The Albany Gazette - News from Albany, New York and the whole world

The countdown to the first 48-team World Cup begins in earnest on Friday as the draw for the 2026 finals takes place in Washington, with Donald Trump set to dominate much of the attention.

Skipper Scott Barrett on Thursday said the All Blacks had no fear of potentially meeting South Africa in the 2027 Rugby World Cup quarter-finals but admitted they must peak at the right time.

French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, when he is expected to put pressure on the Chinese leader to help secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, as well as discuss trade relations.

Democrats in the US Congress released photos and videos Wednesday showing the luxury island home where convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein allegedly forced underage girls into sex with powerful men.

Tech giant Meta said Thursday it is starting to remove under-16s in Australia from Instagram, Threads and Facebook ahead of the country's world-first youth social media ban.

New Zealand built a healthy 164-run lead over the West Indies, but lost the key wicket of Kane Williamson as they went to lunch at 100-2 on day three of the first Test in Christchurch on Thursday.

A US woman who accused Conor McGregor of sexually assaulting her at an NBA basketball game has dropped her lawsuit against the Irish mixed martial arts fighter.

Tech giant Meta said Thursday it is starting to remove under-16s in Australia from Instagram, Threads and Facebook ahead of the country's world-first social media ban.

MIAMI, FL / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Diveroli Investment Group ("DIG"), a significant shareholder of Noodles & Company, today announced the filing of its Schedule 13D with the SEC. DIG's investment thesis aligns with Noodle's strategic review already underway, and the firm is pleased to see management, alongside Piper Sandler, examining pathways and levers frequently utilized in successful sector turnarounds.

BOCA RATON, FL / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Newsmax Inc. (NYSE:NMAX) ("Newsmax" or the "Company") today announced that management will attend the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference being held in New York City from December 8-9, 2025.

SAN DIEGO, CA AND DENVER, CO / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Cubic Corporation and its DTECH Mission Solutions business unit, a recognized industry leader in providing trusted, scalable, and intuitive edge compute and networking platforms, today announced a strategic relationship with Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR), to drive large-scale internal transformation across Cubic's value chain and deliver enhanced outcomes for shared military customers, such as the U.S. Army.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / ESG and supply chain integrity aren't lacking because companies lack ambition. It's lacking because the entire system ran on unverifiable claims. Corporations published emissions reductions without forensic tracking. Brands declared recycled content with no way to validate the number. Supply chains issued sourcing statements that fell apart the moment materials left their country of origin. Stakeholders wanted clarity but got guesswork. Regulators wrote tougher rules but couldn't enforce them. No, these two didn't lose credibility because they aimed too high. They lost credibility because they measured nothing accurately.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / The RENN Fund, Inc. (NYSE MKT:RCG) (the "Fund") announced today a record date for the Fund's year-end distribution. The record date will be December 16, 2025 and Pay-Date of December 29, 2025. The Fund will make an announcement on or about December 16, 2025 with the distribution rate per share. As the per share rate will not be available prior to the record date, the Fund will trade with due bills beginning December 16, 2025, and up through and including the last business day prior to the New York Stock Exchange established Ex-Date. The New York Stock Exchange will set the Ex-Date once the per share rate has been announced.

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / There is a single moment that would hit the gold market harder than any interest rate shock, geopolitical headline or mining crisis. It is not a supply disruption. It is not a surge in demand. It is a policy decision. The moment a major bank, sovereign wealth fund or global exchange announces that it will only accept verified gold with persistent molecular identity is the moment the entire gold ecosystem splits in two. That announcement would not be symbolic. It would be seismic. It would turn legacy bullion into a discounted asset class overnight and elevate verified bullion into the only gold that truly counts.

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Gold markets are built on confidence. Vaults trust refiners. Refiners trust suppliers. Banks trust custody chains. Investors trust the entire system to uphold purity, legality, and origin with near-religious certainty. But that confidence is a façade, and it only takes one failure to expose it. The moment a major vault or global bank uncovers a counterfeit bar inside its inventory, the shock will hit the market like a blast wave. Trading will not slow. It will convulse. Prices will not adjust gently. They will whiplash as institutions scramble to determine which bars they can authenticate and which they cannot.

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Every modern system relies on accurate inputs. Financial markets depend on audited disclosures. Manufacturing depends on precise measurements. Logistics depends on reliable tracking. Yet despite all the sophistication built into global industry, one problem has lingered for decades. The physical world has never had a universal truth layer.

