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Chinese banks have ramped up their borrowing of short-term funds, a sign that fears of a cash crunch

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s cash pile scaled a fresh record at $157.2 billion, bolstered both by elevated interest rates

Boss Unai Emery admitted Aston Villa got lucky after fighting back to beat AZ Alkmaar. Ollie Watkins’ winner put them on the brink of qualification in the Europa Conference League after a 2-1 home win. Yet, the fightback started in controversial fashion when Diego Carlos levelled after Boubacar Kamara had blazed over and referee Luis Godinho mistakenly awarded Villa a corner. Vangelis Pavlidis gave the hosts a deserved lead but last year’s semi-finalists are now facing an early exit. Villa are second, behind Legia Warsaw on head-to-head, and a point from their final two games will seal progress from Group E. Emery said: “It was a very good chance for Kamara, it was fantastic, but it was not a corner, it’s clear, and after this mistake we score. “I’m very happy because when we are winning a game like tonight we can understand this competition better and the processes we’re trying to build. “I’m very proud of our work in this competition. We’re getting better. “We scored one that was offside more or less. We have to accept the referee’s decision, always. “I’m very proud of our work in this competition. We’re getting better. AZ are a very good team. I’m very happy. The reaction when they scored the goal was fantastic.” Villa started brightly and Clement Lenglet headed in Leon Bailey’s cross – after Pavlidis blocked Watkins’ goalbound header – only for the winger to have been ruled offside. Yet the hosts lost their way as the half wore on, Pavlidis tried to lob Emi Martinez and Alkmaar finished on top with Pavlidis testing Martinez. It turned out the striker was just getting his eye in as he opened the scoring six minutes into the second half. Villa were caught out by Riechedly Bazoer’s ball over the top and Pavlidis outpaced Lenglet to beat Martinez. The hosts were not behind for long, though, when Diego Carlos nodded in Bailey’s corner – after the officials had missed it was Kamara who blazed over from six yards. Villa had the initiative and it was no surprise when Watkins popped up with the winner with nine minutes left, nodding in Douglas Luiz’s clever pass. Alkmaar boss Pascal Jensen said: “The interesting thing I was looking at was can we compete better in the first game (a 4-1 loss)? In Alkmaar we lost because we conceded two easy goals. “I was a bit shocked when we started off, we conceded an early goal and we were fortunate it was disallowed. We were very unfortunate to concede a corner which wasn’t, they scored from it and the whole stadium woke up. “I contacted the fourth official and I asked him and he said ‘I don’t know.’ I think in international competition VAR can come on the radio and help but he didn’t. With all the technology and extra eyes it shouldn’t be possible.” Read More ‘Great result’ cheers David Moyes as West Ham have another good European night Tottenham demands will benefit Brennan Johnson and Wales – Rob Page Ollie Watkins header seals win over AZ Alkmaar as Aston Villa eye last-16 spot Lucas Paqueta goal proves decisive as West Ham sink Olympiacos Katie Taylor ‘aware of what is at stake’ in Chantelle Cameron rematch Brighton complete double over Ajax to boost Europa League hopes

Now that the twin strikes by Hollywood writers and actors are over, TV networks are scrambling to salvage

Brennan Johnson is benefiting from the “extreme” demands placed on him by Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou and proving himself to be an elite player, says his Wales manager Rob Page. Johnson has taken time to settle at Spurs following his £47.5million move from Nottingham Forest during the closing minutes of the summer transfer window. The 22-year-old forward has yet to score and suffered a hamstring injury on his first Premier League start for Tottenham, ruling him out of action for a month. Johnson’s second Premier League start against Chelsea on Monday also ended prematurely when he was sacrificed after Spurs were reduced to 10 men by defender Cristian Romero’s red card. But Johnson has shown signs of promise in North London with a superb assist for Son Heung-min’s winner at Crystal Palace, while he also set up the Spurs skipper for a disallowed effort against Chelsea before his first-half withdrawal. “Brennan’s at a big, big club now pushing for top four so the demands on him will be extreme,” said Page, who welcomed Johnson back into his squad after injury for this month’s decisive Euro 2024 qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey. “The squad of players he’s got around him now will be slightly different, but I’m not concerned at all. Even by training with the players he’s with will bring him to another level. “We’ve all seen the potential. When I worked with him at the Under-21s and the younger age groups, I could see he was going to go (to the top). “It’s taken him a little bit of time to get up to that standard, but he’s shown glimpses of it. “What is important now is that he sustains that level by playing with those players and the demands of the manager there. He will absolutely do that.” Johnson has only scored twice in 22 Wales appearances – against Belgium and the Netherlands in the Nations League – and that is a disappointing return for a player considered to be Gareth Bale’s natural successor in the Dragons’ forward line. Page suggested that is down to the way Wales have previously been structured as a team but he insists, as evidenced by last month’s stunning 2-1 win over World Cup semi-finalists Croatia, they are evolving as an attacking unit. He said: “The majority of the games in the World Cup and Nations League A we were the underdogs and not going to have a lot of the ball. “Our defensive structure has to be spot on if not you’re going to get found out, but as we evolve I’m asking more from the forward players and we saw that against Croatia. “I brought Jack Lester in (as assistant coach), who’s one of the best forwards I played with and coaches I’ve seen. It was an area I wanted to improve and I’ve seen a difference already.” Wales will avoid the play-offs in March and qualify automatically for next summer’s Euro 2024 finals in Germany if they beat Armenia in Yerevan on November 18 and Turkey in Cardiff three days later. Page said: “I like Brennan as a nine purely because of his pace. He did that for us in Latvia (when Wales won 2-0 in September) and there’s not a defender out there who’s going to want to play against him and DJ (Daniel James) because pace frightens defenders. “But I’m not going to pigeonhole him as a nine. He can play in any one of the front three positions easily.” Read More Ollie Watkins header seals win over AZ Alkmaar as Aston Villa eye last-16 spot Lucas Paqueta goal proves decisive as West Ham sink Olympiacos Katie Taylor ‘aware of what is at stake’ in Chantelle Cameron rematch Brighton complete double over Ajax to boost Europa League hopes England’s Ben Stokes has ‘no idea’ if Pakistan clash will be his last ODI Rasmus Hojlund says ‘a matter of time’ until Erik ten Hag improves Man United

