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The 2025 tax season in the United States is about to begin, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is expected to start processing tax returns for the 2024 fiscal year by the end of January. This year, the IRS continues to offer various tax relief programs to reduce tax liabilities or increase refunds, including the Saver’s Credit, which could reach up to $2,000. According to the IRS, this credit is designed for individuals who make eligible contributions to retirement accounts, such as IRAs or employer-sponsored plans, as well as to ABLE accounts for individuals with disabilities. “You may be eligible for a tax credit for making eligible contributions to your IRA or employer-sponsored retirement plan. Additionally, you may be eligible for a credit for contributions to an Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account, if you are the designated beneficiary” , the agency states. How to know if I am eligible for the Saver’s Credit? According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), you may qualify for the Saver’s Credit if you meet the following requirements: According to the IRS, the amount of this credit is determined based on your adjusted gross income reported on Form 1040. The percentage of the credit can be 50%, 20%, or 10% of the following: It is important to note that reinvestment contributions are not eligible for this credit. Additionally, the amount of your qualified contributions may be reduced if you have recently received a distribution from a retirement plan, an IRA arrangement, or an ABLE account. The maximum contributions that can qualify for the credit is $2,000 ($4,000 for married couples filing jointly). As a result, the maximum credit you can receive is $1,000 ($2,000 for married couples filing jointly). Please refer to the income table to determine the percentage of the credit that applies to you. To claim the Saver’s Credit, you must use Form 8880, titled “Credit for Qualified Retirement Savings Contributions,” as an attachment to your Form 1040. YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN Periodista deportivo egresado de ISIL y Máster en Gestión Deportiva en Johan Cruyff Institute. Cuento con 9 años de experiencia en medios digitales.

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Donald Trump’s presidency will be unpredictable, but in our final show, we make some guesses about what’ll happen anyway. WIRED’s Tim Marchman sits down with reporters David Gilbert and Makena Kelly to talk about what could go wrong between Trump and Elon Musk , if Christian nationalists will get their porn ban, the rise of human brain organoids, and whether the new administration will finally declassify those UFO files. Tim Marchman is @ timmarchman . David Gilbert is @ DaithaiGilbert . Makena Kelly is @ kellymakena . Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here . Mentioned this week: The Crypto Industry Hails David Sacks, Its New ‘Czar’ by Joel Khalili and Makena Kelly RFK Plans to Take on Big Pharma. It’s Easier Said Than Done by Emily Mullin As FBI Director, Kash Patel Could Offer January 6 Rioters Retribution Against Their Enemies by Tess Owen How to Listen You can always listen to this week's podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here's how: If you're on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link . You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for WIRED Politics Lab. We’re on Spotify too. Transcript Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors. Tim Marchman: This is WIRED Politics Lab , a show about how tech is changing politics. I'm Tim Marchman, WIRED's director of science, politics, and security, filling in for Leah Feiger, who is unable to be here due to a personal emergency. The election season is over and it's our final episode of WIRED Politics Lab . One thing we do know about the next four years is that Donald Trump will be right at the center of things, shaping events, making everything about him, and he's always unpredictable. Equally unpredictable is the, at least for now, apparent copresident, Elon Musk. And even beyond Trump and Musk, 2025 seems to have a lot of wild cards in store. What's next for the far-right? How is the administration going to pay off the political debts it owes to Christian nationalists? How are the Lords of Silicon Valley going to both sidle up to the administration and doused with one of their own for influence and proximity to the president? And what can we expect from broader developments in the tech world, ranging from the continued growth of generative AI to the very uncertain status of TikTok as an entity able to legally operate in the United States? Joining me to take some educated guesses are two WIRED politics reporters, Makena Kelly. Hi, Makena. Makena Kelly: Good to be here. Tim Marchman: And from Cork, Ireland, David Gilbert. David Gilbert: Hey, Tim. Good to be here one final time. Tim Marchman: So let's start with Elon Musk. Makena, let's just assume, as we've already predicted on this program, that the Musk-Trump romance, the copresidency, will not survive. What already existing fault line do you think could cause it to explode? Makena Kelly: I think, I don't know if it's any specific policy issue, but they have just two huge egos that I imagine Trump might get upset with Elon maybe getting a little bit more TV time or time on people getting excited about him on Twitter, that would be my main guess. Tim Marchman: What about you David? David Gilbert: I kind of felt, [ inaudible 00:02:06 ] falling apart already because there were reports coming out a week after the election that he was overstaying his welcome, Elon Musk, and acting as co-president in certain respects. But he's still there, he's still meeting with world leaders alongside Trump. It's amazing that it's even lasted this long. I think he may hang around or he may be there until Trump needs someone to blame for not fulfilling all these wild promises that he's made on the campaign trail in terms of efficiency in government or whatever else it may be, and he needs to blame Musk. The one problem I guess with that is that Musk is still extremely powerful, has a huge platform with X and huge amounts of money to hit back at Trump if needed. But who knows? It's really hard to say, I didn't think the relationship would last this long, but they seem to be going strong. Makena Kelly: One thing too, people in Trump's orbit are incredibly disposable. We've seen that when it comes to his cabinet. We've seen it when it comes to even people in his family, it feels like. And so I can imagine a world where we're already seeing Amazon, Jeff Bezos or Andy Jassy or Mark Zuckerberg, somebody who also has a ton of money and is also in the tech space maybe challenging Elon for that seat, maybe attending more meetings and then getting between that relationship and maybe casting him aside. David Gilbert: Maybe we could have that Musk-Zuckerberg fight after all for— Makena Kelly: Oh my gosh. David Gilbert: ... to sit at the right hand of Trump. Makena Kelly: With all of the WWE stuff going on with this, you'd imagine that maybe we have a bigger chance of seeing that fight. David Gilbert: There you go, Linda McMahon could get involved. What more do we need? Tim Marchman: I would pay to see that. Makena, what do you see ahead for X and Truth Social, which is Trump's social media network that now accounts for, I believe over half of his fortune. They're kind of targeting the same audience, do you see them coming together or being a source of friction for the two? Makena Kelly: They don't seem like too much of a source of friction right now. It seems as if Trump is still continuing to use Truth Social as his main messaging platform. The ways that I've seen nominees announced was through Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary at the transition, posting screenshots of his Truth Social posts. And now we're seeing Trump using X a little bit more. I think it was towards the end of the summer that we saw a lot of his Truth Social posts being cross-posted to X for the first time in quite a while. And so maybe Truth Social just kind lingers in the background and falls apart because of internal problems. And of course there's already been struggles within the company running it. Devin Nunes has apparently reportedly fought with other executives, other executives who are there at the ground floor starting the app have exited. And so it might just be one of those things where again, personalities are colliding and X might just win out on top. Tim Marchman: It certainly has a larger user base. David, can we talk a little bit about Musk on the world stage? You referenced the meetings with world leaders. It's weird. He was on a call with Ukrainian president Zelenskyy, he's also recently been palling around with the prime minister of Italy. Should we start thinking of him as a primary driver and financier of global far-right politics right now? David Gilbert: Yeah, this is a fascinating aspect of it because we've seen the kind of growth in the network of far-right communities internationally in 2024. The ties have become much stronger between the US and Europe. We've seen that happening at a kind of lower level where communities are definitely forging closer ties, and Musk could potentially be a key figure in that in 2025. Just yesterday he was at a meeting with Viktor Orbán in Mar-a-Lago alongside Donald Trump. Viktor Orbán, obviously the Hungarian Prime minister who has instituted very repressive authoritarian policies in that country and a person who Trump has Lionized and Valorize repeatedly over the years. We've seen, as you've said, his very close relationship with Giorgia Meloni in Italy. This