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Vanguard fined more than $100 million by SEC over violations involving target date retirement funds

Asset management giant Vanguard has been fined more than $100 million to settle charges related to disclosures around target date investment funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday.

The alleged violations stem from a 2020 change where Vanguard lowered the minimum investment requirement for its institutional target date funds. The SEC order found that the change spurred redemptions as Vanguard customers moved from other target date funds into the institutional versions, creating taxable distributions for some of the remaining shareholders. The SEC said Vanguard failed to properly disclose the potential impact of the investment threshold changes on distributions.

“The order finds that, as a result, retail investors of the Investor TRFs who did not switch and continued to hold their fund shares in taxable accounts faced historically larger capital gains distributions and tax liabilities and were deprived of the potential compounding growth of their investments,” the SEC said in a press release.

The fine of $106.41 million will be distributed to harmed investors, the SEC said. Vanguard agreed to the fine without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings.

Vanguard is one of the world’s largest asset managers, reporting more than $10 trillion of global assets as of last November. The firm was founded by Jack Bogle in the 1970s and has a reputation as a low-cost, investor friendly firm.

“Vanguard is committed to supporting the more than 50 million everyday investors and retirement savers who entrust us with their savings. We’re pleased to have reached this settlement and look forward to continuing to serve our investors with world-class investment options,” Vanguard said in a statement.

Target date funds are a popular retirement vehicle designed to slowly shift from a growth-oriented portfolio to a conservative portfolio as the listed year approaches. Typically, this is done by replacing riskier stocks with higher exposure to income-generating bonds as the retirement date nears.

The fine highlights how investors can see large tax bills even when they themselves do not make any asset sales during a calendar year. When Vanguard dropped the minimum initial investment for its institutional target retirement funds to $5 million from $100 million in December 2020, it spurred retirement plan investors to cash out of the investor share class of these funds and swap into the institutional version, according to the SEC.

Vanguard then had to sell the underlying assets in the investor share class of the funds to meet the redemptions from departing investors, the SEC found. As a result, shareholders who stayed in the investor share class were subject to a large capital gains distribution — and a tax liability if they held the fund in a taxable brokerage account, according to the order.

Normally, target date funds remain in tax-deferred accounts like 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts — which would avoid a tax hit from a large capital gains distribution.

The SEC’s order said Vanguard’s investor-series target funds saw $130 billion in redemptions from December 2020 to October 2021, up from $41 billion in the same period a year prior. Vanguard later merged the two series of funds together, which the SEC order said the company refrained from doing originally in part to preserve fee revenue.

The fine announced Friday is in addition to the $40 million Vanguard had agreed to pay to investors as part of a class action suit.

The timing of the target date fund changes is similar to another recent Vanguard legal run-in. In 2023, Vanguard was fined $800,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority related to problems with account statements for money market funds in 2019 and 2020.

The alleged violations took place under former CEO Tim Buckley. The current CEO, Salim Ramji, joined Vanguard from BlackRock in 2024.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
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Pepsi sued by federal regulators for giving Walmart preferential soft-drink pricing

The Federal Trade Commission said Friday that it is suing PepsiCo for illegal price discrimination, alleging the food and beverage giant gave an unnamed retailer more favorable prices than its competition.

Walmart is the unnamed retailer, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.

The FTC alleges Pepsi violated the Robinson-Patman Act, which bars sellers from giving competing buyers different prices for the same “commodity” or selectively providing allowances, like compensation for advertising. The agency argues Pepsi gave Walmart promotional payments and allowances, as well as advertising and promotional tools, that it didn’t offer to the retail giant’s rivals.

Pepsi denied the allegations and said the FTC’s lawsuit is wrong, both factually and legally.

“PepsiCo strongly disputes the FTC’s allegations, and the partisan manner in which the suit was filed. We will vigorously present our case in court,” the company said in a statement to CNBC. “PepsiCo’s practices are in line with industry norms and we do not favor certain customers by offering discounts or promotional support to some customers and not others.”

Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

The complaint, which was filed in the Southern District of New York, is currently sealed.

The FTC also said that a “substantial portion” of the alleged violations are redacted in the lawsuit, citing legal protections given to Pepsi and the large, big box retailer. The commission is seeking to lift the redactions to show how Pepsi broke the law and how those alleged actions led to higher prices for competing retailers.

