philucky Jaland Lowe, Pitt charge past LSU in second half to move to 6-0'Wicked' choreographer breaks down steps to viral 'What Is This Feeling?' danceMinutes after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law on Tuesday night, plunging the country into its worst crisis in decades, his stunned finance minister knew his priorities: throw everything at defending the currency. By around 11pm, Choi Sang-mok, who was among the majority of cabinet members who opposed martial law, had set up an emergency meeting at the Seoul Bankers Club, an unofficial meeting place for top policymakers from the central bank, finance ministry and banking and markets regulators. As soldiers stormed the nation’s parliament, Korea’s top four financial authorities, known as F4, activated an emergency playbook that had been used during past crises, scrambling to head off a crippling selloff in the won before Asian markets awoke. Choi led discussions between the authorities, three people familiar with the meeting told Reuters, with the Bank of Korea (BoK) responsible for efforts to stabilise the currency. The first announcement came swiftly. South Korea would inject unlimited cash into markets as needed, the finance ministry said, which pulled the won back from lows last seen in 2009 during the global financial crisis. “It was BoK Governor Rhee Chang-yong’s idea to put this message out quickly,” one government official said. “Rhee said it was really important to pre-emptively act, as the news should be a bigger shock to foreign investors than for local people.” In the four decades since South Korea was last under martial law, the nation has weathered several crises and significantly evolved its systems to eschew the strongman politics of the past and focus instead on ensuring economic stability. Lessons from the 1998 Asian financial crisis formed the basis for the playbook. That episode ran deepest for South Korea, a country hugely exposed then to short-term debt and a playground for foreign speculators, forcing it into what many Koreans saw as a humiliating rescue package from the International Monetary Fund. Citizens donated their gold to a depleted national coffer. “We have had many crises. We experienced ups and downs through those crises, including the pandemic, and have a set of tools ready,” said one Bank of Korea official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The last time Korea’s four big agencies intervened this heavily in markets was in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic toppled its export-driven markets. Korea’s current struggles with anaemic growth, labour strikes, a budget impasse and the troubles of trade partner China meant authorities were already on heightened alert for sharp currency swings. The won is down 9% this year against the dollar, while the KOSPI index has shed 8%, both lagging their emerging market peers. Foreign money has been leaving Korea’s stock market since August, with outflows in four months topping $14bn. “They were obviously aware of the fact that there would be a little bit of panic, particularly from foreigners, and so they did the right thing,” said Jon Withaar, who manages an Asia special situations hedge fund at Pictet Asset Management. “This is now really what governments and central banks do now, when they see these types of events, they just offer unlimited liquidity. That was the playbook in Covid.” Until this week, Choi was one of Yoon’s conservative loyalists in the cabinet who served multiple government positions since the president was elected in March 2022, starting as a secretary of the economy division. He advanced to chief economic secretary, a position that allowed him to travel with Yoon around the world, before taking his current job in December 2023. During this week’s chaos, Choi was the “control tower”, sources said, directing the messaging and responses through the next day and even as subsequent developments led to the entire cabinet offering to resign.Key Takeaways The holidays can be hectic, but one thing that always helps is a list. Even Santa Claus needs one — and I've heard he checks his twice! I have a holiday routine I follow every year to help me reflect on how my business performed over the past year and how it can improve in the next. These crucial tasks have helped me grow my business, PostcardMania , from nothing to over $100 million in annual revenue. The best part is that our revenue growth is accelerating, which is a big accomplishment for a 26-year-old business. Since 2020, our annual revenue averages 15% growth — three times better than the previous decade's average of 5% growth. This checklist will help guide you in the process of analyzing your results and preparing for the year ahead. Related: 4 Marketing Triggers You Need to Set Up Now to Supercharge Your New Year Review marketing metrics and focus on top-line (aka new sales) growth At the end of the year, take time to compile all of your results data — leads, sales, and where both are coming from. For me, I look at what's driving top-line growth (i.e., orders from new customers). A lot of coaches and consultants focus on bottom-line growth, but top-line is where I find the most useful information when it comes to marketing. What's driving sales? What brings in the best ROI? Once you know that, you can build in efficiencies down the line to improve profitability/bottom line, but getting that top line to grow is always my number one priority. For example, last year, we noticed that new orders were down. My beautiful VP of Sales, Ashlie, who has been with me for over 20 years, made an excellent observation and suggestion. She asked, "How about we increase the postcards?" Um, HELLO — I needed to practice what I preach!! We looked into it, and somehow, our outgoing postcard promotion had been cut from 205,000 weekly to 195,000. So, we increased our postcard outflow again (it's now at over 260,000), and new orders and revenue from first-time buyers is finally up. That increase is over $1 million in top-line growth year to date. As I write this, we still have four weeks left in the year. On top of that: We already know that half of those new clients will order more than once — and many will order for years and years to come. To me, this was huge! A "come to Jesus" moment — if we