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Eurovision Song Contest is expanding with an Asian edition later this year
i e israel-hamas-war music entertainment eurovision-song-contest world-news general-news | Newsradio 1140 WRVA
Eurovision Song Contest is expanding with an Asian edition later this year
i e israel-hamas-war music entertainment eurovision-song-contest world-news general-news | KCBS All News 106.9FM and 740AM
Eurovision, the glitzy contest where music meets politics, is adding an Asian edition
The Eurovision Song Contest Asia will be held in Bangkok on Nov. 14, with 10 countries competing so far.
A Defining Contest
Collins race puts Maine at the center of a national political crossroads as Democrats wrestle with identity, strategy and generational change.
MPs wary of move against Starmer while war is raging
Even after electoral disaster, Iran war gives many MPs pause for thought about timing of leadership contest
Joseph Baena, son of Arnold Schwarzenegger, wins first bodybuilding competition
Joseph Baena, the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger, made his dad proud over the weekend, placing first in three contests at the NPC Natural Colorado State Championships bodybuilding competition.
Machado Party Headquarters Reopens in Sign of Venezuela’s Political Shift
María Corina Machado’s party headquarters reopened on Saturday in Caracas after being shuttered in the aftermath of the contested 2024 presidential election that drove the Venezuelan opposition leader into hiding.
See 98-year-old 'Taylor Swift of cabaret singers' in Provincetown this summer
The 2026 Provincetown Town Hall series has actors from NBC, HBO shows, Broadway stars, Tony and Grammy nominees, and Ru Paul's Drag Race contestants.
Late surge lifts Thunder, Celtics rally to down Hawks
The Oklahoma City Thunder got back in the win column on Friday, beating the Chicago Bulls 131-113 to maintain their grip on first place in the NBA Western Conference.It was a key win for the Thunder, who came into the contest with a two-game lead over the San Antonio Spurs for top spot and home court advantage in the Western Conference playoffs.
What is ex-NC Rep. Madison Cawthorn's connection with 'The Bachelorette'?
A contestant on the canceled season of \
Fintech company launches $25K small-business contest
A Sioux Falls-based fintech company is holding a competition for small businesses with a $25,000 prize.
Rays squander Opening Day lead, fall to Cardinals
The Opening Day contest was tied at 1-1 in the sixth inning before the teams combined for the 14 runs.
Why voters should follow Wisconsin's 2026 Supreme Court race
The 2026 Wisconsin Supreme Court race has a lower profile than previous contests.
Four from Greater Grand Forks on Top 25 Women in Business list
Prairie Business contest honors exceptional professionals in the region
Upset winner Gray Davis on California's last wide-open governor's race
Gray Davis was a huge underdog who prevailed in a wide-open 1998 contest. The Democrat urges trailing hopefuls to ignore pressure to quit and 'follow your heart.'
‘The Price Is Right’ Contestant Loses Big After Listening to Audience
'You're not risking anything by going forward.'
‘The Price Is Right’ Contestant Loses Big After Listening to Audience
'You're not risking anything by going forward.'
Marathon has sold 1.2M copies across Steam, PS5, and Xbox
Alinea Analytics estimates show that Marathon has generated gross revenues of $55M via 1.2M copies sold on Steam, PS5, and Xbox: Looking at the split between Steam, PS5, and Xbox, Steam is clearly the main platform for Marathon, accounting for a little under 70% of the audience (800K copies sold). Meanwhile, PS5 takes about 19% (217K) and Xbox (including console, PC, and cloud) accounts for a bit over 11% or 133K. Marathon is technically a first-party Sony title, so seeing the home console struggle to break 20% of the volume is a notable data point for the ongoing platform-agnostic debate. PlayStation Studios online games will almost certainly continue being multiplatform (despite Sony reportedly pulling back on PC releases). Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe As for Marathon, the consensus among hardcore players who pushed through the awkward onboarding phase – myself included – is that it’s fantastic. The gunplay, aesthetic, and presentation are among the best in the shooter genre. A great game doesn’t always equal an immediate hit, though, as shown by our estimates. Things are looking lukewarm right now. But this might be one of those marathon-not-a-sprint situations. Had to, didn’t I? Why wasn’t Marathon a hit on the same level as Arc Raiders? One topic that came up in a lot of conversations at GDC this year was why Marathon hasn’t hit the same stratosphere as Arc Raiders. On paper, they’re both extraction shooters, and Marathon has the Bungie pedigree – the house that built the gold standard for gunplay in Halo and Destiny. Marathon’s neon-futuristic aesthetic also distinguishes itself from the gritty realism of Tarkov or the post-apocalyptic hope of ARC Raiders. But vibes can only get you so far for first impressions if the onboarding feels like a brick wall. Marathon is a sweaty PvP-focused experience with a first-time user experience and UI that I can only describe as dreadful. Players are dropped into a complex ecosystem