Volkswagen announced a steep cut to its full-year profit outlook on Friday, citing roughly €10 billion ($11.5 billion) in one-time charges concentrated at its troubled Porsche division, amid mounting pressure from U.S. tariffs and a weakening Chinese auto market on the world's second-largest automaker.
The company said it now expects an operating return on sales of up to 1% for 2026, down from its previous guidance of 4% to 5.5%. Volkswagen also said full-year revenue is expected to fall to about €315 billion, from €321.9 billion in 2025.
The bulk of the charges — about €6 billion — stem from revised mid-term ******* umptions for Porsche, in which Volkswagen holds a 75.4% stake. The sports car brand has been hit by U.S. tariffs and a collapse in demand for foreign luxury vehicles in China. On top of that, Volkswagen said it would book a further €2 billion in impairments in the second half of the year, covering China-related writedowns as well as restructuring charges such as costs from early-retirement schemes and the pending divestiture of its Osnabrück plant in Germany, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Volkswagen stock closed down 5.6% following the announcement. Shares of Porsche and Volkswagen's top shareholder Porsche SE fell 3.3% and 4.9%, respectively.
The company cautioned that "further deterioration in the market environment, especially in China, as well as an accelerated shift in demand in favour of battery-electric vehicles" would drag down results, with its Audi and Volkswagen passenger car brands bearing the brunt. Volkswagen noted that its outlook ******* umes tariffs remain unchanged and does not account for possible future effects from the war in the Middle East.

#charges #tariffs #full

Become a CEO after your MBA: that's the promise some private equity firms are using to recruit top operating talent.
This promise propels the best and brightest into top executive roles without requiring them to climb the corporate ladder, underpinned by the belief that cultivating talent is a better bet than making semi-blind bets on external hires.
Alpine Investors and Shore Capital Partners have each built separate pipelines to funnel operational talent, aiming to equip executives to take charge of their portfolio companies.
Lower-middle-market buyout firm Shore Capital Partners runs what it calls its CXO program, a two-year training scheme that places early- to mid-career talent and recent MBA grads into C-suite-adjacent roles at its portfolio companies—typically chief of staff or vice president of business operations or strategic initiatives.
Top-performing CXO graduates then have the chance to be promoted to C-level positions. So far, Shore has produced four CEOs from the CXO program. This includes Mark Larsen, who has been CEO of medical software business Connexure since 2024.

#Companies

Two former Robinhood engineers allegedly used confidential information about upcoming cryptocurrency listings to make profitable trades on decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Hefu Chai, 36, and Huaisong "Jerry" Xiang, 30, each face one count of commodities fraud and one count of wire fraud.
"Today's charges make clear that corporate insiders cannot evade the securities and commodities laws by trading based on misappropriated information in derivatives like perpetual futures, tokenized securities, or other similar financial instruments," U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said in a statement.
Perpetual futures, or "perps," let traders speculate on an **** et's price—often with leverage—without owning it. Unlike conventional futures, the derivatives do not expire. Hyperliquid is one of the largest decentralized platforms for trading perps and has faced increased regulatory scrutiny.
According to the DOJ, the engineers allegedly used nonpublic information about upcoming Robinhood Crypto token listings to buy related perpetual futures before the announcements, earning profits "for their own benefit" between 2025 and 2026. Each defendant earned more than $50,000 from the alleged scheme, the Justice Department said.

#futures #engineers

MiKargo247 is expanding its spot cargo insurance coverage to include strategic cargo theft under a new partnership with Verified Carrier.
The coverage is designed to address a growing category of freight fraud involving double brokering, carrier identity theft and fictitious pickups. Under the partnership, brokers using Verified Carrier can purchase MiKargo247 spot cargo insurance and have the strategic theft exclusion removed when the load is hauled by an eligible verified carrier. The companies announced the partnership Sept. 1.
Strategic cargo theft accounted for about 30% of reported U.S. cargo theft incidents in 2025, according to a June report from Munich Re Specialty and BSI Consulting. The report found that criminals are increasingly using deception, impersonation and other fraud-based methods to obtain freight rather than relying solely on physically stealing cargo from trucks or facilities.
The shift creates a challenge for brokers and insurers because fraudulent actors can make it difficult to determine who is actually hauling a load.
The FBI warned in April that cyber-enabled strategic cargo theft is increasing, with criminals using compromised accounts, fictitious companies and double-brokering schemes to divert legitimate freight. The agency recommended that transportation companies independently verify shipment requests and pickups before releasing loads.

