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Penn condemns professor's praise for Luigi Mangione, alum charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO

CHECK OUT: Learn at Your Own Pace! Our Flexible Online Course allows you to fit copywriting skills development around your busy schedule. Enroll Now! Legit.ng journalist Victor Enengedi has over a decade's experience covering Energy, MSMEs, Technology and the Stock Market. The Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has ramped up efforts to promote local rice production and eliminate the annual $480 million expenditure on importing approximately three million tonnes of rice. This was revealed by the NEPC Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Nonye Ayeni, during a one-day technical support workshop for rice farmers and processors held in Lokoja. FG empowers farmers to curb imports Over the past months, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on selected food prices have consistently shown a steady increase in the prices of both locally produced and imported rice across the country. PAY ATTENTION: Follow us on Instagram - get the most important news directly in your favourite app! Represented by Mr. Aliu Sadiq, Deputy Director of Policy and Strategy at NEPC Abuja , Ayeni highlighted that the council has begun implementing strategies to reduce Nigeria's reliance on imported rice by enhancing local production. Read also Customs alerts Nigerians of plan to auction abandoned vehicles, containers at ports She emphasized that the focus on rice production is well-founded, given that rice is a staple food widely consumed across all six geopolitical zones and socio-economic classes in Nigeria. According to The Nation, Ayeni urged participants to adopt the new skills and best practices shared during the workshop to improve their farming activities. Ayeni explained that the workshop, along with other initiatives introduced by the NEPC and collaborating agencies, was a direct response to the World Bank's recent concerns about food insecurity affecting Sub-Saharan African nations, including Nigeria. She said: “The Federal Government of Nigeria under the renewed hope agenda has demonstrated its commitment towards achieving food sufficiency in Nigeria by addressing critical challenges facing farmers such as security, infrastructure, forex and inputs for increased production.” She reaffirmed the NEPC's commitment to providing essential support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the council's main beneficiaries. Read also FG launches N20bn loan scheme for Nigerians to acquire Innoson, other locally-assembled vehicles She encouraged participants to leverage the workshop as an opportunity to enhance their knowledge and improve their skills in rice production and processing. FG announces subsidized rice Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the federal government announced the required documents to access subsidized 50kg bags of rice for N40,000. This initiative aims to alleviate the food crisis and ensure that essential staples are available to those in need. Citizens must present their National Identification Number (NIN), an ID card, and an ATM card for registration and payment, followed by a verification process. PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy! Source: Legit.ng

2024 was a major year for new vehicle launches, with new generations of key models like the Toyota LandCruiser Prado, plus the first of a new wave of Chinese auto brands entering the market. But many models also departed the Australian market, headlined by the departure of what had been the longest-running auto brand in Australia: Citroen. In fact, there were so many discontinuations that we split all the SUVs axed in Australia into a separate article . Scroll below for all the passenger cars axed this year, or click on one of the links below to take you directly to a vehicle. If you love the look of the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe , rest assured you’ll still be able to buy a car that looks like this – it’ll just have electric power. BMW revealed updated versions of the 4 Series Gran Coupe and its electric i4 sibling back in April, but never confirmed timing for the combustion-powered model. Somewhat unusually, the electric version sold in considerably greater numbers than the petrol model. To the end of November, BMW sold 1866 i4s in Australia this year, against just 243 examples of the 4 Series Gran Coupe. That led to BMW pulling the plug on the petrol-powered range. “The high volume of new BMW models introduced to the local market prompts us to constantly assess our product portfolio in line with customer demand and our commitment to offering products that suit individual needs,” a BMW Australia spokesperson told CarExpert in a statement. “This has led us to restructure the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe lineup.” The 4 Series Gran Coupe was the second BMW to bear the Gran Coupe nameplate, which has been applied to a five-door liftback (the 4 Series Gran Coupe), a four-door sedan (the 2 Series ), and what you could arguably call four-door coupes (the 6 Series and 8 Series ). This nomenclature was born in a period where BMW was busily chasing niches, including coupe SUVs like the X4 and X6 and the unusual Gran Turismo models which were more upright five-door hatchbacks. The second-generation 4 Series Gran Coupe was revealed in June 2021 and arrived here later that year, sharing the same plunging double-kidney grille as coupe and convertible 4 Series models. While it later gained an electric version, the i4, it never received a full-fat M version like the other 4 Series body styles. There was no M4 version of the first-generation 4 Series Gran Coupe, either. With the axing of the base 420i in 2023, just two variants remained: the turbocharged four-cylinder, rear-wheel drive 430i and the turbocharged six-cylinder, all-wheel drive M440i xDrive. Though the Gran Coupe brought superior practicality over the 3 Series Sedan , if not the Touring wagon, it cost up to $14,100 more than its booted counterpart. 4 Series Gran Coupe sales had peaked in 2015 and 2022 with 858 sales in both years – incidentally, both of which were the first full years of their respective generations. MORE: BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe axed in Australia, i4 EV to live on MORE: Everything BMW 4 Series Citroen had been hanging on like grim death in Australia, even as its sales winnowed away each year. From a height of 3803 sales in 2007, Citroen fell below 1000 annual units in 2016 and continued sliding. Its retail network continued to shrink, and Peugeot Citroen Australia’s decision to make Peugeot its exclusive commercial vehicle brand here killed one of its higher-volume models, the Berlingo. Most embarrassingly for the brand, it was outsold by Ferrari in 2020 and 2021. But there were signs Peugeot Citroen Australia was taking the brand seriously here, introducing the C4 in 2021 and C5 X in 2022. These replaced the old C4 and C5 that hadn’t been on sale here for several years, and came after several years of Citroen focusing on more traditionally SUV-shaped models. Not that the C4 and C5 X were conventional passenger cars themselves, with their higher-riding stances blurring the lines between cars and SUVs. Though it was the C5 X that wore the ‘X’ suffix commonly used for SUVs, it was the C4 that was classified as an SUV in VFACTS industry sales reports. There was a C4 X, mind you, but this was a sedan version of the C4 that we never received. Confused? We were too. Disinterested? Well, it seems Australians were. C4 sales peaked at 94 units in its first full year on sale, before falling; the same happened with the C5 X, with 68 sold in its first full year on sale. From launch to the end of November 2024, Citroen sold just 200 C4s and 168 C5 Xs. The rarest of them all is the C5 X Plug-in Hybrid, for which orders opened in May... just three months before Citroen