Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is asking President-elect Donald Trump to clarify the ethics standards that will apply to Elon Musk, given the tech billionaire’s prominent role on the Trump transition team. Musk has been a fixture at the president-elect’s side since the November election and will lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, alongside fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Warren says that the new role, combined with Musk’s private interests as the CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and other government-contracted companies, presents “a massive conflict of interest.” SpaceX, Musk’s space technology company, manufactures rockets and spacecraft, often for the federal government’s use. Tesla, meanwhile, inked a deal with the Biden administration to make at least 7,500 of its electric vehicle charging stations accessible to EVs from other carmakers by the end of 2024. Warren further pointed out that Musk’s companies have an interest in the government’s enforcement of labor laws and regulations, particularly after having been the subject of federal investigations and litigation. Warren also voiced concern over media reports that Musk met secretly with Iran’s U.N. ambassador and participated in a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Federal law contains ethics rules for government employees that are specifically designed to protect the public from dangerous conflicts of interest and ensure government employees are working on behalf of the public interest rather than twisting government policy to line their own pockets,” the senator wrote. “As a member of the transition team, Mr. Musk is not a federal employee, but the conflicts he faces are enormous, and the need for him to be subject to similar ethics standards is obvious.” The Trump team’s ethics pledge requires members to disqualify themselves from transition matters in which they may have a direct financial conflict. Referencing that pledge in her letter, Warren asked if Musk had signed and complied with that standard. She asked the president-elect to respond by Dec. 23. In a statement provided to The Epoch Times, Trump–Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt waved off the senator’s concerns. “President Trump has assembled the most impressive and qualified team of innovators, entrepreneurs, and geniuses to advise and staff our government,” Leavitt said. She added: The Trump–Vance transition will continue to be held to the highest ethical and legal standards possible.”

CELH Stockholders with Large Losses Should Contact Shareholder Rights Law Firm Robbins LLP for Information About the Celsius Holdings, Inc. Class ActionNoneCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's two stuck astronauts just got their space mission extended again. That means they won't be back on Earth until spring — 10 months after rocketing into orbit on Boeing's Starliner capsule. NASA announced the latest delay in Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams' homecoming Tuesday. The two test pilots planned to be away just a week or so when they blasted off June 5 on Boeing's first astronaut flight to the International Space Station. Their mission grew from eight days to eight months after NASA decided to send the company's problem-plagued Starliner capsule back empty in September. FILE - This image made from a NASA live stream shows NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore during a press conference from the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (NASA via AP, File) Now the pair won't return until the end of March or even April because of a delay in launching their replacements, according to NASA. A fresh crew needs to launch before Wilmore and Williams can return and the next mission was bumped more than a month, according to the space agency. NASA's next crew of four was supposed to launch in February, followed by Wilmore and Williams' return home by the end of that month alongside two other astronauts. But SpaceX needs more time to prepare the new capsule for liftoff. That launch is now scheduled for no earlier than late March. NASA said it considered using a different SpaceX capsule to fly up the replacement crew in order to keep the flights on schedule. However, it decided the best option was to wait for the new capsule to transport the next crew. NASA prefers to have overlapping crews at the space station for a smoother transition, according to officials. Most space station missions last six months, with a few reaching a full year. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with a crew of two astronauts, lifts off from launch pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with a crew of two astronauts, lifts off from launch pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) NASA astronaut Nick Hague, left, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, left, gives a thumbs up as they leave the Operations and Checkout Building on their way to Launch Complex 40 for a mission to the International Space Station Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Cape Canaveral, Fla., (AP Photo/John Raoux) In this image from video provided by NASA, Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, left, and astronaut Nick Hague travel inside a SpaceX capsule en route to the International Space Station after launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (NASA via AP) A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with a crew of two astronauts, lifts off from launch pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of two lifts off from