#carrier #partnership #Companies

KCHP launched September 15, 2026 on NYSE Arca, giving U.S. investors a single-ticker bet on South Korean semiconductor companies at a 0.65% expense ratio.
Unlike broad Korea funds EWY and FLKR or global chip ETFs SOXX and SMH, KCHP targets only Korean chipmakers but charges more than all of them.
With just one day of trading history and likely wide bid-ask spreads, KCHP carries real liquidity risk on top of concentrated memory-chip exposure.
Read More: Learn 7 ways to generate income with a $1,000,000+ portfolio (sponsor)
The specific index the fund tracks, the method used to weight the holdings (for example, by market value or a capped scheme to prevent one stock from dominating), and the exact number of positions were not spelled out in the data available for this article. Those details sit in the prospectus filed with the SEC, which investors should consult directly.

#korea

Rookie defensive back Mansoor Delane is questionable to return to the Kansas City Chiefs' Week 1 matchup against the Denver Broncos on 'Monday Night Football' after sustaining a shoulder injury in the first quarter of the primetime tilt.
Delane joined Kansas City as the No. 6 overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft and recorded his first career interception in front of a national audience on the game's first drive, which gave the Chiefs an early advantage over Denver.
The Chiefs shared an official update on Delane's status in a post to their official Twitter account:
While it remains unclear if Delane will be able to return to the field in Week 1, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is already adjusting his scheme to account for the former LSU Tiger's absence.
Stay tuned to find out if Delane's absence will prove to be temporary, or if the rookie defender will need to miss games due to his shoulder injury.

#kansas #city #rookie #defensive

ATLANTA — Tennessee freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon will try for a strong sequel to his debut in leading the 18th-ranked Vols against Georgia Tech.
Tennessee (1-0) and Georgia Tech (0-1) play Sept. 12 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
It's a good road test, especially for Brandon, who accounted for five touchdowns in 56-9 win over Furman at home. And defensive coordinator Jim Knowles will dig deeper into his scheme to stop the Yellow Jackets.
The Vols will get a boost from the return of All-SEC linebacker Arion Carter and starting center Sam Pendleton, who were suspended for the Furman game.
Carter was suspended by the NCAA because he accepted a $427 flight from his agent to an NFL pre-draft training facility, whice he repaid. Pendleton was suspended by Tennessee for violation of team rules because he was arrested in May on charges of driving under the influence.

#georgia #atlanta

CBS Sports ******* yst Garrett Podell put together his bold predictions for Week 1 of the 2026 season, one of which centers around the Jacksonville Jaguars' run defense -- and not in a positive way.
Podell made four bold Week 1 predictions, one of which is that Cleveland Browns' running back Quinshon Judkins rushes for over 75 yards against the Jaguars' defense.
"Cleveland Browns running back Quinshon Judkins ran for 827 yards as a rookie in 2025 despite the corpse of Joe Flacco, third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel and fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders all starting at quarterback last season," wrote Podell. "He's used to facing loaded boxes and opponents going all out to take away his production."
Of course, what makes this prediction bold is that the Jaguars boasted the top run defense unit in football last season.
A second offseason in Anthony Campanile's scheme, along with no significant losses this offseason, a few new rookie additions, and second-year players BJ Green and Danny Striggow making potential jumps, are all reasons to believe that this unit can once again be quite good.

#podell #quinshon

An elite Denver defense is the Week 1 ******* ignment, and Mahomes gets it right out of the gate. He checks in 13th among quarterbacks in PFN's Week 1 rankings, and the matchup is clearly difficult. Still, you've given Andy Reid all summer to scheme. If you drafted Mahomes, you're playing Mahomes.
Mahomes faced this elite defense once last season, and Andy Reid made it pretty clear as to how he wanted to attack: 45 pass attempts and 14 rushes (one of which came from Mahomes).
They didn't bring in Kenneth Walker III to be a one-dimensional offense, and even if the long-term goal is to put their fate in the hands of their future Hall of Fame QB, it's fair to ******* ume we don't see that in September.
SET YOUR LINEUPS: PFN's Free Fantasy Football Start/Sit Optimizer
If you drafted Mahomes, you're playing Mahomes. There are a ton of players in this league where I'm happy to be a week late to starting rather than a week early, but this isn't one of those situations. The matchup is clearly difficult, but you've given Andy Reid all summer to scheme, and that's something I'm happy to bet on.