Lucas Paqueta got West Ham’s Europa League campaign back on track with the winner in a 1-0 victory over Olympiacos. The Brazil midfielder crashed in a second-half volley to keep the Hammers on top of Group A and to the brink of qualifying for the knockout stages. It was also a measure of revenge for West Ham, who had accused the Greek team of celebrating their 2-1 win in the reverse fixture two weeks ago as if they had won the Europa League itself. Olympiacos fans created a hostile atmosphere that night in Athens, unfurling a huge banner across one stand reading ‘Tonight you dine in hell’. The London Stadium, by contrast, could never be referred to as a cauldron of noise, and besides, ‘Tonight you dine in Westfield’ does not have the same ring to it. Nevertheless, the place was crackling at kick-off with the Hammers, last season’s Europa Conference League winners, in need of a victory to keep their continental destiny in their own hands. But a workmanlike but limited Olympiacos proved a tough nut to crack in the opening 45 minutes. Said Benrahma dragged an early shot wide and then saw a better one saved by visiting goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis. From the corner James Ward-Prowse’s cross was headed straight at Paschalakis by Nayef Aguerd. Jarrod Bowen, on the day he earned another call up to the England squad, nodded Vladimir Coufal’s cross wide before Paschalakis was called into action again by Benrahma’s low drive. Two more Aguerd headers were off target before Olympiacos had their first shot in anger, shortly before half-time, with on-loan Wolves forward Daniel Podence volleying Francisco Ortega’s cross wide. Ward-Prowse should have given his side the lead on the hour when he met a cutback from Bowen, but the midfielder’s shot was straight at Paschalakis. But Paqueta, the best player on the pitch, finally broke the deadlock after Bowen’s square pass found Ward-Prowse. The former Southampton midfielder chipped it forward into the area for Paqueta to fire home on the volley from. The goal was initially ruled out by an assistant referee’s flag, but a VAR check showed the Brazilian was onside and referee Matej Jug, who had infuriated West Ham with some strange decisions all evening, got the biggest cheer of the night when he signalled a goal. It was a fourth assist in four European outings for Ward-Prowse, who was overlooked by England again earlier in the day, more than a year after his last call-up. Paqueta pointedly went to the 3,000 travelling fans to celebrate, probably because the West Ham players were targeted by laser pens from Greek supporters in Athens. West Ham survived a late scare when Mady Camara rattled a post but they held on to complete their European revenge mission. Read More Katie Taylor ‘aware of what is at stake’ in Chantelle Cameron rematch Brighton complete double over Ajax to boost Europa League hopes England’s Ben Stokes has ‘no idea’ if Pakistan clash will be his last ODI Rasmus Hojlund says ‘a matter of time’ until Erik ten Hag improves Man United Gareth Southgate ‘not interested in just racking up games’ as England manager Ali Price joins Edinburgh on loan from Glasgow after input from Scotland

By Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Federal Reserve officials including Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday

An attorney for Steve Bannon pressed an appellate panel to overturn a contempt of Congress conviction for the