week he had to deny that he was in a relationship with Giorgia Meloni after [ inaudible 00:06:23 ], the far-right influencer posted a suggestion that he was doing that, and Musk said, "No," in response on Twitter. And one of the most interesting things to me is how there is now a suggestion that he is going to use his money to influence the next elections in the UK just as he used his money to back Trump this time around. There was a report I think a couple of weeks ago saying there was a hundred million was going to be invested, that was denied. But just yesterday, a billionaire in the UK, Nick Candy announced that he was going to be putting seven figures into Reform UK led by Nigel Farage. Again, a very close ally of Trump. And Elon Musk said this morning or confirmed this morning that he's been in communication with Nick Candy about donating money. So it's pretty clear that Musk is looking to build those relationships globally, not just in the US and that's a pretty terrifying prospect. Tim Marchman: I'm interested to know what the rest of Silicon Valley is thinking right now. We've talked about Bezos and Zuckerberg have both been trying to make nice with Trump. Who do you see as the likely winners and losers in Silicon Valley in the coming year? Let's start with you, Makena. Makena Kelly: Sure. What I'm seeing a lot of right now is just this week the Kids Online Safety Act was pushed to the next administration, and so I'm assuming with all of the excitement around protecting kids that law might find itself being passed next year, it's looking a lot more likely than it has been for the last couple of years. And so that is a major loss for social media companies. I think the people that will see the most success in the Trump administration will be people in companies that have government contracts, whether that is with data centers, AWS, things like that. But when it comes to people running social media companies, except for Elon, right, people who run these platforms, I do see folks at the Justice Department, at the FTC, Andrew Ferguson was just nominated to be the chair of the FTC this week under Trump, I still see a lot of people wanting to incur some kind of wrath on these tech companies for censoring them allegedly. Tim Marchman: What about you, David? Who are you looking at as winners and losers? David Gilbert: What's happening right now is people are just scrambling and fighting for position and for influence. Just the fact that Zuckerberg is calling Trump, he wants to remain part of the conversation, he doesn't want Musk to be the only social media owner who has the presidency. So I think the winners will depend on ultimately who's willing to bend the knee the most because that's what Trump values as loyalty. And so whoever is willing to ... We saw a post on Truth Social yesterday, I think from Trump where he said that, "Whoever's willing to invest a billion dollars in the US is going to get, pretty much any tax break they're looking for, is going to get all their environmental licenses approved even before they apply for them." So he's willing to give all of these benefits to whoever is willing to give him the most money. And so I think that's what it comes down to is whoever's willing to put their money where their mouth is and show their patriotism through investing huge amounts of money in the US are going to be the biggest winners. Tim Marchman: I feel the need to point out there, the GDP of the US is about $27 trillion, which is 27,000 billion. So a billion is just not that impressive a figure in the grand scheme of things here. David Gilbert: But he put it in all caps, Tim, so that makes it look much bigger. Tim Marchman: [ inaudible 00:10:06 ] Makena Kelly: Should we address the crypto industry too? Tim Marchman: We should, but before we do, I wanted to ask you, do you see all this feeding at the trough as a big change? It feels like traditionally Silicon Valley hasn't actually run big lobbying operations. Makena Kelly: They have, but not themselves. What we've seen— Tim Marchman: Fair. Makena Kelly: ... there's been millions and millions of dollars put into lobbying Congress specifically. But now I think after going through a first Trump administration, they realize that the way to get things done in Congress isn't lobbyists. We haven't seen basically anything done in Congress for so many years, no big changes since basically I would say the infrastructure Act and before that, maybe the ACA. Those are the main legislative wins that Congress has had. And so to get things done under a Trump administration, it's going to be being around Trump. That's the difference here is that you have CEOs now who are doing lobbying on their own behalf. Jeff Bezos, I wouldn't know if he had any conversations with Obama, and now this is all playing out in public. Tim Marchman: And it's a fascinating thing because that's so personality driven. Trump is so unusually driven by just vibes, and these are not the most dynamic personalities in the world. Makena Kelly: He loves people who are successful. Lobbyists are just little, sorry if you're a lobbyist, but people see them as like cockroaches running around Congress. Those are not the types of people that Trump sees as successful and people that he should be listening to. Tim Marchman: So let's talk about crypto now. I think we can all agree that the crypto industry is going to do very well under this administration. The idea of unregulated securities seems really big with some of these big personalities who are driving things. Let's talk a little bit about that and what is on the table. One of the things that particularly intrigues/alarms me is the notion of some sort of federal backing for Bitcoin that's been floated, which at least seems to me as an amateur economist, the absolute worst of all worlds in that you have an unregulated security, which the government is nonetheless backstopping the same way it would FDIC insured deposits or something like that. Makena Kelly: The crypto industry is one of the biggest winners this election year. Trump made an entire new group of people, a Crypto Advisory Board, a Crypto Czar, which is David Sacks, a very influential VC and friend and Elon Musk and— Tim Marchman: And a podcast host. Makena Kelly: And podcast host, true, with all of his besties, is what he calls them. So there's a whole new group here. And then when you look at the appointees that Trump has made to the important agencies like the Commerce Department and Howard Lutnick or the SEC and Paul Atkins recently, the people in these positions of power to do these things are very excited about crypto and wanting to create whatever this light touch framework is that the crypto industry wants. The crypto industry is always saying that they want to be regulated, they just want to be regulated in a specific way. So now it seems much more likely that we'll actually see something get done. Tim Marchman: So one definite potential loser in Silicon Valley is TikTok, which filed an emergency motion in court this week to try to stop the US from banning it. For people who don't remember this, under the current quarter, TikTok has to be sold to an American owner or it will be banned in the US starting on January 19th. Makena, what do you think is going to happen, first with the court, but looking further out, what do you think TikTok looks like under Trump? Makena Kelly: I imagine that this is going to be really, really hard for them to get out of now. Trump has said that he wants to save TikTok, that all of the stuff that he did in his first administration, he doesn't really believe it anymore and he wants the app to stick around. The funniest thing that I saw recently from Trump was that he was actually posting pages of PDFs on Truth Social of all of his TikTok analytics and how well his TikToks did. So he loves the thing. But if this goes to SCOTUS, it's going to take several months, I imagine, and I don't know if someone like ByteDance wants to wait that much time and all of that uncertainty, they've already dealt with so much uncertainty whether the app could stay in the United States. And so I think we're getting closer to the idea that maybe someone like Frank McCourt, a billionaire or someone like Larry Ellison and Oracle maybe take over the app. That might be the more appetizing position for ByteDance and TikTok come next year. Tim Marchman: David, do you agree with that? David Gilbert: Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what happens because of, will Elon Musk have an influence over this? Will Mark Zuckerberg be able to influence him on this? Do they even care? Makena Kelly: Sorry, my chaos prediction would be that Elon Musk buys TikTok and then revives Vine. That would be the funniest thing that could happen, and maybe probably the worst thing. We already saw Elon Musk of course joking and doing a poll on X saying that, "Should I bring Vine back?" Because it was such a beloved app. Tim Marchman: I would be highly in favor of someone bringing Vine back. I don't know that Elon has proved to be a great product manager over the last couple of years. Makena Kelly: No. Tim Marchman: Obviously influencers and creators on TikTok and other platforms played a huge role in this election and really seemed to overshadow legacy media in a lot of ways. Musk in a lot of ways is the biggest example of that, philanthropist, billionaire, Iron Man, above all, he's probably an influencer at this point. Who are each of you looking at as a breakout person over maybe the next year or so? And also is there anyone who's influence you think might be on the wane? Let's start with you David. David Gilbert: We've had a lot of discussion over the last month or however long since the election happened where we've had this idea