#week #elite #you 've

On Sep. 8, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, convicted Jihoon Park for his role in an investment fraud scheme and defrauding a bankruptcy court.
Park used his personal relationships and his previous affiliation with a large financial institution to convince members of his community to let him invest their life savings and retirement money with a promise of high returns, as per court documents and evidence presented at trial.
Related: San Francisco billionaire slammed by Gen Z son over surveillance support
But he transferred over $2.5 million from the unsuspecting community members to himself to buy a house and cryptocurrency.
As a fraud victim sued Park, he transferred **** ets to his wife and hid crypto **** ets worth millions of dollars before filing for bankruptcy.

#park

During a beach outing, then-5-year-old Terry Potter Hedden III — now "Trey" to NMSU teammates and fans — picked up a football and threw a perfect spiral to his stepmom. It was then Hedden was destined to be a quarterback with a supportive blended family. His parents and stepparents "made sure I made every tryout. They took me to camps. They helped me meet the coaches I wanted to learn from." And they attended every game, including during his two years at Furman and this season with the Aggies. After a 10-percentage-point jump in accuracy from his freshman season, Hedden entered the portal to "raise the ceiling a little bit" in pursuit of future pro opportunities. NMSU head coach Tony Sanchez's spread attack offered protection (312 pounds an O-lineman) and speedy targets. Slot receiver TK King has been GPS-clocked at nearly 23 mph and laser-timed at 20.74 seconds over 200 meters. "The biggest thing for me is I've got to remember that on game day, he's a little bit faster than he is in practice," Hedden said of King. "When he's running a route, you can throw it out there and he'll turn it on. We talk about it in the meeting room. Go make him run 100 meters to catch the ball." King's average target depth is 21 yards. He has catch-and-dashes of 46, 42 and 34 yards. The Aggies have sets of four and five receivers or up to two tight ends. Running back James Jones has no fumbles or negative-yard rushes in 30 carries. Jones also is an effective blocker who can roll into the flats. Hedden is 80% accurate on screens, hitches and check-down throws. "The quarterback in this offense is really a distributor," Hedden said. "We really focus on the things we're good at, and we repeat those things, and find new ways to do those things every week. It's really been a lot of fun to play in this offense with these coaches."
The Aggies' base is chaos, with shifts, movements and glove-to-glove combat in the trenches and running lanes. "When things get so cranky, like how many blitzes and stunts, it looks like Star Wars to us," weakside linebacker Sone Aupiu said. His first two NMSU seasons, Aupiu played middle linebacker. He moved to will linebacker last year but still trains at all second-tier positions, including jack, the stand-up edge defender. Helped by playing on the narrow side of the formation, Aupiu has freedom to jump lanes. "When it comes to gap schemes, that's what I love," he said. "Coming my way to the boundary, I'm looking to hit 'em." His father grew up in Samoa, his mother in New Zealand, where rugby was the favored sport. He said he aspires to play professional rugby. But for now, Aupiu said, "I chose a different route, which was football. Everybody else on my mom's side chose rugby." Aupiu received a few college offers. But after an official visit to Las Cruces, he decided to be an Aggie. He said he had to adjust to the culture change from Long Beach, Calif., such as green chili served with everything. And to fatherhood — he and his wife have a 3-yea

On Sep. 8, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, convicted Jihoon Park for his role in an investment fraud scheme and defrauding a bankruptcy court.
Park used his personal relationships and his previous affiliation with a large financial institution to convince members of his community to let him invest their life savings and retirement money with a promise of high returns, as per court documents and evidence presented at trial.
Related: San Francisco billionaire slammed by Gen Z son over surveillance support
But he transferred over $2.5 million from the unsuspecting community members to himself to buy a house and cryptocurrency.
As a fraud victim sued Park, he transferred **** ets to his wife and hid crypto **** ets worth millions of dollars before filing for bankruptcy.

#fraud #members #community #transferred

Heading off to college is an exciting milestone. Along with classes, new friendships and greater independence come something many students don't expect: scammers looking for easy targets.
College students are often managing their own finances for the first time, signing leases, applying for credit cards, purchasing textbooks and paying tuition. Criminals know this and use convincing schemes to steal money and personal information.
Whether you're a student or the parent of one, staying alert can help prevent an expensive lesson outside the classroom.
Scammers often pretend to be someone students trust, such as a college financial aid office, bank or government agency. An email or text message may ask students to click a link and log in with their school username and password or provide financial information. These messages can look legitimate, but they're designed to steal sensitive information.
If you receive an unexpected request, contact the school or organization directly using a phone number or website you know is legitimate instead of clicking links in the message.

