-intensity game, you have to deal with a very good opponent, so you can’t just say, ‘Now we’re going to go and score that goal’. “We tried, of course, to do that. We didn’t slow down to keep it 0-0. I think that was just how the game went.”Enterprise software is a hot ticket these days. An equal-weighted portfolio of the 40 largest application software stocks rose 58% over the last year, leaving the S&P 500 ( ^GSPC 0.25% ) far behind with a 33% return. These tech stocks trade at lofty valuation ratios as investors are betting on fantastic future growth. Artificial intelligence (AI) provided the original inspiration for this boom, disrupting the software industry at the drop of a ChatGPT -flavored hat. Salesforce ( CRM 0.17% ) and ServiceNow ( NOW 0.06% ) are two of the leading names in enterprise software today. Both companies are leaning into the AI opportunity with promising results -- but which stock is the better buy today? Let's take a look. Metric Salesforce ServiceNow Market Cap $352 billion $231 billion 52-week Stock Return 42% 63% Annual Sales Growth (three-year Average) 15.7% 23.7% Price-to-earnings Ratio (P/E) 60.6 174.7 Price-to-sales Ratio (P/S) 9.5 22.1 Data collected from YCharts and Finviz on Dec. 4, 2024. Dueling by the numbers As you can see in the table above, ServiceNow is growing faster than Salesforce these days. However, the two companies operate on different scales. Salesforce's revenues added up to $36.5 billion over the last four quarters, while ServiceNow's stopped at $10.5 billion. It's no surprise that the smaller business is growing at a faster clip. But ServiceNow's market cap is catching up to the larger rival in a hurry. As a result, the smaller stock trades at much loftier valuation ratios. Whether you're looking at top-line sales or bottom-line profits, ServiceNow looks downright expensive in this matchup. It will take many years of superior growth to justify this massive stock price premium. Digging deeper into Salesforce There's a lot going on behind the scenes of these two companies. In this week's third-quarter earnings call , Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff spoke about digital labor going mainstream and sparking "a revolutionary transformation" right about now. In the long run, this new market will be "hard to get our head completely around," as AI-powered assistants help humans with repetitive or data-heavy tasks. A brand-new service called Agentforce is a direct play on that opportunity and Salesforce already has hundreds of customers. "Our pipeline is incredible for future transactions," Benioff said. "We've never seen anything like it. We don't know how to characterize it. This is really a moment where productivity is no longer tied to workforce growth, but through this intelligent technology that can be scaled without limits." Over the coming quarters, AI-powered tools and digital agents will also make their presence known across Salesforce's other products and services. Lessons learned from customer interactions will help Salesforce run its own business, and vice versa. Long story short, Salesforce may be on the cusp of a whole new growth spurt, depending on whether clients embrace or reject the Agentforce idea. What's going on with ServiceNow? In October's Q3 call , ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott highlighted several tailwinds driving his business forward. Chief among them is the economywide need to clean up and modernize a hodgepodge of information technology systems that evolved out of competing systems and in-house development over several decades. McDermott sees ServiceNow as the clear leader in this effort, driven by the company's long operating history and new generative AI tools. In many ways, ServiceNow's recently released Xanadu platform reminds me of Salesforce's Agentforce, but this version comes in dozens of industry-specific flavors. And ServiceNow is already taking the next step into the AI-powered future. "ServiceNow AI agents can uniquely advance beyond prompt-based activity to deep contextual comprehension," McDermott said. Then he explained what this jargon means in plain English: "This is like hiring an additional workforce to support people by doing the jobs they've never wanted to do in the first place." This is how ServiceNow is tapping into the AI opportunity -- and attempting to run a few steps ahead of larger but perhaps slower-moving rivals like Salesforce. Final verdict: Hold ServiceNow, buy Salesforce I expect both Salesforce and ServiceNow to deliver excellent business results as the AI boom plays out. At the same time, ServiceNow seems to have a lot of its potential growth priced into the stock already. Salesforce could double or triple its share price without boosting its business -- and still look affordable next to its smaller rival. So ServiceNow looks like a solid "hold" or a promising target for small, speculative bets on the digital workforce idea. But Salesforce is the clear winner as its promising AI-driven growth effort is married to a far more affordable stock price. To borrow a phrase from Warren Buffett, this is the " wonderful business at a fair price " you should prefer for your long-term, nest-egg investments.

Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ( NASDAQ:CPRX – Free Report ) by 27,218.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,005 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,994 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals were worth $60,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CPRX. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Integral Health Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $4,260,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $625,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,980,661 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $127,212,000 after acquiring an additional 860,244 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 146.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 366,444 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,285,000 after purchasing an additional 217,956 shares during the last quarter. 79.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance Shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $22.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.23 and a 200-day moving average of $18.72. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.00 and a 52-week high of $24.27. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.75. Insider Buying and Selling at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Analyst Ratings Changes Several brokerages recently issued reports on CPRX. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Stephens began coverage on Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.14. View Our Latest Stock Report on CPRX About Catalyst Pharmaceuticals ( Free Report ) Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapies for people with rare debilitating, chronic neuromuscular, and neurological diseases in the United States. It offers Firdapse, an amifampridine phosphate tablets for the treatment of patients with lambert-eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS); and Ruzurgi for the treatment of pediatric LEMS patients. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .The 2024 NFL season has been a rough one for some of the game's best kickers, and even the consensus GOAT has been affected. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Thanks for the feedback.Robert E. Heald

Tyler Technologies stock hits all-time high of $631.86Traffic citations against Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill dismissed after officers no-show at hearing

Donald Trump weighed in Saturday in a bitter debate dividing his traditional supporters and tech barrons like Elon Musk, saying that he backs a special visa program that helps highly skilled workers enter the country. “I’ve always liked the (H1-B) visas, I have always been in favor of the visas, that’s why we have them” at Trump-owned facilities, the president-elect told the New York Post in his first public comments on the matter since it flared up this week. An angry back-and-forth, largely between Silicon Valley’s Musk and traditional anti-immigration Trump backers, has erupted in fiery fashion, with Musk even vowing to “go to war” over the issue. Trump’s insistent calls for sharp curbs on immigration were central to his election victory in November over President Joe Biden. He has vowed to deport all undocumented immigrants and limit legal immigration. But tech entrepreneurs like Tesla’s Musk — as well as Vivek Ramaswamy, who with Musk is to co-chair a government cost-cutting panel under Trump — say the United States produces too few highly skilled graduates, and they fervently champion the H1-B program. Musk, who himself migrated from South Africa on an H1-B, posted Thursday on his X platform that luring elite engineering talent from abroad was “essential for America to keep winning.” Adding acrimony to the debate was a post from Ramaswamy, the son of immigrants from India, who deplored an “American culture” that he said venerates mediocrity, adding that the United States risks having “our asses handed to us by China.” That angered several prominent conservatives who were backing Trump long before Musk noisily joined their cause this year, going on to pump more than $250 million into the Republican’s campaign. “Looking forward to the inevitable divorce between President Trump and Big Tech,” said Laura Loomer, a far-right MAGA figure known for her conspiracy theories, who often flew with Trump on his campaign plane. “We have to protect President Trump from the technocrats.” She and others said Trump should be promoting American workers and further limiting immigration. – ‘MAGA civil war’ – Musk, who had already infuriated some Republicans after leading an online campaign that helped tank a bipartisan budget deal last week, fired back at his critics. Posting on X, the social media site he owns, he warned of a “MAGA civil war.” Musk bluntly swore at one critic, adding that “I will go to war on this issue.” That, in turn, drew a volley from Trump strategist Steve Bannon, who wrote on the Gettr platform that the H1-B program brings in migrants who are essentially “indentured servants” working for less than American citizens would. In a striking jab at Trump’s close friend Musk, Bannon called the Tesla CEO a “toddler.” Some of Trump’s original backers say they fear he is falling under the sway of big donors from the tech world like Musk and drifting away from his campaign promises. It was not immediately clear whether Trump’s remarks might soothe the intraparty strife, which has exposed just how contentious changing the immigration system might be once he takes office in January. With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.Algert Global LLC lowered its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. ( NYSE:AEO – Free Report ) by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,850 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 23,316 shares during the quarter. Algert Global LLC’s holdings in American Eagle Outfitters were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 417.2% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 175,576 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,504,000 after buying an additional 141,628 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,731,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 165.4% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,107,933 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $62,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,938 shares in the last quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter worth $3,146,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the second quarter valued at about $16,861,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock. American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance Shares of AEO opened at $19.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.64. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.88 and a 1-year high of $26.44. American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00. View Our Latest Analysis on AEO Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters In related news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $49,061.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website . Also, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total transaction of $20,039,979.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,771,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,507,894.04. The trade was a 36.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock worth $21,148,718. Company insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock. American Eagle Outfitters Profile ( Free Report ) American Eagle Outfitters, Inc operates as a multi-brand specialty retailer in the United States and internationally. The company provides jeans, apparel and accessories, and personal care products for women and men under the American Eagle brand; and intimates, apparel, activewear, and swim collections under the Aerie and OFFLINE by Aerie brands. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AEO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. ( NYSE:AEO – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for American Eagle Outfitters Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for American Eagle Outfitters and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

