NEW YORK (AP) — Remember what you searched for in 2024? Google does. Google released its annual “Year in Search” on Tuesday, rounding up the top trending queries entered into its namesake search engine in 2024. The results show terms that saw the highest spike in traffic compared to last year — ranging from key news events, notably global elections , to the most popular songs, athletes and unforgettable pop-culture moments that people looked up worldwide. Sports — particularly soccer and cricket — dominated Google's overall trending searches in 2024. Copa América topped those search trends globally, followed by the UEFA European Championship and ICC Men's T20 World Cup . Meanwhile, the U.S. election led news-specific searches worldwide. Queries about excessive heat and this year's Olympic Games followed. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump topped searches in Google's people category this year — followed by Catherine, Princess of Wales , U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif , who also led athlete-specific searches. Meanwhile, the late Liam Payne , Toby Keith and O.J. Simpson led search trends among notable individuals who died in 2024. In the world of entertainment, Disney and Pixar's “Inside Out 2” was the top trending movie of the year, while Netflix's “Baby Reindeer” led TV show trends. And Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” dominated song trends. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Queries for the Olympic village's chocolate muffin , made famous by Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen over the summer games, led Google's global recipe trends this year. The New York Times' “Connections” puzzle topped game searches. And in the U.S., country-specific data shows, many people asked Google about online trends like the word “demure” and “ mob wife aesthetic .” You can find more country-specific lists, and trends from years past , through Google’s “Year in Search” data published online . The California company said it collected 2024 search results from Jan. 1 through Nov. 23 of this year. Google isn't the only one to publish an annual recap or top trends as 2024 draws to a close. Spotify Wrapped , for example, as well as Collins Dictionary and Merriam-Webster’s words of the year, have offered additional reflections for 2024.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are drifting lower Tuesday in the runup to the highlight of the week for the market, the latest update on inflation that’s coming on Wednesday. The S&P 500 dipped by 0.2% in late trading, a day after pulling back from its latest all-time high . The index is on track for its first back-to-back losses in more than three weeks, as momentum slows following a big rally that has it on track for one of its best years of the millennium . The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 7 points, or less than 0.1%, with roughly an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. Tech titan Oracle dragged on the market and sank 7.8% after reporting growth for the latest quarter that fell just short of analysts’ expectations. It was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500, even though CEO Safra Catz said the company saw record demand related to artificial-intelligence technology for its cloud infrastructure business, which trains generative AI models. AI has been a big source of growth that’s helped many companies’ stock prices skyrocket. Oracle’s stock had already leaped nearly 81% for the year coming into Tuesday, which raised the bar of expectations for its profit report. C3.ai fell 2.1% despite reporting a smaller loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The AI software company increased its forecast for how big a loss it expects to take this fiscal year from its operations. In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher ahead of Wednesday’s report on the inflation that U.S. consumers are feeling. Economists expect it to show roughly similar increases as the month before. That and a report on Thursday about inflation at the wholesale level will be the final big pieces of data the Federal Reserve will get before its meeting next week, where many investors expect the year’s third cut to interest rates . The Fed has been easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high since September to lift the slowing jobs market, after bringing inflation nearly down to its 2% target. Lower rates would help give support to the economy, but they could also provide more fuel for inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.22% from 4.20% late Monday. Even though the Fed has been cutting its main interest rate, mortgage rates have been more stubborn and have been volatile since the autumn. That has hampered the housing industry, and homebuilder Toll Brothers’ stock fell 5.2% even though it beat analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. said the luxury builder has been seeing strong demand since the start of its fiscal year six weeks ago, an encouraging signal as it approaches the beginning of the spring selling season in mid-January Elsewhere on Wall Street, Alaska Air Group soared 13.6% after raising its forecast for profit in the current quarter. The airline said demand for flying around the holidays has been stronger than expected. It also approved a plan to buy back up to $1 billion of its stock, along with new service from Seattle to Tokyo and Seoul . Boeing climbed 5.2% after saying it's resuming production of its bestselling plane , the 737 Max, for the first time since 33,000 workers began a seven-week strike that ended in early November. Vail Resorts rose 2.7% after the ski resort operator reported a narrower first-quarter loss than expected in what is traditionally its worst quarter. In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in China after the world’s second-largest economy said its exports rose by less than expected in November. Stocks rose 0.6% in Shanghai but fell 0.5% in Hong Kong. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.ASML FINAL DEADLINE: ROSEN, RECOGNIZED INVESTOR COUNSEL, Encourages ASML Holding N.V. Investors with Losses in Excess of $100K to Secure Counsel Before Important Deadline in Securities Class Action – ASML