announced it was pulling up stumps here. Being an order-only vehicle and priced just over $16,000 higher than the regular C5 X, itself not the most affordable vehicle of its size, it may be one of the rarest Citroens ever sold here. The C4 and C5 X may have lacked the clever hydropneumatic suspension of older Citroens, but with their quirky styling and focus on comfort – in suspension tuning and even in the construction of their seats – these cars were distinctively Citroen. Alas, it seems buyers just didn’t care. MORE: Citroen leaving Australia after more than 100 years, importer focusing on Peugeot MORE: Everything Citroen C4 MORE: Everything Citroen C5 X While we received new generations of Citroen’s small and medium/large cars, the latest C3 – revealed in electric guise in October 2023, and with petrol power in April this year – was kept from us. That was perhaps an early warning that the brand wasn’t going to stick around here for long, and in August this year distributor Inchcape Australia announced it would close orders for all Citroen vehicles. The third-generation C3 arrived here in 2017, with an extremely mild facelift coming in 2021. That means the C3 is much the same as when it arrived here around seven years ago, and sales figures have reflected that. From a height of 122 sales in 2018, sales fell to double digits in 2019 and have subsequently remained relatively steady, if very, very low. The price has climbed since launch and this year sat at $32,267 before on-road costs for the single Shine variant, putting it up against vehicles the segment above. But even comparing it with similarly sized vehicles with similarly premium pricing, the C3 comes up short. From its 2017 launch to the end of November this year, Citroen has sold 544 C3s. In contrast, Audi sold 462 A1s and Skoda sold 433 Fabias in 2023 alone. Showing just how far Citroen sales have dropped off over the years, as well as the decline in light car sales, the brand sold upwards of 908 examples of the first-generation C3 in 2003. MORE: Everything Citroen C3 The Fiat 500 is cute as a bug, but its ability to survive year after year well after rivals were replaced made it seem like more of a cockroach. It’s still being manufactured, but Fiat announced it was axing the petrol-powered 500 in Australia in August. As of December, however, it still has stock at its dealers. The 500 and its hotter Abarth 595 sibling are sold alongside the new-generation Fiat 500e and Abarth 500e, electric-only micro cars with similar styling but much more modern underpinnings and technology. With the Fiat 500e set to be joined by a mild-hybrid petrol-powered variant in 2026, this should finally spell the end of the old 500, which has been in production since 2007 and which launched here in 2008. In that time, Fiats from the little Panda to the Dodge Journey-based Freemont have come and gone from the Australian market, but the little 500 has kept on ticking with the occasional minor refresh. Though it no longer sells in quite the same volumes as it did in the early/mid 2010s – where it sold between 2000 and 3000 units annually – it still sells in consistent volumes in a segment that consists solely of it and the Kia Picanto . Last year, Fiat sold 581 examples of the 500 and its Abarth sibling in Australia, an increase on the year before despite the axing of their cabriolet models. MORE: Fiat culls petrol 500 in favour of $50k EV hatch in Australia MORE: Everything Fiat 500 When the E-Type ended production in 1974, it left a hole in Jaguar’s lineup. The XJ-S that succeeded it was more of a grand tourer, a tradition which its XK replacement followed in. It wasn’t until the F-Type , which entered production in 2013, that Jaguar had a genuine spiritual successor to the E-Type. An E-Type successor had existed in development hell during the 1980s and 1990s, before Jaguar revealed the F-Type concept in 2000... only for a planned production version to be scrapped before it could see the light of day. Fast-forward to the 2011 Frankfurt motor show and the F-Type as we came to know it was previewed in concept form, albeit featuring a supercharged V6 hybrid powertrain that never reached production. Instead, the production coupe – which looked essentially identical to the concept – was launched with a choice of supercharged V6 or V8 powertrains. Like the E-Type, there was also a convertible; unlike the iconic Jag, there was an all-wheel drive option. Also in a departure from past Jaguar two-doors, a turbocharged four-cylinder engine joined the range. Designed under Ian Callum, the F-Type was widely regarded as gorgeous. Somehow a facelift, revealed in 2019, arguably improved the styling with a more aggressive look up front. The F-Type featured all-aluminium construction, and Jaguar touted the coupe as the most torsionally rigid production car it had ever built. While the four- and six-cylinder powertrains weren’t shrinking violets, the supercharged V8 was the star. For 2022, Jaguar Australia dropped the four- and six-cylinder engines entirely, leaving the blown 5.0-litre in 331kW/580Nm P450 and 423kW/700Nm R tunes. In June 2024, Jaguar revealed the final F-Type and what it says will be its final combustion-powered sports car: a supercharged 5.0-litre V8-powered convertible in classic green-over-tan. A total of 87,731 F-Types were produced between 2013 and 2024. MORE: Jaguar reveals its last-ever petrol-powered sports car, bound for a museum MORE: Jaguar’s last ever petrol-powered sports car is coming to Australia MORE: Everything Jaguar F-Type When Jaguar used the Ford Mondeo platform to create its first BMW 3 Series rival, many scoffed. To Jaguar’s credit, it went back to the drawing board and developed a rear/all-wheel drive sports sedan with tasteful, modern styling and poised dynamics. Look out, BMW! Except the XE is now being axed almost a decade after it entered production in 2015, as part of Jaguar’s pivot to being a more exclusive, electric-only brand. Jaguar is done trying to take on BMW and is aiming higher, with JLR design boss Gerry McGovern saying in 2023: “What we won’t worry about is being loved by everybody, because that’s the kiss of death.” “That’s what’s put Jaguar where it is today, which is with no equity whatsoever,” he said. The XE never could match its German rivals in the sales race, and JLR confirmed the sedan wasn’t profitable – something likely not helped by its use of aluminium suspension componentry and a bonded and riveted aluminium unitary structure, unusual for this segment. The 3 Series rival was offered with a range of powertrains, including turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel four-cylinder engines plus a supercharged V6. Jaguar even developed the limited-run SV Project 8, which featured a supercharged V8 engine. Sadly, the SV Project 8 never came here, nor did it presage a more widely available BMW M3 rival. The six-cylinder and diesel engines were also eventually phased out in Australia. Disappointing sales and the resultant lack of profitability doomed the XE, which was axed in the US in 2020 but grimly held on for a few more years in markets such as ours. Unusually, Jaguar Australia switched the XE from rear-wheel drive to all-wheel drive for 2021 for reasons unclear. For 2023, the XE range was whittled down to a single model and, though it still appears on Jaguar’s local website, production ended this year. In its best year, 2016, global sales for the XE reached 44,095 units. The same year, BMW produced over 400,000 3 Series models globally. In Australia, the XE’s best year was also 2016 with 1524 sold, beating the Infiniti Q50 and Volvo S60 and falling just short of the Lexus IS . But sales fell each year, plunging to double-digits in 2022. Last year, the XE was outsold by every single one of its rivals, with its 58 sales bested by the Genesis G70 (81 sales) and Volvo S60 (152). From launch to the end of November 2024, Jaguar sold 4332 XEs in Australia. While rivals received significant facelifts or new