#know

Yankees news: Jasson Dominguez gets demoted to Triple-A after dreadful game appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Aaron Judge may be back in action for the New York Yankees, but they are bringing him along slowly to preserve his health heading into the most important stretch of the season. To that end, Judge received a day off on Thursday in their series finale against the Colorado Rockies, with Jasson Dominguez taking his spot not just at right field, but at the three-spot in the lineup.
However, Dominguez did not impress during his opportunity on Thursday. In fact, he did the opposite. Not only did he go 0-4 from the plate (with one walk) with two strikeouts on the night, he also made an error in the top of the eighth, failing to field a base hit cleanly which allowed the Rockies to score a run.
This did not matter in the grand scheme of things, as the Yankees ended up winning comfortably in the end anyway, 10-3. Nonetheless, it was clear that Dominguez still has a lot of learning to do, and New York, following the end of their series against the Rockies, decided to demote the 23-year-old to Triple-A, as per Yankees PR account on X.
Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (free trial)

#Rockies #jasson #series

Sep. 10—The opening week of the season was rough for the upper divisions of the Greater Spokane League as the 4A and 3A teams went a combined 3-7 in Week 1. Both No. 1 seeds to the postseason in 2025 — Gonzaga Prep and Cheney — suffered multiple-touchdown losses, and Week 2 won't get any easier for them.
But that's the beauty/danger of the league opening up its schedule to nonleague games early in the season. It allows teams with postseason aspirations to play tougher opponents to bulk up their schedules — but it also means the risk of psyche-busting early-season losses.
In the grand scheme of things, nothing that happened last Friday has any impact on which teams might reach the postseason. But no one wants to start the season 0-2, either.
Let's go around the league and take a closer look at the matchups for Week 2.
All games nonleague and Friday at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

#season #postseason #opening #nonleague

The Oklahoma Sooners hit the road for the first time in 2026 on Saturday afternoon. OU heads to Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan Wolverines in the Big House in Week 2.
Michigan went 9-4 last year, but the Wolverines have changed a lot since then. Former head coach Sherrone Moore was fired at the end of the regular season, with Biff Poggi serving as the interim head coach. Michigan hired former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham as the new head man on December 26th.
Whittingham coached Utah from 2005 to 2025, posting a 177-88 record as the head man of the Utes. His teams won three conference ****** les and played in three more conference ****** le games. The Wolverines were looking for a stable presence in the wake of everything that happened with Moore and his predecessor Jim Harbaugh, and they certainly got that in the veteran Whittingham. He'll square off with Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables in a huge game for both programs.
Michigan won at home last week against Western Michigan, 13-12. That victory came in controversial fashion, as the Wolverines were given an extra second on the clock after it appeared the game was over. Michigan used that second to throw a Hail Mary that was caught for the win. After escaping by the slimmest of margins, the Wolverines will certainly play a lot better on Saturday than they did last week.
On offense, Venables will be matched up against offensive coordinator Jason Beck, who came over with Whittingham. Beck has led strong offenses at New Mexico in 2024 and at Syracuse in 2023. His scheme is know for a stout rushing attack that also runs the quarterback a lot, something the Sooners got a heavy dose of last week against UTEP.

#head #whittingham #last #Sooners

All summer, Stetson Bennett and Ty Simpson competed to be Matthew Stafford's backup under center. Bennett had the lead going into training camp and after playing well in practice and the preseason, he never let that lead go.
Sean McVay opted not to name a winner in that camp battle but on Thursday night, he was forced to make a decision. The Rams chose Bennett as their No. 2 quarterback, making Simpson a healthy scratch for the first game of the season.
McVay referred to Bennett and Simpson as 2A and 2B on the depth chart, despite listing Bennett as the No. 2 and Bennett third. It's no surprise that the Rams are going with Bennett behind Stafford, given his experience; this is his fourth year in the system.
Simpson played well in the preseason and training camp, making a strong case to win the backup job. However, Bennett is the safer choice because of how well he knows the offense. In the event that Stafford goes down, the Rams can feel confident that he'll operate the scheme and get the ball out on time to the proper receiver.
The Rams hope Bennett never has to see the field this season because if he does, it means Stafford got hurt. But for the time being, he's the No. 2 until Simpson overtakes him or something changes in the minds of the coaches.