where the UI, though visually striking, is functionally uninformative, forcing users to manually hover over nondescript, identical icons just to identify basic gear or weapon mods. This lack of clarity is compounded by punishing mechanics like a severe heat gauge for movement and a scarcity of vital resources, all without a clear tutorial or a low-stakes mode to learn the ropes. Most people – even top streamers and veteran shooter players – have no idea what’s going on in Marathon at first. Arc is on the complete other end of the spectrum. As we covered here and here, Arc Raiders offers a more collaborative, approachable loop where players often work together toward shared goals. And the objectives are instantly clear. To many players, this contrast only emphasised Marathon’s issues, especially during the testing period. Players understand the Arc Raiders loop within 30 minutes, while Marathon acts as a massive filter, chewing up newcomers and spitting them out before they can experience the depth of Bungie’s signature gunplay. What I’m getting at here is that the poor first-time user experience of Marathon’s Server Slam likely stifled launch sales, while the opposite was true for Arc. Let’s look at the pre-launch copies sold for each game during their respective Server Slams (launch-aligned) : Looking at the trajectory: Arc Raiders saw a massive 80% jump in copies sold during its three-day Server Slam (day -13 to -11). Players jumped in, realised the water was fine, and immediately opened their wallets. Marathon, meanwhile, saw a 49% increase in the four days following its Slam (Day -7 to -3). At the time of each game’s respective launch, Arc Raiders had nearly double the Steam footprint of Marathon – and word of mouth only continued to grow. Bungie could have had more time to fix the onboarding process had the beta happened earlier. But Marathon launched three days after the beta finished. These factors limited the launch sales quite a bit, I reckon. Marathon has found a niche audience, though Despite the friction-heavy start, the data suggests that those who survived Marathon’s onboarding are loving life. We’ve been tracking cross-platform DAUs, and while there’s the expected post-launch leakage, many players are sticking with it. After peaking at 478K total DAUs on its first Saturday, Marathon has settled into a respectable rhythm, holding 345K DAUs as of yesterday and averaging 380K DAUs across the weekend. Steam continues to do the heavy lifting here, consistently accounting for the lion’s share of the daily players. Players have been putting in the hours, too: On Steam, Marathon’s average playtime has climbed to 27.8 hours, significantly outpacing the console averages on PS5 (16.5h) and Xbox (17.3h). Even more telling than the averages: 22% of the Steam audience has surged past the 50-hour mark, and nearly 7% have already logged over 100 hours. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe This data suggests that once the Bungie magic clicks, it hooks players deeper than the average extraction shooter. There’s also started to be a shift in the game’s discourse. Marathon launched as one of those games that’s cool to hate. But as Marathon’s 100-hour club grows, we’re seeing conversations around its mechanical merit outweigh the negativity. Several high-profile creators, who were initially vocal critics, have spent the last week coming around on the mechanical depth of the endgame. It’s a subtle but positive signal; the hate train is losing steam, and a new narrative about the game is emerging. Bungie faithfuls unite Another interesting metric in Marathon’s first few weeks is who, exactly, is playing. Bungie leans heavily on its prestige as the “makers of Halo and Destiny,” in its marketing, and that message has clearly hit the mark. On Steam, the gravity (hammer) of Bungie’s previous work is unavoidable. A staggering 78.2% of Marathon players also played Destiny 2. The trend carries across other platforms, with 74.2% of PS5 players and 82.7% of Xbox players also having played Destiny 2. The Halo legacy lives on, it seems. More on that in a bit. While Destiny 2 went free to play, these numbers still represent a high-intent migration of a fanbase that trusts Bungie’s specific brand of kinetic gunplay and cryptic world-building. The Xbox data adds another layer of legacy. About 85.7% of Marathon players on Xbox have played Halo Infinite, while over half of the Steam audience has spent time in Halo Infinite and 36.1% in the Master Chief Collection (a paid collection of the old Bungie-made legacy games). Interestingly, we see a 55.9% overlap with ARC Raiders on Steam. Overlap is even higher there on PlayStation (60.5%) and Xbox (66.5%). And there’s also significant crossover with Helldivers 2 on all platforms, too. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe Bungie has found some of its fans with Marathon, and the challenge now is keeping this engaged in a high-stakes PvP environment when they’ve spent the last decade primarily enjoying the power fantasies of PvE. On that note… Go the full 26 miles? Or cut and run? Time for some could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. These things would have improved Marathon’s performance at launch: A more robust onboarding process, perhaps in the form of a short single-player/PvE campaign. We know Bungie fans love this stuff. A traditional arena-based mode akin to Destiny’s Crucible could have been a bridge for the cautious players who’d have been otherwise deterred by the Server Slam. It’s also a great palate cleanser after getting merked. Introducing a dedicated PvE environment would have similarly diversified the conversation and lowered the barrier for the Bungie faithful who found the pure PvP extraction loop too abrasive. PvE is safer than PvP these days. There’s an argument that a thin PvE mode would have just felt like a budget Destiny, potentially hurting the brand more. But given how dire the FTUE is, I think it would have been a net positive. Any kind of tutorialised loop that demystifies the stakes, really. While there is merit in a studio sticking firmly to a singular creative vision, and going all in on the hardcore extraction loop. Less forgiving is the technical reality is that the user interface and first-time user experience (FTUE) were not at a commercial standard for launch. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe In a landscape where player time is oversaturated and the most contested currency, a flawed FTUE is a critical failure point. But it’s not all doom and gloom, as Marathon has an incredible, unique gameplay loop, suggesting that financial success is still attainable if Bungie can pivot effectively. Bungie and PlayStation now face a difficult strategic crossroads, though – one within a challenging games market. They could: Double down on Marathon with a long-term Rainbow Six Siege- or No Man’s Sky-style recovery plan, which is something I heard Last Stand Media’s Chris Maldonado mention last week. While this could be a sunk-cost fallacy in action, it could eventually yield the audience the game’s mechanical depth deserves. Shift focus toward the inevitable Destiny 3 or another project, mitigating the escalating opportunity cost and cutting their losses, so to speak. Doing both is an expensive proposition, given the high overhead and burn rate of operating out of Bellevue, Washington. With Sony recently demonstrating a lower threshold for underperforming studios and projects, the margin for error has vanished. Whatever happens, the next six months will determine whether Marathon becomes a cornerstone of Sony’s live-service portfolio or a cautionary tale of vision exceeding accessibility. I’m hoping it’s the former, because Marathon rocks. As always, hit subscribe to get updates on Marathon and other relevant games. Subscribe Want to get your hands on our data for yourself – for free? We’re offering a free trial of our platform for games companies. Send us a message here, or reply to this email, and we’ll set you up. The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
32 incredible wildlife images from the Nature Photography Contest
Quarreling bears, a taunting crow, and a puffin eating lunch.
Milledgeville teen runs car detailing business in school, wins $1,000 in chamber contest
At 19 years old, Kyan Silas has started a successful business and received second place in the youth entrepreneur program, landing him a $1,000 prize.Kyan Sila
Women's March Madness live updates, scores, results: Alabama leads Louisville in tightly contested first half; UConn, South Carolina, UCLA back in action Monday
These Michigan U.S. Senate candidates took money from ICE contractors
Anti-ICE messaging is expected to be featured prominently in Michigan's hotly contested U.S. Senate Democratic primary.
A do-or-die moment for one of Hawaii's most contested trades
At the same time, aquatic resource officials are developing rules to restart collections of the fish for the first time since 2017
Takeaways from the Illinois primary elections
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s win in the Senate Democratic primary was also a win for Gov. JB Pritzker, while big-spending groups like AIPAC got mixed results in Tuesday’s contests.
Abby Lee Miller to judge $10 nationwide online dance contest
$10 entry lets U.S. dancers get personal grading from Abby Lee Miller, with 50 finalists in a live-streamed Stargaze Stage online event.
A Democratic fight for an Illinois Senate seat is testing the sway of JB Pritzker, pro-crypto forces and anti-ICE messaging
The retirement of Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin after nearly 30 years in office sparked an expensive three-way Democratic primary that has showcased the party’s divisions over how to confront President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and introduced pro-crypto forces as an influence seeking to shape the midterm elections. The contest is also setting up a test of Gov. JB Pritzker’s political clout in the state as he eyes a potential 2028 presidential bid.
Illinois Senate primary pits crypto-backed candidate against Pritzker’s pick
The Democratic contest highlights divisions over crypto regulation and billionaire influence in politics, as the industry spends million in a battle with the governor.
France: Far-right strength put to test in local elections
Voters in France are heading to the polls in local elections seen as a litmus test for next year's presidential vote. A main focus will be the mayoral contest in Paris.
Ward Melville, Great Neck teams win LI Science Bowl
The contest tested teams' knowledge on science disciplines including biology, chemistry and physics.