generations, the XE was left to soldier on as its lineup shrunk. It’s a sad end for what was an extremely promising BMW 3 Series rival. MORE: Everything Jaguar XE If any car could make Jaguar’s XE look like a sales success, it’s the second generation of the brand’s BMW 5 Series rival. The first-generation XF was a breath of fresh air when it was revealed in 2007, with the Ian Callum-penned sedan casting aside the shackles of Jaguar’s retro design language in favour of a more modern yet still elegant look inside and out. The second generation wasn’t as impactful. Also attributed to Mr. Callum, the design was conservative, looking more like a stretched version of the XE with which it shared its new platform. Unlike the XE, however, there was a wagon version; this made the trip to Australia, even though the first-generation model was offered here only in sedan guise. Globally, the XF was offered with a choice of turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel four-cylinder engines, plus a turbo-diesel V6 and a supercharged petrol V6. Sadly, there was no supercharged V8 XFR as there had been with the first generation. To Jaguar Australia’s credit, it offered almost every available powertrain, and even brought the niche wagon here. But the British 5 Series rival was met with buyer apathy: sales shrunk compared to the outgoing model, with just 433 sold in 2016. That was down from the over 800 units Jaguar shifted in 2013 and 2014. Sales fell below three digits in 2019 with 50 units, and below two digits in 2023 with just 6 sold. By this point the XF range had been shrunk to a single variant, as for model year 2021 Jaguar axed all rear-wheel drive, diesel, six-cylinder and wagon variants in favour of a lone all-wheel drive turbo-petrol four-cylinder. MORE: Everything Jaguar XF Technically, Maserati didn’t sell any Quattroportes in Australia in 2024, with global production wrapping late last year. No further examples were delivered this year but as it appeared on Maserati’s local website during 2024, we’ve included it in this article. The Quattroporte nameplate is taking a leave of absence, with a replacement – featuring electric power – delayed until 2028. It’s not the first time the Quattroporte nameplate has taken a lengthy leave of absence, with gaps of several years between the first and second and the third and fourth generations. The Quattroporte competed in an extremely low-volume segment in Australia, battling the likes of the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class . Maserati executives would therefore clearly bristle at the mention of the Quattroporte sharing a platform with Chrysler and Dodge. “From the Chrysler 300 we carried over the electrical system, a portion on the platform where seats are hinged and some elements of the air conditioning, that is all,” then-Maserati global CEO Harald Wester told Automotive News Europe back in 2013. The current, sixth-generation Quattroporte entered production that year, underpinned by what Maserati called its M156 platform which was also used by the Ghibli and Levante . The gorgeous, lithe Pininfarina styling of its predecessor made way for an in-house design that was more fuller-figured and conservative, with a clear kinship with the cheaper Ghibli. If it looked bigger than the previous Quattroporte, that’s because it was – in length alone, the Quattroporte VI grew by over 200mm. A Ferrari-developed twin-turbo V8 remained available, along with a twin-turbo V6 developed with the Prancing Horse brand. This was also the first Quattroporte to offer a diesel engine, a turbocharged V6 mill sold here from 2014 to 2019. While the Quattroporte had a decade-long production run, there were updates made during this time. In 2016, the Quattroporte received a new infotainment system and more standard equipment including a suite of active safety features. This suite was expanded in a subsequent update in 2018. In 2020, Maserati revealed a hot Trofeo version of its luxury limo, featuring a 433kW/730Nm tune of the twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 – up 43kW and 80Nm on the GTS. This coincided with another minor facelift for the Quattroporte line that saw the old Chrysler-derived infotainment system swapped for one running on Android Automotive. The Quattroporte consistently sold in the double digits each year in Australia, before slumping to just three units in 2023. Even in a low-volume segment, that was very low. MORE: Everything Maserati Quattroporte The Ghibli was first a stunning coupe and convertible in the 1960s, then a rather brutalist two-door in the 1990s, before being revived as a BMW 5 Series sedan rival that was revealed at the 2013 Shanghai motor show. It represented a return to a segment which Maserati last occupied in 1995 with the 430, a descendant of the Biturbo. With the introduction of the Ghibli and Levante, which entered production in 2013 and 2016 respectively, Maserati was chasing broader market appeal and therefore greater sales volumes. By the 2000s, after the end of the Biturbo era, its lineup had receded to a small, more exclusive one. In 2013, it announced plans to sell 50,000 vehicles each year around the world in 2015, more than eight times as many as it sold in 2011. The Ghibli used the M158 platform of the new sixth-generation Quattroporte, and shared its twin-turbocharged V6 petrol and turbocharged V6 diesel engines. There was a choice of rear- or all-wheel drive, while an eight-speed automatic transmission was standard across the range. The Quattroporte’s twin-turbo V8 wasn’t added until 2020, while at the other end of the spectrum the Ghibli gained a turbocharged four-cylinder mild-hybrid powertrain. Other changes to the Ghibli during its lengthy run mirrored those of the Quattroporte: new infotainment and a suite of active safety tech for 2017, and an expanded suite in 2018 enabled by the switch to an electric-assisted power steering setup. The Ghibli helped Maserati reach its 50,000-unit target, albeit a couple of years late. Alas, the brand’s sales dropped from then. In 2022, Maserati announced its plans to transition to an EV-only lineup by 2028, but conspicuous by its absence from these plans was the Ghibli nameplate. Instead, both it and the Quattroporte are set to be replaced by a single sedan model bearing the latter’s nameplate, though this has subsequently been delayed to 2028. In Australia, from a height of 345 sales in 2015, the Ghibli gradually declined before an uptick in 2021 to 152 sales. They then slumped to double digits, and just 17 Ghiblis found homes in Australia this year to the end of November. From its debut year, the Levante took over as Maserati’s best-selling vehicle locally, a title it maintained until the launch of the smaller Grecale SUV in 2023. The Ghibli remains on Maserati’s local website, but with production having ended it’s only a matter of time before the nameplate is retired for a third time. MORE: Everything Maserati Ghibli Even as it rolls out new electric vehicles (EVs) like the Aceman , Mini has updated its long-running three- and five-door hatchbacks and convertible and given them a slightly fresher look. The same treatment hasn’t been extended to the long-running Clubman , which Mini ended production of in February after two generations. It’s probably best to blame the Countryman as, in many markets including ours, given the choice of a wagon or an SUV most buyers will opt for the latter. BMW launched Mini as a standalone brand in 2000, and for the first several years of its life it only sold a hatchback. A convertible followed, before the Clubman was launched as Mini’s third body style. It came during a period where Mini was rapidly and creatively expanding its lineup or, to put it less charitably, throwing things at a wall and seeing what stuck. If debuted in 2007, and was followed in 2010 by the Countryman SUV (which did stick) and the Roadster, Coupe and Paceman (which didn’t). Mini wisely added a pair of conventional rear passenger doors with the