The Robinson-Patman Act was passed in 1936, but the federal government stopped enforcing it during the deregulation of the 1980s. The FTC resumed its enforcement in December when it sued Southern Glazer’s, the largest U.S. distributor of wine and spirits.

The lawsuit comes on the final business day before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, which will spell the end of Lina Khan’s time as chair of the FTC. Her Republican successor, Andrew Ferguson, currently serves on the commission and released a statement dissenting against the decision to sue Pepsi.

The Biden administration has taken a flurry of legal action against companies and corporate executives in its final days, targeting Capital One, Southwest Airlines and Elon Musk, among others.

— CNBC’s Mary Catherine Wellons contributed reporting for this story.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
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UnitedHealth CEO says U.S. health system ‘needs to function better’

The CEO of UnitedHealth Group said Thursday that shortcomings of America’s health care system must be addressed.

On the company’s first earnings call since the fatal shooting of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson, CEO Andrew Witty said that while the U.S. provides world-leading care in many respects, there are systemic flaws that are working to drive up health costs for people in the country. 

“The health system needs to function better,” he said, adding that the “variety” of state, federal and private sector structures and programs have created a “confusing,” “complex” and “costly” health care landscape. 

Witty began the call expressing gratitude for the condolences received in the wake of Thompson’s death.

“Many of you knew Brian personally,” Witty said, referring to the investors on the call. “You knew how much he meant to all of us and how he devoted his time to help make the health system work better for all of the people we’re privileged to serve.”

The suspect charged in Thompson’s killing, Luigi Mangione, is currently being held without bond in Brooklyn. He faces capital murder charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty. 

While past UnitedHealth earnings calls have featured general remarks about the company’s desire to deliver improved outcomes for its customers, Witty’s comments Thursday acknowledged the broader debate about the state of U.S. health care that has emerged in the wake of Thompson’s shooting. 

Witty’s remarks came as United Health reported record 2024 revenues. Shortly before Thompson was killed, its stock price was at an all-time high.

Prior to addressing the company’s financial performance, Witty discussed some of the shortcomings of the profit-driven model of U.S. health care head on.

“Participants in the system,” he said, derive benefit from high health care costs. While lower prices and improved services can be good for consumers and patients, Witty said, they can “threaten revenue streams for organizations that depend on charging more for care.”

Witty did not discuss to what extent UnitedHealth itself was a beneficiary of such circumstances. 

When it comes to drug costs, for example, he said U.S. health care participants “pay disproportionately more than people in other countries,” citing the cost of the weight loss drug GLP, which he said in Europe costs approximately one-tenth its price in the U.S. 

Witty directly blamed drug companies for discrepancies like those, while stating that UnitedHealth’s pharmacy-benefit managers (PBM), who help negotiate retail drug prices and who have come under increasing public pressure for their role in setting drug prices, continue to work to pass savings on to customers. 

UnitedHealth’s improved PBM performance “will help make more transparent who is really responsible for drug pricing in this country: the drug companies themselves,” Witty said, without elaborating.

In a statement late Thursday, a representative for PhRMA, which represents drug companies, pushed back on Witty’s assertion.

‘Congress, the FTC, state attorneys general, and others who have looked at this issue have all come to the same conclusion that PBM abuses are driving up costs,’ Alex Schriver, PhRMA senior vice president of public affairs, said in an email.

‘Investigations have exposed big insurer and PBM companies for charging thousands of different prices for the same medicines at the same time. The FTC just released a second report showing the same companies mark up medicines at their own pharmacies 10 times or more.’

‘These big health care conglomerates make billions in profit from controlling what medicines people get, the price they pay and what pharmacy they can use. That’s why there’s unprecedented bipartisan support for holding them accountable.’

For the quarter, UnitedHealth reported worse-than-expected results, sending its shares down more than 4% Thursday.  

“Health care in every country is complex and the solutions are not simple, but you should expect this company to continue to work at it,” Witty stated. 

CORRECTION (Jan. 16, 2025, 9 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated how much the weight loss drug GLP costs. It is one-tenth of its U.S. price in Europe, not one-tenth less.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
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FDA officially authorizes Zyn nicotine pouches for sale following health review

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally authorized Zyn nicotine pouches for sale after conducting an ‘extensive scientific review’ about their safety.