#simpson #camp #lead #going

Prior to Thursday's victory over the New England Patriots, the Seattle Seahawks added some depth to their secondary with the elevation of AJ Finley to the 53 man roster to feel more secure in the home opener. With that came the corresponding move of cutting 2025's sixth round pick Bryce Cabeldue. If the Seahawks hoped to get him back onto the practice squad, their hopes were squashed.
Per Mike Garafolo, Klint Kubiak added the guard to his squad over in Las Vegas. With familiarity with the scheme that he runs, it makes sense that Kubiak would want Cabeldue to join him with the Raiders. With the ability to play both right guard and left guard, as well as right tackle and left tackle, that helps Kubiak's squad have depth along the offensive line that ranked dead last in the league in 2025. Improving the offensive line was a focus for Kubiak, adding Tyler Linderbaum to anchor the interior at center, Evan Neal, and drafting Trey Zuhn III.
As it stands right now, Cabeldue is the third left guard on the Raiders depth chart per ESPN behind Spencer Burford and Antonio Mafi.

#seahawks

The Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers are ready to renew their annual rivalry, this time with both team's kicking off their season in Melbourne, Australia. While the location has many excited about the game, along with the rivalry's intensity, these three storylines are ones to watch.
This is a multi-layered question due to Kyle Shanahan's offensive brilliance, along with how his scheme has populated the league. The immediate questions revolve around the Rams' defense and whether they have the tools to contain Shanahan's zone-blocking scheme. On top of that, do they have the ability to stop Shanahan's layered passing attack, in which he uses short underneath passes to open up the rest of the field?
Schematics aside, the Seahawks and Cardinals also utilize Shanahan's offensive scheme, as their offensive play-callers are ex-Shanahan ****** istants.
Then, we have to account for Shanahan's tactical brilliance. If I'm Shanahan, I'm using the early portions of the game to figure out how the Rams match up against San Francisco's multi-tight end personnel, and once Chris Shula deploys multiple linebackers, the 49ers should use a fast-tempo offense to take advantage of the Rams' linebackers having to cover ****** e while depleting their energy, with the Rams being unable to substitute.
Shanahan has tricks like that in his bag to control the pen. Is Shula finally wise enough not to fall for it?

#Rams #offensive #scheme #brilliance

A California high school football team is out more than $400,000 after its former treasurer allegedly embezzled the money from the program, according to a press release from the Central District of California U.S. Attorney's Office.
Julie Hanway Molina, 56, was arrested Thursday, Sept. 10, at her home in Aliso Viejo, Calif., and is expected to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, where she faces four counts of wire fraud.
Molina served as treasurer of a nonprofit organization supporting the Aliso Niguel High School football team, where she allegedly carried out a scheme to defraud the nonprofit between 2023 and November 2025 by diverting money from its bank account for personal expenses.
Prosecutors allege Molina misappropriated a total of $411,761, using some of the money to pay her delinquent home mortgage and credit card bills, according to the release.
The allegations detail that Molina wired approximately $131,523 from the organization's bank account in Laguna Hills through Federal Reserve facilities in New Jersey and Texas to an account in Santa Ana.

#california #santa #Football

The Eagles' defense will probably be ahead of the offense to start the 2026 season, and that should prove positive for a unit that's completely meshed with their legendary defensive coordinator. Third down is where Vic Fangio's creativity and the Eagles' defensive versatility should become most apparent. Philadelphia can use Cooper DeJean and Michael Carter II together, move Jalen Carter across the defensive front, and rotate several edge rushers without sacrificing coverage on the backend. Fangio could remove traditional positions entirely when Philadelphia reaches obvious passing situations.
With Washington presenting a mobile quarterback and multiple receiving threats, here is what the Eagles' third-down defense could look like in Week 1.
A likely third-and-long package would feature Jalen Carter and Moro Ojomo inside, with Nolan Smith Jr. and Jalyx Hunt or Jonathan Greenard rushing from the edges. Jihaad Campbell could join the rush from several alignments. Zack Baun would remain as the primary linebacker because of his coverage ability and understanding of Fangio's scheme.
The secondary could include Riq Woolen and Quinyon Mitchell outside, Cooper DeJean and Michael Carter II inside, and Andrew Mukuba as the deepest safety. Marcus Epps or another pass rusher would claim the final position depending on the distance.
DeJean gives Fangio the ability to disguise the coverage. He can begin near the line of scrimmage before dropping to safety, blitz from the slot, or match a tight end. Carter can cover a traditional slot receiver and allow DeJean to move elsewhere.

