2 hari 2 tagalog Examining Generative AI / Cutting Through Chaos / Impersonations Via Generative AI Help Sway Polls; Interference Seen In U.S., Japan, Slovakia

Julen Lopetegui says West Ham were worthy winners at NewcastleThe Golden State Warriors are spiraling, having lost five games in a row. Only a short time ago they were the very best team in the Western Conference, and now they sit 12-8 and in the Play-In Tournament picture for the second straight season. To kick off the season, Steve Kerr used a 12 or 13-man rotation, and the Warriors’ depth looked like the best weapon in the NBA, but the recent slump has players questioning that, including Stephen Curry. Curry aired his frustrations after a recent loss to the Phoenix Suns, saying that his teammates are all professionals and can be counted on to play a lesser role if needed. “Coach’s job is to make those tough decisions," Curry said on Sunday, as transcribed by Athlon’s Lance Roberson. "It’s our job to help him. If you’re not playing, don’t pout; don’t bring the locker room down. It doesn’t help anybody. Including yourself." In an effort to bring in more star power and have big-name players to rely on, the Warriors are expected to trade away some of their depth for an All-Star. However, if they chose to save on draft picks, they could instead flip expiring contracts to a rebuilding team, giving up flexibility in exchange for a win-now player. “The Warriors are expected to be active as buyers on the trade market utilizing $30+ million in expiring contracts,” wrote Forbes’ Evan Sidery on Twitter. “Many are wondering whether Golden State will put Jonathan Kuminga on the table in a potential deal for an All-Star level player after unsuccessful extension talks.” With Kuminga’s unrestricted free agency signing rights as trade bait, the Warriors could send him, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II to the Utah Jazz for John Collins. Collins is owed $26.5 million over each of the next two seasons, whereas the three outgoing players will all be free agents this summer. In an ideal world for the Jazz, they would take on picks in exchange for Collins, who is averaging 17.8 points on 40% shooting from deep this season to go with 8.7 rebounds. However, Kuminga is a promising young player that Utah can build around, and the mock trade would give them a ton of financial flexibility in the upcoming free agency. The Warriors lack size, and adding the 6-9 Collins while retaining Kevon Looney and all of their draft picks would be a massive win for the Warriors, giving Curry a viable second option in the frontcourt. More NBA: NBA trade rumors link Warriors to former champion to solidify title hopes

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Connecticut couple has been charged in Minnesota with being part of a shoplifting ring suspected of stealing around $1 million in goods across the country from the upscale athletic wear retailer Lululemon. Jadion Anthony Richards, 44, and Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards, 45, both of Danbury, Connecticut, were charged this month with one felony count of organized retail theft. Both went free last week after posting bail bonds of $100,000 for him and $30,000 for her, court records show. They're due back in Ramsey County District Court in St. Paul on Dec. 16. According to the criminal complaints, a Lululemon investigator had been tracking the pair even before police first confronted them on Nov. 14 at a store in suburban Roseville. The investigator told police the couple were responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses across the country, the complaints said. They would steal items and make fraudulent returns, it said. Police found suitcases containing more than $50,000 worth of Lululemon clothing when they searched the couple's hotel room in Bloomington, the complaint said. According to the investigator, they were also suspected in thefts from Lululemon stores in Colorado, Utah, New York and Connecticut, the complaint said. Within Minnesota, they were also accused of thefts at stores in Minneapolis and the suburbs of Woodbury, Edina and Minnetonka. The investigator said the two were part of a group that would usually travel to a city and hit Lululemon stores there for two days, return to the East Coast to exchange the items without receipts for new items, take back the new items with the return receipts for credit card refunds, then head back out to commit more thefts, the complaint said. In at least some of the thefts, it said, Richards would enter the store first and buy one or two cheap items. He'd then return to the sales floor where, with help from Lawes-Richards, they would remove a security sensor from another item and put it on one of the items he had just purchased. Lawes-Richards and another woman would then conceal leggings under their clothing. They would then leave together. When the security sensors at the door went off, he would offer staff the bag with the items he had bought, while the women would keep walking out, fooling the staff into thinking it was his sensor that had set off the alarm, the complaint said. Richards' attorney declined comment. Lawes-Richards' public