Merchants Bancorp Announces Redemption of Its Series B Preferred Stock and Declares Quarterly Preferred Dividends on Series E Preferred SharesNAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Narin An handled the windy conditions with a hot putter on Thursday, making four straight birdies around the turn and finishing with an 8-under 64 for a one-shot lead in the CME Group Tour Championship. At stake for the 60-player field is a $4 million prize to the winner, the largest single-day payoff in women’s golf. Nelly Korda already has won more than that during her sterling season of seven wins. Now she faces an eight-shot deficit over the next three days at Tiburon Golf Club if she wants to end her year in fitting fashion. Korda, coming off a victory last week, couldn’t make amends for her three bogeys and had to settle for an even-par 72. She has come from behind in four of her victories, and still has 54 holes ahead of her. But it has made the task that much tougher. Everything felt easy for An, a 28-year-old from South Korea who has never won on the LPGA and has never cracked the top 10 in any of the 16 majors she has played. “Today my putt really good,” An said. “The speed was good and the shape was good. I just try to focus a little bit more.” She had a one-shot lead over Angel Yin, who shot 30 on the back nine, including an eagle on the par-5 17th hole that most players can easily reach in two. Former U.S. Women’s Open champion Allisen Corpuz and Marina Alex were at 66, with Lydia Ko leading the group at 67. Despite the wind so typical along the Gulf Coast of Florida, 27 players — nearly half the field — shot in the 60s. “It’s a good head start for the big ol’ prize we get at the end of the week,” Yin said. Whoever wins this week is assured of breaking the 17-year-old LPGA record for most money earned in season. The record was set by Lorena Ochoa in 2007 at $4,364,994, back when the total prize money was about half of what it is now. Ochoa earned $1 million for winning the Tour Championship in 2007. The opening round followed a big night of awards for the LPGA Tour, where Korda officially picked up her first award as player of the year, which . Ko was recognized for her big year, that put her into the LPGA Hall of Fame. She regained plenty of focus for the opening round on a course where she won just two years ago. “The course isn’t easy,” Ko said. “I set a goal of shooting 3 under today, and somebody shot 8 under. I was like, ‘OK, maybe I need to make a few more birdies.’ It’s a course that can get away from you as much as you can shoot some low scores, so I’m just trying to stick to my game plan and go from there.” Also in the group at 67 was Albane Valenzuela of Switzerland, already celebrating a big year with her debut in the Solheim Cup and her first appearance in the Tour Championship. She made a late run at her first LPGA title last week at Pelican Golf Club, and kept up her form. And she can see the finish line, which is appealing. “I everyone is looking at that $4 million price tag,” Valenzuela said. “I try not to look too much at the result. I feel like in the past I’ve always been stuck on results, and ultimately all I can do is control my own round, my own energy, my own commitment. “It’s the last week of the year. It’s kind of the bonus week. No matter what, everyone is having a paycheck.” ___ AP golf:

The 25 best movies of 2024Wade Taylor IV scored 15 points and dished out 10 assists and C.J. Wilcher added 14 points as No. 13 Texas A&M throttled Abilene Christian 92-54 on Saturday afternoon in College Station, Texas. The Aggies (11-2) were in charge from the jump, forging a 19-point lead at halftime and never looking back. Texas A&M scored the first points of the second half, was up by 28 with 13:23 to play and cruised to the finish line while winning its seventh straight game. Taylor's output moved him into second place in the Aggies all-time scoring list. His 1,779 points are now behind only Bernard King, who had 1,990 from 1999-2003. Andersson Garcia and Zhuric Phelps added 12 points each for Texas A&M, which appears to be hitting on all cylinders heading into its Southeastern Conference opener at home against rival Texas on Jan. 4. Phelps added 10 rebounds for the Aggies. Quion Williams led the Wildcats (8-6) with 14 points. Abilene Christian missed its final six shots and went the last 5:24 of the game without a point. The Aggies made a statement in the early going by scoring the game's first nine points over the initial 3 1/2 minutes, with seven of those coming from Coleman. Abilene Christian fought back to within 16-12 after Dontrez Williams' layup with 12:12 left in the half. But A&M swung back, producing a 14-0 run capped by Garcia's layup with 8:51 to play in the half to pull away to a 30-12 advantage. The Wildcats again cut into their deficit, pulling to 30-19 when Cade Hornecker hit a layup with 6:26 to play until halftime. A&M boosted the lead back to 17 points after a pair of free throws by Taylor and got two more from the charity stripe to take a 48-29 edge to the break. Wilcher led all scorers in the half with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc while Garcia hit for 10 points for A&M while making all four of his shots from the floor. The Aggies outshot Abilene Christian 61.5 percent to 40.7 percent before halftime. Quion Williams and Leonardo Bettiol paced the Wildcats with seven points each in the first half. --Field Level Media

Net Equity Investment Turns Positive This Week, Foreign Investors Sold Less In November Vs October

halbergman/E+ via Getty Images Shares of Invitation Homes ( NYSE: INVH ) have been a poor performer over the past year, rising just 2% and largely missing out on the equity market rally. While the company has performed in line with my expectations, valuation and Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

A 20-second clip of Vivek Ramaswamy discussing a possible method of cutting the U.S. federal workforce based on employees’ social security numbers has been mis-described as showing the former Republican presidential candidate proposing a 75% cut to Social Security benefits. The caption of a Threads post , opens new tab sharing the clip states, in part: “Is He Bloody Serious?? They gonna start Ending Social Security with 50% and then 75% of all Social Security?” The caption then includes a transcript that shows Ramaswamy proposing a federal-employee screening process based on their Social Security numbers. The clip was shared online after President-elect Donald Trump tasked Ramaswamy and billionaire Elon Musk to co-lead a new commission to find deep cuts in the $6 trillion federal budget. But the video has been taken out of context from a nearly three-hour interview in which Ramaswamy talked about ways to streamline the government. The clip shared on social media corresponds with Ramaswamy’s September interview , opens new tab with podcast host Lex Fridman from timestamp 27:06: “If your Social Security Number ends in an odd number, you're out. If it ends in an even number, you're in. There's a 50% cut right there. Of those who remain, if your Social Security Number starts in an even number, you're in. And if it starts with an odd number, you're out. Boom, that's a 75% reduction, then literally, sarcastically, okay.” Immediately after the quote, Ramaswamy said: “It's a thought experiment, not a policy prescription.” The quote originated from a section of the interview titled “government efficiency” and several minutes prior to the quote, Ramaswamy proposed , opens new tab a “75% headcount reduction across the board in the federal bureaucracy, send them home packing, shut down agencies that shouldn’t exist. Rescind every unconstitutional regulation that Congress ever passed.” (Timestamp 24:22) Since he has been tasked to slash government employees and cut costs, Ramaswamy has proposed firing 50% of the 2 million-strong U.S. civilian federal workforce. Reuters reported that the plan would only save about 2% in federal salaries and would risk resulting in insufficient essential workers. The incoming Trump administration has proposed ending taxes on Social Security benefits. Trump has also vowed to shield Social Security and Medicare from future budget cuts. Ramaswamy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Missing context. The video shows Vivek Ramaswamy discussing a numeric algorithm to cut the federal workforce, not to cut Social Security benefits. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab

NoneTORONTO — Recently passed Ontario legislation that will shutter several supervised consumption sites and effectively prevent new ones from opening in the province violates both the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Constitution, a community organization argues in a legal challenge filed this week. The Neighbourhood Group Community Services agency, which operates a privately funded supervised consumption site in Toronto's Kensington Market area, launched the challenge alongside two people who use or have used such sites. They argue the law infringes on several Charter-protected rights, including the right to life, liberty and security of the person. Closing supervised consumption sites violates that right by forcing people who use them to resort to unhealthy and unsafe consumption, which carries a higher risk of death from overdose and increases the risk of criminal prosecution, they argue. The challenge also argues the legislation goes against the division of powers between Ottawa and provinces, in that only the federal government can make criminal law and try to suppress what it considers a "socially undesirable practice." "The research and the experts prove that supervised consumption sites make a positive difference, both for the individuals we meet and for their whole neighbourhood," Bill Sinclair, the organization's president and CEO, said in a news conference Tuesday. "With this court case, we're demanding our right to continue to provide this care and save lives." Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said he could not comment on the legal action, but added the province has made it clear it wants parks to be safe for children and families. The Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site run by the Neighbourhood Group Community Services agency is one of 10 supervised consumption sites set to close by March 31, 2025 under legislation fast-tracked by Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative government and passed last week. The legislation prohibits any supervised consumption sites within 200 metres of a school or daycare. The Kensington site is next to a child-care centre operated by the same community agency. The law also requires municipalities to get the health minister's approval to apply for an exemption from the federal government to launch new supervised consumption sites, something Health Minister Sylvia Jones has said she would not approve in any situation. The government favours an abstinence-based model for treatment, and plans to put in place 19 new "homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs," plus 375 highly supportive housing units at a planned cost of $378 million. Katie Resendes, who has been coming to the Kensington site for a few years, said simply offering more treatment sites isn't the answer. "If you're not ready (for treatment), you're not ready, and what these safe consumption sites allow is, for those of us that are not ready, to be safe and reduce harm as much as possible," said Resendes, who is one of the applicants in the court challenge. Resendes, a self-described high-functioning substance user for more than 15 years, said supervised consumption sites have helped her maintain a job and stay safe in that time. She said she takes the subway to the Kensington location because there is no site near her home, and she's not sure what will happen if it closes. "I don't know what I'll do to access harm-reduction supplies. I don't know what I'll do to access naloxone. I don't know what will happen and that's pretty scary." The legal challenge further argues the Ontario government knowingly passed a law that will expose people who use drugs to an increased risk of death and other harms, which violates the Charter right to protection from cruel and unusual punishment The law also discriminates on the basis of substance abuse disorder, which breaches the right to equality, it argues. "It also reinforces the unjustified and unsubstantiated stereotype that people who use drugs and who suffer from substance use disabilities are a danger to society, and in particular to children, and are therefore not worthy of the care they need to survive," the court filing reads. Rahool Agarwal, one of the lawyers representing the applicants in the challenge, said they'll rely on the Supreme Court of Canada decision in a case regarding the country's first supervised injection site as "a strong precedent." Canada's top court ruled in 2011 that the federal health minister's decision not to exempt the Insite facility in Vancouver from the application of criminal drug laws breached the Charter right to life, liberty and security of the person — one of the rights invoked in the Ontario challenge. Lawyers for the applicants said they are hoping to have the case heard in Superior Court before the end of March, the deadline to close the sites. They're also seeking an injunction to prevent the restrictions in the law from taking effect until the case is decided. Last week, Ontario's auditor general said the province's opioid strategy is outdated and a new, comprehensive approach is needed to deal with the ongoing crisis. In her latest report, Shelley Spence also found that more than 1,600 overdoses were reversed in 2022-23 at the sites slated to close, and no one died of an overdose at those locations in the same time frame. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024. Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press