Rutgers’ Greg Schiano explains why he took timeout in stunning last-second loss to Illinois - NJ.comI don’t know about you, but I’m done with Christmas already. The stockings have been stuffed away, the tree is already down, and the holiday music has been turned off. When I’m watching a movie, I don’t want to see a single red Santa suit or green mistletoe. I’m over it. If you’re like me, and need a good movie (or three) to watch this weekend, this list is for you. Max has plenty of non-holiday films for you to stream, and this batch, which includes an underrated sports rom-com and a creepy sci-fi flick, is just the ticket to get you over Christmas and prepare for 2025. (Oh, and if you’re also going to the movie theater this weekend, check out Nosferatu . It’s great!) We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix , the best movies on Hulu , the best movies on Amazon Prime Video , the best movies on Max , and the best movies on Disney+ . Leatherheads (2008) Was the world clamoring for a 1920s football rom-com? The answer, then and now, is a resounding no, but we got Leatherheads nonetheless. The 2008 movie didn’t do so well at the box office, and it’s not really remembered today. It’s not a bad film, though, and it features an appealing cast (George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, and John Krasinski form the love triangle) and immersive period detail to appeal to those looking for an old-fashioned romance. Jimmy “Dodge” Connelly (Clooney) has a big problem. It’s 1925, and he’s trying to make pro football a viable, profitable sport. His team, the Duluth Bulldogs, is struggling, and the idea of guys throwing pigskins at each other doesn’t appeal to enough people. Enter Carter “The Bullet” Rutherford, a WWI hero and star player for Princeton University, whom Dodge is convinced can save his team ... and the league. But a nosy reporter, Lexie Littleton (Zellweger) thinks Carter is full of baloney, and is determined to expose him, and ruin Dodge’s dream of playing pro football. If you liked Clooney’s 2023 movie The Boys in the Boat , you’ll like Leatherheads . It has a similar old-timey feel, with direction so languid, you may just fall asleep. That’s praise, I promise! Krasinski shows the leading man qualities he got to flex in his Amazon John Ryan series, and Zellweger is game (pun intended there) to slip into Jean Arthur’s shoes and play a no-nonsense reporter whose looking to get swept off her feet. Leatherheads is streaming on Max . Splice (2009) AI is all the rage these days, but 15 years ago, it was genetic engineering that dominated the hearts and minds of sci-fi nerds everywhere. Plenty of bad movies were made about the dangers of playing God, but one of the best was Splice , a 2009 sci-fi horror movie that stars two actors who aren’t normally associated with the genre: Oscar winners Adrien Brody ( The Pianist ) and Sarah Polley ( Women Talking ). They star as married scientists Clive and Elsa, who are secretly trying to create a female human-animal hybrid so they can extract the creature’s proteins for medical research. Major problems naturally arise when the creature, named Dren, forms a bond with the two, and rapidly mutates as she grows from an infant to adolescence in a matter of days. As Clive and Elsa’s employers grow suspicious, can they hide Dren from them and the world? And can Dren resist her growing urge to leave and explore her surroundings, possibly endangering the human race? Well, what do you think? Splice ‘s plot may seem obvious, but it takes several major detours, including one I’ve never quite seen in a sci-fi before. Both Brody and Polley elevate the material, and director Vincenzo Natali goes for broke in examining the perverse possibilities of playing with nature’s genes. Splice is streaming on Max . Faye (2024) There are divas, and then there’s Faye Dunaway. The Oscar-winning actress, still best known for her work in Bonnie and Clyde , Chinatown , and Network , has a reputation of being temperamental, with past conflicts with director Roman Polanski, actress Bette Davis, and playwright Andrew Lloyd Webber all contributing to her being labeled “difficult.” But as Faye reveals, in archival clips with her peers and her own candid interview that took place recently, she had her reasons. And that’s what makes Faye so fascinating to watch. This isn’t a documentary to whitewash her sins, but rather to explain them, own them, and recontextualize them. The result is a fascinating portrait of a women who wasn’t difficult as much as she was a perfectionist. If that label was acceptable for her male collaborators and peers like Warren Beatty and Stanley Kubrick, well, why not her? Faye is streaming on Max .
