fortune gems logo

LONDON (AP) — West Ham beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 in the Premier League and heaped more pressure on beleaguered coach Gary O’Neil on Monday. Both sides came into the match under a cloud and the game was widely billed as a make-or-break match for O’Neill and West Ham counterpart Julen Lopetegui. Wolves started the night second to last while the London side was in 14th place, and the pressure and nerves were apparent in an edgy first half that was devoid of class or composure. Mohammed Kudus and Konstantinos Mavropanos had half chances for West Ham, while at the other end João Gomes shot over from a good position. Things improved after the break, and West Ham took the lead in the 53rd minutes from a corner kick. Wolves left Tomas Soucek unmarked at the back post and his looping header sailed into the far corner. Matt Doherty equalized for Wolves in the 69th. However, just three minute later West Ham’s talismanic captain Jarrod Bowen found time and space in the box to slot home with his left foot. West Ham was without Michail Antonio, its ever-present striker who broke a leg in a car crash on Saturday, and Bowen held up Antonio's No. 9 shirt to celebrate his goal. The West Ham players took the field in training tops with Antonio's name and number on them and the home fans gave him a warm round of applause in the ninth minute. “The goal and victory were for Michail," Soucek said. “I said to myself before the game that I wanted to score even more because he has been here since I came and he’s my favorite. It is difficult for me to play without him but I’m happy he is fine. "We had a video call with him before the game. He smiled at us and gave us all the best.” The result left the Hammers in 14th spot, one point behind Manchester United. It was the third defeat in a row for Wolves, who remain on nine points, equal with third-to-last Ipswich Town. “We were okay and solid and probably had the better chances," O'Neil said. “The lads gave everything but we came up short again, which is the story of the last few weeks.” AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

This is most expensive thing made by humankind ever, costs more than Mukesh Ambani's Antilia, it is...Jets still struggling to secure wins and stop blowing late leads in another playoff-less seasonTrump’s lawyers rebuff DA's idea for upholding his hush money conviction, calling it 'absurd'

They've LOST THEIR MINDS: The Atlantic Assures Us Assassinations No Longer Belong to 'Extremists'

AP News Summary at 2:05 p.m. EST

SEC Threatens Elon Musk with Charges

Will US allow Lebanese Army to deter Israeli violation of national sovereignty?

Jaylon Johnson isn't interested in bright spots with the Bears' skid at 5 gamesWinter Fest OC is turning the county fairgrounds into a winter wonderland for the holiday season.

Young people will have their benefits cut if they do not take up employment or education opportunities under Government plans to tackle worklessness, a minister has confirmed. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall will set out details of how she intends to tackle economic inactivity and slash billions of pounds from the costs of welfare, on Tuesday. She has now confirmed her “youth guarantee” policy, which will compel those aged 18 to 21 to be in education or work, would result in sanctions on benefits claimants for those who do not engage. “If people repeatedly refuse to take up the training or work responsibilities, there will be sanctions on their benefits,” Kendall said. Referring to young people specifically, she told Sky News the Government would “transform” opportunities with a “youth guarantee” as part of the reforms, but they would in turn be “required to take them up” – arguing people have a “responsibility” to take up opportunities when offered. Ministers have previously hinted that there would be specific help on offer to vulnerable youths, such as care leavers, who might lack adequate support to access work or training. Kendall, and Chancellor Rachel Reeves, have committed to reducing the welfare bill by £3 billion over five years. The Work and Pensions Secretary said she will bring forward her own proposals for how the savings will be made, and refused to rule out previous government plans to tighten the eligibility around who can be signed off work sick which would have seen around 400,000 people lose their current benefit entitlement. During the previous government the Conservatives planned to tighten welfare eligibility so around 400,000 people who are signed off as long-term sick would be assessed as needing to prepare for work by 2028/29. Kendall sidestepped answering questions on Sunday on whether she would retain those plans as part of her own measures. Latest official forecasts published by the Government show the number of people claiming incapacity benefits is expected to climb from around 2.5 million in 2019 to 4.2 million in 2029. It has been suggested the NHS could employ thousands of economically inactive people but No10 poured cold water on the idea, with a source saying they did not recognise the claim. But the Government will this week announce details of its long-awaited employment reforms to overhaul Jobcentres and merge them with the National Careers Service to focus on offering tailored employment support. The upcoming white paper is also expected to include the placement of work coaches in mental health clinics and will rely on increased use of technology, including AI, to make it easier for Jobcentre staff to provide specific support to people who are not in the labour market. The service will also operate on a more regional level to ensure that local jobs markets and industries are supported through tailored careers training, the Government said. The Government said the UK is the only G7 country that has higher levels of economic inactivity now than before the pandemic. Some 2.8 million people out of work due to long-term sickness, almost one and a half million also unemployed, and nearly a million young people neither in education or work. Kendall said the reasons for the increased number of claims are “complex” and that Britain is “an older and also sicker nation”. She suggested some people have “self-diagnosed” mental health problems, but added there is a “genuine problem” with mental illness in the UK. The Department for Work and Pensions will set out further welfare reforms next year which will look at how the disability benefit system works. The disability equality charity Scope said it supported giving disabled people “the same chances and opportunities to work as everyone else” and praised the notion of personalised employment services. But James Taylor, executive director of strategy, criticised the decision to press ahead with benefit cuts which could penalise disabled people. Read Next Replacing PIP cash benefits with vouchers would be wrong, say public “Over the years we have seen the repeated tightening of sanctions and conditionality ramp up misery, which has done little to improve the number of disabled people in work,” he said. “We’d urge the Secretary of State to take a fresh approach to supporting disabled people into work. By spending time listening to their experiences, and understanding the barriers they face that a focus on overall budgets and sanctions won’t solve.” A report, published on Sunday by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), warned almost a quarter of working age adults are reporting a disability or health problem. The CSJ said government plans must include specialist employment support and training opportunities for those with a disability or health problem, alongside policies to improve support for sick and disabled people from employers. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faced criticism for his tough rhetoric around benefit claimants as he promised to crack down on those who defraud the welfare system. Writing in the Mail On Sunday, he promised “sweeping changes” and said he would “get to grips with the bulging benefits bill blighting our society”. But he added he would not “call people shirkers or go down the road of division”, and said instead treat them “with dignity and respect”. His comments were, however, met with disappointment from Labour MP Diane Abbott who said it was “sad that Starmer is peddling the benefit scrounger mythology”. Shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake said he would be supportive of the Government’s proposals “if the plans are right”. “It’s not just about saving money. It’s also about getting people into work. You know, we, most of us, feel our mental health is better when we’re at work. But there are incentives in the system to leave the place of work, to go on cash benefits, and that’s one of the things I’ve been looking for in these changes Labour are going to make,” he said. .