second-generation Clubman, which launched in Australia in 2015, replacing the suicide door setup of its predecessor. A more practical alternative to the hatchback it was based on, the second-generation Clubman stuck with the rear barn doors of its predecessor – highly unusual for a wagon in 2024. The second-generation Clubman moved to the UKL2 platform underpinning vehicles like the BMW 1 Series . While this platform was used for a raft of vehicles including BMW and Mini-branded hatchbacks, sedans and even a people mover, the quirky Clubman was the only wagon. While it offered a choice of petrol powertrains (though as with its predecessor, no diesel in Australia), including a hot John Cooper Works model with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine and all-wheel drive. Between the launch of the second-gen model and the end of November 2024, Mini Australia sold 3143 Clubmans. It was a steady if unexceptional seller, but over the same period Mini sold around twice as many Countryman SUVs. MORE: Everything Mini Clubman The 508 may have been the prettiest mid-sized Peugeot since the 406 Coupe of the 1990s, but that wasn’t enough to save it. While it lives on in Europe, in September Peugeot Australia pulled the plug on the liftback and wagon “in response to changing consumer preferences in the segment”. It arguably wasn’t a surprise, given Ford, Kia and Volkswagen, among other brands, had already exited the mid-sized segment. Peugeot sales have also been broadly on a downward trajectory over the past decade. Peugeot Australia added a plug-in hybrid version of the 508 Fastback in 2022, with a Sportwagon PHEV following in 2023. But with one hand Peugeot Australia giveth, and with one another it taketh away. Later in 2023, Peugeot axed the petrol-powered 508s, leaving only the pricier PHEVs. Unusually, the Sportwagon PHEV was introduced after Peugeot revealed a facelifted version of the 508 in Europe, for which it conspicuously didn’t announce specific local launch timing. The facelifted model never came, and when Peugeot UK announced earlier this year it was axing the 508, its local demise appeared inevitable. The second-generation 508’s best year in Australia was 2021, with 240 sold. That was a far cry from the first-generation model which in 2012, its first full year on the market, recorded 1085 sales. In fairness to the 508, mid-sized passenger car sales have fallen over the past decade or so. But in 2023, the 508’s 156 sales saw it outsold by the Volkswagen Passat and Arteon , and even more niche models like the Volvo V60 Cross Country. MORE: Another mid-sized car gets the axe in Australia MORE: Everything Peugeot 508 You can still buy a Renault Megane in Australia, but it’s quite a different creature. The last examples of the RS Trophy hot hatch, the sole remaining member of the combustion-powered Megane range, were sold earlier this year as the new electric Megane E-Tech joined the local lineup. The RS-badged Megane hatch, sent off with a special-edition RS Ultime, was the last member of a once significantly wider lineup of small Renaults. The current, fourth-generation Megane was revealed in 2015 and went on sale locally late in 2016. Wagon and sedan models, introduced in 2017, were dropped in 2019 along with the entry-level Zen hatch, while the RS Sport and RS Cup hatchbacks were axed in 2021. That left just the RS Trophy. Not only was the Australian Megane lineup winnowed down locally, the car was discontinued in almost every market. Turkish production continues, however, of the sedan. This mirrors what happened with the Ford Focus , with a once-wide lineup continually chipped away at in Australia until a single hot hatch was left, before the nameplate was axed entirely. The Focus is also being discontinued globally. Renault only sold 69 Meganes in Australia in 2023. That was well down on the 1259 units it shifted in 2017, its first full year on sale. The Megane RS Trophy (and RS Ultime) used a turbocharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine, mated with either a six-speed manual or six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, producing 221kW of power and 420Nm of torque (400Nm in the manual) Those outputs remained competitive even among a growing contingent of hot hatches on the local market. While Renault is moving away from hot petrol-powered models, it’s entering the hot electric hatch fray with both its namesake brand and its Alpine spinoff. It remains to be seen whether these hot EVs will come here, however. MORE: Everything Renault Megane MORE: Every SUV discontinued in Australia in 2024 MORE: Every car and SUV discontinued in Australia in 2023 MORE: Every car discontinued in 2022 MORE: Every car discontinued in 2021 MORE: The cars we lost in 2020Wisconsin Republicans will cast electoral votes for Trump in line with federal, not state, law

Google Faces Major Antitrust Showdown: Chrome and Search Monopoly at RiskI decided to buy myself a present just before Christmas in the form of two (ASX: XKO) shares. If I have the funds, I like to regularly invest money in my portfolio to help accelerate wealth-building. By consistently putting my money to work, I can hopefully find what I view as the best opportunities at the time. It has been trickier to find appealing stocks in the last few months following a strong rally in share prices, which has pushed plenty of ASX 300 shares into what I'd describe as overpriced territory. Tuas Ltd ( ) Tuas is one of the stocks I'm most excited about in my portfolio. This is an that operates in Singapore. There are three key reasons why I'm bullish about the business. First, it's delivering impressive revenue growth. The ASX 300 share is winning over Singaporeans with its low-cost mobile offering active mobile services to 1.1 million. This drove a 33% increase in revenue to $35.5 million, showing the business continues to scale rapidly. The company is also gaining traction with a home broadband offering, unlocking another growth avenue. Second, becomes larger. Third, I believe the company could eventually grow its customer base beyond Singapore. If Tuas expands to a country like Indonesia or Malaysia, it would significantly extend its growth runway and mean it could make a lot more profit in the future. I had been buying Tuas shares for the last several months, and I decided to buy more after the stock dropped more than 10% from its peak on 9 December 2024. Brickworks Ltd ( ) High have been a painful headwind for building product demand, debt cost, and commercial property valuation. Brickworks is exposed to all of these areas. This ASX 300 share is one of the largest building product manufacturers. It manufactures bricks, pavers, stone and masonry, roofing, specialised building systems, cement and capital battens. It also owns half an industrial property trust alongside partner ( ). I view building product demand as cyclical, so this period of weakness could be an opportunistic time to invest in the ASX 300 share while sentiment is lower. Additionally, if the decides to cut the interest rate in 2025, this could spur demand for building products. A rate cut could also help the industrial property trust by lowering financing (debt) costs and possibly increasing the value of those properties. I'm excited by the industrial property trust's potential to grow rental profit through organic rental increases and the completion of additional warehouse properties in the next few years, which are currently in the pipeline. When those projects are built, they could also improve the underlying value of the land. Finally, I also like Brickworks's exposure to the appealing investment business ( ). Brickworks owns approximately a quarter of Soul Patts. This investment gives Brickworks a relatively stable and growing capital value and rising dividend compared to its cyclical building product earnings. I decided to invest in this ASX 300 share after the Brickworks share price fell more than 10% between 30 September 2024 and 20 December 2024.