In a release Thursday, the agency said it had found that the popular pouches posed lower risk of cancer and other serious health conditions compared with cigarettes, as well as in relation to other smokeless tobacco products.

The agency also found that the pouches even had the potential to benefit cigarette smokers amid evidence that they can get them to quit.

‘The data show that these nicotine pouch products meet that bar by benefiting adults who use cigarettes and/or smokeless tobacco products and completely switch to these products,” Matthew Farrelly, director of the office of science in the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a statement. 

Zyn use has exploded in recent years in the wake of a viral online meme trend, even prompting a shortage last year. Yet the product had been operating in a legal gray area while it underwent official FDA review about its health effects and uptake among young users.

To that latter point, the FDA found that, so far, Zyn use among youths appeared to be relatively low, though it was continuing to monitor the trend.

A spokesperson for Philip Morris International Inc., which owns the U.S. rights to Zyn, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Swedish Match, the developer of Zyn, said in a statement, “The FDA’s authorization of all ZYN nicotine pouches currently marketed by Swedish Match in the U.S. is an important step to protect the public health by providing better alternatives to cigarettes and other traditional tobacco products for adults 21+.”

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids slammed the FDA’s decision in a separate statement.

‘The FDA today has set a dangerous precedent that puts the nation’s kids at risk by authorizing the sale of 20 Zyn nicotine pouch products with flavors that clearly appeal to kids, including chill, citrus, cool mint and peppermint,’ it said.

‘The FDA’s decision is deeply troubling given the extensive scientific evidence that flavored tobacco products appeal to kids and the fact that nicotine pouches were the only category of tobacco product that saw an increase in youth use last year. The FDA is sanctioning a flavored tobacco product that is already increasing in popularity with kids and repeating the mistakes it made with Juul that resulted in the youth e-cigarette epidemic.’

In the release, the FDA emphasized that its findings about Zyn did not mean the products are ultimately safe or “FDA approved.”

‘There is no safe tobacco product,’ the agency said. ‘Youth should not use tobacco products and adults who do not use tobacco products should not start.’

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
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March Madness bracketology update: Top seeds, who’s on the bubble

The popularity and success of March Madness is owed in part to the years-long reality that figuring out who’s in and who’s out of the NCAA tournament each season is as much a part of the fun as watching the games unfold to determine college basketball’s national champion. This has led to a new truism over the past decade: It’s never too early for bracketology.

What was once an exercise conducted in the days leading into Selection Sunday eventually turned into a conference play constant, with the bubble, last four in and first four out joining the sport’s vocabulary. Today, bracketology is a year-round endeavor for the likes of ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, with multiple updates during each week of the season.

There are about two months until Selection Sunday for the 2025 NCAA tournament, and the competition for a spot in the bracket and the highest seed possible is heating up now that conference play has arrived throughout the country. Here’s a breakdown of some of the latest national projections for the this year’s March Madness field, including potential No. 1 seeds, teams rising and falling and the current state of the bubble as of Friday, January 17:

March Madness bracketology 2025: Potential No. 1 seeds

Here’s a look at the teams currently projected to be No. 1 seeds in the 2025 NCAA tournament bracket by a variety of national outlets:

ESPN: Auburn, Duke, Iowa State, Tennessee
CBS Sports: Auburn, Duke, Iowa State, Tennessee
NCAA.com: Auburn, Duke, Iowa State, Alabama
FOX Sports: Auburn, Duke, Iowa State, Tennessee
The Washington Post: Auburn, Duke, Alabama, Tennessee

NCAA tournament 2025: Teams on the rise

Michigan State: Since losing to Memphis in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational, the Spartans have reeled off 10 wins in a row. After debuting at No. 41 in this year’s initial NET rankings, they’ve climbed to No. 17 as of Thursday and remain in position to secure a top-three seed on Selection Sunday.
Arizona: The Wildcats got off to a rocky start thanks to tough non-conference scheduling, losing five of their first nine games. But Arizona is on a seven-game win streak entering Saturday’s Big 12 game at Texas Tech. It has gone from No. 65 to No. 12 in the NET rankings over the past six weeks.
Mississippi: Coach Chris Beard’s team only has losses to ranked teams (Purdue and Memphis) and got four-straight wins to begin SEC play, including this past week’s road win at Alabama. The Rebels could challenge for a top-four seed given how many opportunities the loaded SEC presents this season.
Louisville: The Cardinals are a remarkable turnaround story in coach Pat Kelsey’s first season, putting together an undefeated record in ACC play thus far to rejoin the national conversation. Louisville is now as high as a No. 6 seed in some bracketology updates.