defender did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday. “This outcome continues to underscore our ongoing collaboration with law enforcement and our investments in advanced technology, team training and investigative capabilities to combat retail crime and hold offenders accountable,” Tristen Shields, Lululemon's vice president of asset protection, said in a statement. "We remain dedicated to continuing these efforts to address and prevent this industrywide issue.” The two are being prosecuted under a state law enacted last year that seeks to crack down on organized retail theft. One of its chief authors, Sen. Ron Latz, of St. Louis Park, said 34 states already had organized retail crime laws on their books. “I am glad to see it is working as intended to bring down criminal operations," Latz said in a statement. "This type of theft harms retailers in myriad ways, including lost economic activity, job loss, and threats to worker safety when crime goes unaddressed. It also harms consumers through rising costs and compromised products being resold online.” Two Minnesota women were also charged under the new law in August. They were accused of targeting a Lululemon store in Minneapolis. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.Mr Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, calling Charles Kushner “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker”. Mr Kushner is the founder of Kushner Companies, a real estate firm. Jared Kushner is a former senior Trump adviser who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka. The elder Mr Kushner was pardoned by Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations. Prosecutors alleged that after Charles Kushner discovered his brother-in-law was co-operating with federal authorities in an investigation, he hatched a scheme for revenge and intimidation. Mr Kushner hired a prostitute to lure his brother-in-law, then arranged to have the encounter in a New Jersey motel room recorded with a hidden camera and the recording sent to his own sister, the man’s wife, prosecutors said. Mr Kushner eventually pleaded guilty to 18 counts including tax evasion and witness tampering. He was sentenced in 2005 to two years in prison – the most he could receive under a plea deal, but less than what Chris Christie, the US attorney for New Jersey at the time and later governor and Republican presidential candidate, had sought. Mr Christie has blamed Jared Kushner for his firing from Mr Trump’s transition team in 2016, and has called Charles Kushner’s offences “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted when I was US attorney”. Mr Trump and the elder Mr Kushner knew each other from real estate circles and their children were married in 2009.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb has directed the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) to expedite its inquiries and investigations into cartelization and collusion practices. The Minister assured CCP of government’s complete support and resolve to discipline markets, promote best practices and foster competition. The Federal Minister visited the CCP head office Tuesday to receive a comprehensive briefing on the Commission’s performance. Chairman CCP, Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu, briefed the Minister on ongoing inquiries, provided details of significant cases pending in courts, and outlined recent initiatives to strengthen the CCP. The briefing was attended by CCP members Saeed Nawaz, Salman Amin and, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, along with senior management. Fighting cartelism: CCP brings enforcement, policy actions under focus Senator Aurangzeb expressed his appreciation for the Commission’s efforts but stressed the importance of adopting modern technologies and data analytics, to monitor and detect cartelization and collusion. He assured CCP of the government’s full support, including budgetary provisions to digitalize the Commission’s operations and implement international benchmarking practices to strengthen its capabilities. “The government is determined to discipline the markets and stop illegal practices at any cost. The Commission has the full backing of the government, and we expect the ongoing inquiries to be completed swiftly. However, it is crucial that the due process is followed, and there is no harassment,” the Minister stated. Dr Sidhu apprised the Minister that there was a backlog of 567 cases involving penalties worth Rs 74 billion. Over the past year, the Commission has made significant progress by recovering Rs 100 million in penalties and resolving 73 cases in courts. He also provided details of the number of pending cases, with around 200 in the Supreme Court, 179 in the Competition Appellate Tribunal, and 146 in various high courts. A key development was the establishment of the Market Intelligence Unit (MIU), which has already identified over 150 instances of anti-competitive practices by using advanced data collection and analysis techniques. Dr Kabir also highlighted CCP’s research reports on market competitiveness in sectors such as insurance, aviation, road construction, and