The Group General Manager, Continental Hotels, Karl Hala and General Manager, Lagos Continental, Christoph Schleissing, recently unveiled projects already embarked on at the Lagos and Abuja hotels aimed at leaving enduring legacies and memories with guests and tourists, writes Charles Ajunwa As I walked into the Lagos Continental Hotel that Morning after the usually detailed security checks through a smaller door as maintenance work was ongoing at the main entrance, guests and tourists were already checking in and out seamlessly with their luggage well arranged on the ground floor lobby. Within and outside the imposing structure on Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, there was this aura of fecundity in the air. The Group General Manager, Continental Hotels, Karl Hala, General Manager, Lagos Continental, Christoph Schleissing and other senior staff by 11 a.m. prompt were on the third-floor venue of the meeting to welcome us. As the lift opened, we were warmly received with pleasantries exchanged before breakfast was served. Hala, who has lived in Nigeria for 16 years with his family, hit the ground running by unveiling the reason for the meeting. According to him, Lagos Continental Hotel and Abuja Continental both formerly Intercontinental and Sheraton respectively, epitomise the luxury and lifestyle hospitality in Nigeria. “Together we have 947 elegantly big-sized rooms and suites and they do offer you unparalleled comfort. You know when you come somewhere, you have a feeling, like you just mentioned, in Asmara, when you feel, ah, I have arrived! “That is Continental. So what they offer is this unique experience that reflects this rich culture and diversity of Nigeria. What else we have and which is extremely iconic are our convention, media and banquet facilities. Both hotels have 5,000 square metres of meeting space, and can accommodate up to 3,500 delegates. Important to note, both are top state-of-the-art, both are pillarless, both have been refurbished recently, both are the centre for best conferencing in Nigeria, whether it’s the government enhancement delegation conference, whether it’s corporate gatherings, weddings or board meetings. So we provide all of that. It’s flexible, versatile and it’s covered by the best teams in the country. “To further support this, we just opened the Ladi Kwali Sports Village in Abuja. And that is a place which features sports facilities from tennis courts, volleyball, squash and table tennis. And a brand new gym which just opened last month (November).together with the gym in Lagos, which will enhance both of them, absolute top of fitness anything you wish within the technology. “So this Ladi Kwali building the sports facilities we added two paddle and two pickleball courts. So, when I was first told paddle built I said of course. So I went back and googled paddle. Paddle is the fastest growing sport in Africa and in Europe. But it has existed since the 60s in the US. “So are pickles. Now you can see it coming all over. So we have that in our premises in Abuja. So that serves as a hub for team-bonding and the togetherness and brainstorming for smaller groups, bigger groups. You want to have your visions for the next three years to come. “You work this and you can build in addition fun exercises. You can have this creativity and fun together. But you do the brainstorming sessions. You come up and challenge your mindset by being fit. “So it’s physical health and health creates future success for your team and for your company. That really has fostered teamwork and collaboration amongst all bodies. Whether it’s the big companies, whether it’s Oriflame or the MVCs or governmental bodies or the UNs, whoever it is, this is the way forward. And we are triggering this success through and through this new Ladi Kwali Village. And then we have a very impressive selection of culinary options in both hotels across 12 restaurants and bars. “We offer the finest Nigerian and international kitchen. And now the challenge. Michelin star. Michelin star is the pinnacle of acknowledgement being the best in the restaurant business. Do you know how many Michelin star restaurants there are in Africa? All over the world, they are in their thousands, but not in Africa. All over the world they are. In their thousands, but not in Africa. So I looked around and there are between LA, London and Dubai eight Nigerian restaurants. And one of them got a Michelin star. It’s Adejoke Bakare, the first black lady in the UK to be awarded. The restaurant is called Chisuru. Challenge through the media, the Mishla guide. Africa, we are here. If you take the story, this is an interesting ending, it has to do with Yam, yeah? So the ancient lore of the humble Nigerian Yam in all different variations. And we have it all over. We created. Now, if we can have success in LA, in Dubai, and in London, therefore, why not here. Shall we take it up together? We help, we push.’ Talking about the festive season which he described as “festive wonderland, festive continental,” adding, “We are to celebrate. It’s a very joyous season. And I must say, I’ve come to Nigeria for the last 16 years, and it has become very joyous. Decorations are there, events are there, you feel more mellow. Hala, who acknowledged the two hotels in Abuja and Lagos are finishing on a strong note economically in the last five months, said Abuja of course celebrates as well from gingerbread houses to amazing landscaping. “So when you come into Abuja because of the 14 hectares, it is a festive Christmas land you’re going to be overwhelmed with. When you come through, you will celebrate between the Christmas Eve’s because here one celebrates on the 25th at lunch, correct? So where we come from, 24th in the evening, so we celebrate both of those. “So they have wine pairings in the evenings, lavish Christmas, Santa lunches on the 25th, and then get ready for the crossovers on the 31st, where it will be between the restaurants and the pool bar. And the swimming pool has just been reopened. Brand new dialing, decking, whatsoever. Again, another brand new feature for us in Abuja. “And then they have very exclusive staycation packages. Makes families welcome to bring their family along and enjoy the sports village, the culinaries, the swimming pool, or just a walk, I want to say in the park, but it is like a park actually. We have a coconut garden, we have a lot of greens and all this around. This is the difference between Abuja and Lagos, the tranquility of Abuja. Greens, the hills, mountains around. It’s an amazing picture. I love both. “We also have Santa surprises for the children, workshops, cooking, everything around Abuja will offer. So similar to Lagos Abuja, just come, see and enjoy and relax. It’s the place to be for families this Christmas and then the crossover of course will be sensational. Not just fireworks, the fireworks will be on a culinary level with the entertainers, the singing, the dancing. And then we put a bit of light into the air, crossover. “For the next event, March, April, before Easter, we want to talk a little bit about academies, development, and how to bring the best skill set out of our teams. Don’t forget, indirectly and directly with Continental Hotels, we have over 1,700 colleagues. So we do have a platform we want to work with and we want to develop. Because the striving talent in Nigeria is always exciting. There is an eagerness to learn, to see, to perform. Now we want to make sure we realise it to the best with all the platforms which we can offer.It means the engagement with our employees comes to the best and up to the strengthening of the leadership. But we’ll discuss this in much more detail with much more exciting news like our own Academy just before Easter. “Yes, come and see us, come and enjoy, because with Continental Hotels, we are moving forward. We are staying agile. We will continue to innovate responsibly. And we will maintain and continue a relentless focus delivering memorable, bespoke experiences that define the Continental experience of luxury for the business.” The General Manager, Lagos Continental Hotel, Schleissing who arrived Lagos in August, from Kazakhstan in Central Asia, threw more light on the activities lined up for the festive period. “We are very much on the festive season and I think you all arrived to the lobby. You saw that we made a very nice, very festive decoration in the lobby. The goal was really to build a winter wonderland. We have a real Christmas boutique. We sell specialties all over the world. Some of them, we brought them directly from Germany or Italy or the UK. And many of them, we produce in-house. So it’s real, I think it’s a must to pass by the Boutique Alhambra. On the other hand, we go on.” On what he finds interesting about Nigeria, he said “First, is the climate and secondly, for me, most important are the people. When I look here at our people and our team, this genuine hospitality, very welcoming, we all speak the same language, makes my task to deliver exceptional hospitality, you know, easier.”