Women’s representation in the tech sector is improving across the country, even amid other drops in diversity. That’s according to a Wednesday report from the Vancouver-based Tech and People Network (TAP), which found that women’s representation in Canada’s tech sector made some progress over the last year, increasing from 36.9 per cent to 38.6 per cent among 149 employers surveyed. Nevertheless, the management-level gender pay gap still remains at 17 per cent, with all B.C. employers with over 50 employees required to report gender pay discrepancies by 2026, said the release. Women were represented most in tech companies’ human resources departments (84 per cent), while representation lacked in technology, design and support (27 per cent). Entry-level jobs for (45 per cent) had the highest representation, while women made up a meagre 5.8 per cent of jobs at the specialist level (5.8 per cent). Representation in those categories remain the same as last year, according to TAP’s 2024 Diversity in Tech Dashboard. But broader diversity in the tech sector has taken a considerable blow since 2023, with representation of persons of colour dropping by 4.4 percentage points to 33.1 per cent. The report found that the most significant proportion of people who self-identify as a person of colour were in the manufacturing sector (54 per cent), with the lowest being in the executive/corporate level (19 per cent) – those figures remain unchanged since 2023. Entry-level jobs (46 per cent) had the highest representation of this group, with the lowest being the specialist level (16 per cent). TAP Network CEO Stephanie Hollingshead said in Wednesday’s release that declining representation of people of colour and/or Black people is cause for concern, urging organizations to review recruitment/retention strategies. Underrepresented groups like persons with disabilities slightly increased by one percentage point from 4.2 per cent compared with 2023, with the largest numbers coming from those working in human resources. Representation of 2SLGBTQIA+ also increased annually by one percentage point to 9.9 per cent. However, representation for Indigenous persons was the lowest (0.8 per cent) and even saw a decrease of 0.1 percentage points in the last year. The tech sector experienced a mixed bag of improvements and declines over the last year – this was also the case for equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDIB) policy building in the workplace. Just over half (57 per cent) of the 181 organizations who provided information stated they ask employees for their accessibility needs, with close to half providing EDIB training and analyzing pay gaps. However, only 18 per cent of senior leadership in these companies has set accountability to match these goals. While companies made progress in developing inclusive policies, significant steps forward in diversity and pay equity remain painfully slow, said Hollingshead. “Our 2024 findings serve as an urgent wake-up call for Canada's tech sector. We need decisive, bold action in 2025 to close these persistent representation and gender pay gaps in our sector." The data for TAP Network’s 2024 Diversity in Tech Dashboard was compiled from their tech salary and total rewards survey, which includes data from 27,000 participants at 202 Canadian tech companies.

The new Queensland government’s contentious ‘adult crime, adult time’ laws to address teen crime have passed parliament, marking a major win for Premier David Crisafulli. Mr Crisafulli made teen crime a cornerstone of his campaign for the October 26 state election, promising the new laws would pass before Christmas. The landmark Making Queensland Safer Bill 2024 were introduced into parliament on November 28 and passed on Thursday, 13 days before Christmas. Mr Crisafulli had made no secret of his promise to crack down on high-profile youth crime and introduce “adult time for adult crime” during and after his campaign. Premier David Crisafulli had made the adult crime, adult time a key promise during the election campaign for the October 26 election. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass “These laws are for every Queenslander who has ever felt unsafe and been a victim of youth crime across our state,” Mr Crisafulli said on Thursday. “Queenslanders voted for it, we’ve delivered it and now Adult Crime, Adult Time will be law before Christmas. “These laws are the first strike back against the Youth Crime Crisis to start restoring safety where you live. “We have restored consequences for actions and put victims’ rights ahead of offenders, as they always should have been.” Under the new laws, juvenile offenders who commit some of the most serious crimes will now face the same penalties as adult offenders, with the state government promising to put “the rights of victims” ahead of offenders. It would mean children convicted of murder would face the penalty of life detention. Currently, they face 10 years or up to life imprisonment if a court finds the offence was “particularly heinous”. Premier David Crisafulli met with victims of crime before the Adult Time, Adult Crime Bill passed parliament. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass Victims of teen crime, including Chris Sanders (centre), had backed the LNP on the new laws. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass Other offences subject to the “adult crime, adult time” range include manslaughter, unlawful striking causing death, grievous bodily harm, wounding, serious assault, home and business break-ins and robbery and dangerous operation of vehicles. Detention as a last resort would also be removed from the Youth Justice Act. Mr Crisafulli previously told parliament the new laws would change how young offenders were sentenced. This would include allowing the courts to consider their full criminal history at sentencing – including their juvenile record – when they are sentenced as an adult for a five-year period. In 2023, Labor introduced a raft of changes following outcry over high-profile crimes involving young offenders, including the murder of North Lakes mum Emma Lovell. Emma Lovell was killed by a teenager in a home invasion in 2022. Picture: Supplied CCTV (blurred) of the home invasion where Emma Lovell was fatally stabbed. Picture: Supplied Under the changes, juveniles faced up to 14 years’ jail for stealing cars, with harsher penalties if they bragged about their crimes on social media. Then-premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said $9.89m would be fast-tracked for new sentencing programs in Brisbane, Townsville, Southport and Cairns so children spend “less time on remand and more time serving their sentences”. Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber said the Making Queensland Safer Laws would work hand-in-hand with early intervention and rehabilitation. “Labor failed to act for a decade – they ignored victims, they ignored the warnings and ignored the chaos across Queensland,” Minister Gerber said. “Under Labor, youth criminals were given a free pass, the Crisafulli Government’s laws send a clear message that if you do the wrong thing, you will face the consequences. More Coverage Next step after teen cleared of murder Blake Antrobus Fed-up crowd rallies for action on youth crime Jessica Wang and Duncan Evans Originally published as Crisafulli government’s tough teen crime laws have become law in Queensland Breaking News Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Join the conversation Add your comment to this story To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout More related stories Breaking News G7 to meet on Syria, govt pledges ‘rule of law’ G7 to meet on Syria, govt pledges 'rule of law' Read more Cricket ‘It’s tough’: Aussie change confirmed for Brisbane Despite winning the second Test in Adelaide, Australia will make a single change to its line-up for the third clash with India in Brisbane. Read more