power. The Minister commended the reports, urging government departments to leverage CCP’s findings to drive sectoral reforms. Senator Aurangzeb also assured Dr Kabir Sidhu of his support in requesting the Chief Justice of Pakistan to help expedite the resolution of competition-related cases. He also mentioned that he would approach the Federal Minister for Law and Justice for the early appointment of the Chairman and members for the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT). The Minister further advised the CCP to engage the best legal professionals to pursue its cases and suggested establishing service legal agreements (SLAs) with agencies like the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to ensure the timely forensic examination of evidence collected during raids. “The performance of the Competition Commission has been commendable, but there is always room for improvement. The goal is to make CCP more effective in its mission to curb market abuse and ensure fair competition,” the Finance Minister concluded. Copyright Business Recorder, 2024

After a thrilling double-overtime win over Fresno State, California Baptist makes the nearly 2,500-mile trip to Orlando to face Central Florida on Sunday. The Lancers (5-3) capped their time at the Acrisure Holiday Invitational in Palm Springs, Calif., with an 86-81 victory over the Bulldogs on Wednesday. That followed a last-second, 79-77 loss to SMU the day before. Dominique Daniels Jr. played 45 minutes against Fresno State and led California Baptist with 29 points. He paces the Lancers with 20.3 points per game, while Kendal Coleman averages 15.1 points and is shooting 59.7 percent form the floor. However, coach Rick Croy's team has struggled from 3-point range, shooting just 30.7 percent entering its first true road game this season. UCF (5-2) is coming off of an 84-76 win over Milwaukee last Wednesday despite being outrebounded 41-31. The Knights were helped by the heroics of senior guard Darius Johnson, who had 28 points as he shot a career-best 8-for-10 from beyond the arc. "Darius was terrific," UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. "He's so comfortable in his leadership role now, he's leading our team and running the show, and our new players are becoming more comfortable playing with him. He's been a rock for us this season, and you love to see it out of a senior point guard." "I had an extraordinary night shooting the ball from three," Johnson said. "I rarely think that would happen again, but it's great. I know my teammates are going to have nights like that as well." Johnson is among the nation's leaders in minutes per game (36.6) and is shooting a team-high 50 percent from 3-point range (23 of 46). He, along with his fellow guard Jordan Ivy-Curry, are each averaging 16.9 points to lead UCF. The Knights opened the season with an impressive win over Texas A&M, now No. 20 in the AP poll, but lost both games at last weekend's Greenbrier Tip-Off, including a triple-overtime defeat against LSU on Sunday. UCF has not reached the NCAA Tournament since 2018-19. This will be the first meeting between the Knights and the Lancers, who will each have time off afterwards. UCF won't play until Dec. 8 against Tarleton State, while California Baptist is idle until its Dec. 11 game at San Diego State. --Field Level MediaSTATE COLLEGE — Penn State is going to the Big Ten championship game. The Nittany Lions secured their spot in the conference title game after beating Maryland, 44-7, and getting some help with Michigan upsetting Ohio State on a wild Saturday. Penn State, currently No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings, will play No. 1 Oregon next Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship. The game will kick off at 8 p.m. and air nationally on CBS. With a win, either Penn State or Oregon will secure a first-round bye into the CFP quarterfinals in the new 12-team bracket and, possibly, the No. 1 overall seed. With a loss, Penn State would still be expected to make the CFP. And unless the Nittany Lions get blown out by the Ducks, they would still likely host a first-round game at Beaver Stadium . Penn State entered Saturday with a slim chance of getting into the Big Ten championship. Ohio State just needed to beat Michigan as a three-touchdown favorite to secure a spot in Indy. But in embarrassing fashion, the Buckeyes lost, 13-10, at home to the Wolverines. Ohio State quarterback Will Howard threw two interceptions, kicker Jayden Fielding missed two field goals, and Michigan’s Dominic Zvada converted a go-ahead field goal with 45 seconds left. The Buckeyes failed to tie it up, and Ryan Day lost his fourth straight game to Michigan. That result gave Penn State clarity going into its 3:30 p.m. kick against Maryland. A win would put the Nittany Lions into Ohio State’s vacated slot thanks to the Big Ten’s tiebreakers. Even if Indiana, the other one-loss team in the Big Ten, beats Purdue on Saturday night, the Nittany Lions advance to the Big Ten title game on the conference’s fourth head-to-head tiebreaker: cumulative opponent conference record. Oregon will be the toughest test of the season so far