LeBlanc and Joly offer little details about visit with Trump's team in Florida
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are drifting lower Tuesday in the runup to the highlight of the week for the market, the latest update on inflation that’s coming on Wednesday. The S&P 500 dipped by 0.2% in late trading, a day after pulling back from its latest all-time high . The index is on track for its first back-to-back losses in more than three weeks, as momentum slows following a big rally that has it on track for one of its best years of the millennium . The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 7 points, or less than 0.1%, with roughly an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. Tech titan Oracle dragged on the market and sank 7.8% after reporting growth for the latest quarter that fell just short of analysts’ expectations. It was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500, even though CEO Safra Catz said the company saw record demand related to artificial-intelligence technology for its cloud infrastructure business, which trains generative AI models. AI has been a big source of growth that’s helped many companies’ stock prices skyrocket. Oracle’s stock had already leaped nearly 81% for the year coming into Tuesday, which raised the bar of expectations for its profit report. C3.ai fell 2.1% despite reporting a smaller loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The AI software company increased its forecast for how big a loss it expects to take this fiscal year from its operations. In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher ahead of Wednesday’s report on the inflation that U.S. consumers are feeling. Economists expect it to show roughly similar increases as the month before. That and a report on Thursday about inflation at the wholesale level will be the final big pieces of data the Federal Reserve will get before its meeting next week, where many investors expect the year’s third cut to interest rates . The Fed has been easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high since September to lift the slowing jobs market, after bringing inflation nearly down to its 2% target. Lower rates would help give support to the economy, but they could also provide more fuel for inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.22% from 4.20% late Monday. Even though the Fed has been cutting its main interest rate, mortgage rates have been more stubborn and have been volatile since the autumn. That has hampered the housing industry, and homebuilder Toll Brothers’ stock fell 5.2% even though it beat analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. said the luxury builder has been seeing strong demand since the start of its fiscal year six weeks ago, an encouraging signal as it approaches the beginning of the spring selling season in mid-January Elsewhere on Wall Street, Alaska Air Group soared 13.6% after raising its forecast for profit in the current quarter. The airline said demand for flying around the holidays has been stronger than expected. It also approved a plan to buy back up to $1 billion of its stock, along with new service from Seattle to Tokyo and Seoul . Boeing climbed 5.2% after saying it's resuming production of its bestselling plane , the 737 Max, for the first time since 33,000 workers began a seven-week strike that ended in early November. Vail Resorts rose 2.7% after the ski resort operator reported a narrower first-quarter loss than expected in what is traditionally its worst quarter. In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in China after the world’s second-largest economy said its exports rose by less than expected in November. Stocks rose 0.6% in Shanghai but fell 0.5% in Hong Kong. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
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Stock market today: Wall Street drifts lower as it waits for inflation data
A film set location, a big budget production, an audience bussed in - the prime minister's Plan for Change speech had all the hallmarks of big campaign moments past when Sir Keir Starmer used the event to launch his "first steps' set of promises - from cutting NHS waiting lists and setting up a new border command to tackle small boats - and his election-winning manifesto. Five months into government, on Thursday, he gathered his cabinet and crowd in Pinewood Studios to launch this six milestones for government . But if it was meant to be a box office moment, it all felt a bit flat. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player What's in a Labour government? Over the past 18 months, we've had three foundations, five missions, six first steps and now, on Thursday, six milestones, with a 42-page plan. Speak to the prime minister at the edges of these events, and he can make a compelling case for his missions and the clarity he has for government. But somehow it is getting lost in translation as the missions become the first steps, become milestones with three foundations to boot. More on Labour Missions, first steps and milestones: How Sir Keir Starmer's priorities have changed since last year Sir Keir Starmer's milestones: What are they, what's missing and how easy are they to achieve? Labour blind spot for scandal on show as Tories exploit murky Haigh affair Related Topics: Labour Sir Keir Starmer It can be hard to find a narrative in what this government is trying to do. Read more: PM vows to take on 'alliance of naysayers' Driving test bosses 'bullying examiners to be lenient' Thursday was an attempt to change that with six measurable milestones now set up so you, Whitehall and the cabinet, are all crystal clear about where they are heading. Some of them are a departure from manifesto pledges, others are not. Some of them are genuinely ambitious, others less so. The manifesto promise to have the fastest growing economy in the G7 is now an "aim" while the new milestone is to "raise living standards in every part of the United Kingdom, so working people have more money in their pockets" is a new target. The idea is to make the pledge more "human" but the PM wouldn't say how much he wanted to raise living standards - and household disposable income is already set to rise by the end of this parliament. Then on opportunity for all, in the run-up to the election the government promised to recruit 6,500 more teachers to improve teaching in state secondaries. Now the milestone they are asking to be measured on is a promise that 75% of five-year-olds are ready to learn in England when they start school against 67% today. There is a new milestone to fast-track planning decisions on at least 150 major economic infrastructure projects. There is a milestone to put a named bobby back on the beat in every neighbourhood, while the pledge to halve violence against women and girls has not been marked up as a milestone. 'Hold the government's feet to the fire' Why are they doing it now and to what end? At its heart this is an attempt to give voters clear targets on which they can, to quote Starmer himself, "hold the government's feet to the fire". But it felt a bit like a rag bag of measures in which some past promises were pushed aside and others pumped up. The 1.5 million housing target, the pledge to return to the NHS standard of 92% of patients being seen for elective treatment in 18 weeks, the commitment to green power by 2030 are all ambitious. But things that are perhaps too risky or hard to meet have been dropped. The migration question One of the biggest omissions in the milestones was migration. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player This surprised me, not least because the prime minister had said clearly that the economy and borders were his two main priorities in government and a clear concern for voters. But instead of making it one of his milestone measures, for which the public can hold him accountable, the PM said securing borders was one of the "foundations" of his government. There is no metric on which to measure him beyond net migration coming down from record levels of 800,000 plus in the past couple of years. Perhaps he could have been more ambitious in setting a target to hit in terms of cutting legal migration or small boat crossings. Perhaps he could have committed to a deportation figure - something that Harriet Harman suggested he might have done on our episode of Electoral Dysfunction this week. But I suspect, in the end, Number 10 decided it was too risky to try to set targets. 'The tepid bath of managed decline' But with a disaffected electorate, high levels of scepticism, and a Reform party playing into that anti-politics sentiment, Starmer knows he must galvanise his government to try to deliver tangibles before the next election, and this speech will perhaps be looked back on as one aimed as much at Whitehall as it was you, the voter. He explicitly challenged the British state to deliver in this speech saying his Plan for Change was "the most ambitious plan for government in a generation" and would require a "change to the nature of governing itself" as he called on the state to become more dynamic, decisive, innovate, embracing of technology and artificial intelligence. "Make no mistake, this plan will land on desks across Whitehall with the heavy thud of a gauntlet being thrown down, a demand given the urgency of our times," he told his audience as he fired a warning shot to Whitehall. "I do think there are too many people in Whitehall who are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline. Had forgotten, to paraphrase JFK, that you choose change not because it's easy, but because it's hard." 👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈 Starmer and his team know that without galvanising Whitehall and setting clear navigation through this mission and now measurable milestones, delivery will be hard. The plan is for stock takes on the missions and milestones in order to hold mandarins accountable. On the back of Starmer's milestones speech will come another from cabinet minister Pat McFadden on civil service reform. At the election, Starmer ran on a platform of promising change. Follow our channel and never miss an update Five months later, eyeing a sharp fall in opinion poll ratings, he is offering a concrete plan for change. For now voters seemed tuned out, with the pledges and targets being thrown at them failing to stick. I don't think Starmer or his team expect those polls to turn around any time soon. But they are adamant that if they can fulfil promises to build more homes and better infrastructure, cut NHS waiting lists, lift living standards, and give people a sense of greater security on their streets, they can turn the tide on the tsunami of cynicism they face. Be the first to get Breaking News Install the Sky News app for free Starmer might not be the best storyteller, but in the end he'll likely be judged not on the flourish or rhetoric, but on whether he can actually deliver.North Clay students light the way for students in UgandaMURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Brandon Nunez threw just two passes, each for a score, and New Mexico State beat Middle Tennessee 36-21 on Saturday to end a three-game losing streak. Nunez tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Seth McGowan to give the Aggies a 20-7 lead midway through the third quarter. After Middle Tennessee pulled to 26-21 early in the fourth, Nunez tossed a 4-yard TD pass to Cooper Sheehan that made it 33-21 with 7:43 left. Parker Awad completed 12 of 16 passes for 221 yards for New Mexico State (3-8, 2-5 Conference USA). McGowan finished with 83 yards rushing. Mike Washington also had a touchdown run and Dylan Early a 30-yard pick-6 for the Aggies. Nicholas Vattiato was 30-of-45 passing for 277 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for Middle Tennessee (3-8, 2-5), which has lost three of its last