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / The world has always struggled to turn the physical into the digital with any degree of accuracy. Supply chains generate enormous volumes of activity every second, yet remarkably little of that activity becomes trustworthy information.

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Markets assign value to certainty. Every financial instrument trades according to how much confidence investors have in the data supporting it. Bonds rise or fall on creditworthiness. Equities react to visibility in earnings and operational performance. Commodities move on supply signals that traders believe are accurate enough to justify risk. What SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) is demonstrating is that this principle applies just as strongly to physical materials.

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Everyone fears discovering a counterfeit bar in a major vault. But that is not where the real danger lives. The true weak point in the global gold ecosystem is not storage. It is transformation. Refineries are where gold becomes anonymous, where molten metal resets its identity, and where the world's entire compliance infrastructure quietly collapses. The market obsesses over vault integrity, yet the refinery furnace is the exact place where legitimacy can evaporate into smoke. The next major gold scandal will not start with a vault audit. It will start with a melt.

RALEIGH, NC / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / ACCESS Newswire Inc. (NYSE American:ACCS), an industry-leading communications company, today announced that its Board of Directors has approved an up to $1.0 million dollar share repurchase program of its common stock.

ESTERO, FL / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Aspire Biopharma Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASBP) ("Aspire" or the "Company"), a developer of a multi-faceted patent-pending drug delivery technology, today provides a business update for the quarter ended September 30, 2025.

BOCA RATON, FL / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / GridAI Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:GRDX) ("GridAI" or the "Company") today announced the appointment of Marshall Chapin as Chief Executive Officer of its energy-orchestration operating subsidiary developing next-generation grid and power-management software for hyperscale artificial-intelligence (AI) data-center campuses.

Meeting scheduled to reconvene December 19, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. ET

ST. PAUL, MN / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Odyssey Transfer and Trust Company ("Odyssey" or the "Company"), a leading North American transfer agent and trust company that is scaling rapidly across North America, announced today the addition of Stacy Bogart, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary and Corporate Responsibility of Winnebago Industries, to its Board of Directors. The addition of Ms. Bogart will strengthen Odyssey's strategic capabilities as it enters its next phase of growth.

Formula 1 and electric vehicle equipment expert, Motion Applied, chosen to develop the Cavorite X7's motor drive inverter and to be a key partner through the aircraft's certification process

CALGARY, ALBERTA / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / The Gentlemen Pros, a trusted family-owned business providing plumbing, heating, and electrical home services, has been honoured with the 2025 Consumer Choice Award in the Plumbing Contractors category for Southern Alberta. This recognition reflects the company's dedication to professionalism, integrity, and customer-focused service across Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, and surrounding areas.

WHITBY, ON / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Durham Osteopathy has been awarded the 2025 Consumer Choice Award in the Osteopathy category for Durham Region, recognizing the clinic's dedication to quality care, patient outcomes, and professional excellence. Since opening in 2020, Durham Osteopathy has built a strong reputation for its commitment to restoring balance, reducing pain, and improving overall vitality through classical osteopathic techniques.

TAMPA, FLORIDA / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Wellgistics Health, Inc. ("Wellgistics") (NASDAQ:WGRX), a health information technology leader implementing EinsteinRx™ artificial intelligence prescription drug routing into blockchain-enabled smart contracts platform PharmacyChain™ to optimize the prescription medicines reimbursement and dispensing journey, today announced that it set a record date of December 19, 2025 for determining stockholders entitled to receive the Dream Bowl 2026 Meme Coin. Shareholders will receive one (1) Dream Bowl 2026 Meme Coin from every one (1) share of Wellgistics Health owned upon the record date.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he believes Russia's Vladimir Putin wants to end the Ukraine war despite inconclusive talks in Moscow, as US officials prepared for a follow-up meeting with Kyiv's top negotiator.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot conceded his side have lost their fear factor during a miserable run as Sunderland emerged with a 1-1 draw at Anfield on Wednesday.

Enzo Maresca slammed lacklustre Chelsea after their Premier League title challenge suffered a huge setback in a shock 3-1 defeat at lowly Leeds on Wednesday.

Mikel Arteta fears Arsenal's mounting injury problems will hamper their bid to win the Premier League title after Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera limped off in Wednesday's 2-0 win against Brentford.