#Eagles #defensive

Sept 8 (Reuters) - Ukraine's prosecutor general said on Monday he had offered his resignation citing political reasons, in the latest ‌sign of disunity in the senior ranks of the ‌Ukrainian ruling elite.
"This is a political decision, and I have made it consciously. I do not want the position of Prosecutor General to be used as an instrument of political confrontation," Ruslan Kravchenko said in a statement on Telegram late on Monday, without elaborating.
Kravchenko thanked President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ‌and Ukraine's parliament, ⁠the Verkhovna Rada, and asked them to accept his resignation.
Ukraine's anti-graft agencies, the NABU and SAPO, said last ⁠week they had uncovered a criminal organisation dealing with fraudulent call centres which was allegedly arranged by an official within the Prosecutor General's Office.
Kravchenko has denied he was involved in the alleged scheme. "My position regarding ‌the accusations remains unchanged," he said in his Telegram post.

#kravchenko #general #resignation

The Philadelphia Eagles possess one of the NFL's most complete rosters, but even championship contenders enter every season with players who must step up and provide more.
The Birds are stacked with young players and key veterans preparing to inherit larger roles. Others are veterans attempting to reestablish themselves after uneven performances. As the season opener against Washington looms,t here are a handful of players on the roster who need to take another jump.
Here are five Eagles who must improve during the 2026 season.
Smith enters a pivotal stage of his development after having his fifth-year option exercised. His speed and effort have never been questioned, but Philadelphia needs him to become a more consistent pass-rushing threat who can win without being schemed into favorable situations. Jonathan Greenard, A.J. Epenesa, Arnold Ebiketie and Jalyx Hunt give Vic Fangio options on the edge. Smith must separate himself by finishing pressures and holding up against the run.
Steen's physical ability has always made him an intriguing option along the interior offensive line. Now, the Eagles need dependable week-to-week production from a player who has Pro Bowl potential. He must play with better balance in pass protection, recognize pressure more quickly, and eliminate the lapses that can derail otherwise productive possessions. A strong season in a contract year would stabilize the offensive line and reduce the need to accelerate the development of Philadelphia's younger blockers.

#Eagles #philadelphia #Veterans

Passengers have welcomed the return of publicly owned bus services to Merseyside for the first time since the 1980s.
The first services launched in St Helens on Sunday 6 September and will expand to the Wirral later this year. Full roll-out across the city region is expected by 2027.
Liverpool City Region secured £86.3m in government funding to help roll out the scheme. The Department for Transport said it would give local leaders greater control over routes, branding and fares, while helping improve services for passengers.
A new service to Liverpool John Lennon Airport has launched, as well as an early morning express journey to Southport.
Catherine Howarth, 23, hopes St Helens will soon have night buses [Claire Hamilton/BBC]

#region #merseyside

John Lewis Partnership has rolled out a three-year plan, internally called "Rise", designed to return the employee-owned retailer to a market-leading position, according to internal staff communications reviewed by the Financial Times (FT).
Led by partnership chair Jason Tarry, the initiative is aiming for more than £100m ($135.1m) in additional profit through a "joined-up" strategy across the group's John Lewis and Waitrose loyalty schemes, encompassing Little Treats and Beauty in My John Lewis.
The partnership is also pursuing £180m in annual profit from its retail media arm.
John Lewis intends to nearly double the number of customers using its money services, from 1.2 million to two million.
The group is also targeting roughly £500m in property portfolio growth over the next decade through freehold purchases and lease renegotiations.