increase our postcard mailings, we increase our top line without fail. It's a little bit embarrassing because this is my mantra, and I missed it. What works for my business may not be what works for yours, but you have to put the work in to find that top-line growth driver. Once you know it, grow it like no one's business and build in efficiencies as you go. That has been the key to growing MY business. Look for year-over-year trends to make adjustments It's not just the current year's results you want to scrutinize. Compare the last five years to identify trends. If you don't have data that goes that far back, try to gather any information possible to obtain a bigger picture of what may have changed or stayed the same over a span of time. How have your marketing strategies evolved? I can tell you that at my business, PostcardMania, direct mail marketing continues to deliver massive results. We mail hundreds of thousands of postcards every week advertising our services like clockwork. But we've also tested other marketing strategies over time. For example, the majority of our social media ads were static images. Then, last year, we decided to launch a series of short video ads about our clients' successful marketing campaigns, and we witnessed a huge difference. As a result, our social media leads doubled, increasing by 105%! Since then, we've transitioned most of our ads on Facebook and Instagram to video instead of photos. What is your most significant marketing trend? It will be different for every business, but the crucial takeaway is that the more you market , the more your business will grow. That's a tried-and-true trend that will always stay the same. Related: What I Learned From Spending $5.9 Million on Marketing Last Year Analyze your sales funnel to discover opportunities for improvement Even if you have been relying on the same sales funnel for years to deliver customers, it's still beneficial to analyze its performance to see if there's room for improvement. Where do you normally witness prospects losing interest? Find the weaker spots in the communication channels and brainstorm strategies to draw them back in. Typically, an interested buyer will visit your website before making any final decisions. This is a key point where prospects will often fall out of your funnel — but you can do something about it. At PostcardMania, we use technology to match a website visitor's IP address with their physical address, then mail them a retargeted postcard within 24-48 hours following their website visit. The mailer sitting inside their house helps bring them back for a purchase. I also recommend creating a solid schedule of reminder ads, emails and phone calls to re-engage prospects who haven't converted yet. If you can automate these tactics to be responsive using your CRM , that's even more ideal. This will cut down on the workload on your end and create a more personalized experience for prospects. Win-win! Remember to work smarter, not necessarily harder. Track your competitors and compare for additional insights By now, you should have an idea of who your main competitors are. A well-thought-out marketing strategy includes an analysis of the competition and their marketing as well. What did your competitor offer this year? Was it better than the discounts or free items you advertised? Who did their ads appeal to in regards to audience? If you aren't sure, make sure to visit their websites and sign up for their newsletters or marketing promotions. I also suggest creating a Google alert for each competitor that will send any new mentions across the web right to your inbox. Take all of this information into account and detail any offers or messages that may have performed better than yours. Then, rally with your team to come up with even better strategies next year to get ahead of the competition. Just keep in mind that your business should maintain its unique mission and identity despite any changes in advertising and promotions. Ask your customers for feedback through surveys and reviews I can't preach this enough, but the only way you are going to get more positive reviews is by asking! The end of the year is the perfect time to send out an email or text message to customers and ask them to rate your products, services and customer service. By giving customers an opportunity to provide feedback, you not only increase your credibility online, but you also gain more information about what your customers love and don't like as much. My staff regularly takes time to ask happy clients for reviews. If someone's had a good experience, they're very likely to leave a review when asked! Once we put a process in place to do this, our five-star reviews skyrocketed. I'm B2B, and I noticed my competitors — even publicly traded competitors that are 10x our size — have far, far fewer good reviews than we do. Create a comprehensive plan for the new year You don't have to wait until the new year to make changes. As soon as you digest your business's results data, you can begin a new marketing strategy. The best time to make purchases is before the end of the year so that you can reinvest otherwise taxable profits back into your business and reduce your tax burden. Some purchases might even be eligible for tax credits ! If you are a B2B business like we are, go ahead and mail a letter to your prospects and customers and give them the great idea to pre-buy your product or service before the end of the year. Some of them inevitably will, and you'll see a boost in December when people are usually too preoccupied with the holidays to spend that taxable income. We do this every year, and December is often our biggest month of the year! Related: 3 Secrets to Finishing the Year Strong — Make These Smart Moves to Boost Your Revenue in the Final Quarter Celebrate your successes and acknowledge those who contributed The year shouldn't end before you acknowledge all of your wins! Even if this year wasn't your best, you can still celebrate any accomplishment . Include these victories in end-of-year events, or create a company email newsletter full of positive highlights. Make sure to give credit to anyone who contributed to the growth of your business. It will boost company morale and encourage the whole team to do even better in the coming year.