where the Left needs a version of Joe Rogan, even though Joe Rogan isn't necessarily right-wing in all his views, but this idea that a new left-wing superstar or podcaster or influencer needs to come along and do what they believe Joe Rogan did in the election. But I think that's just fundamentally flawed thinking. I think what happened more so is that there was just so many of these influencers and podcasters that the Trump campaign engaged with on a one-to-one basis. I was watching, for a story I was reporting the other day I was watching a ... Five days before the election, Kash Patel, who's now nominated as the FBI director, he was on a podcast on a platform called Pilled.net, which most people will never have heard of and never will hear of again. But he went on that podcast as part of the Trump campaign to, he was talking about going out to vote, getting people out to vote, and this was on a QAnon-adjacent show. And it's just that level of engagement with podcasters and influencers who aren't that prominent, I think that has had much more of an impact on the outcome, and that is something that I don't think people from the Democratic side really got or get yet, and I think that's what will need to happen. Tim Marchman: Last week, WIRED had its Big Interview event in San Francisco, and Mark Cuban spoke a bit about that. He didn't use this phrasing, so I'm loosely paraphrasing, but basically the idea being instead of looking for this person who's going to reach 30 million people, you have to go out there and talk to tons and tons and tons of people who might be reaching 30,000 people a piece. And that this idea of finding a new megaphone is probably a bit dated. I tend to agree with that myself. Makena, I'm curious what you think about both that dynamic and if there are any individual people you're looking at on the up and the down. Makena Kelly: Yeah, I think what you guys are talking about, what Mark Cuban talked about is really important. The Democrats, however, did spend a majority of their money on micro-influencers, I think, when you look at some of the data, it's people with under a hundred thousand followers. I think it has more to do, not with the influencers themselves, but the communities around them. Democrats and even Republicans in many ways, they see influencers as just a billboard of advertising when really what is important about them is that you want to engage with this not as advertising, but as organizing. And once you think about this as organizing, this is where we get into why people love Hasan Piker. Well, they like what he does, they like what he says, and engaging with him is fun. I was listening to an interview Hasan did on Tuesday night with FTC Chair Lina Khan. They're talking about a Kroger's decision, an antitrust decision, all of this stuff that typically would be fairly boring, but there was 40,000 concurrent viewers at the time, the chat was popping off and calling Khan based and all of this stuff. They were excited to participate, not just with Hasan, but with the people in the community. And so I think the important thing coming out of this election is not just finding the most wickedly talented or attractive or best communicator, but finding those engaged communities that can then influence each other as well. I think when I think about the biggest people who are winning, I am definitely surprised that Hasan Piker has the influence that he has now. He has been largely rejected by the Democratic Party as being someone that's a bit more progressive, he's pro-Palestine. He is louder on issues that the mainstream Democratic Party doesn't really want to talk about all the time. And so he was invited to the DNC. He had a whole booth set up to stream and do his thing for an entire day until he got kicked out. But that's another story. And then yesterday, he had Ta-Nehisi Coates on his stream, immediately after he had Lina Khan, and then he had a comedian afterwards. That is killer programming. That's the kind of thing that I think Democrats would be better off considering than all of this spending and advertising that they have been doing. And on the right, I don't necessarily think that the Nelk Boys are this far-right podcasting organization, but they have gotten really involved in politics this go around. They have created a voter outreach organization. They did multiple podcasts with Trump and the folks on their team, and that is the kind of audience that I think the Trump administration and the Republican Party is going after. They're going after a more fratty atmosphere. They're going after something that is a bit more Barstool Sports, and I think the Nelk Boys really fit in well there. Tim Marchman: We're a politics podcast, we're also a tech podcast. And this is a very broad question, but I'm curious, what are the potential developments in tech that you have your eye on next year, AI, quantum computing, biotech, anything you're just interested in, especially as it pertains to politics? Let's start with you David. David Gilbert: One of the most interesting conversations I had this year was with someone who is tracking dark web job boards and how Russian disinformation campaigns are advertising for AI experts, people who can build either large language models or they can develop tools that have no barriers because all the open source ones that are available at the moment have certain barriers on them that prevent these guys from doing things that they might want to do. So I think it would be really interesting to see if next year we actually get to the point where these disinformation campaigns have their own technologies that they can use and roll out at scale that will actually make a difference. Tim Marchman: And how about you, Makena? Makena Kelly : Something I've been reading a lot about that I'm obsessed with reading about is human brain organoids and how this very quickly has this technology been ramping up to the fact that you can use a biological brain created in a lab to run software. And I imagine that maybe we might see some folks putting a lot more research and funding into that. I think it's fascinating, and I do think that there ... I'm curious about when we talk about computing power and needing so much energy for crypto or AI, I want to see if this kind of new biological processing tech gets involved in it and all. Tim Marchman: That's a great answer. I am going to rudely answer my own question and say that I think Signal will be the defining tech of 2025. Everyone should download it and use it. It's an end-end encrypted communications app. If you set disappearing messages and the head of the FBI wants to see your comms, he won't be able to get them because they won't exist. The obvious upside is privacy for journalists, researchers, congressional ... Anyone who might come under the eye of Sauron from the administration. The downside is that there's probably going to be a lot of communications that journalists have relied on being able to get out of the government, whether via the Freedom of Information Act or even discovery and lawsuits, that is just not going to exist anymore. And in the long term, this might even be a pretty significant challenge for historians and archivists, though probably no one is too concerned about them right now, although they should be. We'll be right back to talk more about what's coming up in Trump's second term. Tim Marchman: Welcome back to WIRED Politics Lab . Let's get right into it, which of the Trump cabinet picks, assuming they're all confirmed, are you going to be watching most closely and why? Let's start with you Makena. Makena Kelly: I am going to pay the most attention to who is expected to be the new FCC chair, Brendan Carr. He posts all the time on X how much he wants to expand Starlink, an Elon Musk's technology. And he also talks about, he's gone after TikTok. He's also of the mind that the FCC can regulate online speech, which is something that it has never done before and is not necessarily in its charter. So I am curious to see how far this goes or if it is this realignment Republican conservative mask that he may have been wearing for the last couple of years. Tim Marchman: How about you, David? David Gilbert: There's just so many to pick from. Like what is Kimberly Guilfoyle going to do as ambassador to Greece? That worries me a little bit. Makena Kelly: Chilling. David Gilbert: But I think for me, I'm going to be very closely looking at what Kash Patel does as the head of the FBI. No more so for the reason that his appointment has reinvigorated the QAnon community to an extent that I haven't seen it in quite a long while because he's obviously quite linked to that community. He's given it support in the past. He's mentioned in two Q drops and they believe that his appointment as head of the FBI will usher in mass arrests, public executions, and this glorious new age for America. Tim Marchman: I am going to be keeping an eye on RFK Jr. because he has said he's going to stop the FDA's war on sunshine, and I want to know how he carries that out. One of the big questions is whether the Trump Justice Department under figures like Pam Bondi and Kash Patel will pursue investigations of his political rivals, his enemies and various people he has claimed he will bring the weight of the law against. What do you think, David? David Gilbert: I think if they can, they will. One of the things that they come back to constantly is this idea that they are going to eradicate the deep state, which is this kind of amorphous term for someone within the Justice Department or the federal government that has been working against Trump, which that's core QAnon conspiracy belief, which has now become Republican orthodoxy, that there is this deep state working against Trump and