Mavericks Share Klay Thompson Injury News in 15th NBA Season
Klay Thompson has been on a heater for the Dallas Mavericks of late. The 35-year-old has played four straight games for Dallas, averaging 17.3 points on 47.1% shooting in 23.3 minutes off the bench. The five-time All-Star has also knocked down 4.5 triples per contest on a highly efficient 43.9% clip.
FOX Business launches 'Made in America' small business contest with $25K cash prizes for winners
FOX Business launched a contest that awards $25,000 to three small businesses. Apply at SmallBusinessAwards2026.com with video or written entry submission.
IndyStar named one of country's top sports departments in APSE contest
IndyStar won 13 APSE awards, including a triple crown
Jericho High contestant says everyone's a winner at Regeneron science finals
Jericho High School senior Ashka Shah was among the finalists at the Regeneron Science Talent Search in Washington D.C.
No contest: The uneven playing field of high school sports
Public school athletic programs across Miami-Dade are struggling to keep pace with well-funded private school rivals, as shrinking enrollment, limited budgets and transfer rules reshape the high school sports landscape.
Youth Science Contest returns with updated Washington Tracking Network website
For immediate release: March 10, 2026 (26-033) Contact: DOH Communications
Gazette again takes top business honors as reporters win 12 awards in annual SC contest
Every reporter for the SC Daily Gazette was a 2026 winner in the South Carolina Press Association contest for the state's best in journalism.
Commercial Appeal wins APSE awards for Jason Munz's sports writing, Chris Day's photography
Sports writer Jason Munz and photographer Chris Day were honored for their work by the Associated Press Sports Editors in its annual contest.
Magic handle Bucks to win 4th in a row
Speaking pregame ahead of Sunday’s contest between the Magic and Bucks, Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley pointed towards his team’s ability to set the tone early as a major factor behind Saturday’s win at Minnesota. One night later at Milwaukee, the Magic followed a similar recipe for success, scoring the first seven points of the game, limiting the Bucks to 15 points in the opening quarter and ...
Ken Jennings Sets Record Straight If ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ Is Easier
Host addresses whether show has been 'dumbed down' for famous contestants.
Ken Jennings Sets Record Straight If ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ Is Easier
Host addresses whether show has been 'dumbed down' for famous contestants.
Runoffs, voting mishaps and Trump endorsements in TX and NC primaries
The results are in from the first primaries of the midterm election cycle, and Senate races are starting to take shape. We discuss key takeaways from primary contests in North Carolina and Texas.This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, political correspondent Ashley Lopez, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
California businesses and left-leaning groups clash on the ballot and in court
This year's contests of businesses versus liberal groups include corporate and wealth tax proposals and requirements for greenhouse gas emission reports.
Talarico wins Texas Democratic primary as Republicans face runoff
Republican contest in May could provide Democrats with opening to finally win over staunchly red state
Five takeaways from Texas primaries, as march to US midterms gets going
Contests in the southern state are signalling which way the Republicans and Democrats are heading.
Talarico Defeats Crockett in Texas Senate Democratic Primary
In the GOP contest, Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton advanced to a runoff in May.
Roy Cooper and Michael Whatley will advance to a marquee North Carolina matchup for US Senate, CNN projects
Democrat Roy Cooper and Republican Michael Whatley will advance to November’s general election for an open US Senate seat in North Carolina, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, setting up a marquee contest critical for both parties.
FOX Super 6 Contest: World Baseball Classic Picks
Enter the free Super 6 Contest featuring the World Baseball Classic for a chance to win cash prizes! And don't worry — FOX Sports Research is here to help with your picks.
What to Watch in Tuesday’s Primaries in Texas and Beyond
Midterm season is kicking off with hard-fought Senate and House primary contests that include battles over political style and ideology, age and scandal.
What Tuesday’s big midterm contests will reveal about Trump and Democrats
New congressional maps will debut in Texas and North Carolina as Republicans try to defend their majorities and Democrats hope they can flip both chambers.
Val Chmerkovskiy hospitalized during 'Dancing With the Stars' tour
Val Chmerkovskiy ended up in a hospital in Peoria, Ill., while on tour with his fellow 'Dancing With the Stars' pros and contestant alums like Andy Richter and Elaine Hendrix.
Seattle Times sports staff honored with multiple national awards
The Seattle Times – competing in Division A, the largest print circulation and website division – earned Top 10 honors in four categories of the APSE Contest.
A Texas Senate race is testing Democrats’ stomach for race and gender fights
Latino voters will probably decide the primary contest between Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico -- two rising stars who are stylistic opposites.
Entertainment: Bruno Mars look alike contest, Megan Thee Stallion to perform on Broadway
The Lei Stand Waikiki hosted the contest Friday night as fans dressed as different eras of Bruno Mars and performed to his top hits.