Esquimalt teen philanthropist backs Oak Bay boy's bid for pediatric trial hub1 2 Varanasi: A deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery procedure, lasting almost 8 hours, was performed by a team of doctors at the Sir Sunderlal Hospital, Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), Banaras Hindu University, recently, marking a new era in advanced neurological care at the institution. This was the first such procedure in the Purvanchal region, said a statement issued by the institute on Sunday. It is a surgical operation in which neurosurgeon implants a medical device called neurostimulator to send electrical signals to specific areas of the brain. This technology has proven highly effective in treating a range of neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and dystonia. IMS director Prof Shankhwar said DBS was an established US FDA-approved safe neurosurgical procedure for patients with advanced disease in whom medical treatment had failed to provide adequate symptom control and good quality of life, or in whom medical therapy induced severe side effects such as dyskinesias. "We are delighted to announce that the procedure was done under Ayushman Bharat Yojana and all expenditure was taken care of," said Shankhwar, adding that BHU remained committed to providing cutting-edge neurological care and improving quality of life of patients with neurological disorders. "This successful DBS surgery is a testament to the institution's dedication to innovation and patient care," he said. The surgery was performed by the doctors of the departments of neurology and neurosurgery under the guidance of IMS director Shankhwar and medical superintendent Prof K K Gupta. Prof Deepika Joshi and Dr Anand Kumar from department of neurology, Dr Nityanand Pandey from department of neurosurgery, Dr Naren Naik, consultant neurosurgeon from Global Hospitals Mumbai, and Prof R K Dubey from anaesthesia, along with the Medtronics India team, were involved in the procedure. Other faculty from neurology department who were part of the team included Prof V N Mishra, Prof R N Chaurasia, Prof Abhishek Pathak (HoD), Dr Varun Kumar Singh and senior residents Dr Janki Makani and Dr Arpan Mitra.

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Australia will progress to the semi-finals of the Davis Cup after being taken to the deciding rubber in a 2-1 win over the United States of America overnight in Malaga. The result would come through victories from Thanasi Kokkinakis winning 6-1 4-6 7-6 (14) over world No.21 Ben Shelton and the doubles pair of Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson triumphing over the pair of Shelton and Tommy Paul 6-4 6-4. Alex de Minaur in his singles rubber would fall short after losing to Taylor Fritz in straight sets 6-3 6-4 which forced the deciding doubles rubber. With De Minaur coming into the squad for the first time this year after his ATP Finals campaign in Jeddah, there were questions surrounding the Australians of who between Alexi Popyrin and Thanasi Kokkinakis would play in the first tie against the USA. In the end, captain Lleyton Hewitt would end up selecting Kokkinakis over the higher-ranked Alexi Popyrin which surprised some fans and experts expecting the world No.24 in Popyrin to be selected against the US. While Kokkinakis may not have the higher rank over Popryin, he was coming into Malaga having won his last tournament at an ATP Challenger series in Sydney and had been unbeaten so far in his Davis Cup campaign this year. Thanasi Kokkinakis (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images) And Hewitt’s decision looked to have paid off with Kokkinakis storming away to win the set 6-1 in the space of 22 minutes with Shelton looking nervous in his debut at the Davis Cup, making eight unforced errors and a double fault on set point to give the South Australian the opening set. However, Shelton would recover from his shaky opening set to put Kokkinakis under pressure within the second set. He would break Kokkinakis at the start of the set to take a 1-0 lead with a service break. Kokkinakis did have multiple opportunities to break which included having three break points when the set was 3-2 in favour of Shelton. But the world No.21 would find a way to hold serve and would be able to close out the set. With this service break, he established in the first game; he would go on to win the second set 6-4. In the deciding set, Shelton and Kokkinakis would throw everything at it to try and win for their country but neither were able to break each other’s serve. Shelton would have multiple opportunities within the first game to break Kokkinakis’ serve and with the match poised at 5-5 to be able to serve for the