#lewis

The Cleveland Browns were nearly dominant on defense last season, finishing fourth in the NFL in total defense. A major part of their success last season was the record-setting performance by Myles Garrett, who set the all-time sack record with 23.0. Garrett has been moved to the Rams, and replacing him is a formidable pass rusher in his own right: Jared Verse.
With the ESPN top 100 recently released, Verse would come in at number 69, somehow dropping down 14 spots from his 55 ranking in 2025:
The Browns traded a two-time Defensive Player of the Year in Myles Garrett, but Verse was a cornerstone, not a consolation prize, for Cleveland in the blockbuster deal. The 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year is already one of the league's best power rushers. He has been adding more moves to his repertoire this offseason, and he thinks returning to a three-point stance in the Browns' 4-3 scheme will give him even more sack opportunities. -- Daniel Oyefusi
Fairly criminal work by ESPN to lower Verse's ranking so dramatically, but we press on. What made things even worse was his projected sack total of 8.0, which most Browns fans will be expecting him to eclipse fairly easily, as he should land right around 12.0 sacks or more in 2026.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Where did Jared Verse rank in ESPN's Top 100 NFL Players?

#Browns

Although the top choice as the most anticipated young player to watch was not MY choice, I applaud the outcome on this week's SBNation Reacts Poll all the same.
Because who isn't excited about a running game that could be revived by a rookie?
So Jonah Coleman it is as the top choice for favorite young player to watch.
No doubt we've been excited for this many seasons before. And it often depends on the scheme and how much an offensive play caller is willing to stick with the run game (ahem), but the preseason definitely brought us hope.
Even Sean Payton thinks the run game is ahead of where it has been.

#although #sbnation

Team USA picked up its second Group D victory of the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup on Sunday with a narrow 55-52 win over Italy in a game that turned into an upset scare.
The Americans came into the matchup with plenty of confidence. When the U.S. faced Italy in the World Cup qualifiers in March, it won 93-59. Sunday's rematch was a different story.
The United States got out to a 19-8 lead in the first quarter using quick possessions and stifling defense. Italy slowly clawed back into the game in the second and third quarters as it played better defense as a team, swapping between zone and man-to-man schemes.
Team USA also went ice cold shooting from the field. The Americans continued to attempt 3s, but didn't make one until Paige Bueckers connected from deep with 1:50 left in the third quarter. Before that first make, the U.S. was 0-10 from beyond the arc.
The Americans went into the fourth quarter up 42-39. This started plenty of back-and-forth action in the final frame.

#quarter #second #defense

When the Cleveland Browns hired Todd Monken to be their head coach, they did so with the expectation that he would be able to help elevate an offense that could eventually match a dominant defense. While his work is more than cut out for him in year one, his track record is enough to where it points to him being able to achieve something during his tenure in Cleveland.
ESPN recently highlighted all the NFL playcallers; within the piece, they discuss several key stats and points about them. For Monken, they discussed his ability to craft the best offense in the NFL in recent years in Baltimore.
They write, "Monken was the architect of one of the league's most explosive offenses during his time in Baltimore. Lamar Jackson was named NFL MVP in his first season with Monken in 2023, and the Ravens finished as the league's No. 1 offense for the first time in their history in 2024. The offense in Cleveland will look different with a young and unproven core, along with the perennial quarterback question, but Monken has a reputation for melding his scheme to his players' talents."
His career as a playcaller is discussed heavily, and he has had success at various levels. He has won with the Baltimore Ravens and had success with talent like Lamar Jackson. What may be the most impressive display in his career is his time with the Georgia Bulldogs, where he elevated an offense led by Stetson Bennett and won two national ***** les.
He can win and produce an offense, but can he do it in Cleveland? Time will tell.

#monken #cleveland #lamar #jackson

One of the biggest changes you're going to notice about new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon's scheme is his Penny package, which is essentially a 3-4 defense on the line of scrimmage with one true off-ball linebacker, split safeties and another deeper safety in the middle of the field. Green Bay Packers fans are familiar with the 3-4 base defense, which was run by Dom Capers, Mike Pettine and Joe Barry in the past, along with the typical 4-2-4 Nickel defense that is played for the majority of snaps league-wide.
This Penny wrinkle, though, is a little different than what you're used to seeing from most NFL teams. That's why we wrote about what it means for the secondary in an article two weeks ago.
Today, though, I want to focus on the line of scrimmage, particularly with how Gannon is deploying "off-ball" linebacker Edgerrin Cooper.
Generally, when 3-4 defenses play Penny, they take their Will linebacker off the field to add a slot defender. The Packers, as a baseline, don't play a slot defender, but a third safety.
The other change-up Green Bay has is that they aren't taking their Will linebacker (Cooper) off the field, at least with the first-team defense. Because Cooper is one of the team's better defenders, Gannon has actually played Cooper on the edge, displacing the edge defender opposite Lukas Van Ness (generally Barryn Sorrell) this preseason.

#penny #green #generally