for the Nittany Lions. The Ducks are the last undefeated team in college football with wins over Ohio State and Boise State. It will be a massive opportunity for James Franklin , Drew Allar and the Nittany Lions to prove themselves against the nation’s No. 1 team. We’ll see how they fare next Saturday. BETTING: Check out our guide to the best PA sportsbooks , where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks. Sign up for the PennLive’s Penn State newsletters, the daily Penn State Today and the subscriber-exclusive Penn State Insider ©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Ireland ran out 22-19 winners in Dublin but the Wallabies have restored pride on their European tour, after a dismal World Cup campaign last year. Australia had chances to win and looked a thoroughly different side to the one that was thumped 40-6 by Wales in September last year. Coach Joe Schmidt has shown the Wallabies have enough firepower to challenge the British and Irish Lions next year when at one stage it looked like the upcoming series would be a completely one-sided affair. How Australia’s players fared against Ireland 1) James Slipper - 6.5 Gave his all for 50 minutes but was penalised for collapsing a scrum just before half-time that led to an Ireland three-pointer. In Dublin in 2022, Slipper made the bold call that he wanted to play against the Lions and at 36 next year, looks set to do so. 2) Brandon Paenga-Amosa - 7 Australia didn’t lose a lineout all night, with Paenga-Amosa having a pleasing end to the tour. It was a major improvement from last week against Scotland. Jake Gordon sprints away for the Wallabies. Credit: AP 3) Taniela Tupou - 7.5 Picked off an intercept and streaked down the field but threw a loose pass to ruin the good work. His scrum work was good but certainly not dominant like we know he can be. Came off after 45 minutes in a more polished performance than some this year. 4) Nick Frost - 6.5 Second on the tackle count for Australia (17). Won five lineouts, the same as Ireland’s James Ryan and Tadhg Beirne. Was excellent in Dublin two years ago and backed that up here. Involved in a nice breakaway link play with Harry Wilson that once again highlighted Frost’s athleticism. 5) Jeremy Williams - 6.5 A solid 59-minute shift from someone who was not in the Wallabies frame last year. Did his job at the lineout and will feature next year against the Lions after a good spring tour. 6) Rob Valetini - 8 Valetini’s bad games are few and far between. Made 14 carries - four more than any other Australian player - to go with 10 tackles. Was almost yellow-carded for a forearm while carrying the ball into his former Brumbies teammate Mack Hansen. Pictured next to Hansen after the match, with the latter enjoying a Guinness. 7) Fraser McReight - 8.5 One of his best games in a gold jersey. Pulled off three turnovers at critical moments that gave the men in gold a major energy lift. Only blemish was an inaccurate, rushed pass to Tom Wright that was put down with four minutes to go with the Wallabies searching for a match-winning try. Tim Horan described McReight’s timing at breakdowns “amazing”. Topped the tackle count with 21. 8) Harry Wilson - 7.5 The sight of red headgear in space is becoming more common as Wilson and Frost combined with Ireland on the back foot. 13 tackles and 10 carries rounded out a productive day for the skipper. After not featuring for the Wallabies at last year’s World Cup, it has been some turnaround. 9) Jake Gordon- 7 A reasonable 61-minute shift with no major issues. Kicked high in midfield for Suaalii, a play which we could see more of during the Lions series. Service was solid as always and gets to rucks quickly. 10) Noah Lolesio - 7 Nailed all his kicks at goal, including a 48-metre penalty in the final quarter of the match. His wrap-around and service out the back in the lead-up to Jorgensen’s try was outstanding and shows what he’s capable of at this level. The Wallabies have lost their final game of 2024 to Ireland. Credit: AP 11) Max Jorgensen - 7 Finished off a nice team try in the 18th minute to put Australia up 8-0 but barely got his hands on the ball after that. Eight tackles across his 80 minutes. 12) Len Ikitau - 7 Tried to get into the game but didn’t have as big an impact as other games on the tour. Is No.12 his best position? Jury is out. How the Wallabies backline shapes for the Lions will be fascinating. Made more tackles than any Wallabies back (13). 13) Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii - 6 Certainly not as spectacular as he was on debut. Put a huge shot on Keenan early. Not as effective winning balls back from restarts. Five carries for 15 metres. Threw the ball away with three minutes to go and the Wallabies searching for a five-pointer. Got found out a few times defensively in the notoriously difficult No.13 channel. 