Selection Sunday 2025: Who’s falling in bracketology?

Dayton: The Flyers have non conference wins over UConn, Marquette and Northwestern, but erased much of that goodwill by losing three in a row in Atlantic-10 conference play.
Pittsburgh: The Panthers were one of the few ACC teams to represent themselves well in non conference play, but consecutive losses to Duke, Louisville and Florida State have Pittsburgh inching closer to the bubble.
Indiana: The Hoosiers seemed poised to play their way off the bubble with four-straight wins against Big Ten competition, but blowout losses to Iowa and Illinois mean Indiana’s chances of making the NCAA tournament ‒ and coach Mike Woodson’s job status ‒ appear to be in jeopardy.
Oklahoma: The Sooners won 13 games in a row to start the season and the run included wins over Arizona, Louisville and Michigan. But they’ve come back down to earth swiftly after losing four games in a row to start SEC play.

Who’s on the March Madness bubble?

Here’s a look at some of the teams currently considered to be on the bubble by national outlets as conference play heats up with almost two months to go until Selection Sunday:

ESPN

*As of Jan. 17

Last four in: Ohio State, Creighton New Mexico, Texas, Dayton,
Last four byes: Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Saint Mary’s, Nebraska, Missouri
First four out: Vanderbilt, Iowa, Cincinnati, UCF
Next four out: Arizona State, Arkansas, SMU, Dayton

CBS Sports

*As of Jan. 17

Last four in: Texas, Wake Forest, New Mexico, Vanderbilt
Last four byes: Iowa, Creighton, UCLA, San Diego State
First four out: SMU, Texas Tech, Northwestern, Arizona State

FOX Sports

*As of Jan. 14

Last four in: Texas Tech, New Mexico, Creighton, Iowa
First four out: Texas, St. Bonaventure, Indiana, Georgetown
Next four out: SMU, Arizona State, Penn State, Cincinnati

The Washington Post

*As of Jan. 13

Last four in: UCF, Arizona State, New Mexico, Saint Mary’s
First four out: Arkansas, Drake, Vanderbilt, Dayton
Next four out: Iowa, Indiana, Northwestern, Penn State

Andy Katz, NCAA.com

*As of Jan. 14

Last four in: Texas Tech, Saint Mary’s, Ohio State, Creighton
Next teams considered: Arizona State, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, SMU, Drake, Arkansas, Texas, Cincinnati, BYU, Villanova, VCU, Dayton

USA Today Coaches Poll

Here’s where teams stand in the latest USA Today Coaches Poll for men’s basketball, released on Jan. 13.

Auburn (16-1)
Iowa State (15-1)
Duke (15-2)
Florida (15-2)
Alabama (14-3)
Tennessee (16-1)
Marquette (15-2)
Houston (13-3)
Kentucky (14-3)
Kansas (12-4)
Texas A&M (13-4)
Michigan State (15-2)
UConn (13-4)
Oregon (15-2)
Purdue (14-4)
Gonzaga (14-5)
Memphis (13-4)
Mississippi State (14-3)
Michigan (13-4)
Illinois (13-4)
Mississippi (15-2)
Utah State (16-2)
Georgia (14-3)
Baylor (11-5)
West Virginia (12-4)

Others receiving votes: St. John’s; Wisconsin; Arizona; New Mexico; Oklahoma; UCLA; Maryland; Texas Tech; Clemson; Saint Mary’s; Louisville; Indiana; San Diego State; Missouri; UC Irvine.

*Records through Jan. 16 games

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Dog’s NFL picks are beating experts, algorithm

You doubted the dog, didn’t you?

Don’t feel bad. We all had reservations.

And then, Luna, the 7-year-old Maltipoo, picked all six winners for the NFL wildcard games in the opening round of USA TODAY Sports’ novel NFL prediction competition.

It’s Man vs. Machine vs. Dog.

The adorable, soothsaying dog has taken the lead over USA TODAY’s Jarrett Bell and Tyler Dragon and the computer-run statistics model created by Kostas Pelechrinis, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

Pelechrinis, impressed with Luna’s fast start, remarked by email, “Given that she chose randomly every game, the chance of getting all 6 right is about 1.6% (1.5625% to be accurate lol).’’

