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Which kids’ ski boots are best? Your child’s ski boots can impact their overall skiing experience and may even undermine their love for the sport if they find the boots awkward fitting and uncomfortable. In addition to comfort, the ability to retain warmth and be breathable are important qualities your kid’s ski boot should have. If your child is ready to hit the slopes and you’re looking for the ideal pair of boots, ensure you choose one that provides comfort and inspires confidence, such as our top pick, Fischer Junior/Kids RC4 60 Thermoshape Alpine On/Off-Piste Ski Boots . What to know before you buy kids’ ski boots There are several types of ski boots for kids, such as rear-entry and front-entry designs as well as performance and adjustable boot options. Rear-entry boots allow your child to slip in their feet from the back, while front entry includes a tongue that opens forward and allows the child to slide in their foot from the top. Another type is performance boots, which are made for older kids who want a better performance from their footwear. The adjustable ski boot is another option, and it is a great choice for kids who grow out of their footwear quickly. It’s easy to think your child’s boots are too small because they feel stiff and tight, but some boots are designed to be stiff. To avoid making a mistake with the sizing, take your child with you to the ski shop to get them sized. You can speak to a ski technician to learn more about the fit process. Let your child try on the boot with the liner while wearing socks. If the liner is tight, then the boots may be too small. If your child is just starting with skiing and is only confident skiing on green runs, they are considered a beginner. Their category is intermediate if they can ski confidently on the blue square terrains. However, they are advanced if they can ski anything on the mountain. Kids’ ski boots usually come with ratings depending on their experience level. The boots with a lower flex rating are designed for beginners and are comfortable to wear but deliver less on performance. Those with a higher rating are usually less comfortable but provide better performance. What to look for in a quality kids’ ski boot Some children may end up abandoning skiing because they’d rather be doing something else other than constantly taking their boots on and off. Front-entry and rear-entry ski boots are easy to wear, so choose either of these options for a fussy child. Your child’s boots should grip the floor properly to minimize their chance of falling when skiing. This feature is known as slip resistance and is often determined by the type of material used to fabricate the outsole of the boots. Generally, slip-resistant soles are textured and made of rubber. Waterproof ski boots are made of nonporous materials and can keep your child’s feet dry even when submerged in water. There are water-resistant boots designed to repel water, but these won’t prevent your child’s feet from getting wet in heavy rain or snow. How much you can expect to spend on kids’ ski boots Most kids’ ski boots cost $25-$40. Some expensive options are made with high-quality waterproof material, costing up to $60. Kids’ ski boot FAQ A. Ski boots have a different sizing for shoes, called Mondo sizing, which measures the inside of the foot. To get the right size for your child, use a tape measure to measure the length of their feet, then check the size chart to get the correct size. A. If your child is just starting with skiing, choose a pair of boots that can easily flex, like front-entry ski boots. What’s the best kids’ ski boot to buy? Fischer Junior/Kids RC4 60 Thermoshape Alpine On/Off-Piste Ski Boots What you need to know: These ski boots are an excellent choice for beginner skiers thanks to their soft flex design and thermoformable technology. What you’ll love: These Soma-Tec boots are designed to enable maximum control and prevent the ankle and knee joints from twisting when skiing. They also include a micro-adjustable buckle system for quick and easy adjustment. They feature a thermoformable boot liner designed to give an adapted fit. What you should consider: Some users mentioned that the sizing isn’t accurate. Salomon T3 RT Ski Boots What you need to know: These ski boots come in three unique colors and are suitable for both boys and girls. What you’ll love: These boots are made with polyurethane, which gives them unique durability. They are also easy to put on or off and include micro-adjustments in the buckle to ensure a custom fit. What you should consider: They might run small for children with big feet. Rossignol Comp J4 Ski Boots Kid’s What you need to know: These ski boots are designed with comfort in mind thanks to their comfort liners and unique diagonal buckles. What you’ll love: They include liners that are made with soft materials and designed to give optimal comfort and all-day cushioning. They also feature diagonal buckles that offer a more natural foot wrapping and excellent heel support. What you should consider: The buckles are made of thin metal wire, which might not be very durable. Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change. Check out our Daily Deals for the best products at the best prices and sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter full of shopping inspo and sales. BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links.

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FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Navy quarterback Blake Horvath read the play perfectly and turned it into the longest in school history, a 95-yard touchdown run in the Armed Forces Bowl. “By somebody that’s not really that fast,” Horvath said after the 21-20 win over Oklahoma on Friday. The Midshipmen (10-3) fell behind by two touchdowns less than 10 minutes into the game, but Horvath's record run late in the third quarter tied the game at 14-all. He put them ahead on a 6-yard TD with 4:34 left before Navy’s defense stopped an Oklahoma 2-point conversion with six seconds left in the game. “Probably over-pursued by them,” Horvath said of the 95-yarder. “Some tendencies they showed earlier, just thought I could get a pull.” After faking a handoff on the read-option play, Horvath ran straight up the middle into the open field. Brandon Chatman cut off a pursing defender around the Sooners 20. By time another defender, cornerback Woodi Washington, was able to catch up and started to bring him down, Horvath stretched the ball over the goal line — though he was initially ruled short before a replay review resulted in the touchdown. “Brandon Chatman actually busted his tail to get his butt down the field,” Horvath said. “I can see him out of the corner of my eye busting his butt. And honestly, it’s almost not even my touchdown without him and the offensive line blocking.” The previous longest play for the Midshipmen came during the Roger Staubach era, when Johnny Sai had a 93-yard run against Duke in 1963. Horvath also had a 90-yard TD run against Memphis, making him only the second Navy player with two 90-yard runs in the same season. The other was quarterback Malcolm Perry in 2017, when he had runs of 92 and 91 yards. “That’s a play we know can hit big and it did, and definitely exciting to see,” fullback Alex Tecza said. “I was getting tired just chasing him. ... It's great. He's being doing that all year.” Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballHENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Aidan O'Connell might not be Mr. Right for the Raiders, but he is Mr. Right Now. He did enough in Friday's 19-17 loss at Kansas City to show that Las Vegas' quarterback job will be his for the rest of the season — barring, that is, another injury. O'Connell didn't look like a quarterback who hadn't played in nearly six weeks because of a broken thumb . Plus, the Raiders had a short week to prepare for the Chiefs, meaning O'Connell only went through a series of walk-through practices. Even so, he completed 23 of 35 passes for 340 yards, including touchdown passes of 33 yards to tight end Brock Bowers and 58 yards to wide receiver Tre Tucker. He didn't throw any interceptions. “Thought he competed,” coach Antonio Pierce said Saturday morning. “I thought for what we knew we were getting with Spags (Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) and that defense, that he stood in the pocket, made some tough throws, took some hits, took the shots down the field like we wanted. We had some opportunities to take shots down the field, he threw them. And I thought our skill guys did a hell of a job competing and making some really good plays for us.” O'Connell's performance would've shined even more if not for the Raiders' final offensive play. He led the Raiders from their 8-yard line to the Chiefs 32 with 15 seconds left. The plan was for O'Connell to take the snap and throw the ball away to run off a few more seconds, then send Daniel Carlson out for the potential winning field goal without giving Patrick Mahomes enough time to mount one of his signature comebacks. But rookie center Jackson Powers-Johnson snapped the ball before O'Connell was expecting it, and the Chiefs recovered to secure another close, last-minute victory. The Raiders were called for illegal shift, which Kansas City declined. But there was some question about whether officials intended to call a false start instead. Though that infraction would have cost Las Vegas 5 yards, the pre-snap penalty still would've given Carlson a shot at the field goal. Pierce said his team heard an official's whistle before the snap, and that will be included in the Raiders' report to the NFL. “We do that every game,” Pierce said. “Typically, anywhere from three to five questions, and then we’ll get a letter within 24 to 36 hours, and we’ll read it and learn from it.” Bowers had another sensational game. He was targeted 14 times, catching 10 passes for 140 yards. For the season, he has 84 receptions for 884 yards and four TDs, making him a strong contender for Offensive Rookie of the Year. “We’re seeing double-teams and them really shifting their zone to him, and I don’t really think it matters,” Pierce said. “I think we've got a really special player on our hand.” The Raiders need to do better on first and second downs to set up more favorable third-down conversions. They have faced 47 third downs from 7 to 10 yards, tied with the Dallas Cowboys for fifth most. Las Vegas' conversion rate on those plays is 36.2%, which actually is favorable compared to the rest of the league, but the Raiders are still creating too many of those situations. Las Vegas made life difficult for Mahomes, sacking him five times. And it wasn't just Maxx Crosby bringing the heat. Four players had at least one-half sack, including K’Lavon Chaisson, who had 1 1/2. It was a season-high total for the Raiders, and they have taken down the opposing quarterback in 30 consecutive games, the third-longest active streak. Carlson is usually money, but he missed field goals from 56, 55 and 58 yards. Hardly chip shots, but he is capable of converting from those distances. He had made 30 of 38 field goals from 50-plus yards entering the game, with a career long of 57 yards. WR DJ Turner injured his knee in the second half. 12 — The Raiders are one of three teams to fall behind double digits in each of their first 12 games of a season. The others were the 1986 Indianapolis Colts and 1972 New England Patriots. The Raiders visit Tampa Bay on Dec. 8. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflNew Delhi : The Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI ) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are set to start trials in some high-profile cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). ET Year-end Special Reads What kept India's stock market investors on toes in 2024? India's car race: How far EVs went in 2024 Investing in 2025: Six wealth management trends to watch out for Although the federal investigative agencies had filed several charge sheets against the accused - most of whom are out on bail - the trials had not been initiated. Most of these cases are at the stage of Section 207 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrpC), which requires that the accused be provided with certain documents used by the prosecution to buttress its case against the accused. In one of the high profile cases, CBI has concluded its arguments on framing of charges against former Union railway minister Lalu Prasad and co-accused. The need to kick-start trials also stems from the recent orders of the Supreme Court which, while granting bail to the accused, has repeatedly underscored the need to commence trials without delay. Besides completing investigations and starting trials, ED is also focusing on restitution of assets to victims. ET takes a deep dive into the high-profile cases in which agencies will try to commence the trial in 2025. 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In September 2024, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had accorded sanction to prosecute Prasad. A month later, the sanction to prosecute 30 co-accused was also received from the authorities. CBI had previously received sanction to prosecute Prasad for his alleged involvement in the alleged scam. The agency had filed two charge sheets, elaborating his alleged role in illegal recruitment of employees in two railway zones - central and western. But CBI filed its final and composite charge sheet in the case, including all the remaining railway zones. Prasad and other public servants were also charged in the final charge sheet. It is for this final charge sheet that the agency had sought sanction from the authorities in June. CBI is awaiting sanction to prosecute a former government servant, RK Mahajan, private secretary to Prasad, following which the agency will argue on framing of charges against Prasad, his kin and co-accused. After CBI, the accused will be given an opportunity to counter the agency's contentions. The counsel of accused will demand discharge, following which the court will take a decision whether to start trial or discharge accused. ED has attached properties of Prasad's family worth ₹6 crore in connection with the case. The properties attached by the agency include Delhi and Patna properties, including a house in New Friends Colony. CBI, in its charge sheet, has described Prasad, his wife and son (Tejashwi) as "ultimate beneficiaries". All three have denied the allegations against them. IRCTC case This is another alleged scandal in which CBI has filed charge sheets against Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav and Rabri Devi. The agency has already concluded its arguments on framing of charges. The special CBI court has already made it clear that hearing needs to be "expedited" and "adjournments are to be avoided". The defence is yet to present its counter arguments, following which the court will pronounce its verdict on whether or not to frame charges against the accused. If the court decides to frame charges, it will mean commencement of trial. The trial hasn't commenced because a co-accused - former government official Vinod Kumar Asthana - had last year obtained a stay from the Supreme Court on framing of charges against him. Asthana has demanded quashing of cognisance of CBI's charge sheet taken by the special court. He had moved SC after the Delhi High Court dismissed his plea in October 2022, ruling "it would not be feasible to quash the proceedings at such an initial stage". CBI has moved an application for early hearing of its plea seeking to vacate the stay granted in favour of Asthana. The plea is yet to come up for hearing in SC. The CBI court in July 2018 took cognisance of a charge sheet against Prasad and the other co-accused registered a year earlier for allegedly making illegal gains by tweaking the terms of a tender for IRCTC hotel contracts. CBI had booked Prasad, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav and others in July 2017 for allegedly making ill-gotten gains by tweaking the terms of tender of IRCTC hotels. As per CBI, Prasad had colluded with the owners of Chanakya and Sujata Hotel in Patna through IRCTC officials and owners of a front company belonging to Prasad and his wife. Delhi excise policy case All the accused in the erstwhile excise policy case of Delhi have been released on bail. The case includes senior AAP leaders - former CM Arvind Kejriwal , former deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and others. The case is at the stage of Section 207 of CrPC. After furnishing of documents sought by the accused, CBI will argue on framing of charges. In a first, in May 2024, the ED filed a charge sheet against AAP as an accused under PMLA. AAP became the first political party to have been accused under anti-money laundering laws. ED invoked Section 70 (1) of PMLA to implead AAP as an accused. It will be significant to observe whether the court decides to charge AAP as an accused and start a trial against it. SC, while ordering release of the accused in the case, had recorded that the trial had not commenced. Granting bail to Kejriwal on September 13, the top court had slammed CBI. "It is imperative that CBI dispel the notion of it being a caged parrot," justice Ujjal Bhuyan, as part of a bench, had said in his judgment. "In a functional democracy governed by the rule of law, perception matters. Like Caesar's wife, an investigating agency must be above board," he had said. CBI's perception should rather be "that of an uncaged parrot", he said. VVIP chopper case CBI is likely to press for deciding its application seeking to segregate the trial. In December 2022, the agency had moved a special court, urging it to segregate the trial of the accused who have been served summons and joined investigation from those (accused) who have till date either not been served upon or have evaded the investigation. In its application, CBI argued that the accused who joined the probe cannot be denied their "right to speedy trial". The trial has yet to begin nearly 12 years after a probe was launched into alleged irregularities in an air force deal to purchase helicopters for transporting VVIPs. So far, CBI and ED have filed more than a dozen chargesheets in the case. However, the trial court could not make a decision on CBI's application seeking segregation of trial because CBI moved the Delhi High Court challenging orders passed by the special CBI court permitting a co-accused to inspect documents not relied upon by the agency. The appeal stated that the agency was required to produce only before the court all material collected by it during investigation which it proposes to rely upon. In July 2024, the CBI had informed the Delhi High Court that it had no difficulty if the accused inspected unrelied documents and statements of witnesses. The agency's stand had contrasted with its earlier position. The high court disposed of CBI's petition after the agency told it that "only for the purpose of expedience and without going into the merits, the present petition may be disposed of" and the accused "may be allowed to inspect unrelied documents and unrelied statements of witnesses". This meant the decks were cleared for the CBI to seek commencement of trial. The accused are being supplied documents, following which CBI will press its application for segregation of trial, said people in the know. Cash-for-jobs case (Bengal) SC in December directed the trial court to decide on framing of charges before the commencement of winter vacations or before December 31, 2024, whichever is earlier. The alleged cash-for-jobs scandal involves former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee. SC ordered expediting the trial on a bail plea of Chatterjee. A bench headed by justice Surya Kant ordered that Chatterjee can be released on bail on or before February 1, 2025, in the money laundering case registered against him by ED. The bench directed the trial court to record the statements of prosecution witnesses who are most material and vulnerable in the second or third week of January 2025. Subject to the completion of these steps, Chatterjee can be released on bail. ED had also arrested Chatterjee's alleged associate, Arpita Mukherjee, in the case. Restitution of assets by ED After taking charge as the new ED director in August 2024, Rahul Navin had made it clear to sleuths that the focus must be on concluding investigations in key cases and initiating trials. The agency has also made significant progress in restitution of assets to victims. The agency has restored properties worth ₹22,280 crore to the victims or rightful claimants and the fight against economic offenders will continue unabated, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had informed the Lok Sabha in the winter session. ED has recovered assets worth ₹17,750 crore in connection with various cases involving fugitives Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. Sitharaman had also informed that ₹14,131.6 crore worth of properties belonging to Mallya have been restored to public sector banks. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )

Investing in private companies has long been the protected fiefdom of wealthy accredited investors, angels and venture capitalists. But no longer: It’s now becoming possible for the masses. Today, there are new platforms that connect retail investors with startups looking for seed capital, along with publicly-traded investment firms that hold stakes in private companies that are nearly ready to go public themselves. Those options are increasingly necessary for retail investors, as the number of publicly-listed operating businesses has been dwindling for decades. The number of operating businesses listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, for example, has fallen to just 712 by the end of 2023, down from 1,166 in 2002 . Virtually every major public market globally has experienced a similar decline, as ballooning sums of private capital have allowed startups to stay private for longer – denying retail investors from participating in what is often the most lucrative period of a company’s growth. When Peter-Paul Van Hoeken started his equity crowdfunding platform, FrontFundr, in 2015, his mission was to change that. “We are basically turning anyone into an angel investor,” he said in an interview. “Providing companies with the opportunity to raise capital from a much wider group of investors, and of course for the public, which has traditionally been locked out from investing in private companies, access to these opportunities, that just made a lot of sense to me.” Because the concept was novel in Canada nearly a decade ago, Mr. Van Hoeken said getting licensed to trade securities that are not listed on stock exchanges in British Columbia took about 18 months. But after that first approval, the company was able to quickly expand across the country. Today, FrontFundr is available in eight provinces and the Yukon, with plans to reach Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories soon. There are roughly 50,000 Canadian retail investors registered on the platform. Together, they have invested $200-million worth of stock in Canadian startups through 175 individual capital raises. The minimum investment for each campaign on FrontFundr is usually a few hundred dollars and can be as low as $100. “Even if the total amount you have to invest is around $5,000, you could still make 10 to 20 investments through our platform,” Mr. Van Hoeken said. Getting access to the same opportunities as angel investors, however, comes with the same limits on liquidity. “Typically you invest longer term, which could easily be five or 10 years. Of course, the desired outcome is that the company is either acquired in the future or goes public and that provides the liquidity event for those investors.” Some companies that have raised money on FrontFundr have gone public relatively quickly, though Mr. Van Hoeken said those are the outliers. Agricultural technology company Hempalta Corp. HEMP-X , for example, raised $443,494.05 on FrontFundr in 2022 and ended up debuting on the TSX Venture Exchange in March, 2024. Other notable startups that have raised money on FrontFundr include organic mushroom producer Stay Wyld Organics and ridesharing app Hovr , which recently garnered attention for going up against Uber by offering better wages for drivers. For investors looking for private company exposure with the ability to get their money out whenever they want, options such as Stack Capital Group Inc. might be more attractive. Stack trades on the TSX and invests in some of the most well-known private companies in the world. Space X, Australian graphic design software maker Canva and Montreal-based travel platform Hopper are among its largest holdings. “A lot of companies are staying private for longer and longer before they IPO and retail investors can’t get access to that value in the private markets,” said Jeff Parks, co-founder and chief executive officer of Stack, in an interview. “That is why we wanted to bring a public vehicle out there so people can put it in their personal account, an RRSP, TFSA, doesn’t matter if it is registered or not. We really tried to think about what the barriers were for people to get access to these kinds of investments.” Another difference from the FrontFundr model is that Stack only invests in later stage private companies that are between six and 36 months from going public themselves. Stack also differentiates itself from the growing number of private credit funds, according to Mr. Parks, by ensuring a consistent level of liquidity. Increasingly common redemption halts have left many investors wary of alternative funds. Mr. Parks said many alternative fund managers have been forced to tell their investors that “we can’t give you your money back” because they are often unable to quickly sell their underlying holdings to create liquidity. “You can’t do this private trading stuff within a fund,” he said. As for why private funds continue to attract so much attention relative to Stack, “I just don’t think a lot of people know that we are out there right now. They don’t know that we exist and that we have assets like Canva and Space X.” But the idea is starting to catch on, and competitors are coming. One is AIP Asset Management, a Toronto-based investment manager that has offered a private debt fund to accredited investors for more than a decade. AIP is preparing to launch a new portfolio company on the TSX Venture Exchange called Access Pre-IPOs. Set to trade under the ticker, “XIPO,” the company will seek to invest in high-profile private companies such as Open AI, Epic Games and Stubhub. As for how to acquire those stakes, AIP co-founder and senior portfolio manager Jay Bala has a plan. There are always private company employees who receive stock as part of their compensation that they need to cash out “because life happens,” Mr. Bala said. “People get married, divorced or have kids heading to medical school.” He offered the example of a 29-year-old who has been working at a private company for five years and holds a million dollars worth of stock. “Say they are getting married next year, thinking, ‘if I cash this out, I can pay off my student loans and start fresh without a mortgage.’ They are unsure when the company will go public, and then we come along with an offer of $900,000 cash today,” he said. “That’s a deal they won’t pass up.” The key differentiator for XIPO, Mr. Bala said, will be offering “daily liquidity to an illiquid asset class that is typically reserved for institutional investors and high-net-worth family offices.”( MENAFN - Jordan Times) LONDON - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Norway on Monday where he is expected to tout a "green industrial partnership" on renewable energy and carbon capture to tackle climate change. It comes as Starmer's new Labour government seeks ways to meet its commitments to completely decarbonise the UK's electricity production by 2030, reduce emissions by at least 81 per cent compared to 1990 levels by 2034 and become carbon-neutral by 2050. To be formally signed in the spring, the agreement with Oslo would help Britain "seize the opportunities from a new era of clean energy, driving investment into the UK and boosting jobs both now and in the future", Starmer was cited as saying in a statement from his office. Precise details of the partnership's contents were not made available ahead of Starmer's meeting with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store. At the beginning of October, the Labour government announced 22 billion pounds ($28 billion) in investment over 25 years to develop carbon capture and storage on two former industrial estates in the north of England. Carbon capture, utilisation and storage is a technology that seeks to eliminate emissions created by burning fuels for energy and from industrial processes. The carbon is captured and then stored permanently in various underground environments. "Our partnership with Norway will make the UK more energy secure, ensuring we are never again exposed to international energy price spikes ...," said Starmer. Quoted in the Downing Street release, Norway's Prime Minister Store hailed the agreement as "important to facilitate more green jobs both in Norway and the UK, and for advancing the green transition". The two North Sea countries already have extensive energy ties, with Norway being one of the UK's main suppliers of gas. Several Norwegian companies already have a strong presence in the British market. Norwegian energy giant Equinor has partnered with BP in a number of carbon capture and storage projects in the UK, while Vagronn is also involved in a floating wind farm project in Scotland. The UK's ambition to become "a world-leader in carbon capture" comes despite doubts over the technology's effectiveness at tackling global warming given the costs and complexity involved. It has however been advocated by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), especially for reducing the CO2 footprint of difficult to decarbonise industries like cement and steel. MENAFN19122024000028011005ID1109014840 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.