launch pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) The Falcon 9's first stage booster returns to Landing Zone 1 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of two lifts off from launch pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) NASA astronaut Nick Hague, right, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov leave the Operations and Checkout building for a trip to the launch pad 40 Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) NASA astronaut Nick Hague, right, talks to his family members as Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov looks on after leaving the Operations and Checkout building for a trip to the launch pad 40 Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Two astronauts are beginning a mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with a crew of two astronauts, lifts off from launch pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Tackling illicit arms proliferation requires legal framework – NSAPolice became convinced they were investigating a crime in the disappearance of University of Mississippi student Jimmie “Jay” Lee when they interviewed the man now on trial in his death, a top officer testified Tuesday. Lee had been missing for two weeks when officers arrested Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr. on July 22, 2022, said Oxford Police Chief Jeff McCutchen. Authorities interviewed Herington twice that day, and he gave conflicting information about the hours before Lee vanished, the chief said. “From the moment that we gave Tim Herrington the opportunity to tell the truth and he couldn’t and he lied and we backed that up, we knew then,” McCutchen said. Herrington, 24, is being tried on a capital murder charge in the death of Lee, 20, a gay man who was well known in the LGBTQ+ community at Ole Miss and in Oxford. Lee disappeared in Oxford, where Herrington’s trial is in its second week. Prosecutors and the defense both called their final witnesses Tuesday, and Herrington did not testify. Closing arguments are set for Wednesday. Lee’s body has never been found, but a judge has declared him dead. Herrington maintains his innocence and his attorney, Kevin Horan, told jurors last week that prosecutors have “zero” proof Lee was killed. Lee has not contacted friends or family, and his financial transactions and once-prolific social media posts have stopped since the day he went missing, investigators testified. Before officers interviewed Herrington, they had already obtained sexually explicit text messages exchanged between social media accounts belonging to Herrington and Lee in the early hours of July 8, 2022, when Herrington disappeared in Oxford, McCutchen said. Lee communicated with his mother daily, and sent his last message to her hours before he vanished to wish her happy birthday, according to earlier testimony. Google records obtained through a warrant showed that Herrington searched “how long does it take to strangle someone” at 5:56 a.m., University Police Department Sgt. Benjamin Douglas testified last week. The final text message from Lee's phone was sent to a social media account belonging to Herrington at 6:03 a.m. from a spot near Herrington's apartment, and cellphone tower in another part of Oxford last located any signal from Lee's phone at 7:28 a.m., McCutchen said Tuesday. A security camera showed Herrington jogging at about 7:30 a.m. out of a parking lot where Lee's car was abandoned, investigators testified earlier. “We’ve been looking for Jay Lee’s body for two years, and we’re not going to stop 'til we find it," McCutchen said in court Tuesday. On the day Lee vanished, Herrington was also seen on security cameras buying duct tape in Oxford and driving to his own hometown of about an hour away, police have testified. Herrington is from an affluent family in Grenada, Mississippi, about 52 miles (83.7 kilometers) southwest of Oxford, testified Ryan Baker, an Oxford Police Department intelligence officer who was a detective when he helped investigated the case. Herrington’s grandfather is bishop of a church in Grenada, other family members work at the church and Herrington himself taught youth Sunday school classes there, Baker said. Herrington “was not portraying himself as gay” to family or friends, Baker said. During testimony Tuesday, Herrington's father and grandfather both said Herrington had never spoken about having boyfriends. Herrington operated a furniture moving business with another man while they were students at the University of Mississippi, and they had a white box truck that Herrington drove to Grenada, Baker said. Security cameras at several businesses and a neighbor’s house showed Herrington and the truck in Grenada hours after Lee disappeared, Baker said. During McCutchen's testimony Tuesday, Horan asked whether DNA tests on items taken from Herrington's apartment and the truck showed “any trace evidence at all implicating my client.” McCutchen said they did not, but police first searched Herrington's apartment two weeks after Lee vanished and they searched the box truck a few days after the apartment. Both Herrington and Lee had graduated from the University of Mississippi. Lee was pursuing a master’s degree. He was known for his creative expression through fashion and makeup and often performed in drag shows in Oxford, according to a support group called Justice for Jay Lee. Prosecutors have announced they do not intend to pursue the death penalty, meaning Herrington could get a life sentence if convicted. Mississippi law defines capital murder as a killing committed along with another felony — in this case, kidnapping.