four. __ Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here ___ AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Will Howard passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another, TreVeyon Henderson ran for a score and No. 2 Ohio State beat previously undefeated No. 5 Indiana 38-15 on Saturday. All Ohio State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten, CFP No. 2) has to do now is beat Michigan at home next Saturday and it will earn a return to the Big Ten championship game for the first time since 2020 and get a rematch with No. 1 Oregon. The Ducks beat Ohio State 32-31 in a wild one back on Oct. 12. The Hoosiers (10-1, 7-1, No. 5 CFP) had their best chance to beat the Buckeyes for the first time since 1988 but were hurt by special teams mistakes and disrupted by an Ohio State defense that sacked quarterback Kurtis Rourke five times. “In life, all good things come to an end,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said. Late in the first half, Indiana punter James Evans fumbled a snap and was buried at his own 7-yardline with the Buckeyes taking over. That turned quickly into a 4-yard TD run by Henderson that gave the Buckeyes a 14-7 lead. Early in the second half, Caleb Downs fielded an Evans punt at the Ohio State 21, raced down the right sideline, cut to the middle and outran the coverage for a TD that put the Buckeyes up 21-7. It was the first time a Buckeye returned a punt for a touchdown since 2014. Howard finished 22 for 26 for 201 yards. Emeka Egbuka had seven catches for 80 yards and a TD. “Our guys just played with a chip today, and that’s the way you got to play the game of football,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. Indiana scored on its first possession of the game and its last, both short runs by Ty Son Lawson, who paced the Hoosiers with 79 rushing yards. Rourke was 8 for 18 for 68 yards. “We had communication errors, pass (protection), every time we dropped back to pass, something bad happened," Cignetti said. Indiana's 151 total yards was its lowest of the season. And it was the most points surrendered by the Hoosier's defense. Indiana: Its special season was blemished by the Buckeyes, who beat the Hoosiers for the 30th straight time. Indiana was eyeing its first conference crown since sharing one with two other teams in 1967. That won't happen now. “Ohio State deserved to win,” Cignetti said. “They had those (third quarter scores), and we just couldn’t respond.” Ohio State: Didn't waste the opportunities presented by the Hoosiers when they got sloppy. The Buckeyes led 14-7 at the break and took control in the second half. An offensive line patched together because of multiple injuries performed surprisingly well. “We know what was at stake," Day said. “We don't win this game, and we have no chance to go to Indianapolis and play in the Big Ten championship. And that's real. We've had that approach for the last few weeks now, more than that.” Some voters were obviously unsure of Indiana because it hadn't played a nationally ranked team before Ohio State. After this one, the Hoosiers will drop. Howard made history by completing 80% of his passes for the sixth time this season. No other Ohio State quarterback has done that. He completed his first 14 passes in a row and finished with a 85% completion rate. “I think Buckeye nation is now seeing, after 11 games, that this guy is a winner, he's tough, he cares about his teammates, he's a leader,” Day said. Indiana hosts Purdue in the regular-season finale next Saturday. Ohio State hosts rival Michigan on Saturday. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballNEW YORK (AP) — Remember what you searched for in 2024? Google does. Google released its annual “Year in Search” on Tuesday, rounding up the top trending queries entered into its namesake search engine in 2024. The results show terms that saw the highest spike in traffic compared to last year — ranging from key news events, notably global elections , to the most popular songs, athletes and unforgettable pop-culture moments that people looked up worldwide. Sports — particularly soccer and cricket — dominated Google's overall trending searches in 2024. Copa América topped those search trends globally, followed by the UEFA European Championship and ICC Men's T20 World Cup . Meanwhile, the U.S. election led news-specific searches worldwide. Queries about excessive heat and this year's Olympic Games followed. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump topped searches in Google's people category this year — followed by Catherine, Princess of Wales , U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif , who also led athlete-specific searches. Meanwhile, the late Liam Payne , Toby Keith and O.J. Simpson led search trends among notable individuals who died in 2024. In the world of entertainment, Disney and Pixar's “Inside Out 2” was the top trending movie of the year, while Netflix's “Baby Reindeer” led TV show trends. And Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” dominated song trends. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Queries for the Olympic village's chocolate muffin , made famous by Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen over the summer games, led Google's global recipe trends this year. The New York Times' “Connections” puzzle topped game searches. And in the U.S., country-specific data shows, many people asked Google about online trends like the word “demure” and “ mob wife aesthetic .” You can find more country-specific lists, and trends from years past , through Google’s “Year in Search” data published online . The California company said it collected 2024 search results from Jan. 1 through Nov. 23 of this year. Google isn't the only one to publish an annual recap or top trends as 2024 draws to a close. Spotify Wrapped , for example, as well as Collins Dictionary and Merriam-Webster’s words of the year, have offered additional reflections for 2024.