he's fighting back against them. And Pam Bondi and Kash Patel are two of the most loyal figures within Trump world, and they are, from what they have said publicly, willing to do exactly what he wants. So he said in, I think, a Meet the Press interview during the week that he wouldn't be directing them, but at the same time, I think a minute later said that he wanted the people who were involved in the January 6th Committee to be prosecuted. So he's clearly got a list of people he wants to investigate, and Pam Bondi and Kash Patel seem to be willing to do whatever he asks them. Now whether they're allowed to do it from a legal perspective, I think that's up in the air at the moment. Tim Marchman: Yeah. Makena, what do you see as barriers either legal or political with investigations here? Makena Kelly: I don't know. That is a hard one because what are norms and what are systems anymore? Tim Marchman: I think that's a great answer, honestly. I think we should just move on. So one thing we've covered extensively this year is the Stop the Steal movement, which has been regrouping in the wake of Trump's victory. David, I imagine you have some predictions on where the movement goes from here. First, who do you think Trump is going to pick to be his election czar, the head of the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency? Is he going to go with the MyPillow Guy? David Gilbert: Yeah, Mike Lindell, when I spoke to him last month, he very clearly was willing to step up into whatever or any role that Donald Trump is willing to give him around elections to secure because the Stop the Steal movement is going nowhere. They've spent four years building this massive network, hugely well-funded and influential, and with a network of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of volunteers all across the country. They're already talking about the midterm elections in 2026 and the fact that the war isn't over, that everything they've done till now has only proven that the system was corrupt in 2020 and that they need to continue to make improvements to it. So the Stop the Steal movement is going nowhere. Whether Trump appoints someone specifically to oversee elections, I don't know. The fact that he's won now I think is all that he wanted. He doesn't really care about the nuances of electoral law across the country and whether that gets better or not because, at the moment, at least come 2028, he won't be running for election again. Tim Marchman: Makena, Trump has obviously been made a sort of temporary monarch by the Supreme Court, which has said that pretty much anything he does as president, or at least anything he can semi plausibly claim was official business, he can't be held accountable for it. He's immune from prosecution. Is there anything you can think of that he would do that would cause a significant backlash even among his supporters? And I want to differentiate between two classes of supporters, one being the public, especially the hardcore MAGA base, and the other Congressional Republicans who unlike him have elections to look at. Makena Kelly: At this point I do think Trump can get away with anything. When he was running for president the first time he said that, "He could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and get away with it." And with all of the lawsuits and court appearances and everything, indictments that he's undergone over the last couple of years, he's gotten away scot-free. So I have a hard time believing anything can catch him at this point. David Gilbert: I agree with Makena. I think he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it. I think he can do pretty much anything he wants because he'll be able to blame anyone, everyone, for failing to complete the promises, like for example, the mass deportations that he's promising. There's this rhetoric, this belief out there that on day one there's going to be these massive sweeps of immigrant communities and they're going to get rid of a million people in the first year, according to JD Vance. But when that doesn't happen and it won't happen, then people will just either forget about it and move on or Trump will claim that he's doing something in the background and it's happening and people don't see it, or ... These Trump supporters have been so convinced and so brainwashed over the years to believe anything he tells them. Makena Kelly: Actually just thought of one thing. Part of the Heritage Foundation's plan for a Trump administration was to ban porn. And with all the child safety bills that are going to affect, if they actually get passed next year and we're required to do this online verification and porn gets banned, I can definitely see some people being pretty upset and being mad. Tim Marchman: I agree with that, and I will also differ with the two of you in that I think foreign adventurism, the whole machinery of the imperial presidency tends toward it, no matter what Trump's anti-war rhetoric is, it's also matched by him loosely talking about things like invading Mexico. And with all the chaos in the world, especially in the Middle East, I think there's a reasonably high percentage of something going catastrophically wrong involving the US military that gets hung around his neck and I think that would have the potential to really scramble what seemed to be very set politics right now. David Gilbert: But do you think it'd make any difference because Trump's not going to care if people turn on him, especially the voters because he doesn't need them anymore? Tim Marchman: I don't think he does, but he does need Congress, which is pretty deferential right now, but that can turn, and we have seen that turn very quickly. So I'll just say there's some potential there. Christian nationalists helped Trump win the White House this year just like they did in 2016. What do you think they're going to demand from Trump as payment, and will they get it? How about you, Makena? We may have just answered that question. Makena Kelly: Yeah, I think there's two things, maybe putting forth a federal abortion ban. That is definitely something that I imagine Christian nationals wanting, they're already pushing for those kinds of things. And then of course, like I mentioned, a porn ban. And so I imagine those are maybe the two big things. David Gilbert: David, I think quite a sizable proportion of them will want more. I think especially education is where they'll want a major shift towards the right in terms of putting Christianity back at the center of the education system. We're already seeing it in Florida where Liberty University has, a Christian university, has signed contracts with certain public school boards in the state, and that allows their students to go into public schools in Florida and teach classes and take part in the education there. So there's already beginning to be a bit of creep there in terms of Christian ideology making its way into public schools. And I think that's where a lot of the Christian nationalists I listen to at least want to see the biggest change. Tim Marchman: Finally, this is a very important one for me personally, will Trump's administration finally declassify information about UFOs and the JFK assassination? We're talking Roswell, hidden files, videotapes, all sorts of things that are rumored to exist, and if so, what's in there? David? David Gilbert: What's in there? Oh, wow, that's a big question. They promised to do it. I guess there's a chance that they will. If they do, I don't think there's going to be proof of aliens. Sorry, Tim. Tim Marchman: What about you, Makena? Makena Kelly: I feel like I have this folk story in my head, and maybe it's real, I need to check, but of Jimmy Carter upon entering office, he saw some UFO files and wept, and he never said anything about it again. Tim Marchman: I believe I've heard this too. Makena Kelly: Yeah, and I don't know if it's real. I just tried to do some searching. And thinking about Trump finding these things out, I don't know if he would release them. I wouldn't be optimistic. Tim Marchman: I don't believe they're going to release anything because he was already president and did not release the material in question. I believe that what the secret files would show if declassified is that the US engaged in a cover-up of Lee Harvey Oswald and his relationship to the Soviet Union in fears that if it were made public, it would lead to a nuclear war. And that much of the subsequent cover-up has been a cover-up of the cover-up. And I believe that the UFO files would show that extraterrestrial biological entities crashed in New Mexico in the 1940s and led the US government on a voyage of discovery about the nature of the universe, that includes aliens having created well-known religious figures throughout human history as guides to give humans instructions on how not to damage their bodies which are containers for souls that aliens are harvesting for energy. This has been the theory, at least that many UFO proponents have been putting out there since the 1980s, and I of course firmly believe it's true, maybe Donald Trump will confirm that. Makena and David, thank you so much for being here. When we come back, it's time for our last ever Conspiracy of the Week. Tim Marchman: Welcome back to WIRED Politics Lab . This is Conspiracy of the Week, that part of the show where our guests bring their favorite conspiracy theories and I will be judging in Leah's place. The winner this week gets to brag about it forever, so I hope both of you brought something good. Makena, let's start with you. Makena Kelly: Yeah, I'm glad that you brought up aliens and the JFK assassination because I'm going to complete the trifecta with this. One of the conspiracy theories that I think has gotten its time in the