WATCH: Hog Hoops Report with Kevin McPherson (11-24-24)

College football got knocked off its axis this season, and no better example of the transformation exists than what happened when a group of individuals went into a room and picked the 12-team playoff field. They selected SMU over Alabama. The not-so-crazy part about slamming the door on Alabama’s storied brand and SEC’s limitless power? It was the correct decision. Year One of the expanded playoff created more drama and debate tentacles than anyone could have imagined. The final bracket offered some hits and other things that need to be re-evaluated. The current model is a gigantic leap forward ... but not without flaws. First, the good. A 12-team field works. More access to the playoff created more excitement in more college football markets. The drama stretched coast to coast, which hit the intended mark of producing more representation in the playoff. Clarity didn’t come until the final day. Clemson’s win in the ACC championship on a 56-yard field goal at the buzzer secured that league’s automatic bid, thus setting up a wild scenario in which the committee had two choices for the final at-large spot: two-loss SMU or three-loss Bama. Both teams had valid arguments. The committee ultimately got it right by picking SMU because even though Alabama played a tougher schedule, bad losses cannot be ignored and the Tide’s résumé includes two losses to teams that finished with a .500 record, including a 21-point loss to Oklahoma. SMU was more deserving, and the selection committee would have lost credibility since it had SMU ranked ahead of Alabama the week prior. Penalizing a team that loses in the conference championship game while another team sits at home idle sends the wrong message. The mechanism for seeding the bracket is more problematic. Playoff rules dictate that the four highest-ranked conference champions receive the top four seeds and a bye. Thus, Boise State received the No. 3 seed despite being No. 9 in the final rankings. Arizona State is No. 12 in the rankings but the No. 4 seed. This lacks common sense. The four best teams should get the top four seeds. The odd seeding system created a situation in which Oregon, the clear No. 1 and only undefeated team, was given what looks like the hardest draw of any of the top four seeds. That makes no sense either. The Ducks play the winner of Ohio State and Tennessee in the Rose Bowl in the quarterfinals. Oregon defeated Ohio State by one point in the regular season, and nobody should be shocked if the Buckeyes get hot and make a run since their kryptonite — Michigan — is not on the field. A conceivable scenario would require Oregon to defeat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, then Texas in the Cotton Bowl, to reach the championship game. That’s not exactly a reward for earning the No. 1 seed. Conversely, Penn State plays SMU at home in the first round and, with a win, would face Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. That Penn State’s path looks more favorable than Oregon’s exposes flaws in the formula that demand change. Keep guaranteed berths for the five conference championships but do away with automatic byes for conference winners. That ensures that winning a conference maintains its importance but avoids seeding teams higher than they deserve. Let the committee determine the top four seeds. Subjectivity will always be part of that process because there is an imbalance in competition from conference to conference, and not all schedules within individual conferences are mirror images, either. Indiana had a softer Big Ten schedule than Ohio State. That’s out of their control, of course, but it highlights the variance of factors in determining rankings and seeds. Different ideas are being offered in the wake of the bracket release. There already are calls for more expansion to 16 teams. That seems conceivable in the future, which would eliminate byes and go directly to 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14 and so forth. Another suggestion is to reseed teams after the first round, which has merit because that could avoid rematches of regular-season games. One of college football’s biggest hurdles has been its lack of parity at the top. The same three or four teams ruled the sport, making it easy to predict the national champion on September 1 every season with a high degree of certainty. Despite its flaws, the 12-team playoff looks wide open. That stands as progress.India has been in one of the longest bull markets, with this phase starting in March 2020, and nearing five years now, said Prashant Khemka, founder of WhiteOak Capital Management. He thinks that we have been somewhat spoiled by the returns over the past five years. In the recent months, the stock market has come off its highs, but that’s nothing unusual or abnormal. “We’ve come to expect equity-market returns with fixed-income-like consistency, which isn’t a reasonable expectation," he said, adding, “We should temper both our return expectations—aiming for low double digits rather than mid-teens—and our expectations for consistency". Looking ahead to 2025, Khemka expects pre-tax market returns of 10-11%. To begin with, if you were to get 10 lakh, where would you invest? Assuming all living expenses are covered, my approach is always the same. Essentially, all available money is entirely invested in . These days, my wife handles these investments based on standing instructions. If there happens to be any excess money, we invest it in mutual funds or other investment vehicles of WhiteOak. Occasionally, I even say jokingly that the only times my wife and I argue are when she might slip up and leave money idle in the bank for a few days instead of deploying