Appleton area high school sports results for Friday, Feb. 27
High school girls basketball teams were in action in regional semifinal contests, plus boys hockey sectional finals.
Kamala Harris Endorses Jasmine Crockett in Texas Senate Race
The endorsement from the former vice president, her most significant since leaving office, comes as Ms. Crockett is facing a competitive Democratic primary contest against James Talarico.
Vanderbilt Health Pets of the Day: Momo and Smokey
Today’s first Dog of the Day is Momo, submitted by Ginger DeBellis of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center. “Momo is a sweet and super smart blue merle Australian shepard who loves learning new tricks, neighbor watching and snuggles.“ Today’s second Dog of the Day is Smokey, submitted by Haley Villacorta of Population Health. “Smokey is a Pomsky (Pomeranian and Siberian husky mix).” Pets of the Day — what you need to know The Vanderbilt Health Pets of the Day are included in regular editions of the MyVUMC News newsletter, which is posted twice a week by Vanderbilt Health News and Communications. The pets are selected from the hundreds of entries sent to the Voice Pet Photo Contest. For those who submitted a photo to that contest, watch MyVUMC News for Pets of the Day, and in addition, regular collections of pet photos are posted to the Voice site. You can see them all here: https://news.vumc.org/section/voice/pets-vumc/. If you have a pet you would like to nominate for Pet of the Day, the next Pet Photo Contest submission period is coming up later this year, and will be announced in MyVUMC News. Momo and Smokey were featured in the March 3, 2026, edition of MyVUMC News.
'K-Pops!' review: Anderson .Paak's cultural duet is a solo act
Grammy-laden musician Anderson .Paak makes his directing debut in an East-meets-West movie about a K-pop competition show on which his son is a contestant.
Phoenix Suns continue to struggle after loss to Boston Celtics
PHOENIX – After a back-and-forth contest early on Tuesday night, the Phoenix Suns were defeated by the Celtics 97-81 after a rout in the third quarter put the game out of reach. Feb 24, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Amir Coffey (2) drives to the basket against Boston Celtics guard Ron Harper Jr.
The hotly contested Texas Senate race is setting spending records ahead of Tuesday's primary
Candidates and political groups are pouring money into Texas’ hotly contested U.S. Senate race at a record pace
Daily Prowl: Parker Washington is a Contested-Catch Maestro
Jacksonville Jaguars news and links for 2/24/2026.
Every basket from Jayson Tatum scoring 52 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
By the time the final buzzer had sounded on that historic contest, Tatum had put up the second most points he had ever logged in his career, and one of the best scoring nights had by any Celtic.
Stage 32, Evoke Entertainment Team To Fast-Track Emerging Rom-Com Writers With Contest
Stage 32 is teaming up with Evoke Entertainment to scout the next great romantic-comedy writer with a new screenwriting contest.
Illinois Democrat tries to bleep her way through a tough Senate primary with a new expletive-laden anti-Trump ad
Senate candidate Juliana Stratton's new ad full of f-bombs is the latest move in a contest that has centered on the president.
UTA marks 75th year of regional science fair
Nearly 600 North Texas students will compete for top honors and a shot at state and national contests
Mac McClung reveals the 4 dunks he would have attempted in the 2026 NBA Dunk Contest
The three-time reigning dunk contest champion opted to not participate this year.
Heat's Keshad Johnson wins NBA Dunk Contest after Damian Lillard takes down Devin Booker in 3-point shootout
NBA All-Star weekend continued Saturday with the slam dunk and 3-point contests.
Column | Republicans see a big opportunity in crowded Democratic primaries
In several states and swing districts, House Democrats have nomination contests that could prove harmful.
Qatar’s beIN Sports wins LA 2028 media rights in buildup to 2036 Olympics bid
Qatar has infrastructure in place from the 2022 World Cup but is likely to be in a contest with Ahmedabad, India as the other host candidate
What to watch in the Texas Senate race : The NPR Politics Podcast
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, running for his fifth term, is locked in a competitive Republican primary contest. Meanwhile, some Democrats think they can flip the seat, electing a Democrat to represent Texas in the Senate for the first time since 1988. We discuss what to watch in the heated primaries as voters begin casting their ballots next week.This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, political correspondent Ashley Lopez, and Houston Public Media senior reporter Andrew Schneider.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
Sen. John Cornyn battles for political life in GOP primary contest with AG Ken Paxton, U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt
Cornyn is seeking Texas Republicans’ nomination for a fifth term, in a contest that has seen bitter and expensive attacks on all sides. A new poll shows Paxton pulling away from Cornyn, but with no candidate leading by enough to avoid a runoff.