U.S. stocks wrapped up Christmas week on Friday with retracements of double-digit uptrends, and, alongside the dollar to a smaller degree, succumbed to profit taking in illiquid markets heading into the last weekend of 2024. Even with its slight loss on Friday, the U.S. dollar was headed for an almost 7% annual gain, as traders anticipated robust U.S. growth, as well as tax cuts, tariffs and deregulation by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, would make the Federal Reserve cautious on rate-cutting well into 2025. Selling in Wall Street’s main indexes gathered steam through the morning, chilling the mood after the week started out showing the hallmarks of a classic year-end rally to crown what was already a stellar year. “The Santa Claus rally came a bit earlier this year, and I think this is profit taking ahead of another holiday-shortened week next week,” said Jeff Schulze, head Of economic and market strategy at Clearbridge Investments. “That’s another reason I think this isn’t causing more apprehension heading into a weekend. It’s not uncommon for the market to hit air pockets when the volumes are light.” Leading the decline were high-flying “Magnificent 7” stocks like Tesla O> which slid 4.9%, along with Amazon.com, Microsoft and Nvidia. The S&P 500 fell 1.11%, leaving Wall Street’s benchmark with a 0.67% weekly gain. The Nasdaq Composite ended down 1.49%, having been down more than 2% during the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.77%. For 2024, the Dow is up 14%, the S&P 500 is up 25% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 31%. “I’ve heard anecdotes that pension funds are rebalancing ahead of year-end, selling stocks and buying bonds,” said Steve Sosnick, chief market strategist at Interactive Brokers, who added he could not verify. “It would explain the sudden sell-off on no news. And of course, if large funds are selling stocks en masse, the megacap tech stocks would bear the brunt because of their heavy weighting in major indices.” MSCI’s broad global share index (.MIWO00000PUS) fell 0.59% on Friday, and was 1.45% higher for the week. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) eased 0.1%, marking a 1.5% weekly rise, while Tokyo’s Nikkei rose 1.8%. Europe’s Stoxx 600 rose 0.67% on Friday and was about 1% higher for the week. “There is some potential upside left for this bull market, but it is limited,” said Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management “(Trump’s) inauguration day is a potential inflection point and all the (prospective) good news will be in the price by then,” Paolini added. The dollar index, which measures the currency against six other major currencies, eased 0.06%, with a 0.2% weekly gain, and showed a 6.6% 2024 gain. Dollar/yen was down 0.06%, but near Tuesday’s 5-1/2 month high. The greenback was also showing a 5.4% gain this month against the beleaguered yen and a near 12% advance for 2024. The euro, was steady, not far from November’s two-year low and showing a 5.6% loss year to date. The BoJ held back from a rate hike this month, which weighed on the yen. Governor Kazuo Ueda said he preferred to wait for clarity on Trump’s policies, underscoring rising angst among central banks worldwide of U.S. tariffs hitting global trade. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said earlier this month that U.S. central bank officials “are going to be cautious about further cuts” after an as-expected quarter-point rate reduction. The U.S. economy also faces the impact of Donald Trump, who has proposed deregulation, tax cuts, tariff hikes and tighter immigration policies that economists view as both pro-growth and inflationary. Traders, meanwhile, anticipate the Bank of Japan will keep its monetary policy settings loose and the European Central Bank will deliver further rate cuts, neither positive for their currencies. Traders are pricing in 37 basis points of U.S. rate cuts in 2025, with no reduction fully priced into money markets until May, by which time the ECB is expected to have lowered its deposit rate by a full percentage point to 2% as the euro zone economy slows. Higher U.S. rate expectations pulled the 10-year Treasury yield, which rises as the price of the fixed income instrument falls, to its highest since early May early on Thursday, at 4.641%. It was last up 4.6 basis points at 4.625%. The two-year Treasury yield, which tracks interest rate forecasts, eased 0.4 bp to 4.328%. U.S. debt trends also sent euro zone yields higher, with Germany’s benchmark 10-year bund yield rising 7.6 bp to 2.401% on Friday. Elsewhere in markets, gold prices dipped 0.74% to $2,615.54 per ounce, set for about a 27% rise for the year and the strongest yearly performance since 2011 as geopolitical and inflation concerns boosted the haven asset. Oil prices firmed as investors awaited news of economic stimulus efforts in China, the world’s biggest crude importer. Brent crude futures rose 0.67% on the day to $73.75 a barrel, and was 1.14% higher for the week. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 1.26% to $94,485.00. Source: ReutersNEW YORK — Same iconic statue, very different race. With two-way star Travis Hunter of Colorado and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty leading the field, these certainly aren't your typical Heisman Trophy contenders. Sure, veteran quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel from top-ranked Oregon and Cam Ward of No. 15 Miami are finalists for college football's most prestigious award as well, but the 90th annual ceremony coming up Saturday night at Lincoln Center in New York City offers a fresh flavor this year. To start with, none of the four are from the powerhouse Southeastern Conference, which has produced four of the past five Heisman winners — two each from Alabama and LSU. Jeanty, who played his home games for a Group of Five team on that peculiar blue turf in Idaho more than 2,100 miles from Manhattan, is the first running back even invited to the Heisman party since 2017. After leading the country with 2,497 yards rushing and 29 touchdowns, he joined quarterback Kellen Moore (2010) as the only Boise State players to be named a finalist. "The running back position has been overlooked for a while now," said Jeanty, who plans to enter the 2025 NFL draft. "There's been a lot of great running backs before me that should have been here in New York, so to kind of carry on the legacy of the running back position I think is great. ... I feel as if I'm representing the whole position." With the votes already in, all four finalists spent Friday conducting interviews and sightseeing in the Big Apple. They were given custom, commemorative watches to mark their achievement. "I'm not a watch guy, but I like it," said Hunter, flashing a smile. The players also took photos beneath the massive billboards in Times Square and later posed with the famous Heisman Trophy, handed out since 1935 to the nation's most outstanding performer. Hunter, the heavy favorite, made sure not to touch it yet. A dominant player on both offense and defense who rarely comes off the field, the wide receiver/cornerback is a throwback to generations gone by and the first full-time, true two-way star in decades. On offense, he had 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns this season to help the 20th-ranked Buffaloes (9-3) earn their first bowl bid in four years. On defense, he made four interceptions, broke up 11 passes and forced a critical fumble that secured an overtime victory against Baylor. Hunter played 688 defensive snaps and 672 more on offense — the only Power Four conference player with 30-plus snaps on both sides of the ball, according to Colorado research. Call him college football's answer to baseball unicorn Shohei Ohtani. "I think I laid the ground for more people to come in and go two ways," Hunter said. "It starts with your mindset. If you believe you can do it, then you'll be able to do it. And also, I do a lot of treatment. I keep up with my body. I get a lot of recovery." Hunter is Colorado's first Heisman finalist in 30 years. The junior from Suwanee, Georgia, followed flashy coach Deion Sanders from Jackson State, an HBCU that plays in the lower level FCS, to the Rocky Mountains and has already racked up a staggering combination of accolades this week, including The Associated Press player of the year. Hunter also won the Walter Camp Award as national player of the year, along with the Chuck Bednarik Award as the top defensive player and the Biletnikoff Award for best wide receiver. "It just goes to show that I did what I had to do," Hunter said. Next, he'd like to polish off his impressive hardware collection by becoming the second Heisman Trophy recipient in Buffaloes history, after late running back Rashaan Salaam in 1994. "I worked so hard for this moment, so securing the Heisman definitely