14) Andrew Kellaway - 7 Ever reliable. Won a turnover and made nine carries for 25 metres. Great try-saving tackle that knocked the ball clean out of an Ireland player’s hand. 15) Tom Wright - 6.5 Standard showing without any major highlights. Ran the ball for more metres (42) than any Wallaby. Threw the final pass for Jorgensen’s try. 16) Billy Pollard - 5: No dramas with any throws after coming on with 23 minutes to go. 17) Isaac Kailea - 5.5: A late replacement with Angus Bell ruled out ill. Footwork into contact a highlight. Made eight tackles in his 30-minute stint on the park. 18) Allan Alaalatoa - 6: Did his job and the stuff no one looks closely at. Gave Ireland prop Cian Healy a hard time. 19) Lukhan Salakaia-Loto - 5: Came on with 21 minutes to go. No real highlights. Seven tackles. 20) Langi Gleeson - 5: Same boat as Salakaia-Loto, coming on with six minutes to go. 21) Tate McDermott - 6: Ireland kept a close eye on McDermott in a period where the home side had a lot of the ball. 22) Tane Edmed - n/a: Beaming with pride at becoming Wallaby No.709, Edmed’s debut only lasted three minutes as he came off for a Head Injury Assessment. He looked shattered. “Are you serious?” Edmed said as he walked off. 23) Harry Potter - n/a: Came on with 95 seconds to go. Not enough time for any wizardry.

European head of public policy Christine Grahn said the site would not function as a social network if they did not make users feel safe. The safety of TikTok users “is at the core of the platform”, one of the social media giant’s executives has said as it announced 175 million people now use the platform each month. Christine Grahn, TikTok’s head of European public policy, said users needed to feel safe in order to properly use a platform, and this was a key factor for the company. She was speaking as the shortform video giant held its European Safety Forum in Dublin, where the company discussed upcoming new safety features, including looking into ways of using new machine learning technology to better spot under-13s trying to join the service, and announced plans to add more age restrictions to some facial effects and provide more information to younger users on how an effect might alter their appearance if applied. “If people don’t feel safe, they are not going to bring their authentic selves to the platform and express themselves, and that means that we don’t have the platform that we’re hoping to create,” Ms Grahn told the PA news agency. “In order for us to achieve the best result, which is, at the end of the day, safety for our users, we have everything to gain from working with partners of various sorts. “We adapt our products based on the research that comes out of that work, and we also work with academic partners to integrate their experience. “The end result is going to be so much better if we work together as a society to address societal issues rather than trying to do so in silos.” Richard Collard, associate head of policy for child safety online at the NSPCC, said it was “encouraging” to see TikTok looking to tackle age-related online safety issues. “Given the well documented risks and harmful content that proliferates on some social media platforms, it’s vital that tech companies do everything in their power to ensure the youngest children are not accessing their sites,” he said. “However, age limits only work if they are meaningfully enforced. It’s encouraging to see TikTok recognising this challenge and taking responsibility by using technology to help them uphold their own terms and conditions and keep children safer. “This is just the tip of the iceberg. Other social media sites must step up and find effective ways to assess the ages of their users. “Ofcom and the Government also have an important role to play in compelling tech bosses to deliver age-appropriate experiences for all their users.” Despite its efforts on safety, concerns have been raised in the US and elsewhere about the platform’s possible links to China – TikTok’s parent company is the China-based ByteDance – and critics have raised concerns TikTok could be pressured into handing over data to the Chinese government. TikTok remains banned from government devices in the UK, and its future in the US remains uncertain over a law that requires the site to be sold by ByteDance by January or face being banned in the United States – although it is unclear if president-elect Donald Trump will uphold these plans when he takes office in the same month. In response to these concerns, TikTok has repeatedly denied it does or ever would share data with the Chinese government, and has begun a £10 billion scheme to move its European user data to data centres in Europe to further enhance its security credentials. The scheme also includes independent oversight by a British cybersecurity firm, NCC Group, something Ms Grahn hailed as “unprecedented”. “We’re very proud of this industry-leading data security project, that aims to keep our users even more secure,” she told PA. “There’s a number of different parts in this project, but maybe one of the most interesting is this unprecedented third-party external oversight by British cybersecurity company NCC Group. “They are continuously monitoring the security gateways that surround the European enclave where we store European TikTok user data.” She added: “From our perspective, this has been a massive undertaking – 12 billion euros over the course of 10 years – and we are quite proud of the fact that we’re building out this model, and we do see it to be truly industry leading. “I think some of the aspects of this will also be industry-wide challenges, but we’re happy to be on this journey and we’re quite proud of the progress that we’ve made so far.”Penn State kicks off Sunshine Slam by cruising past Fordham