Of course, the professor assumes Luna is picking random. Assuming she’s not making her picks with football expertise or unerring intuition.

This divisional games could be critical for Luna, who has picked the Commanders to upset the Lions and the Rams to beat the Eagles. The men and machine are picking against her in both games. They have some ground to make up. Luna has 180 points, 60 points more than Dragon (120) and a whopping 90 points ahead of Bell and the computer model, who both have 90 points.

Divisional championship schedule

Our experts’ results, NFL playoff picks

How the ‘machine’ and Luna make their picks

Want more? See these data-driven hot picks

The scoring system

Devised by NFL predictions expert David Glidden, it will work like this:

Each week, the competitors will turn in full brackets with picks for games in every round, including the Super Bowl. A perfect bracket from start to finish would earn 1,000 points, but competitors likely will have to adjust those brackets week to week.

Thirty points will be earned for each team correctly picked to win a wild card game, 35 points for a Divisional round game, 50 points for a Conference championship game and 75 points for the Super Bowl.

Then we’ll have an official winner and the answer to our burning question: Is it Man, Machine or Dog who we can trust most with NFL playoff predictions?

Let the games and predictions begin!

Odds for NFL’s divisional games

BetMGM’s initial betting lines for next weekend’s games are set. A plus before the number signifies the amount a bettor would win on a $100 bet. A minus signifies the amount a bettor must bet to win $100.

Odds for AFC divisional games

Houston Texans (+375) at Kansas City Chiefs (-500) favored by 8 points

Baltimore Ravens (-120) favored by 1 point at Buffalo Bills (+100)

Odds for NFC divisional games

Washington Commanders (+400) at Detroit Lions (-550) favored by 9 points

Los Angeles Rams (+225) at Philadelphia Eagles (-275) favored by 6 points

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Staley signs contract extension, making her highest paid coach

South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley signed a contract extension, making her the sport’s highest coach, the school announced Friday.

The contract will keep Staley at the school through the 2029-30 season.

The total value of the contract is $25.25 million, including a $4 million annual salary, a $500,00 signing bonus and a $250,000 escalator every season.

LSU’s Kim Mulkey and UConn’s Geno Auriemma are the only other women’s coaches making more than $3 million a season.

“I’m proud to represent the University of South Carolina and of its investment in women’s basketball,” Staley said in a statement. “What we’ve been able to accomplish on the court is a testament to what can happen when you bring together the right people from a team perspective but also have the right commitment from the University, the Athletics Department and the community to providing that team with everything it needs to be successful.’

Since taking over the South Carolina program in 2008, the 54-year-old Staley, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and a four-time Olympic gold medalist as a player and coach, has been a significant force in women’s basketball.

The Gamecocks have been to the Final Four six times, including each of the past four seasons, and have won three national championships under Staley.

Staley has also led South Carolina to eight SEC regular season and tournament titles and is a four-time Naismith Coach of the Year. 

This season, the defending national champions are ranked No. 2 with a 17-1 record and a 5-0 mark in conference play.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.x

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Danielle Collins not the Australian Open villain she might seem

Danielle Collins grabbed the microphone from the reporter interviewing her at center court and addressed the crowd directly. They saw her as the villain again Thursday at the 2025 Australian Open, and she had decided to incite their boos – to use them as fuel on the tennis court once more.

Collins, the 31-year-old American, had already put her hands to her ears and blown mocking kisses before she even shook hands at the net with Australian Destanee Aiava after their second-round match in Melbourne. After advancing, Collins served up a parting shot initially intended as a backhanded thank you trolling her audience.

‘I was thinking during the match, I was like, ‘If I’m out here, I might as well take that big, fat paycheck,” she said, and the jeers grew louder. ‘We love a good, five-star vacation, so part of that check is going towards that. So thank you guys for that. Thank you for coming out and supporting us.’

‘The people that don’t like you, and the people that hate you,’ Collins explained later during her post-match news conference, ‘they actually pay your bills.’

For Collins, though, they represent a lot more than that. There’s more to this latest heel turn.

A year ago at the Australian Open, Collins announced she would be retiring from professional tennis at the end of 2024 season to focus on starting a family. In October, a few months before embracing her inner villain so overtly, Collins announced on Instagram she would be returning to the WTA following the discovery of fertility complications related to endometriosis, a condition she suffers from that affects the uterus.

Collins opened up further about the decision to postpone her retirement last week before the Australian Open started, noting the physical and mental challenges have taken a toll in recent months.

‘I’ve had days consistently where I cry every day, freaking out, and it’s not a fun thing,’ she said, and the support system of the women’s tennis tour is helping her through this difficult period in her life.

‘I know I said I was retiring, but unfortunately life threw me some curveballs and here I am. I’m just trying to enjoy it a little bit longer,’ Collins added. ‘My closest friendships are a lot of the women on tour, a lot of the people on tour. You think about that lifestyle change when you’re going through something that’s so challenging emotionally, and then to not have that support system, yeah, that’s a lot. I’m glad that I can keep doing this for a little longer and have that.’

Collins hasn’t committed to how long she’ll continue to play professionally. She said her medical team is still determining the best course of action in her pursuit of having children. That uncertainty led her back to the court.

‘I couldn’t imagine right now laying the rackets down,’ Collins said, and nothing about her recent performances suggests otherwise.

Collins played some of the best tennis of her career last year when it seemed it would be her last season. She won back-to-back tournaments, most notably the Miami Open, and currently sits at No. 11 in the world rankings. Her best career finish in a Grand Slam event came when she made the 2022 Australian Open final.

Coco Gauff and Novak Djovokic are among the tennis stars to recently praise Collins for her authenticity and willingness to speak her mind.

Her reaction Thursday was no different, right down to when she placed one of those mocking kisses on her rear end to really rile up the fans.

An Australian Open crowd wanted a villain, and Collins wanted to be one again.

For reasons that go beyond just winning a tennis match.

‘I loved it,’ Collins said. ‘I’ve been doing this my whole life. I love playing in a crowd that has energy regardless of what side they’re on. I’m somebody, too, it kind of just motivates me even more, so it’s kind of a good thing, especially when I’m not playing well. I think it really helped me in the end, helped me concentrate even more, and challenged me at times, and pushed me through the finish line.’

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Djokovic, Gauff roll in Australian Open; Osaka retires due to injury

Some of the biggest names in tennis have plowed their way to the fourth round at the Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Coco Gauff, and Aryna Sabalenka all advanced, while two-time champion Naomi Osaka retired due to a strained abdominal muscle.

Djokovic, going for his 11th Australian Open title and 25th Grand Slam championship, had little trouble with Tomas Machac, taking the match 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. In the dominant performance, the 37-year-old Djokovic had his serve broken once. He will next take on No. 24 seed Jiri Lehecka on Sunday.

“I think I played really well,” Djokovic said after the match. “I’m very happy with my game. There’s always something to improve but this is definitely the best match I’ve played in the tournament so far.’

Other results include Alcaraz needing four sets to beat Nuno Borges 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2, and No. 12 seed Tommy Paul rolling past Robert Carballes Baena 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-0.

The top seed in the women’s draw, Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, dispatched Clara Tauson 7-6 (5), 6-4, and now has won 17 matches in a row at the Australian Open.

Coco Gauff continues torrid 2025 start

The third-seeded Gauff is into the fourth round after her 6-4, 6-2 win over Leylah Fernandez. Gauff hasn’t lost a set or match this year.

“Tennis feels so high stakes, but it’s really not. I’m so lucky to do what I do — also get paid doing it,” Gauff said.

“My biggest thing I learned last year is just not to take anything for granted,” Gauff said, “and just realized this time is going to go by so fast. … I’m just trying to enjoy it while I’m here.”

Naomi Osaka retires due to injury

Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka was forced to retire after dropping the first set in her third-round match against Belinda Bencic.

“I kind of have a history of it, since I was a teenager. At least once a year, I’d get an ab strain. For me, I want to say it’s more the way my serve is — it’s quite explosive,” Osaka said. “Unfortunately, it carried on over to the beginning of this season.”

Osaka was also forced to retire from the final of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, two weeks ago against Clara Tauson because of issues with her abdominal.

Bencic now faces Coco Gauff for a spot in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

Jessica Pegula ousted in the third round

With fellow Serb Novak Djokovic cheering her on, Olga Danilovic blitzed past American Jessica Pegula, the No. 7 seed, 7-6 (3), 6-1.

Pegula had no answers for the 23-year-old Danilovic, who is ranked 55th in the world, using a powerful forehand and dominating on her first serve

‘She’s top of the world, she’s such a great player,’ Danilovic said after the upset. ‘I knew I had to have my A-A-A plus-plus-plus game to beat her. In the back of my mind, I really believed in myself.’

Danilovic moves on to face 11th seed Paula Badosa, with both women looking to get to the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time.

Women’s results

Coco Gauff (3) def. Leylah Fernandez (30): 6-4, 6-2
Belinda Bencic def. Naomi Osaka: 7-6 (3) ret.
Mirra Andreeva (14) def. Magdalena Frech (23): 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
Paula Badosa def. Marta Kostyuk (17): 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Aryna Sabalenka (1) def. Clara Tauson: 7-6 (5), 6-4
Donna Vekic (18) def. Diana Shnaider (12): 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 7-5
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27) def. Laura Siegemund: 6-1, 6-2

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Trump won’t wait for Senate confirmations to shake up State Department: source

President-elect Donald Trump is planning to immediately shake up the State Department by moving new officials into top roles. 

A source familiar with the situation tells Fox News that the new Trump administration will immediately move new officials into key operational roles at the State Department to ensure the department is carrying out the Trump foreign policy agenda from day one. 

Normally, career State Department officials will oversee these key positions while political appointees await Senate confirmation. The Trump team is bringing in dozens of ‘senior bureau officials’ to ensure the career employees have Trump-aligned officials over them. The source says the transition has already identified the senior bureau officials who will be taking over.   

The source also says this move affects more than 20 additional key roles at State. Reuters reported last week that Trump officials have already asked others to step aside, bringing a total of about 30 senior positions affected by this initiative. They include all of those working as undersecretaries and overseeing key regional, policy and communications bureaus.

Asked to comment, a spokesperson for the transition team told Fox, ‘It is entirely appropriate for the transition to seek officials who share President Trump’s vision for putting our nation and America’s working men and women first. We have a lot of failures to fix, and that requires a committed team focused on the same goals.’

Trump’s transition team recently asked three senior career diplomats to step down from their roles, according to a Reuters report. 

Dereck Hogan, Marcia Bernicat and Alaina Teplitz, the career diplomats who were allegedly asked to leave their roles, oversee the State Department’s workforce and internal coordination.

All three of the career diplomats named in the report have worked under Democratic and Republican administrations, Reuters noted. Unlike political appointees, diplomats do not typically resign when a president leaves office.

Throughout his political career, Trump has gone after the ‘deep state,’ and this move could be seen as part of his efforts to fundamentally change the government on a bureaucratic level.

Trump has never hid his disdain for the government agency responsible for foreign relations, dubbing it the ‘Deep State Department’ during his first term, reflecting his belief that career diplomats were working to subvert his agenda.

Trump is likely to work in tandem with his Secretary of State nominee, Marco Rubio, who, during his confirmation hearing, said that State employees would need to work towards Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda and pledged to make the agency ‘relevant again.’

‘What has happened over the last 20 years under multiple administrations is the influence of the State Department has declined at the expense of other agencies, and also at the expense of National Security Councils, because it takes so long for the State Department to take action,’ said Rubio. 

‘And so, increasingly, you stop getting invited to the meetings, and they stop putting you in charge of things, because it takes too long to get a result.’

He said that ‘the core mission of the department has not been well-defined’ in the modern federal bureaucracy, and ‘it’s our obligation to define that.’

‘We want the State Department to be relevant again, and it should be because the State Department has a plethora of talented people who are subject-matter experts and who have skills in diplomacy. And it’s not being fully utilized, because, increasingly, on issue after issue, we’ve seen the State Department marginalized because of internal inertia, because of the way the structure works. We have to be at that table when decisions are being made, and the State Department has to be a source of creative ideas and effective implementation,’ he added.

Rep. Brian Mast, R–Fla., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters that he was looking to root out those at State who had directed the so-called ‘woke’ funding programs at the department. 

‘If you have people that are writing grants nefariously supporting a radical agenda, like doing drag shows abroad and trying to find this vague tie and not tying things to U.S. national security interests, then they should be aware that we’ll be looking for them, and we will be looking for creating authorities to make sure that their existence doesn’t continue in the State Department.’

Related Topics

State Department
Donald Trump

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