would set my legacy in college football," Hunter said. "Being here now is like a dream come true." Jeanty carried No. 8 Boise State (12-1) to a Mountain West Conference championship that landed the Broncos the third seed in this year's College Football Playoff. They have a first-round bye before facing the SMU-Penn State winner in the Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal on New Year's Eve. The 5-foot-9, 215-pound junior from Jacksonville, Florida, won the Maxwell Award as college football's top player and the Doak Walker Award for best running back. Jeanty has five touchdown runs of at least 70 yards and has rushed for the fourth-most yards in a season in FBS history — topping the total of 115 teams this year. He needs 132 yards to break the FBS record set by Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders at Oklahoma State in 1988. In a pass-happy era, however, Jeanty is trying to become the first running back to win the Heisman Trophy since Derrick Henry for Alabama nine years ago. In fact, quarterbacks have snagged the prize all but four times this century. Gabriel, an Oklahoma transfer, led Oregon (13-0) to a Big Ten title in its first season in the league and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. The steady senior from Hawaii passed for 3,558 yards and 28 touchdowns with six interceptions. His 73.2% completion rate ranks second in the nation, and he's attempting to join quarterback Marcus Mariota (2014) as Ducks players to win the Heisman Trophy. "I think all the memories start to roll back in your mind," Gabriel said. Ward threw for 4,123 yards and led the nation with a school-record 36 touchdown passes for the high-scoring Hurricanes (10-2) after transferring from Washington State. The senior from West Columbia, Texas, won the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback of the Year award and is looking to join QBs Vinny Testaverde (1986) and Gino Torretta (1992) as Miami players to go home with the Heisman. "I just think there's a recklessness that you have to play with at the quarterback position," Ward said. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

COMMENT AI use by law enforcement to identify suspects is already problematic enough, but civil liberties groups have a new problem to worry about: the technology being employed to draft police reports. The American Civil Liberties Union published a report this week detailing its concerns with law enforcement tech provider Axon's Draft One , a ChatGPT-based system that translates body camera recordings into drafts of police reports that officers need only edit and flesh out to ostensibly save them time spent on desk work. Given the importance of police reports to investigations and prosecutions and the unreliability already noted in other forms of law enforcement AI, the ACLU has little faith that Draft One will avoid leading to potential civil rights violations and civil liberty issues. "Police reports play a crucial role in our justice system," ACLU speech, privacy and technology senior policy analyst and report author Jay Stanley wrote. "Concerns include the unreliability and biased nature of AI, evidentiary and memory issues when officers resort to this technology, and issues around transparency. "In the end, we do not think police departments should use this technology," Stanley concluded. It's worth pointing out that Axon doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to thinking critically about innovations: Most of the company's ethics board resigned in 2022 when Axon announced plans to equip remote-control drones with tasers. Axon later paused the program following public blow-back. Draft One , however, has already been in the hands of US law enforcement agencies since it was launched in April. It's not clear how many agencies are using Draft One, and Axon didn't respond to questions for this story. This vulture can personally attest to the misery that is writing police reports. In my time as a Military Policeman in the US Army, I spent plenty of time on shifts writing boring, formulaic, and necessarily granular reports on incidents, and it was easily the worst part of my job. I can definitely sympathize with police in the civilian world, who deal with far worse - and more frequent - crimes than I had to address on small bases in South Korea. That said, I've also had a chance to play with modern AI and report on many of its shortcomings, and the ACLU seems to definitely be on to something in Stanley's report. After all, if we can't even trust AI to write something as legally low-stakes as news or a bug report , how can we trust it to do decent police work? LLMs, while amazingly advanced at imitating human writing, are prone to unpredictable errors [that] may be compounded by transcription errors, including those resulting from garbled or otherwise unclear audio in a body camera video That's one of the ACLU's prime concerns, especially given report drafts are being compiled from body camera recordings that are often low-quality and hard to hear clearly. "LLMs, while amazingly advanced at imitating human writing, are prone to unpredictable errors [that] may be compounded by transcription errors, including those resulting from garbled or otherwise unclear audio in a body camera video," Stanley noted. In an ideal world, Stanley added, police would be carefully reviewing AI-generated drafts, but that very well may not be the case. The report notes that Draft One includes a feature that can intentionally insert silly sentences into AI-produced drafts as a test to ensure officers are thoroughly reviewing and revising the drafts. However, Axon's CEO mentioned in a video about Draft One that most agencies are choosing not to enable this feature. The ACLU also points out privacy issues with using a large language model to process body camera footage: That's sensitive police data, so who exactly is going to be handling it? According to Axon's website, all Draft One data, including camera transcripts and draft reports, are "securely stored and managed within the Axon Network," but there's no indication of what that network entails. Despite Microsoft's insistence that police aren't allowed to use Azure AI for face recognition , that apparently doesn't apply to letting an AI write police reports, as Axon indicated in an April press release that Draft One "was built on top of Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service platform." Not exactly confidence inspiring given Microsoft's and Azure's security track record of late. "When a user (such as Axon) uploads a document or enters a prompt, both of those are transmitted to the LLM's operator (such as OpenAI), and what that operator does with that information is not subject to any legal privacy protections," the ACLU report states. "Axon claims here that 'no customer [ie, police] data is going to OpenAI,' but normally in order to have an LLM like ChatGPT analyze a block of text such as the transcript of a bodycam video, you normally send that text to the company running the LLM, like OpenAI, so I'm not sure how that would work in the case of Draft One," Stanley told The Register in an emailed statement. We've asked Axon where data is processed and stored, but again, we haven't heard back. If OpenAI isn't getting access, Microsoft may be, at the very least. The ACLU is also concerned that using AI to write police reports lacks transparency, especially if the modified version of ChatGPT used as the basis of Draft One has system prompts instructing it to behave in a certain way, which it likely does like most LLMs. "That's an example of the kind of element of an AI tool that ought to be public," the ACLU report argued. "If it's not, a police AI system could well contain an instruction such as, 'Make sure that the narrative is told in a way that doesn't portray the officer as violating the Constitution.'" We've asked Axon for a look at Draft One's system prompts. "This elasticity of human memory is why we believe it's vital that officers give their statement about what took place in an incident before they are allowed to see any video or other evidence," the ACLU stated in the report. Draft One bypasses that issue by generating a draft report primarily based on audio captured by body cameras, which officers ideally should not rely on exclusively to provide their own testimony. If an officer reviewing an AI-generated report notices, for