Lakers’ LeBron James goes lefty to posterize Thunder’s Chet Holmgren
LeBron James just slammed it home with his left hand during Lakers vs. Thunder with Chet Holmgren contesting the dunk.
Hornets' Moussa Diabate: Booted from Monday's contest
Hornets' Moussa Diabate: Booted from Monday's contest
Shore Acres neighborhood association President Kevin Batdorf set to join St. Pete mayoral contest
He is frustrated with the current administration’s handling of major city issues, including hurricane response, infrastructure conditions and the failed Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal.
Samsung contest confirms something about the Galaxy S26 Ultra unveiling that we already knew
Samsung Gulf accidentally revealed something important about this month's Unpacked event.
Cavs’ star to participate in NBA’s 2026 3-Point Contest
Donovan Mitchell will represent the Cavs in this year’s 3-Point Contest.
Colonial Conference girls' wrestling tournament medalists, videos
On Sunday, the Colonial Conference girls' wrestling tournament was contested at Paulsboro High School. Here's a look at the medalists.
3 takeaways from Patriots vs. Seahawks practice reports on Saturday
Updates on the two contestants on the eve of Super Bowl 60.
Nancy Pelosi to endorse Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s grandson, for US House seat
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to endorse Jack Schlossberg in his run for a hotly contested US House seat, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Celebrity coaches and video applications: Here’s what we’re learning about Trump’s ‘Patriot Games’
The Trump administration is planning to match teen participants with celebrity coaches for its celebratory “Patriot Games” athletic contest scheduled this fall, according to spokesperson for the non-profit group leading the federal government’s celebrations.
Dissecting Illinois’ complete performance in total drubbing of Northwestern
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois dominated Northwestern at the State Farm Center in round two of what should always be a closely contested “rivalry” game. Wednesday night was a forgettable chapter in that sense, because Illinois put together its most complete performance in conference play. And it’s the largest margin of victory in conference play this […]
Race for Berger's state Senate seat is key primary contest
We take a look at a key primary contest this year — the race for state Senate leader Phil Berger's seat.
Why this Manchester byelection is a lesson in 21st century politics
As a fierce contest takes shape between Labour, Reform UK and the Greens, John Harris and John Domokos take the temperature in an area of Manchester that feels like a microcosm of Britain - and find voters split between two completely different views of their lives, and the future
Hornets' Kon Knueppel to compete in NBA 3-point contest
Knueppel has been one of the best shooters in the league as a rookie.
Racial Debate Rattles Texas Democratic Primary for Senate
State Representative James Talarico used the word “mediocre” to describe a former House member who is Black. The controversy has repercussions for a key contest.
England sweep SL series in low-scoring thriller
England successfully defend a target of 129 to win by 12 runs against Sri Lanka in an enthralling contest, completing a 3-0 T20 series sweep.
Kent State Hosts Ball State Sunday in National TV Game on CBS Sports Networks - Kent State Golden Flashes
Kent State will host Ball State at the M.A.C. Center on Sunday at noon for a Mid-American Conference women's basketball contest that will be broadcast nation...
Magic use big 4th quarter to flip script vs. Raptors
ORLANDO, Fla. — When the Magic lost to the Raptors by one point on the road on Dec. 29, Orlando squandered a 21-point first-half lead at Toronto. On Friday night inside Kia Center, it was Toronto that gave up a 14-point lead on the road playing in front of a national TV audience on ESPN. During a contest that featured 12 lead changes, coach Jamahl Mosley‘s squad fought back-and-forth with the ...
North Allegheny defeated by Fox Chapel, 44-33
North Allegheny hosted the Fox Chapel Foxes at UPMC Court on Wednesday night in a Section 1-6A contest. Neither offense was very explosive but the Foxes did enough offensively to defeat the Tigers by a score of 44-33. NA got a three-pointer from Will Robertson in the opening frame but trailed 10-5 after a quarter of play. Cole… More »
Kings, Sabres each carrying strong momentum into clash
The Buffalo Sabres and visiting Los Angeles Kings each bring winning streaks into their Thursday night contest.
High school roundup: Hastie’s shot lifts Pelham boys
Gavin Hastie’s jumper in the lane with 1.5 seconds remaining lifted the Pelham boys basketball team past host Lebanon, 50-48, in a Division II contest on Tuesday night.
Investment and Statecraft: The International Politics of Sovereign Wealth Funds - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
In 1953, Kuwait established the world’s first sovereign wealth fund to invest the country’s oil revenues and generate returns that would reduce its reliance on a single resource. Since then, over 100 separate funds have been created to preserve national wealth and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability. Today, they manage over $10 trillion in global assets. In this discussion with GJIA, political economist Kathryn Lavelle explains the increasingly novel dynamics that surround fund behavior and what the world can come to expect from their growing presence in international financial markets. GJIA: When it comes to the roles sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) play in global markets and politics, what would you say makes them unique? Kathryn Lavelle: Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) operate on behalf of governments as investors. That in itself is a strange relationship. Within them, a core contest takes place between the state’s interests (or sovereign) part of the dynamic, and the money interests (or wealth) part of it, and these two aspects are frequently in contradiction, serving fundamentally different goals. SWFs are also quite fascinating because when you talk to the people who manage these funds, they have an interest in convincing you that the decisions are made almost exclusively on a financial basis—they really will go to great lengths to differentiate their government owners and those who make the management decisions. At the same time, these people ultimately answer to someone in power. Therefore, for most SWFs, it remains deeply unclear who is actually making the investment decisions and for what purposes. Of course, it is not always clear how other vehicles, such as hedge funds and private equity make the decisions they do, but I think what a lot of people find particularly disconcerting about SWFs is that they seem to act on behalf of people who have a different identity from their own. People who could be trying to manipulate politics and markets in a way that would have a long-term effect on their own populations. Regular investors come and go at will, and they only share an interest in profit as far as most of us understand. However, SWFs have that extra “sovereign” part right behind them that obscures their true interest. GJIA: These funds can be found in countries all across the globe, in both authoritarian states and democracies. Would you say SWFs differ in their goals and structures between regime-type? KL: It is not necessarily regime type that makes the goals and structures of SWFs different. It has to do with their economies. Let’s look at a country like China. There’s going to be a debate about exactly how to characterize the regime, but it is a country with many different kinds of sovereign wealth funds, and a particularly opaque state connection to each. At one time, some of the state-owned Chinese oil companies created specialized investment vehicles listed outside Chinese markets that excluded parts of the firms that were more associated with human rights violations. At the same time, the China Investment Corporation (CIC)—China’s largest SWF—draws a lot of concern, not necessarily because of its investment activities, but because of the dynamics of global politics. So, I wouldn’t really tie differences to regime types themselves in a wholesale way, but rather to how such funds are perceived and how they are structured. Saudi Arabia’s SWF is getting all kinds of attention for its involvement in Hollywood, and this takes me right back to when I was a student in the 1980s, when people were concerned about Japanese investment entities buying assets in Hollywood. They aren’t quite the same in financial terms, but it’s the same kind of concern about foreign investment that drives people to be suspicious, and the whole idea that “foreigners are influencing Hollywood.” This holds true across industries, and it reflects where politics are in places like the United States right now. One metric we can try to look at is transparency, where all the funds will tell you, “we are transparent.” The problem you’ll keep running into with this approach is how you value things. When trying to do comparative studies of equity markets, you’ll find that every country doesn’t use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles like we do in the United States. A fund may appear opaque politically and not want people to show what they’re invested in or what their intent with that investment is, but they could also just not be able to report it because of the way it was purchased, or the kinds of shares they purchased. There are some assets out there that really are difficult to put a monetary value on. GJIA: To what extent do domestic politics shape SWF behavior in both the investing “home” country and the recipient “host” country? KL: This depends on the type of fund present and also on the extent to which voters’ political views are able to influence the fund. For example, in a democratic home state like Norway, the SWF doesn’t invest in nuclear weapons or tobacco because of social concerns, but there is a continuing debate over whether it should invest in oil, even though that’s where most of the money comes from. The degree to which Norway will continue to make those investments, and whether they contradict the government’s overall climate goals, is an open question in Norwegian politics. Because of the way the fund’s governance is structured, it may not be easy to resolve. On the other hand, some people consider pension funds, like the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) in Ohio, to be quasi-SWF. They have a very strict separation between the people who make up the management division and the fund owners. No teacher or professor would want to invest in things that may harm the future of their students. At the same time, a fund manager might see an opportunity in a diversified multinational corporation that offers a good return, despite it deriving part of its revenue from e-cigarettes. These contests are very apparent. Domestic politics can work in host countries too. A good example is Singapore’s SWF, Temasek, investing in Thailand’s telecommunications sector. If you study political economy, you already know that countries everywhere are uncomfortable with foreign ownership of their telecom sectors because a foreign entity could monitor or manipulate our communications with each other. In the case of Temasek, there was significant pushback from Thai citizens surrounding the deal, which went on to influence national political sentiment toward