Americans favor 'Merry Christmas,' while Brits opt for 'Happy Christmas.' Here's how we got here.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits he is more concerned with side’s defensive display than the role VAR played in denying his side a late Europa League draw in Toulouse. Individual mistakes and a lack of collective cohesion saw the hosts take a 3-1 lead but Diogo Jota’s 89th-minute strike, after Cristian Casseres’ own goal had got them back into the game, set up a dramatic conclusion. In the seventh and final minute of added time 20-year-old centre-back Jarell Quansah thought he had equalised but after a long delay referee Georgi Kabakov was advised to go to the pitchside monitor and he ruled Alexis Mac Allister had handled the ball, even though it had initially bounced up off his chest very early in the move for the goal. “I only saw the video back now and for me it’s not a handball – but how can I decide that?” said Klopp. “Actually, I am a bit more concerned about (the fact that) I would have loved us to have played better, to be honest. That’s my main issue tonight. “In the end, we were intense, we threw everything in, but the problem is in a football game you have to make the decisive things in the right moment to do them right.” Liverpool’s problem was a side registering nine changes from Sunday’s draw at Luton never found any rhythm or structure and opponents who were hammered 5-1 at Anfield a fortnight ago took full advantage. They were not helped by Kostas Tsimikas’ error dawdling in possession costing them the important opening goal to Aron Donnum. Defending-wise it was just not good enough Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp “We cannot concede the goals we conceded again,” added Klopp. “The first goal can happen, but then it happened in the second half with similar situations: we were completely open, last line too deep, counter-attack. “They scored five goals, two disallowed, and that is obviously then not good. Yes, the result is the opposite of good, but the performance was just not good enough. “It was well deserved to lose because they won pretty much all the decisive battles. We had too many situations where we should have won the ball but we didn’t. “On top of that we gave the ball away easily at least twice – one was a goal, the other I am not sure if it was an allowed goal or a disallowed goal. “Defending-wise it was just not good enough.” Defeat ends a three-match winning run and although Liverpool remain top of the group their advantage has been cut to two points. They also missed out on guaranteeing top spot early and therefore also skipping the additional play-off round in the knockout phase after LASK’s victory over Union Saint-Gilloise meant victory would have given them an unassailable lead. The consequences of that are if Toulouse win their next game against Union the race to top the group will go down to the final round, and with Liverpool’s trip to Belgium coming immediately before the Premier League visit of arch-rivals Manchester United Klopp would have been hoping that fixture was a dead rubber to allow him to rest players. Read More Katie Taylor ‘aware of what is at stake’ in Chantelle Cameron rematch Brighton complete double over Ajax to boost Europa League hopes England’s Ben Stokes has ‘no idea’ if Pakistan clash will be his last ODI Rasmus Hojlund says ‘a matter of time’ until Erik ten Hag improves Man United Gareth Southgate ‘not interested in just racking up games’ as England manager Ali Price joins Edinburgh on loan from Glasgow after input from Scotland

Portugal will face an early election on March 10 after Prime Minister Antonio Costa unexpectedly resigned on Tuesday

Brighton took control of their Europa League destiny with a commanding 2-0 win against Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena to complete back-to-back victories over the Dutch giants. A goal in each half from Ansu Fati and Simon Adingra meant Roberto De Zerbi’s side moved into the qualification spots in Group B for the first time on their debut European campaign, with a performance that matched the ease with which they dispatched the four-time European champions at home two weeks earlier. Since then, Ajax had appointed a new manager in John van’t Schip, but despite an uptick in domestic form it never looked like they had the firepower to unduly trouble Brighton, who could have won by a greater margin had Joao Pedro, Adingra and Fati not wasted good chances. Despite their struggles this season, Ajax made the brighter start. After 13 minutes, Kristian Hlynsson found himself with space to drift into with the ball and shot from 25 yards, though it was a comfortable save from Bart Verbruggen. The opening goal for Brighton was against the run of play, and came from an Ajax error. Silvano Vos was under little pressure in midfield but carelessly gave the ball to Adingra, who moved it calmly into the path of Fati to roll it beyond Diant Ramaj in the home side’s goal. De Zerbi’s side kept their hosts largely at arm’s length for the remainder of the first period, coming to life in added time before the break when Fati looked to return Adingra’s favour in assisting his goal. The pair linked up well down the right of Ajax’s box, but after a clever pass by the goalscorer Adingra’s shot to Ramaj’s near post was deflected behind off the legs of the goalkeeper. Ajax had won twice in the Eredivisie since being beaten at the Amex Stadium two weeks previously, dragging themselves off the bottom of the league and into midtable. Yet despite reaching half-time here having enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, they had rarely troubled Verbruggen as they sought a result to finally kick start their European campaign. Pedro, the competition’s joint-top scorer at the start of play, danced through Ajax’s defence early in the second half a lashed an effort into the side netting. The Brazilian received a first senior national team call-up on Monday and was inches from marking it with a fifth Europa League goal of the campaign. Instead it was Adingra who would double Brighton’s lead minutes later, timing his run perfectly to get on the end of Fati’s pass and unleashing an unstoppable, rising drive into Ramaj’s top corner. Fati had the chance to get his second and Brighton’s third when Ramaj presented the ball to Karou Mitoma, Ajax saved from further embarrassment only by a poor touch from Fati as the pass was played in to him. They came within inches of a lifeline 15 minutes from time. Brian Brobbey struck first time with his left foot as the ball arrived into the box, and his shot beat Verbruggen before hitting the post, rolling along the goal-line and striking the opposite upright. It was to be as close as Ajax would come, as Brighton earned a first away win in Europe to cement their position in the group ahead of their final two games. Read More England’s Ben Stokes has ‘no idea’ if Pakistan clash will be his last ODI Rasmus Hojlund says ‘a matter of time’ until Erik ten Hag improves Man United Gareth Southgate ‘not interested in just racking up games’ as England manager Ali Price joins Edinburgh on loan from Glasgow after input from Scotland How Manchester United managers have fared since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement England head to Indonesia inspired by Under-17 World Cup winner Phil Foden