it into the market. We are always fully invested in equities and have never prioritized fixed deposit as investment. So, that continues to be the case. Considering what you said, how would you look at diversification, given that many have pointed out that diversification is key in a volatile market. So, how would you look at that? Diversifying across asset classes comes at a cost. Equity has been the best-performing asset class over extended periods of time. Since I entered the markets in 1985, both personal experience and historical data show that equity markets deliver the highest long-term returns for passive investors. While running a business may yield higher returns, I firmly believe equity markets will continue to lead as investments. Our team also strives to generate returns above the market average, creating a total return that is hard to match in other asset classes. From my perspective, the additional returns from equity investments more than compensate for the lost diversification benefits. I understand that you believe equity offers long-term superior returns and are quite optimistic about the asset class. However, given the past rally and current uncertainty, should investors consider tempering their return expectations? It depends on what the return expectations are. However, at any point in time, if you ask me about expected returns over the next 12 months or any specific period, I would estimate low double digits on an annualized basis. That hasn’t changed, and it remains my base case expectation at this time, too. It’s like flipping a coin ten times—my expectation would always be five heads and five tails. In reality, the outcome could be six-four, eight-two, or even ten-zero, but with enough flips, it averages out to 50-50. Similarly, Indian have consistently averaged in the low double digits if you look at the historical performance. Looking ahead, I expect similar returns of low double digit, roughly 10-11%, pre-tax. Many are worried about slowing earnings growth and the possibility of earnings downgrades. Do you share this concern? Concerns are always present in the market; there's never a time without them. People naturally look for risks, and there will always be something to focus on. These concerns aren’t new. It’s possible that, in the near term, with slightly slower economic growth last quarter, we could see this trend spill over into corporate earnings this quarter as well. However, that’s just part of the business cycle. Over the years, there have been periods of slower economic and earnings growth, followed by times of faster growth. If we experience slower growth in the coming months, it is entirely possible, but it does not necessarily mean the markets will perform poorly. Do you think these factors are already priced in? Geopolitical concerns and elections were major worries—have we moved past them? What other concerns do you see, and has the possibility of earnings downgrades or slowing growth been factored in? Yes, in my view, macro concerns are always factored in on a probabilistic basis—weighted by the likelihood of various outcomes. However, reality can sometimes turn out far worse or better than what the market has anticipated at a point in time. Also, what we think is priced in may differ significantly from what the market has actually accounted for. For example, if we look back five years to the end of 2019 and if we were told everything that would unfold during covid-19, we might have expected markets to perform very poorly. Most people, including myself, could have been tempted to stay in cash or shift to safer asset classes. Yet, March 23, 2020, marked the market's bottom, even when the total reported Covid-19 cases in India were only around 500, with approximately only 100 cases reported for that day. Despite the subsequent surge in cases, millions of deaths, and extended lockdowns, the market began rallying from March 24th onwards. Why? Because it had already factored in these outcomes and more. The market assessed the long-term impact of these developments on corporate cash flows and determined that the present value of those cash flows was not materially affected as one might have feared just a few days prior. Since you brought up holding cash, some fund managers are currently maintaining cash levels as high as 50-80%. What’s your perspective on this? Our team is always able to find opportunities. Forget about holding 50-80% cash - our team generally does not even have 50 to 80 basis points of cash in the portfolio, meaning we don’t even have 0.5% to 0.8% in cash on many of the days because we are fully invested. We don’t make market timing calls; we are typically fully invested, with cash levels of less than 1%. Our approach is that the market is fairly valued overall, but within that, some stocks will be overvalued and others undervalued. In a relative performance approach, it’s about identifying those undervalued names. To outperform the market and our peers, that's what we focus on. Has there ever been a time when you regretted being fully invested and not holding any cash? I wouldn't say regret, because I understand that market timing is not possible—this is my firm belief. Personally, or in portfolios, I was always fully invested at the peaks of 2000, during the Harshad Mehta bubble, at the 2008 peak, and just before Covid. Thankfully, I was also that followed those peaks. I've never felt I should have made a cash call, because I have resigned myself to the fact and the belief that markets cannot be timed, just like coin flips cannot be predicted. Which sectors look appealing to you in 2025? We firmly believe in the fair value of the market and maintain that it's not possible to predict which sector will outperform another at aggregate level. Our base case assumption is that all sectors will perform in line with the market over the next 12 months. While we understand that the various sectors will not give the same returns in any given year, it is still the most logical ex-ante assumption to make. That said, we may allocate more weight or less to certain sectors, either absolute or relative to the benchmark, based on where we see the most compelling bottom-up investment opportunities. For example, if most companies within a sector appear fairly valued in our assessment, we may choose to invest less in that sector, as the expected upside or downside is limited. On the other hand, if we see significant disparities in valuations within a sector—where some companies are highly overvalued and others highly undervalued—we may allocate more to that sector as we seek to capture the upside from the undervalued opportunities. Currently, we are finding more of such opportunities in healthcare, information technology services, financials, consumption, and industrials. We have higher allocations in our portfolios in these areas, both collectively and individually. So, the market is currently in a state of limbo, waiting for a clear direction. What are the key triggers that could provide that clarity and drive the market forward? It depends on how you define "limbo." If you look at it, we’re in one of s, with this bull market starting in March 2020, around March 23rd, and nearing five years now. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a limbo; I think we've been somewhat spoiled by the returns over the past five years. (like the BSE 500) has had mid-teens returns, with small and mid-caps up by mid-20s. In the past couple of months, there’s been a slight dip, but that's nothing abnormal. We’ve come to expect equity market returns with fixed-income-like consistency, which isn’t a reasonable expectation. We should temper both our return expectations—aiming for low double digits rather than mid-teens—and our expectations for consistency. We’ve mostly seen upward volatility over the past five years, otherwise occasional pullbacks of 10-20% are within the realm of usual market movements. Lastly, what are the common mistakes investors make throughout their investing journey, and how can they avoid them? The biggest mistake retail investors make is not allocating enough to equities, followed by trying to time the market. For instance, during the Covid crisis, many pulled out of the market due to fear, only to re-enter much later at substantially higher levels. based on macro developments often harms long-term returns. The key is to seek advice from financial advisers to decide on a comfortable equity allocation and stick with it over time. Avoid speculative trading or constantly changing your strategy based on short-term market movements or media headlines.In 1859, an event as significant as the advent of the wheel took place in Etienne Lenoir's workshop. The Belgian inventor converted a steam engine to ignite a mix of air and coal gas via a two-stroke detonation cycle . The new internal combustion engine (ICE) found work as a power source driving low power requiring equipment in pumping stations and print shops. These were humble beginnings for the functional yet wildly inefficient setup. Few could imagine that this new wonder in an age of technological marvels would change the course of human history. In 1886, Karl Benz of Mannheim, Germany, patented a curious application for this new form of power generation. His "motorised (sic) velocipede," as one witness described it, employed a four-stroke , single-cylinder engine. While the adoption of his "benzine carriage" initially met with underwhelming support, by the turn of the century, over 1,700 were tootling and bumping along the roads of England, France, and the United States. Among his other considerable achievements, Benz developed a new ICE configuration in 1896. He named it the contra engine two for how the cylinders worked in contrast. The name didn't stick, but the engine did. The flat-twin, boxer, pancake, or horizontally opposed twin engine is still widely used in some of the most complex machines of our time. This is the unique history of the flat-twin engine. [Featured image by Johannes Maximillian via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 2.0 ] Most internal combustion engines generate power using the same principle: a controlled explosion inside a cylinder drives a piston. There are exceptions, such as the rotary engine, most often associated with Mazda , but the vast majority of ICE engines are piston-driven. The clue is usually in the name. A V8 utilizes eight cylinders arranged in a V-shape, while a straight six employs six vertical (or nearly vertical) cylinders lined up in a row. Connected by a crankshaft, the pistons within the cylinder alternate, firing in a delicately balanced dance. Each configuration offers advantages and disadvantages in terms of efficiency and power delivery. The flat twin offers certain advantages. Its configuration has a low center of gravity, and a well-engineered flat twin alleviates out much of its own vibration. In a transverse-mounted twin, each cylinder has equal access to air, reducing the need for liquid cooling. On the other hand, flat twins are wider than other twin engines and can cause torque reactions if installed longitudinally, and some jobs require more power than two cylinders can muster. From its inception with Benz in 1896 to its modern-day applications in BMW motorcycles, the flat-twin engine's unique advantages have made it a popular choice in everything from airplanes to lawn implements. [Featured image by Michael Frey via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0 ] In the waning days of the 19th century, any number of automobile-producing firms sparked into existence. The Lanchester Motor Company of Birmingham, England, was one such. Founded by aviation and automotive pioneer Frederick William Lanchester, who built the first British automobile in 1896, the company used a flat-twin in its 1900 model Lanchester Ten. The car employed a 4.0-liter engine with a unique design. One of the cylinders was positioned higher than the other but remained horizontally opposed. The engine used two crankshafts and six connecting rods. Each piston was connected to one crankshaft by two light rods and to the other crankshaft by a heavy rod. The two crankshafts rotated in opposite directions, resulting in a complex yet elegant flat-twin engine that delivered 10.5 hp at 1,250 rpm. As the automobile industry blossomed, automakers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean began using the engine. Henry Ford used them in some early cars, including the 1903 to 1904 Model A, Model C, and Model F. The Jowett car company used them in every model it sold between 1906 and 1936. Toyota launched the Publica in 1961 with a 700 cubic centimeter (cc) flat-twin that made 28 horsepower. The Publica was inspired by Citroen's flat-twin 2CV, often compared to the classic Volkswagen Beetle , produced from 1948 to 1990. Though enjoying a surprisingly long career as car pushers, flat twins also achieved distinction as the powerplant of the sky. [Featured image by Constructionicecream via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0 ] Large, powerful piston and jet engines take aircraft into the sky today, but in the infancy of flight, the lighter, the better. Aircraft made of wood required a lightweight engine producing enough power to get airborne and stay there. With its relative simplicity, the flat-twin played a significant role in aviation history. New Zealand hobbyist and bicycle inventor Richard Pearse, for instance, developed his own flat-twin in 1902 for use in a homemade monoplane. Records are thin, but Pearse may have achieved a 50-yard flight in 1903, the same year as the Wright brothers' flight. Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont, who had experimented with lighter-than-air craft, was significantly influenced by the news of the Wright brothers' flight. He utilized a variety of flat-twin engines to achieve numerous aviation firsts, including the first powered flight with a winged aircraft in Europe and the development of the Demoiselle, a high-wing monoplane. The flat-twin engine continued to be used in aircraft as late as the 1930s. The Aeronca C-2, C-3, E-107, and E-113, as well as the Czech-built Praga B2 and British Bristol Cherub, all employed flat-twin engines. While the power requirements and weight of flat-twin engines precluded their use in the warplanes of the Second World War, ground crews often used them in auxiliary power units, including those used to start some of the earliest jet prototypes. [Featured image by Fletcher6 via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0 ] Flat twin engines have had the most enduring application in motorcycles. Their low center of gravity, combined with motorcycles' open nature and low-power requirements, made them an incredibly effective configuration. A flat-twin could be installed along or perpendicular to the motorcycle's axis. Each setup had its own advantages. If installed with one cylinder behind the other, the bike would enjoy a lower center of gravity, improving stability and handling but reducing air cooling efficacy. Transverse-mounted engines were more effectively cooled and provided a simpler mounting for belt or chain drives, but they had a higher center of gravity and created a wider motorcycle. The Fée, produced by the Light Motors Company between 1905 and 1907, was among the first adopters. While the Fée, renamed the Fairy, didn't last, plenty of others did. Harley-Davidson produced a flat-twin bike called the XA. It was based on the designs of the Second World War-era German BMW R71 and Soviet Dneper IMZ M-72M. BMW has been using the boxer engine, a type of flat-twin, in its motorcycles since 1923, when it debuted the original BMW motorcycle, the R 32 . The German automaker still uses it in the bulk of its lineup today. One of its most modern iterations is a 1,254 cc that makes 130 hp to power its R1250 GS adventure bike. The R 12, recently announced as a new bike in the 2025 BMW lineup , indicates that BMW sees a place for the flat-twin in its future. Aside from applications in major machinery, the flat twin engine has proven its versatility in several appliances and other ICE-requiring gadgets. Maytag used a proprietary flat twin of its own design to power the Model 72 washing machine beginning in 1937. This washing machine, a testament to the versatility of the flat twin, was one of the time-saving decisions that changed the shape of domestic life in the Western world. Enfield built 250 cc and 350 cc engines to power generators and other military uses, later developing diesel-powered flat twins for use in agriculture and marine applications. The smooth operation of the flat-twin engine was a great boon in outboard boat engines compared to the uneven power delivery of a single-cylinder engine, which causes vibration and noise until straight-twin configurations usurped them. Since Karl Benz patented his contra motor in 1896, the flat-twin engine has been used in virtually every device that requires internal combustion engines. Its continued development and advancement in some of the most sophisticated performance machines of the modern day speaks volumes about its reliability. The flat twin engine, a symbol of dependability, has stood the test of time.

Cam Carter put LSU ahead for good with a jumper 1:08 into the third overtime and the Tigers came away with a wild 109-102 win over UCF on Sunday in the third-place game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Carter's make sparked a 5-0 spurt for LSU (5-1), which mounted a ferocious second-half rally that began after Darius Johnson drilled a 3-pointer to put the Knights up 52-34 with 12:57 to play in regulation. UCF (4-2) got back within two in the third overtime, but it never found a way to draw even. Vyctorius Miller and Jordan Sears sealed the victory, combining for three buckets down low that gave the Tigers a 106-99 cushion with 17 seconds remaining. Carter was the late-game hero for LSU, scoring the final four points of regulation to forge a 70-70 tie. He also knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:19 left in the first extra session to give the Tigers a 76-75 advantage. Sears gave LSU a four-point edge with a triple of his own with 2:10 to go, but the Tigers failed to stay in front, and UCF's Keyshawn Hall kept the game going by sinking two free throws with six seconds remaining to make it 82-82. Neither team led by more than three in the second overtime, with Hall again coming to the Knights' rescue. He made two layups in the final 52 seconds of the frame to knot things at 93 and send the teams to a third OT. Few could have predicted 15 minutes of extra basketball after UCF put together a 25-3 first-half run that lifted it to a 38-18 advantage with 2:12 left until the break. LSU responded with seven unanswered points, but the Knights still led comfortably, 40-25, at intermission. Sears finished with a game-high-tying 25 points to go along with nine boards, while Jalen Reed recorded a 21-point, 13-rebound double-double for the Tigers. Carter netted 20 points, Miller had 16 and Dji Bailey chipped in 14. Johnson collected 25 points, six rebounds, eight assists and five steals for UCF. Hall totaled 21 points and 10 boards, and Jordan Ivy-Curry supplied 20 points. LSU outshot UCF 43.2 percent to 40.7 percent and had narrow advantages from behind the arc (12 made shots to 10) and the free-throw line (21-18). --Field Level Media"Concerning": Elon Musk Calls Out Jeff Bezos' Ex-Wife MacKenzie Scott For $16 Billion Donation

Europe's struggling industries are bracing for a new gas price shock over the coming winter months, as colder weather depletes stocks, competition with Asia for liquefied natural gas intensifies, and the prospect of reduced Russian supplies looms. Since the energy crisis of 2022, when gas prices peaked at nearly 350 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), dozens of firms across Europe have closed factories and cut activity and jobs as high gas prices undermined their competitiveness. Many are maintaining reduced demand and lower manufacturing activity, with negative implications for Europe's sluggish growth. European Union gas demand is 17 percent below the five-year average observed during pre-pandemic years. At the same time, gas prices are at their highest level in over a year and analysts predict they will rise further. "The concern is that we are laying our guard down because energy prices are lower now than what we saw in 2022," Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Oslo-listed Yara, a fertiliser company, told Reuters in October. "It's important to remind ourselves that we're still at much higher levels than other key regions like the US, the Middle East, and Russia." Nervousness about the expiry at the end of the year of a Russian transit deal to supply gas to Europe via Ukraine has helped to drive buying. Francisco Blanch, the head of commodity and derivatives research at Bank of America, said it could push EU gas prices as high as 70 euros/MWh next year from nearly 50 euros/MWh now. That compares with average EU gas prices of 17.58 euros/MWh over five years before the pandemic, LSEG data showed. EU-wide gas inventories are 85 percent full, some 10 percentage points lower than a year ago, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe data. That makes the current winter already feel uncomfortable, said Barbara Lambrecht, an analyst at Commerzbank, as cold snaps would cause storage levels to fall faster than during the last two relatively mild winters. To try to safeguard supplies, the European Commission last week increased its storage filling target, potentially adding to the upward pressure on prices. Dozens of factories in Europe closed and nearly a million manufacturing jobs were lost over the last four years, Bernstein data showed. In a report on Europe's competitiveness in September, former ECB chief Mario Draghi said the loss of relatively cheap Russian gas following the 2022 outbreak of war in Ukraine had a "huge cost" to the economy and that fossil fuels would be needed at least for the remainder of the decade. "Even though energy prices have fallen considerably from their peaks, EU companies still face electricity prices that are 2-3 times those in the United States. Natural gas prices paid are 4-5 times higher," the report said. Current EU prices are nearly five times higher than US gas, which trades at $3.095/mmBtu, equivalent to 10.02 euros/MWh. A survey by Germany's chambers of commerce (DIHK) in August found that high energy prices and a lack of reliable energy supplies were hindering industrial production and prompting some German firms to consider relocating abroad. Yara's CEO also told Reuters the company was "shifting our energy exposure away from Europe". German industry lobby group, the BDI, has cited high energy prices as among the factors that threaten the competitiveness of Europe's biggest economy. "The risk of de-industrialisation due to the silent migration and abandonment of many small and medium-sized enterprises in particular is constantly increasing," BDI President Siegfried Russwurm, who also sits on the board at German industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp, said in September. In France, industries expect to operate at 70-80 percent of capacity this winter due to high energy prices, especially in the chemical sector, Nicolas de Warren, president of French industrial lobby group Uniden, told Reuters. "With industry still in the dumps, there is no reason to believe gas demand from that sector will stage a comeback this year," said analysts at Rabobank, adding that some increase in demand was possible from the heating sector. EU's current storage levels, meanwhile, are some 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) lower than last year in absolute terms and the difference will be covered mainly by imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Helge Haugane, the head of gas and power trading at Norway's Equinor, EU's biggest gas supplier, said. That will come at a price as competition intensifies for available supplies. Although the European Union has avoided imposing sanctions on Russian gas, which some members rely on heavily, it has restricted Russian LNG deliveries. The European Parliament voted in April to pass rules allowing European governments to ban Russian LNG imports by preventing Russian firms from booking gas infrastructure capacity. That could increase storage withdrawals and push the EU to compete harder with Asia for US and Middle Eastern LNG. Europe imported 11.3 bcm, or around 170 cargoes, of LNG in November, mainly from the United States and the Middle East, according to LSEG data.

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Wavegate Corporation Announces $26 Million Series A Funding Round Led by UCEA Capital Partners Ltd.Donald Trump Jr, son of US President-elect Donald Trump, recently reacted to an old video going viral on social media, which showed the reenactment of an assassination attempt on his father. Sharing the video clip, Donald Trump Jr said, "This is amazing." The old video, which is going viral again, shows children in Uganda recreating the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump. The video shows one child portraying Donald Trump, with other children acting as his security and audience. The dramatic video shows the mock President addressing a rally when a shot is fired at him. The children acting as security are seen swiftly covering the mock president and escorting him to safety. The reenactment follows the real-life incident of July 13, when Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump Assassination Attempt: Uganda Children Recreate Scene of Attempt on Life of Former US President, Video Goes Viral. This is amazing pic.twitter.com/kjDKEHTEkC — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 29, 2024 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter (X), Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)