Singapore as a whole, underscoring the risks some SWFs may face with their investment choices. In this case, fund behavior led to the dissolution of the entire Thai government in 2006 and a subsequent coup d’état. GJIA: To address some of this unease, the Santiago Principles were established in 2009 to ostensibly promote trust and transparency. From your perspective, have these mechanisms actually changed fund behavior? KL: In international relations theory, we always like to have a clear set of norms and best practices—the orientation we want the proverbial ship to be going in. In that regard, the Santiago Principles at least got the discussion going about which direction SWFs should take at a time when people were very skittish about the growing size of these funds. Nobody wanted them to be out there and potentially destabilizing economies, so talks about disclosure, conditions for withdrawal, and the independence of managers were helpful when initiated. The biggest stumbling block was that there wasn’t exactly a good way to measure compliance with the Principles, let alone how to hold funds to them. If you read the Principles, they’re overall quite vague. In general, a fund doesn’t want to reveal how and why they make certain investment decisions because that information is proprietary—a fund makes money off of how and why it makes decisions—so how do you reconcile that with loosely-defined ideas of openness? Some decisions might have a political purpose. The bottom line is that trying to figure out and assign a score to compliance is not easy, and it is therefore the reason why the Santiago Principles never really got off the ground to the point where they could truly direct fund behavior. GJIA: Many emerging markets are looking to build their own SWFs from mineral and oil revenues. Historically, have funds shaped development trajectories in these countries? KL: I think the big story in international emerging markets investment is that the investment is increasingly no longer unidirectional. In the past multinational corporations of primarily Western background were the main form of foreign direct investment in a country. That has changed dramatically, to the point where you have companies from so-called “developing countries” taking over companies in the United States. Therefore, the landscape of international investment has changed, and I think SWFs are certainly a possibility to be the next step in the game. Historically, you didn’t need an entire financial vehicle to reinvest commodity revenues in your country, but as emerging markets get more financially sophisticated, their capacity to operate such funds has increased. SWFs would allow treasuries to move from relying on holding foreign exchange assets like cash or government bonds to having broader financial markets and targeted growth areas, while easing pressure on welfare expenditures. GJIA: With their increasing financial weight, do you see the presence of SWFs being a factor in the political choices leaders will have to make with regard to domestic and foreign policy? KL: It will depend on just how big the funds get. One of the reasons people are already apprehensive is because of their scale, and if certain SWFs in certain countries achieve a large-enough size, the presence will absolutely be cause for concern. The other factor political leaders will have to consider are their objectives. It’s not always clear how to define a SWF, or even where its activity is concentrated, but it is certainly a worry from the perspective of national security of opaque external investment. More than that, I think one of the most interesting questions going forward is whether the United States, the home to the world’s largest financial markets, will develop its own fund, for which the Trump administration announced a plan. There have also been several proposals in Congress. Were it to come into being, it would have tremendous weight. At the same time, one of the hallmarks of U.S. capitalism is a lack of government ownership of shares, so it would not be clear how such a fund would be received in domestic politics, or which direction it would take. Given how politically fragmented the country is, a Democratic administration would likely be concerned about different sectors of the economy, such as healthcare, and want investment there, rather than a Republican administration, which might prefer defense industries. No investment vehicle could thrive under conditions of such instability. Moreover, it remains unclear where the money to fund a theoretical U.S. SWF would come from. It would be a fundamentally different entity depending on whether it is financed with debt, economic surplus, commodities, or the sale of state companies, as in the case of Singapore. If it is debt, or government borrowing of some form, then the fund would have to outperform whatever the cost of that debt is, which is not an easy thing to do. I think our political leaders have enough on their plate. Our system has worked well keeping political and investment functions generally separate. We have seen different forms of business rise and fall, and even the perception of different countries, all of which funds are tied to. Unless a major SWF either starts—like in the case of the United States—or collapses—an issue that concerns the Saudis, I don’t see any political tsunamis on the horizon. . . . Kathryn Lavelle is the Ellen and Dixon Long Professor of World Affairs at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her research explores the exchange between domestic and international and political institutions with a particular emphasis on political economy and multilateralism. Dr. Lavelle’s first book, The Politics of Equity Finance in Emerging Markets, explored the political circumstances that surround large issues of stock in the developing world. After being granted tenure at Case Western, she was awarded an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship and named the William A. Steiger fellow, a designation given to the most promising political scientist in her class of fellows. While in Washington during 2006-2007, she worked on the staff of the House Committee on Financial Services on issues related to domestic and international monetary policy. Dr. Lavelle holds a PhD in political science from Northwestern University; an M.A. in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia; and a bachelor’s degree in international economics from Georgetown University. She is a permanent member of the New York Council on Foreign Relations. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Interview conducted by Sid Mehrotra. Image Credit: Jason Leung, Unsplash Content Licenses, via Unsplash
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