sky, shall we say, this year, has been chemtrails. These are the trails that planes leave as they fly in the sky, apparently spreading all of these chemicals and ruining and poisoning us, when really it is just water vapor. Just earlier this year with the hurricane in North Carolina there were conspiracies about chemtrails taking place there. Lawmakers in Tennessee passed a bill having to do with something and regulating chemtrails, crazy stuff. But this week, oh my gosh, I lost it when I saw this. There was what appeared to be a satirical joke online about a Lufthansa pilot denying to spray chemtrails on his son while piloting a plane. He took a grandstand apparently and said, "I will not do it." And the chemtrail, I guess we can call it the chemtrail community, was really thrilled with it. And it's not true, it was a joke. Yeah. Tim Marchman: All right. What do you got, David? David Gilbert: I just want to say that chemtrails in Ireland, the conspiracy groups right now are huge. We seem to suddenly have the conspiracy groups here in Ireland, have seemed to discover chemtrails. So I must share that with them because they love it. So yeah, my conspiracy this week ca with Luigi Mangione , who is the alleged shooter in the United Healthcare CEO assassination. And soon after he was arrested and pictures of him came out , almost immediately, there were a ton of conspiracy theories about the fact that he wasn't the actual shooter. He was either a patsy that Nancy Pelosi had placed there because of her links to his family, or many other conspiracies. My favorite one was the conspiracists who started analyzing his eyebrows because in the pictures that first came out, before he was identified, you could only see his eyes, so his eyebrows were kind of this big thing where people were looking at his eyebrows and because they're quite impressive. But now when his identity has been revealed, people are zooming in on his eyebrows and claiming that it's not the same person, that they have done a hair by hair analysis in some cases where people are looking at the eyebrows and saying that this cannot be the same person. There are avowed eyebrow experts on Telegram who are claiming that this is absolutely 100% not the same person. And as our colleague Tess Owen told me this morning, there is a conspiracy around that there is an eyebrow assassination group or a group of assassins with magnificent eyebrows that he's a part of. So I'm looking forward to seeing where this eyebrow conspiracy goes in the future. Tim Marchman: OK. I'm sorry, Makena, but I think we have a clear winner here, eyebrow forensics, assassins who can be identified by their magnificent eyebrows— David Gilbert: It's the new phrenology. Tim Marchman: That is a great final conspiracy of the week. And I think with that, thank you again for joining me today, and thank you for having joined Politics Lab all throughout the year. Do you have any final words for our listeners? Makena Kelly: I will plug one last thing, and that will be the newsletter, which we'll carry on, so you can subscribe to that newsletter in the show notes. David Gilbert: I would also urge everyone to subscribe to Makena's newsletter because it's really great, and I would like people to continue spreading the craziest conspiracy theories online because it keeps me entertained every week. Tim Marchman: This is our last episode of WIRED Politics Lab . Leah, our usual host, was unfortunately unable to be here today, but she did pass along a note to share with you, which I will now read. She says, "My favorite part of hosting this podcast was being able to bring WIRED stories from across the newsroom, and particularly the politics desk, to this entirely new format. While this podcast is ending, these stories aren't going anywhere. These reporters aren't going anywhere. And with Trump 2.0 looming on the horizon, we're more committed than ever to addressing extremism, disinformation, techno-fascism, the rise of Elon Musk, the rise of Pod Bros, and even the rise of Peanut the Squirrel, and dissecting that for all our audiences. A shout-out to you, our listeners who decided to take a chance on this podcast. This was such a privilege. I'm able to offer a few pieces of advice for the coming year, keep an eye on the news, but not too much. Keep an eye on your friends quite a bit. Keep your family and loved ones close, and find things that bring you joy. Always feel free to write to me at leah_feiger@wired.com . I so look forward to hearing from you, and thanks for listening.” And that does it for WIRED Politics Lab . You can still find WIRED politics coverage online and by signing up for the WIRED Politics Newsletter , which Makena writes week. If you have a moment, please subscribe to our other podcast, Uncanny Valley , which is excellent. Special thanks to our producer, Jake Harper and the rest of our production team that made the show possible. Pran Bandi is our studio engineer, Amar Lal mixed this episode, Steven Valentino is our executive producer. Chris Bannon is Global Head of Audio at Condé Nast. And I'm Tim Marchman. Thanks for listening to the show.FBI investigating a rise in cryptocurrency scams as popularity rises

Chennai grapples with a pressing urban challenge: its stray dog population. Residents report frequent encounters with aggressive packs. The issue spotlights public safety, especially of children, the elderly, and gig workers. In response, the Greater Chennai Corporation is expanding its sterilisation programme under the Chennai-Care for Animals Project. Three modern animal birth control centres are set to help the civic body ramp up sterilisation. In its second general body meeting report, the Alliance of Residents’ Welfare Associations (AORWA) claims a significant increase in the stray dog population in the city. A recent survey put the ratio of stray dogs to residents at 2:100, points out the report. It says the World Health Organization has recorded 20,000 deaths in India due to rabies from dog bites in the past year. The report also points to the incidents of stray dogs attacking and harassing residents, especially children and the elderly. Online discussions and social media posts by residents highlight rising encounters with aggressive dogs, especially for delivery executives who work at night. Call for different approach While the authorities in south and central Chennai have initiated sterilisation programmes, residents say these efforts may not be enough to curb the stray dog population. They have called for a different approach to tackling the issue: more sterilisation; strict regulation of pet ownership; and severe penalties for abandoning pets and irresponsible breeding practices. Some suggested utilising veterinary college students to assist in sterilisation procedures and implementing a trap-neuter-release programme for non-aggressive dogs. Sheridon, a feeder in Chennai, who suffered a dog bite once, says more than 90% of the residents are unaware of the animal birth control procedures. He calls for public action. He cites a recent incident in which a breed dog was abandoned. Subsequently, the dog turned ferocious in an unfamiliar environment and attacked people. While the immediate measure, resorted to even by the police, was to hand over the dog to Blue Cross, Mr. Sheridon says people must know that the Greater Chennai Corporation runs animal birth control centres, where dogs can be spayed. He also points to the importance of responsible pet ownership and the consequences of abandoning pets. Consistent feeding and healthy diet As for people discouraging feeders, he says undernourished dogs are not the primary cause of over-population. “Even without regular feeding, dogs will multiply and scavenge. Consistent feeding and ensuring a healthy diet are important. Along with this, regular animal birth control surgeries and check-ups need to be done by feeders and people,” he says. By explaining to people the behaviour of dogs and the role of feeding in creating friendly dogs, feeders can dispel the myths, Mr. Sheridon says. The feeder says that there are almost no unprovoked attacks by dogs — unless they have been infected or hurt. People may not have instigated an attack; the attack may be the result of their shooing them off. “In such situations, remaining calm, avoiding eye contact, and minimising movement can help to ease the situation,” he suggests. Mr. Sheridon opposes the idea of impounding stray dogs, citing the high cost of maintenance. He urges individuals to take responsibility for their pets and contribute to community-based solutions for managing stray dogs through NGOs and residents’ welfare associations. However, Nagarjunan J.M.S., of the AORWA, says dogs roaming in packs are tough for people to handle. He calls for a policy to impound stray dogs. The Greater Chennai Corporation is yet to inaugurate three additional animal birth control centres of which construction completed recently. These centres have come up under the Chennai-Care for Animals Project, which is part of Singara Chennai 2.0. According to the Corporation’s Public Health Department, these centres, located at Lloyd’s Colony, Kannammapet, and Pulianthope, will be opened after a minor work is over. Asked whether stray dogs could be sheltered at these centres during the rains, an official said it would be considered in the coming years. These centres are designed to conduct sterilisation surgeries for 30 dogs a day. This ₹20-crore project will help to increase Chennai’s dog sterilisation capacity to 27,000 a year. Each centre will be equipped with 100 kennels and 40 cages that can be brought in vehicles to take street dogs for sterilisation. The stainless-steel kennels are meant for sheltering the animals after the surgery, an official says. The official says anti-skid tiles are used at these centres as they are suitable for the dogs’ paws. Earlier, the Corporation Council approved a resolution to conduct 50,000 animal birth control surgeries a year. “The 27,000 surgeries planned will be part of the 50,000 surgeries aimed. Two more centres will come up at Ariyalur (Ward 17) and Perungudi (Ward 184). The land has been identified and the cost is being estimated,” the official adds. Check-up at old centres In March, employees of the old animal birth control centre at Kannammapet requested for replacement of the rusted gates. “The old gates were replaced by the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Corporation recently. The old animal birth control centres may be used for regular check-ups and treatment, while the new centres could be used for surgeries. At the Pulianthope pound, the ground will be used for dogs to stroll,” the official says. Published - November 24, 2024 10:35 pm IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Chennai / Chennai Corporation

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The AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . ATHENS, Ohio (AP) — AJ Clayton scored 16 points as Ohio beat Robert Morris 84-68 on Saturday. Clayton had seven rebounds for the Bobcats (3-5). Victor Searls scored 14 points and added seven rebounds. Jackson Paveletzke and Aidan Hadaway both scored 11 points. The Colonials (6-3) were led by Josh Omojafo, who recorded 15 points. Antallah Sandlin’El added 14 points for Robert Morris. Alvaro Folgueiras finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. The loss ended a six-game winning streak for the Colonials. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Worthington Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: WOR), a market-leading designer and manufacturer of innovative products and solutions that serve customers in the building products and consumer products end markets, today reported results for its fiscal 2025 second quarter ended November 30, 2024. Second Quarter Highlights (all comparisons to the second quarter of fiscal 2024): Net sales of $274.0 million, decreased 8% driven by the deconsolidation of the former Sustainable Energy Solutions segment (“SES”) Adjusted EPS of $0.60 from continuing operations (diluted), up 5% and adjusted EBITDA of $56.2 million, up 2%, despite lower net sales Repurchased 200,000 shares of common stock for $8.1 million leaving 5,715,000 shares remaining on the Company’s share repurchase authorization Declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share payable on March 28, 2025, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 14, 2025 Financial highlights, on a continuing operations basis, for the current year and prior year quarters are as follows: “We delivered solid financial results for the quarter despite mild but persistent macro headwinds, achieving year over year and sequential growth in adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS,” said Worthington Enterprises President and CEO Joe Hayek. “Consumer Products’ earnings growth was driven by increased volumes and improved gross margins. Building Products generated higher earnings driven by the inclusion of Ragasco and stronger contributions from WAVE." Consolidated Quarterly Results Net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 were $274.0 million, a decrease of $24.2 million, or 8.1%, from the prior year quarter, primarily driven by the deconsolidation of SES during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. Net sales in the prior year quarter include $27.5 million related to SES, which is now operated as an unconsolidated joint venture and results are reported within equity income on the consolidated statement of earnings beginning June 1, 2024. Operating income of $3.5 million was favorable $17.9 million to the operating loss in the prior year quarter due to certain nonrecurring effects of the separation of the former Steel Processing business (“Separation”) in the prior year, including one-time Separation costs and stranded corporate costs eliminated post-Separation, partially offset by higher restructuring and other expense in the current quarter. Excluding these items, adjusted operating income was $6.1 million, an increase of $3.8 million over the prior year quarter, primarily driven by the inclusion of Ragasco, which was acquired on June 3, 2024, along with higher overall gross margin. Equity income decreased $4.1 million from the prior year quarter to $34.6 million, on lower contributions from ClarkDietrich in the current year quarter and the $2.8 million gain in the prior year quarter related to the divestiture of the Brazilian operations of the engineered cabs joint venture. These headwinds were partially offset by a $3.1 million increase in equity earnings from WAVE. ClarkDietrich contributed equity earnings of $9.7 million, down $4.0 million from the prior year quarter, but up $1.0 million sequentially from the first quarter of fiscal 2025. Income tax expense was $9.1 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to $6.6 million in the prior year quarter. The increase was driven by higher pre-tax earnings from continuing operations, partially offset by a lower estimated annual effective tax rate of 24.1%, down from 25.7% in the prior year quarter. Balance Sheet and Cash Flow The Company ended the quarter with cash of $193.8 million, down $50.4 million from May 31, 2024, primarily driven by the acquisition of Ragasco. During the second quarter, the Company generated operating cash flow of $49.1 million, of which $15.2 million was invested in capital projects, including approximately $4.9 million related to previously announced facility modernization projects. Total debt at quarter end consisted entirely of long-term debt and was relatively unchanged from May 31, 2024, at $295.7 million. The Company had no borrowings under its revolving credit facility as of November 30, 2024, leaving $500.0 million available for future use. Quarterly Segment Results Consumer Products generated net sales of $116.7 million during the second quarter of fiscal 2025, down $2.6 million, or 2.2%, from the prior year quarter, primarily driven by a less favorable product mix that was partially offset by higher volumes. Adjusted EBITDA was $15.5 million, up $2.8 million over the prior year quarter, on the combined impact of higher volumes and gross margin improvement partially offset by higher SG&A expense. Building Products generated net sales of $157.3 million during the second quarter of fiscal 2025, an increase of $6.0 million, or 4.0%, over the prior year quarter on contributions from Ragasco, partially offset by lower overall volumes. Adjusted EBITDA of $47.2 million, was up $1.4 million over the prior year quarter, as contributions from Ragasco and higher equity income from WAVE were partially offset by the combined impact of lower volumes and lower contributions of equity income from ClarkDietrich. Outlook “Our team continues to navigate the current environment effectively, maintaining a strong focus on delivering value-added solutions and products for our customers,” Hayek said. “While we are pleased with our performance, we continue to set our sights higher. We have improved our value propositions in multiple product lines over the last year, and we are very well positioned as growth returns to our end markets. Led by our people-first, performance-based culture, leveraging a solid balance sheet and a commitment to transformation, innovation and M&A, we are confident in our ability to optimize our business, drive sustainable growth and deliver long-term value to our shareholders.” Conference Call The Company will review fiscal 2025 second quarter results during its quarterly conference call on December 18, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Details regarding the conference call can be found on the Company website at www.WorthingtonEnterprises.com. About Worthington Enterprises Worthington Enterprises (NYSE: WOR) is a designer and manufacturer of market-leading brands that help enable people to live safer, healthier and more expressive lives. The Company operates with two primary business segments: Building Products and Consumer Products. The Building Products segment includes cooking, heating, cooling and water solutions, architectural and acoustical grid ceilings and metal framing and accessories. The Consumer Products segment provides solutions for the tools, outdoor living and celebrations categories. Product brands within the Worthington Enterprises portfolio include Balloon Time®, Bernzomatic®, Coleman® (propane cylinders), CoMet®, Garden Weasel®, General®, HALOTM, HawkeyeTM, Level5 Tools®, Mag Torch®, NEXITM, Pactool International®, PowerCoreTM, Ragasco®, Well-X-Trol® and XLiteTM, among others. The Company also serves the growing global hydrogen ecosystem via a joint venture focused on on-board fueling systems and gas containment solutions. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Worthington Enterprises and its joint ventures employ approximately 6,000 people throughout North America and Europe. Founded in 1955 as Worthington Industries, Worthington Enterprises follows a people-first Philosophy with earning money for its shareholders as its first corporate goal. Worthington Enterprises achieves this outcome by empowering its employees to innovate, thrive and grow with leading brands in attractive markets that improve everyday life. The Company engages deeply with local communities where it has operations through volunteer efforts and The Worthington Companies Foundation , participates actively in workforce development programs and reports annually on its corporate citizenship and sustainability efforts . For more information, visit worthingtonenterprises.com . Safe Harbor Statement Selected statements contained in this release constitute “forward-looking statements,” as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). The Company wishes to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions included in the Act. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s current expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events. These statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “may,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “likely,” “estimate,” “project,” “position,” “strategy,” “target,” “aim,” “seek,” “foresee” and similar words or phrases. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to: future or expected cash positions, liquidity and ability to access financial markets and capital; outlook, strategy or business plans; the anticipated benefits of the separation of the Company’s Steel Processing business (the “Separation); the expected financial and operational performance of, and future opportunities for, the Company following the Separation; the Company’s performance on a pro forma basis to illustrate the estimated effects of the Separation on historical periods; the tax treatment of the Separation transaction; future or expected growth, growth potential, forward momentum, performance, competitive position, sales, volumes, cash flows, earnings, margins, balance sheet strengths, debt, financial condition or other financial measures; pricing trends for raw materials and finished goods and the impact of pricing changes; the ability to improve or maintain margins; expected demand or demand trends for the Company or its markets; additions to product lines and opportunities to participate in new markets; expected benefits from transformation and innovation efforts; the ability to improve performance and competitive position at the Company’s operations; anticipated working capital needs, capital expenditures and asset sales; anticipated improvements and efficiencies in costs, operations, sales, inventory management, sourcing and the supply chain and the results thereof; projected profitability potential; the ability to make acquisitions and the projected timing, results, benefits, costs, charges and expenditures related to acquisitions, joint ventures, headcount reductions and facility dispositions, shutdowns and consolidations; projected capacity and the alignment of operations with demand; the ability to operate profitably and generate cash in down markets; the ability to capture and maintain market share and to develop or take advantage of future opportunities, customer initiatives, new businesses, new products and new markets; expectations for Company and customer inventories, jobs and orders; expectations for the economy and markets or improvements therein; expectations for generating improving and sustainable earnings, earnings potential, margins or shareholder value; effects of judicial rulings; the ever-changing effects of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic and the various responses of governmental and nongovernmental authorities thereto on economies and markets, and on our customers, counterparties, employees and third-party service providers; and other non-historical matters. Because they are based on beliefs, estimates and assumptions, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Any number of factors could affect actual results, including, without limitation, those that follow: the uncertainty of obtaining regulatory approvals in connection with the Separation, including rulings from the Internal Revenue Service; the Company’s ability to successfully realize the anticipated benefits of the Separation; the risks, uncertainties and impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic – the duration, extent and severity of which are impossible to predict, including the possibility of future resurgence in the spread of COVID-19 or variants thereof – and the availability, effectiveness and acceptance of vaccines, and other actual or potential public health emergencies and actions taken by governmental authorities or others in connection therewith; the effect of national, regional and global economic conditions generally and within major product markets, including significant economic disruptions from COVID-19, the actions taken in connection therewith and the implementation of related fiscal stimulus packages; the effect of conditions in national and worldwide financial markets, including inflation, increases in interest rates and economic recession, and with respect to the ability of financial institutions to provide capital; the impact of tariffs, the adoption of trade restrictions affecting the Company’s products or suppliers, a United States withdrawal from or significant renegotiation of trade agreements, the occurrence of trade wars, the closing of border crossings, and other changes in trade regulations or relationships; changing oil prices and/or supply; product demand and pricing; changes in product mix, product substitution and market acceptance of the Company’s products; volatility or fluctuations in the pricing, quality or availability of raw materials (particularly steel), supplies, transportation, utilities, labor and other items required by operations (especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine); effects of sourcing and supply chain constraints; the outcome of adverse claims experience with respect to workers’ compensation, product recalls or product liability, casualty events or other matters; effects of facility closures and the consolidation of operations; the effect of financial difficulties, consolidation and other changes within the steel, automotive, construction and other industries in which the Company participates; failure to maintain appropriate levels of inventories; financial difficulties (including bankruptcy filings) of original equipment manufacturers, end-users and customers, suppliers, joint venture partners and others with whom the Company does business; the ability to realize targeted expense reductions from headcount reductions, facility closures and other cost reduction efforts; the ability to realize cost savings and operational, sales and sourcing improvements and efficiencies, and other expected benefits from transformation initiatives, on a timely basis; the overall success of, and the ability to integrate, newly-acquired businesses and joint ventures, maintain and develop their customers, and achieve synergies and other expected benefits and cost savings therefrom; capacity levels and efficiencies, within facilities, within major product markets and within the industries in which the Company participates as a whole; the effect of disruption in the business of suppliers, customers, facilities and shipping operations due to adverse weather, casualty events, equipment breakdowns, labor shortages, interruption in utility services, civil unrest, international conflicts (especially in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), terrorist activities or other causes; changes in customer demand, inventories, spending patterns, product choices, and supplier choices; risks associated with doing business internationally, including economic, political and social instability (especially in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), foreign currency exchange rate exposure and the acceptance of the Company’s products in global markets; the ability to improve and maintain processes and business practices to keep pace with the economic, competitive and technological environment; the effect of inflation, interest rate increases and economic recession, which may negatively impact the Company’s operations and financial results; deviation of actual results from estimates and/or assumptions used by the Company in the application of its significant accounting policies; the level of imports and import prices in the Company’s markets; the impact of environmental laws and regulations or the actions of the United States Environmental Protection Agency or similar regulators which increase costs or limit the Company’s ability to use or sell certain products; the impact of increasing environmental, greenhouse gas emission and sustainability regulations and considerations; the impact of judicial rulings and governmental regulations, both in the United States and abroad, including those adopted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other governmental agencies as contemplated by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010; the effect of healthcare laws in the United States and potential changes for such laws, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which may increase the Company’s healthcare and other costs and negatively impact the Company’s operations and financial results; the effects of tax laws in the United States and potential changes for such laws, which may increase the Company’s costs and negatively impact the Company’s operations and financial results; cyber security risks; the effects of privacy and information security laws and standards; and other risks described from time to time in the Company’s filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including those described in “Part I – Item 1A. – Risk Factors” of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2024. Forward-looking statements should be construed in the light of such risks. The Company notes these factors for investors as contemplated by the Act. It is impossible to predict or identify all potential risk factors. Consequently, readers should not consider the foregoing list to be a complete set of all potential risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company does not undertake, and hereby disclaims, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. WORTHINGTON ENTERPRISES, INC. NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (In thousands, except units and per share amounts The following provides a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted operating income, adjusted earnings before income taxes, adjusted income tax expense (benefit), adjusted net earnings from continuing operations attributable to controlling interest, and adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations attributable to controlling interest, from their most comparable GAAP measure for the three and six months ended November 30, 2024 and 2023. Refer to the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Definitions section herein and non-GAAP footnotes below for further information on these measures. To further assist in the analysis of segment results for the three and six months ended November 30, 2024 and 2023 the following supplemental information has been provided. Reconciliations of adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations and adjusted EBITDA margin from continuing operations to the most comparable GAAP measures are provided below. A reconciliation from earnings before income taxes from continuing operations to the non-GAAP financial measure of adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations for the each of the periods presented is provided below. WORTHINGTON ENTERPRISES, INC. USE OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES AND DEFINITIONS NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES. These materials include certain financial measures that are not calculated and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). The non-GAAP financial measures typically exclude items that management believes are not reflective of, and thus should not be included when evaluating the performance of the Company’s ongoing operations. Management uses the non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate the Company’s performance, engage in financial and operational planning, and determine incentive compensation. Management believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful supplemental information and additional perspective on the performance of the Company’s ongoing operations and should not be considered as an alternative to the comparable GAAP measure. Additionally, management believes these non-GAAP financial measures allow for meaningful comparisons and analysis of trends in the Company’s businesses and enable investors to evaluate operations and future prospects in the same manner as management. The following provides an explanation of each non-GAAP financial measure presented in these materials: Adjusted operating income (loss) is defined as operating income (loss) excluding the items listed below, to the extent naturally included in operating income (loss). Adjusted net earnings from continuing operations is defined as net earnings from continuing operations attributable to controlling interest (“net earnings from continuing operations”) excluding the after-tax effect of the excluded items outlined below. Adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations (“Adjusted EPS from continuing operations”) is defined as adjusted net earnings from continuing operations divided by diluted weighted-average shares outstanding). Adjusted EBITDA is defined as adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. EBITDA is calculated by adding or subtracting, as appropriate, interest expense, net, income tax expense, depreciation, and amortization to/from net earnings from continuing operations attributable to controlling interest, which is further adjusted to exclude impairment and restructuring charges (gains) as well as other items that management believes are not reflective of, and thus should not be included when evaluating the performance of its ongoing operations, as outlined below. Adjusted EBITDA also excludes stock-based compensation due to its non-cash nature, which is consistent with how management assesses operating performance. At the segment level, adjusted EBITDA includes expense allocations for centralized corporate back-office functions that exist to support the day-to-day business operations. Public company and other governance costs are held at the corporate-level. Adjusted EBITDA margin is calculated by dividing adjusted EBITDA by net sales. Exclusions from Non-GAAP Financial Measures Management believes it is useful to exclude the following items from the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this report for its own and investors’ assessment of the business for the reasons identified below. Additionally, management may exclude other items from the Non-GAAP financial measures that do not occur in the ordinary course of our ongoing business operations and note them in the reconciliation from earnings before income taxes from continuing operations to the non-GAAP financial measure of adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations. Impairment charges are excluded because they do not occur in the ordinary course of our ongoing business operations, are inherently unpredictable in timing and amount, and are non-cash, which we believe facilitates the comparison of historical, current and forecasted financial results. Restructuring activities, which can result in both discrete gains and/or losses, consist of established programs that are not part of our ongoing operations, such as divestitures, closing or consolidating facilities, employee severance (including rationalizing headcount or other significant changes in personnel), and realignment of existing operations (including changes to management structure in response to underlying performance and/or changing market conditions). These items are excluded because they are not part of the ongoing operations of our underlying business. Separation costs, which consist of direct and incremental costs incurred in connection with the completed Separation are excluded as they are one-time in nature and are not expected to occur in period following the Separation. These costs include fees paid to third-party advisors, such as investment banking, audit and other advisory services as well as direct and incremental costs associated with the Separation of shared corporate functions. Results in the current fiscal year also include incremental compensation expense associated with the modification of unvested short and long-term incentive compensation awards, as required under the employee matters agreement executed in conjunction with the Separation. Loss on early extinguishment of debt is excluded because it does not occur in the normal course of business and may obscure analysis of trends and financial performance. Additionally, the amount and frequency of this type of charge is not consistent and is significantly impacted by the timing and size of debt extinguishment transactions. Corporate costs eliminated at Separation are those costs that were related to corporate resources that, post-Separation, no longer exist to support the Company’s continuing operations, but were not clearly identifiable to the former Steel Processing segment. Sonya L. Higginbotham Senior Vice President Chief of Corporate Affairs, Communications and Sustainability 614.438.7391 sonya.higginbotham@wthg.com Marcus A. Rogier Treasurer and Investor Relations Officer 614.840.4663 marcus.rogier@wthg.com 200 West Old Wilson Bridge Rd. Columbus, Ohio 43085 WorthingtonEnterprises.com

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam , Dec. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The HoSkar Night series has become a favorite event for hospitality and real estate professionals across Asia , connecting industry leaders, developers, and innovators in a vibrant networking atmosphere. In 2024, the series embarked on an incredible journey, covering major cities such as Ho Chi Minh City , Hanoi , Phnom Penh , Bangkok , and Manila cementing its status as a key platform for meaningful dialogue and collaboration in the industry. Launched in 2024, the HoSkar Talk - Developers Seminar marked a new milestone, bringing industry professionals together to discuss critical topics shaping the future of the hospitality and real estate industries. Looking ahead to 2025, the HoSkar Talk will dive deep into themes such as Wellness in Real Estate, Branded Residences, Technological Advancements in Hospitality, F&B Trends, and Design in Project Development. Mark your calendars for the 2025 event series, scheduled in key cities across the region: Bangkok (8th May), Phnom Penh (29th May), Manila (19th June), Ho Chi Minh City (10th July), Hanoi (29th October), Dubai (6th November) and Ho Chi Minh City (27th November). HoSkar Night calendar 2025 Brought to you by WeHub, the largest community for hospitality and real estate developers, as well as senior industry professionals in the region. With its commitment to fostering innovation, collaboration, and growth, WeHub provides a robust platform for members to share knowledge, explore opportunities, and stay ahead in a competitive market. HoSkar Night would not be possible without the incredible support of our sponsors and partners. If you'd like to showcase your brand, share your expertise, or collaborate with us to make 2025 even more impactful, we'd love to hear from you. For sponsorship and collaboration inquiries, contact us at [email protected] . Visit the HoSkar Night website at https://hoskarnight.com/ or find out more information at WeHub LinkedIn . Vision Asia Pacific is a registered company which owns WeHub and organizes many event series, including Meet The Experts conference (MTE) and HoSkar Night networking event.Should the U.S. increase immigration levels for highly skilled workers?