OTTAWA — Two senior members of the federal cabinet were in Florida Friday pushing Canada's new $1.3 billion border plan with members of Donald Trump's transition team, a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself appeared to finally push back at the president-elect over his social media posts about turning Canada into the 51st state. Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affair Minister Melanie Joly shared few details of their meetings in Palm Beach, simply saying in a statement the U.S. officials they met with took notes and agreed to relay messages to Trump. "Minister LeBlanc and Minister Joly had a positive, productive meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Howard Lutnick and Doug Burgum, as a followup to the dinner between the prime minister and President Trump last month," wrote Jean-Sébastien Comeau, a spokesman for LeBlanc. Lutnick is Trump's nominee for commerce secretary, and Burgum is the former governor of North Dakota and current nominee for secretary of the interior. When announcing Lutnick as his commerce pick Trump said the chief executive of the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald would be in charge of the Trump "tariff and trade agenda." "Both Ministers outlined the measures in Canada’s Border Plan and reiterated the shared commitment to strengthen border security as well as combat the harm caused by fentanyl to save Canadian and American lives." He added the ministers agreed to continue the discussions in the coming weeks. Joly is also expected to meet in Florida with senator Lindsay Graham Friday evening. This trip comes less than four weeks before Trump is sworn in again as president. He has threatened to impose a new 25 per cent import tariff on Canada and Mexico the same day over concerns about a trade imbalance, as well as illegal drugs and migration issues at the borders. The broad strokes of Canada's new border plan were made public Dec. 17, including a new aerial intelligence task force to provide round-the-clock surveillance of the border, and improved efforts using technology and canine teams to seek out drugs in shipments leaving Canada. Comeau said earlier Friday morning the ministers would also emphasize the negative impacts of Trump's threatened tariffs on both Canada and the U.S. Comeau said the ministers were to build on the discussions that took place last month when Trudeau and LeBlanc met Trump at Mar-a-Lago just days after Trump first made his tariff threat. It was at that dinner on Nov. 29 when Trump first raised the notion of Canada becoming the 51st state, a comment LeBlanc has repeatedly since insisted was just a joke. But Trump has continued the quip repeatedly in various social media posts, including in his Christmas Day message when he said Canadians would pay lower taxes and have better military protection if they became Americans. He has taken to calling Trudeau "governor" instead of prime minister. It isn't clear if LeBlanc raised the issue with Trump's team in Palm Beach Friday. Trudeau had not directly responded to any of the jabs, but on Thursday posted a link to a six-minute long video on YouTube from 2010 in which American journalist Tom Brokaw "explains Canada to Americans." "Some information about Canada for Americans" was all he wrote in the post. The video, which originally aired during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, explains similarities between the two countries, including their founding based on immigration, their trading relationship and the actions of the Canadian Army in World War 2 and other modern conflicts. "In the long history of sovereign neighbours there has never been a relationship as close, productive and peaceful as the U.S. and Canada," Brokaw says in the video. Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who is at the centre of some of Trudeau's recent domestic political troubles, also called out Trump's antics on X Thursday, calling it "casual disrespect" and "carrying the 'joke' too far." "Time to call it out, stand up for Canada, and build a true North American partnership," said Carney, who Trudeau was courting to join his cabinet before Chrystia Freeland resigned as finance minister last week. Freeland's sudden departure, three days after Trudeau informed her he would be firing her as finance minister in favour of Carney, left Trudeau's leadership even more bruised than it already was. Despite the expectation Carney would assume the role, he did not and has not made any statements about it. LeBlanc was sworn in as finance minister instead the same day Freeland quit. More than two dozen Liberal MPs have publicly called on Trudeau to resign as leader, and Trudeau is said to be taking the holidays to think about his next steps. He is currently vacationing in British Columbia. He did not make a public statement about the meeting as of publication. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2024. Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian PressBrowns restructure QB Deshaun Watson's contract to create cap space, flexibility, AP source says