Athletics coach, Yaya explains journeys toward Olympic medal with BrumeCouple charged in ring suspected of stealing $1 million in Lululemon clothes

The Georgian president, Salome Zourabichvili, has called the country’s government illegitimate and said she would not leave office when her term ends next month, defying the prime minister as he accused pro-EU opposition forces of plotting revolution. The South Caucasus country was thrown into crisis on Thursday when the prime minister of the Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze, said it was halting EU accession talks for the next four years over what it called “blackmail” of Georgia by the bloc, abruptly reversing a long-standing national goal. EU membership is overwhelmingly popular in Georgia, which has the aim of joining the bloc enshrined in its constitution, and the sudden freezing of accession talks has triggered large protests in the mountainous country of 3.7 million people. In an address on Saturday, Zourabichvili, a pro-EU critic of Georgian Dream whose powers are mostly ceremonial, said parliament had no right to elect her successor when her term ends in December, and that she would stay in post. Zourabichvili and other government critics said a 26 October election, in which Georgian Dream won almost 54% of the vote , was rigged, and that the parliament it elected is illegitimate. “There is no legitimate parliament and, therefore, an illegitimate parliament cannot elect a new president. Thus, no inauguration can take place, and my mandate continues until a legitimately elected parliament is formed,” she said. Earlier, Kobakhidze accused opponents of the halt to EU accession of plotting a revolution, along the lines of Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan protest, which ousted a pro-Russian president. “Some people want a repeat of that scenario in Georgia. But there will be no Maidan in Georgia,” Kobakhidze said. The country’s interior ministry said on Saturday it had detained 107 people in the capital, Tbilisi, overnight during a protest in which demonstrators built barricades along the central Rustaveli Avenue and hurled fireworks at riot police, who used water cannon and teargas to disperse them. Georgia’s domestic intelligence agency, the state security service, said “specific political parties” were attempting to “overthrow the government by force”. Many thousands of protesters were gathering late on Saturday in Tbilisi, building barricades outside parliament where there was a large presence of riot police. Local media reported protests in towns and cities throughout the country. Hundreds of employees at Georgia’s foreign, defence, justice and education ministries, and at the central bank, have signed open letters condemning the decision to freeze EU accession talks. Major businesses, including the London-listed banks TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia stated their support for EU accession, while Georgia’s most senior diplomats in Italy and the Netherlands resigned in protest on Saturday, local media reported. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, a star of Georgia’s national football team, spoke out in favour of the protesters. “My country hurts, my people hurt – it’s painful and emotional to watch the videos that are circulating, stop the violence and aggression! Georgia deserves Europe today more than ever!” Kvaratskhelia wrote on Facebook on Saturday. Standing outside the parliament building in the capital, where the flags of the EU and Georgia hang side by side, protester Tina Kupreishvili said she wanted Georgia to uphold its constitutional commitment to joining the EU. “The people of Georgia are trying to protect their constitution, trying to protect their country and the state, and they are trying to tell our government that rule of law means everything,” she told Reuters. The halt to EU accession caps months of deteriorating relations between Georgian Dream, which has faced allegations of authoritarian and pro-Russian tendencies, and the west. The party is dominated by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire ex-prime minister who adopted increasingly anti-western positions in the run-up to the October election. Both the ruling party and Georgia’s electoral commission say the poll was free and fair. Western countries have called for an investigation into alleged violations. The EU had already said Georgia’s application was stalled owing to laws against “foreign agents” and LGBTQ+ rights that it has described as draconian and pro-Russian. Meanwhile, Georgian Dream has started to build ties with neighbouring Russia, from which Georgia gained independence in 1991. The two countries have no diplomatic ties since a brief war over a Moscow-backed rebel region in 2008 but restored direct flights in 2023, while Moscow lifted visa restrictions on Georgian nationals earlier this year.

UN Resolution 1701 is at the heart of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal. What is it?Global stocks mostly rose Tuesday, with US and German indices posting records, as markets weighed Chinese stimulus hopes, political tensions in France and the US interest-rate outlook. Germany's blue-chip DAX stock index jumped above 20,000 points for the first time and Paris rebounded even as France braced for new political turmoil. In New York, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq narrowly rose to finish at records, while the Dow pulled back. Oil prices jumped more than two percent following reports that crude exporters were near an agreement to extend production limits. A closely-watched labor market report showed an increase in US job openings in October, but also a decline in new job postings during the month, a less upbeat sign. Samuel Tombs, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the data overall provides "good grounds" for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates again this month. Still, the choppiness of Tuesday's trading session in New York points to reticence among US investors following a series of post-election records that many pundits believe have left stocks overvalued. "There wasn't a lot of conviction behind the upside moves," said Briefing.com . "The overall vibe in the market was more negative." Stocks in Paris edged higher even as France headed into a new political crisis as opposition lawmakers vowed to topple the minority government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier in a no-confidence vote after just three months in office. Germany's DAX, meanwhile, scored a fresh milestone, defying multiple headwinds battering Europe's biggest economy. The German economy, hit hard by a manufacturing slowdown and weak demand for its exports, has struggled in 2024. Yet the DAX has advanced in large part because companies in the index do heavy business abroad. In addition, the euro's recent weakness has boosted Germany's export-oriented companies, while easing interest rates both in the eurozone and the United States have also helped sentiment. Investors greeted a Bloomberg report that China's top leaders, including President Xi Jinping, would hold a two-day economic work conference next week to outline their targets and stimulus plans for next year. The report followed manufacturing activity data on Monday that suggested China's economic struggles may be coming to an end, but investors are looking for Beijing to step up support for the economy. The news helped push Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets higher despite Washington announcing new export restrictions taking aim at Beijing's ability to make advanced semiconductors. The moves step up existing US efforts to tighten curbs on exports of state-of-the-art AI chips to China. Beijing hit back by saying it would restrict exports to the United States of some key components in making semiconductors. Oil prices jumped ahead of a meeting Thursday of members of the OPEC oil cartel and its allies "The forecast is that they will announce an extension until the end of the first quarter of 2025, and this should help put a floor under prices," said Trade Nation analyst David Morrison. New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 44,705.53 (close) New York - S&P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 6,049.88 (close) New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 19,480.91 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 8,359.41 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,255.42 (close) Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.4 percent at 20,016.75 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.9 percent at 39,248.86 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.0 percent at 19,746.32 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 3,378.81 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0511 from $1.0498 on Monday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2673 from $1.2655 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 149.53 yen from 149.60 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.94 from 82.95 pence Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.5 percent at $73.62 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.7 percent at $69.94 per barrel burs-jmb/dw