example, that something illegal they did wasn't captured by their camera, they never need to testify to that fact in their report. Conversely, if an officer lacked probable cause to detain or arrest a suspect, but their camera picks up audio in the background that justifies their action, then post-hoc probable cause could again disguise police misconduct. "The body camera video and the police officer's memory are two separate pieces of evidence," Stanley wrote. "But if the police report is just an AI rehash of the body camera video, then you no longer have two separate pieces of evidence - you have one, plus a derivative summary of it." Along with potentially assisting police to cover up misconduct or create after-the-fact justifications for illegal actions, the ACLU also pointed out another issue identified by American University law professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson: It makes them less accountable for their actions. In a paper written earlier this year covering many of the same concerns raised by the ACLU, and cited as inspiration for its report, Ferguson pointed out that making police officers write reports can serve as a disciplinary check on their use of power. Police have to justify the use of discretionary power in reports, which Ferguson and the ACLU pointed out serves as a way to remind them of the legal limits of their authority. "A shift to AI-drafted police reports would sweep away these important internal roles that reports play within police departments and within the minds of officers," the ACLU wrote. "This is an additional reason to be skeptical of this technology." At the end of the day, some police are using this technology now, though Stanley believes its use is likely confined to only a few agencies around the US. Axon isn't the only company offering similar products either, with Policereports.ai and Truleo both offering similar services. The ACLU told us it's not aware of any cases involving the use of AI police reports that have been used to prosecute a defendant, so we have yet to see these reports stand up to the legal scrutiny of a courtroom. ®Get ready for a college football bowl season like you’ve never seen. It’s the first year of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff to determine the national champion, with first-round games kicking off Friday, December 20. In the new format, the top four conference champions (Oregon, Georgia, Arizona State and Boise State) receive a first-round bye and automatic entry into the quarterfinals. The remaining eight teams play in the four-game first round, with matchups held at the home stadiums of the higher-ranked participants. The “New Year’s Six” bowls serve as the quarterfinals and semifinals, with the national championship decided Monday, January 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Of course, there’s still plenty of college football postseason action through early January that doesn’t involve the national championship chase. The parade of bowl games begins Saturday, December 14, with the Cricket Celebration Bowl in Atlanta. A great tradition continues in Landover, Maryland, as the Navy Midshipmen take on the Army Black Knights Saturday on CBS at 3/2c. Later on Saturday, the Heisman Trophy is presented to the season’s most outstanding player in a ceremony on ESPN at 8/7c. Finalists are Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel, Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter, Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty (pictured above) and Miami QB Cam Ward. Here’s your complete lineup of College Football Playoff games and other bowl matchups: All times Eastern/Central. Friday, December 20 No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame, ABC/ESPN, 8/7c Saturday, December 21 No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State, noon/11a c, TNT/Max No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas, 4/3c, TNT/Max No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State, 8/7c, ABC/ESPN Tuesday, December 31 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Arizona): TBA vs. No. 3 Boise State, (ESPN) Wednesday, Jan. 1 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Atlanta): TBA vs. No. 4 Arizona State, 1/noon c, ESPN Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California): TBA vs. No. 1 Oregon, 5/4c, ESPN Allstate Sugar Bowl (New Orleans): TBA vs. No. 2 Georgia, 8:45/7:45c, ESPN Thursday, January 9 Capital One Orange Bowl (Miami, Florida): TBA vs. TBA, 7:30/6:30c, ESPN Friday, January 10 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (Arlington, Texas): TBA vs. TBA, 7:30/6:30c, ESPN Monday, January 20 National Championship (Atlanta): TBA vs. TBA, 7:30/6:30c, ESPN Saturday, December 14 Cricket Celebration Bowl (Atlanta): Jackson State vs. South Carolina State, noon/11a c, ABC IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama): South Alabama vs. Western Michigan, 9/8c, ESPN Tuesday, December 17 Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl (Frisco, Texas): Memphis vs. West Virginia, 9/8c, ESPN Wednesday, December 18 Boca Raton Bowl (Boca Raton, Florida): Western Kentucky vs. James Madison, 5:30/4:30c, ESPN Art of Sport LA Bowl (Inglewood, California): Cal vs. UNLV, 9/8c, ESPN Thursday, December 19 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans): Georgia Southern vs. Sam Houston, 7/6c, ESPN2 Friday, December 20 StaffDNA Cure Bowl (Orlando, Florida): Ohio vs. Jacksonville State, noon/11a c, ESPN Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa, Florida): 3:30/2:30c, ESPN Monday, December 23 Myrtle Beach Bowl (Conway, South Carolina): Coastal Carolina vs. UTSA, 11a/10a c, ESPN Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise, Idaho): Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State, 2:30/1:30c, ESPN Tuesday, December 24 Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu): South Florida vs. San José State, 8/7c, ESPN Thursday, December 26 GameAbove Sports Bowl (Detroit): Pittsburgh vs. Toledo, 2/1xc, ESPN Rate Bowl (Phoenix): Rutgers vs. Kansas State, 5:30/4:30c, ESPN 68 Ventures Bowl (Mobile, Alabama): Arkansas State vs. Bowling Green, 9/8c, ESPN Friday, December 27 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas): Oklahoma vs. Navy, noon/11a c, ESPN Birmingham Bowl (Birmingham, Alabama): Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt, 3:30/2:30c, ESPN AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Memphis, Tennessee): Texas Tech vs. Arkansas, 7/6c, ESPN DirecTV Holiday Bowl (San Diego): Syracuse vs. Washington State, 8/7c, Fox SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas): Texas A&M vs. USC, 10:30/9:30c, ESPN Saturday, December 28 Wasabi Fenway Bowl (Boston): UConn vs. North Carolina, 11a/10a c, ESPN Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl (Bronx, New York): Boston College vs. Nebraska, Noon/11a c, ABC Isleta New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, New Mexico): Louisiana vs. TCU, 2:15/1:15c, ESPN Pop-Tarts Bowl (Orlando, Florida): Iowa State vs. Miami, 3:30/2:30c, ABC Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl (Tucson, Arizona): Miami (Ohio) vs. Colorado State, 4:30/3:30c, The CW Go Bowling Military Bowl (Annapolis, Maryland): East Carolina vs. NC State, 5:45/4:45c, ESPN Valero Alamo Bowl (San Antonio): BYU vs. Colorado, 7:30/6:30c, ABC Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl (Shreveport, Louisiana): Marshall vs. Army, 9:15/8:15c, ESPN Monday, December 30 TransPerfect Music City Bowl (Nashville, Tennessee): Iowa vs. Missouri, 2:30/1:30c, ESPN Tuesday, December 31 ReliaQuest Bowl (Tampa, Florida): Alabama vs. Michigan, noon/11a c, ESPN Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas): Louisville vs. Washington, 2/1c, CBS Cheez-It Citrus Bowl (Orlando, Florida): South Carolina vs. Illinois, 3/2c, ABC Kinder’s Texas Bowl (Houston): Baylor vs. LSU, 3:30/2:30c, ESPN Thursday, January 2 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, Florida): Duke vs. Ole Miss, 7:30/6:30c, ESPN Friday, January 3 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl (Dallas): North Texas vs. Texas State, 4/3c, ESPN Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Charlotte, North Carolina): Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech, 7:30/6:30c, ESPN Saturday, January 4 Bahamas Bowl (Nassau, Bahamas): Buffalo vs. Liberty, 11a/10a c, ESPN2 More Headlines: