Twenty-three people died Sunday when a bus on a remote mountain road in Brazil's Alagoas state plunged into a ravine, regional authorities said. Rescue services confirmed that 22 died on the spot and another person, a pregnant woman, succumbed after being taken to hospital, the Alagoas state government said in a statement. Brazilian media said the bus had been carrying 40 passengers and "dozens" of them were injured. The accident occurred near the town of Uniao dos Palmares. State Governor Paulo Dantas declared on social media platform X three days of mourning over the "tragedy." The bus went off the road in an area difficult to access in a mountainous region called Serra da Barriga.jiliko slot 。

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NoneIn 2010, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, then 25 years old, left her two young children to her parents’ care in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija to seek proverbial greener pastures abroad. After initially landing in Malaysia, she moved to Indonesia on advice of her Filipino recruiters. Upon arrival in Yogyakarta, Indonesia she was detained after authorities uncovered 2.6 kilos of heroin with an estimated worth of $500,000 hidden in the inner lining of what she thought to be an empty suitcase given by her recruiter. She was sentenced to death in October 2014 and scheduled for execution in April 2015, but this verdict was stayed due to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s no-execution policy. While attending an ASEAN summit in Malaysia, President Benigno S. Aquino III appealed to President Joko Widodo for a stay in her execution. Fortunately, President Widodo acceded, despite his decision to allow the execution of other convicted foreigners. During the Duterte administration, the Philippine government took the position that it would not interfere with the Indonesian government’s stand on Mary Jane’s case. President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s administration took the cudgels for Mary Jane. During his first foreign trip in the early days of the Marcos presidency, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo brought up with his Indonesian counterpart the possible grant of clemency. Last Nov. 11, a breakthrough emerged as the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration and Correction stated that “the transfer of prisoner” is being eyed as an option for Veloso, in line with the Philippine government’s request and as part of “constructive diplomacy” being taken by both sides. From a broader perspective, Mary Jane Veloso’s story mirrors the Filipino diaspora. Since the early seventies, tens of thousands of Filipinos have ventured to seek employment and better opportunities abroad. While many have prospered and elevated their families’ status, many have also fared badly and have been forced to return home to start anew. The government has not been remiss in continually promoting their well-being through agencies such as the Commission for Filipinos Overseas (CFO), the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). According to a perceptive observer: “It is the billions of dollars of cumulative financial contributions sent to loved ones by these brave sacrificing souls that has kept the Philippine economy afloat.” Mary Jane’s sons have carried on with their schooling; the elder has finished high school and the younger is still enrolled. She will turn 40 years old on January 10, 2025. Many Filipinos certainly share the hope expressed by her family and DFA senior officials for a Christmas or New Year homecoming. Many more continue to aspire for a gentler, kinder life that would enable them to live a life of decent comfort. As of 2023, the number of poor Filipinos ranged from 16.3 million to 17.7 million, respectively, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Social Weather Stations (SWS) report on self-rated poverty. Stunting, or being small in size for their age, is still highly prevalent among the youngest Filipino children. The Philippines ranks fifth highest in Asia-Pacific in terms of having the highest number of stunted children. Mary Jane Veloso’s long-awaited homecoming will hopefully signal the dawning of a new, more hopeful era for Filipino women, children and families.

Karad (Maharashtra): NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said the Ladki Bahin scheme , women's participation in voting in large numbers, and religious polarisation may have played a role in Mahayuti's victory in Maharashtra assembly polls . He said the election results, declared on Saturday, are not on the expected lines but he would revitalise the party. Responding to a query on his retirement from active politics, Pawar tersely said he and his party colleagues will decide. Speaking to reporters in Karad city in Satara district, Pawar acknowledged that the NCP led by his nephew and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar secured more seats than the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), adding "Everyone knows who founded the NCP". "The Ladki Bahin scheme and religious polarisation played a role. Women's participation in large numbers could be the reason for the Mahayuti sweep in Maharashtra. We will study the reasons for the debacle and take necessary steps," he said. Pawar asserted that the NCP (SP) would go to people by re-energising the new leadership. 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Pawar suffered the worst-ever defeat in his political career in Maharashtra polls with the NCP faction led by him winning only 10 seats in the 288-member House, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP bagged 41. The Mahayuti scored a massive victory with the BJP winning 132 seats, Shiv Sena led by Shinde 57, and NCP 41. In contrast, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi was restricted to 46 seats. Pawar said the poll outcome he had witnessed in his public life was unprecedented. "The MVA coalition put in a lot of hard work but the desired results were not achieved even though people responded positively to MVA during campaigning," the NCP (SP) chief added. He said the MVA was more confident after achieving success in Lok Sabha elections, adding that more work needs to be done. When asked if he was jolted by the poll outcome, Pawar said, "The poll results were declared yesterday. Today I am in Karad. Those who were demoralised would have sat at home". He also said fielding his grandnephew Yugendra Pawar against Ajit Pawar on the home turf of Baramati wasn't a wrong decision as someone had to contest the elections. Ajit Pawar defeated Yugendra by a margin of over 1 lakh votes to win the eighth term in Baramati. "Ajit Pawar and Yugendra Pawar cannot be compared. We were aware of this fact," Sharad Pawar added. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )Editor’s Note: The InvestorPlace offices will be closed from Tuesday, December 24, to Wednesday, January 1 , for the holidays. The Customer Service department will be open for email inquiries only on December 26, 27, 30, and 31. Happy Holidays! Hello, Reader. In the spirit of the holiday season, I’d like to share a small gift with you: a particular stock I’ve been closely watching. It is a battery metals company that I’ve held long-term. And although it’s not garnering the same media buzz as some of its peers, this company recently hit a 52-week high... and I believe it could continue to outperform in the months ahead. Here’s why... Electric vehicles (EVs) and other green technologies require battery metals – like copper, nickel, lithium, and aluminum – and, as such, are creating powerful long-term demand trends. These metals all play a critical role in a megatrend I first highlighted more than four years ago. I called it the “Second Electric Revolution,” which continues to accelerate, particularly in the rapidly expanding EV and energy storage sectors. That spells good news for Alcoa Corp. ( AA ) , the largest U.S.-based aluminum producer. Now, aluminum does not receive the same high-profile attention that other battery metals do, but the solar industry is a prodigious consumer of aluminum, and, as I said, so is the EV industry. Alcoa’s current valuation is cheap enough that the stock could deliver outsized gains, especially if aluminum demand ramps up more quickly and powerfully than investors currently expect. While the price of aluminum fell sharply after the 2022 spike – during the early days of the Ukrainian invasion – the long-term outlook remains strong. A report from the London-based International Aluminium Institute ( IAI ) finds that global aluminum demand will jump about 40% by 2030 – and cleantech industries will power most of that growth. As a result, the report states that aluminum producers will need to ramp up their production from 86 million metric tons in 2020 to 120 metric tons by 2030. According to the research firm Wood Mackenzie, solar industry demand for aluminum could increase from just under 3% of total world consumption to nearly 13% by 2040. In the EV industry, aluminum does not play a significant electrification role, but the body and chassis of each Tesla Model S contains about 410 pounds of aluminum! That’s no accident. Because aluminum is so much lighter than steel, EV manufacturers covet the metal. An aluminum vehicle can travel much farther on a single charge than a steel vehicle can. For this reason, many EV manufacturers are ramping up their aluminum consumption. In fact, aluminum is the fastest-growing material in the automotive market. Wood Mackenzie expects aluminum demand for EVs to hit 2.4 million tonnes by 2025, and then quadruple to nearly 10 million tonnes by 2040. At that point, EV demand for aluminum would total about 12% of the global total. Obviously, these forecasts are merely guesses, but the trend is clear. EV demand for aluminum is ramping higher. And that’s just one source of demand from the cleantech sector. According to the IAI, renewable energy needs will create demand for aluminum to replace existing copper cabling for power distribution. In total, the electric sector will require an additional 5.2 million metric tons by 2030, according to the group. You get the idea. Despite the strong supply-demand dynamics in the aluminum market, the Alcoa share price is reflecting all doom and no boom. However, from this low valuation, Alcoa offers substantial upside potential. Smart Money Roundup Are These AI Stocks Ready for a Comeback? My InvestorPlace colleague Luke Lango has been covering the two waves of the AI Boom in his publications for the past few years. And as the AI Boom accelerates, AI itself isn’t going to take over the world – but businesses using AI will. So I’ve invited Luke here to give us the big picture on the AI Boom... and what it means for the companies building new businesses on top of the AI superhighway (and eventually the AGI highway). The AGI Race Is on... and so Is the Race for the Best AGI Plays When AGI arrives, it could identify problems that humans never even considered, and then create solutions, all on its own. But it could also introduce terrifying new forms of warfare. And because of AGI’s superhuman potential for both good and evil, the U.S. will devote itself completely to winning the AI race. So, I want to not only show you how the U.S. will win this race... but also how you can get in on it. Every Investor Should Own the “Stock of the Decade”... but They Shouldn’t Stop There I recently worked with my InvestorPlace colleagues Louis Navellier and Luke Lango to put together a portfolio of the best of the best AI stocks . And we recently took to the “airwaves” to tell folks all about it. One of those stocks is Nvidia Corp. ( NVDA ), which Louis calls the “stock of the decade.” He will explain why it’s not too late to add NVDA to your portfolio. These Low-Lying AI Companies Are Ready to Explode Most investors missed out on the initial phase of the AI Revolution. However, another wave of AI innovation is coming. In fact, the opportunity here is significantly larger than any previous AI application. I’ll tell you what to expect from this new wave of winners... and where to find some of that opportunity. Looking Ahead In this coming New Year, we believe that a singular event – AI Day One – will kick off the biggest, fastest societal change in human history. It will even make the version of ChatGPT that launched in 2022 look as relevant as a VHS tape. It will also be the biggest investment opportunity of our lifetimes, where we believe the AI Appliers will dominate. These are companies that are not at the forefront of producing the material needed to create AI. Instead, they are employing AI technology within their own products and services. AI appliers are everywhere... and growing by the day. That is why Louis, Luke, and I put our heads together to find the AI Applier stocks that we believe could skyrocket from AI Day One. To learn more about these stocks, you can click here to watch out special broadcast. You’re next Smart Money will be available Thursday. Until then, we wish you a wonderful holiday. Regards, Eric Fry

Nutanix Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2025 Financial Results