win. But on both occasions, Kokkinakis fought off Shelton’s challenge and would serve through his ground game which would see the game go to a tiebreak. Going to a deciding tiebreak, both men would have multiple opportunities to win the match during the tiebreak with both seemingly finding ways to stay alive. And after 29 points in the tiebreak and what is now the longest tiebreak played by an Australian at a Davis Cup tie and the sixth-longest in Davis Cup history; Kokkinakis would covert his seventh chance at match point to win the tiebreak 16-14 and give Australia a 1-0 lead. Whilst an incredibly even match, it would ultimately be Shelton’s 29 unforced errors in comparison to Kokkinakis’ 15 that would split the difference. In his on-court interview after his victory, Kokkinakis went on to say: “It’s a massive win for me... Lleyton showed faith in me, anyone could have played but I just wanted to give it my all. “I don’t know if I’ve been that pumped up in my life, I wanted that one bad, I wanted to help my team.” Alex de Minaur. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) With Australia in the lead of the tie, the pressure on America’s No.1 player and the world No.4 Taylor Fritz would increase to try and keep the tie alive as he played Australia’s No.1 player and world No.9 Alex de Minaur in the second rubber. There would also be some pressure under De Minaur coming into the match to how much of an influence his hip injury that he sustained at Wimbledon would have on his performance. These two had just come back from the ATP Finals in which both would play each other in the round robin with Fritz coming back from losing the opening set to win in three helping him qualify for the final. And Fritz would continue his form from last week to start dominantly over De Minaur in the opening set, winning the first three games. While De Minaur was able to work himself back into the game managing to hold serve throughout the rest of the set, he was unable to break, seeing Fritz secure a 6-3 first-set win. With a more even end to the first set, De Minaur would begin the second set well starting his opening game with two aces to get the ball rolling which was followed up with the creation of two break point opportunities in the second game to break Fritz’s game, converting on the second break point in the game and create a service break. But Fritz would break back straight away bringing it back to an even score of 2-2 and each would hold serve until the ninth game in which Fritz would break De Minaur to lead 5-4 and then hold serve to win the set 6-4 and create a 1-1 draw leading into the final rubber of the tie. Fritz’s domination would show through the forced errors of De Minaur throughout the entire match with De Minaur making 28 forced errors to Fritz’s 18 which would give the US a fighting chance in the doubles. In the deciding doubles match, the US would make a late switch with captain Bob Bryan swapping out the experienced doubles players Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek for the pair of Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton whose main experience comes from the singles. The Australians would come in unchanged from their initial announcement pair of Olympic Gold Medallist Matthew Ebden and the world No.3 in doubles Jordan Thompson. The Ebden-Thompson pair would begin well getting the first break of the match within the opening set to push out to a quick 3-1 lead in the first set. Their experience in the doubles game became increasingly more and more evident in contrast to the US seemingly being able to keep more pressure on the US serve than what Paul and Shelton were able to do to them. And it would show as they closed out the set with a perfectly timed lob to close out the first set 6-4. The second set would see a slightly tighter match at play. Two volleys within the sixth game of the second set by Ebden would hit the net seeing the US get their first break point of the match. But Ebden would come through on the net to help hold serve. In the ninth game, with the match tied 4-4, Australia looked to have got its chance of breaking the US’s serve and being able to close out the rubber and tie for an Australian victory getting two break points at 15-40. However, it would not be without a fight with Shelton and Paul recovering to 40-40 and even getting an advantage. But Ebden and Thompson once again showed their experience and would secure the break and then hold serve to win 6-4 6-4. Australia will either have a rematch of the 2023 Davis Cup against Italy or Argentina in the semi-final. The semi-final tie will take place on Saturday night starting at 11pm AEDT as they hope to progress to the final and end their 21-year drought.