B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Makes New $116.71 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)The Apprentice star also argued that a lack of clarity from the Government on the ownership test is causing “significant uncertainty” for potential investors. This came as the House of Lords continued its scrutiny of the Football Governance Bill, which seeks to establish an independent regulator for the top five tiers of the men’s game. In the upper chamber, Baroness Brady said: “We are creating legislation which will profoundly affect 160 quite unique institutions, from Premier League clubs through to the National League community clubs, but it is important for everyone to understand that the consultation with these affected businesses by the current Government has been remarkably limited, almost unbelievably so. “Just seven Premier League clubs, I was one of them, was granted a brief half-hour meeting with the Secretary of State over the summer. “And following this cursory engagement, significant decisions were made that could fundamentally affect the future of English football, most notably with the inclusion of parachute payments within the backstop mechanism. “This is particularly concerning given that fundamental issues still remained unresolved, we still lack any clarity on Uefa’s position on state interference, for example, this clearly creates profound uncertainty for clubs competing in or aspiring to European competition, as well as our national teams.” “We don’t know what the ownership test will look like, this causes significant uncertainty for potential investors as to whether they are able to own a club,” she added. Lady Brady continued: “I have spoken to many of my colleagues across all of the football pyramid, we are all alarmed about and puzzled by the lack of discussion on the Bill with ministers. “Would the minister agree that we all want to get the detail of this Bill right? And can she see any downsides to providing meaningful opportunities to hear from all clubs across the football pyramid affected by the legislation?” Prior to this, Tory shadow sports minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay had tabled an amendment which he said would allow clubs to “make their views known on this legislation” by including specific competitions on the face of the Bill. Labour frontbencher Baroness Twycross told the upper chamber: “I don’t think the leagues are confused either on which leagues this legislation will apply to.” She added: “This power is both reasonable and the result of evidence-based consultation with all key stakeholders in the industry. “This power ensures that the competitions in scope can be amended in a timely manner and ensures the scope of the regime remains relevant.” The peer later said: “Over the past three years there have been countless opportunities for all affected and interested parties to make representations.” Lady Brady also raised concerns about the financial distribution backstop, which she said is “clearly designed as a mechanism to gain direct access to, and apportionate Premier League revenue, and no-one else’s”. “I might add the backstop will allow the IFR (Independent Football Regulator) to do this even if it was against the Premier League clubs’ will, or even without the clubs’ agreement, even if it was to have a detrimental effect on the clubs and the overall competition it removes revenue from,” she added. The backstop would allow the new IFR to intervene in the distribution of Premier League broadcast revenue down the leagues as a last resort. It could be triggered by the Premier League, English Football League (EFL) or National League to mediate the fair financial distribution of this revenue if they are not able to come to an agreement. Conservative peers later raised concerns over the cost implications to clubs of establishing the regulator, although they faced claims of “filibustering” – wasting time by making overlong speeches in a bid to delay progress. Watching opposition benches blatantly filibustering to destroy the Football Governance Bill is nothing short of sporting vandalism.Football is broken. Clubs are struggling. Now those seats have been lost, do they no longer care about likes of Reading or Southend? @FairGameUK — Niall Couper (@NiallCouper) December 4, 2024 Labour peer Lord Watson of Invergowrie questioned why Lord Parkinson was showing “confected outrage” at the Bill when the former culture minister would have been defending a similar proposal had the Tories remained in power. Lord Parkinson, in his reply, said: “We want to see this regulator established, we want to see it doing its work and doing so effectively, but we also see before us a Bill that is different because of the election that was called and the result that happened, and we’re interrogating particularly closely the changes that the Government have made to the Bill – of which there are many. “And we have more concerns on these benches than we did before the election from my colleagues behind me about the way we do it.” The Tory peer pointed to Labour frontbenchers fulfilling their duties to “properly scrutinise” then-government legislation when they were on the opposition benches. Lady Twycross, in an intervention, said: “While I agree that (Lord Parkinson) is correct that I would scrutinise legislation when I was sitting on those (opposition) benches, I have never sought to filibuster a Bill to which my party had committed, which my party had laid before Parliament, and intended to filibuster it to the point of getting us stuck in treacle.” Lord Parkinson replied: “That is not what we’re doing.” Niall Couper, chief executive of the campaign group Fair Game, wrote on social media site X: “Watching opposition benches blatantly filibustering to destroy the Football Governance Bill is nothing short of sporting vandalism.”mnl777 free 100 。

LPGA, USGA to require players to be assigned female at birth or transition before puberty

Sam Darnold sensed the backside pressure as soon as he dropped back with Minnesota trailing by four points late in the fourth quarter in Seattle, so he moved into a safe space in the pocket and did precisely what the Vikings would prefer him to do with the game on the line. He threw the ball down the field to Justin Jefferson. The perfectly placed throw near the sideline beat double coverage for a 39-yard touchdown that put the Vikings back in front with 3:51 remaining in a 27-24 victory over the Seahawks on Sunday. “It was a great call,” said Jefferson, who had 10 receptions for 144 yards and two scores, all season highs. “I’m not going to say too much about that play, but something went on where me and Sam were on the same page, and he found me and we went up.” The Vikings were understandably coy about the context around the go-ahead touchdown , when Darnold made a difficult on-the-run pass just over cornerback Tariq Woolen that Jefferson deftly twisted to catch next to his backside hip so he could shield the ball from late-breaking safety Julian Love. Darnold saw Love's shoulders initially shaded inside just enough to believe he couldn't retreat fast enough to prevent Jefferson from getting the ball. Jefferson also applied some improvisation to his route that Darnold clearly and properly read during the play. “I want those guys to have some freedom in those moments,” coach Kevin O'Connell said. “We do a lot of things with Justin and Sam, seeing the coverage and then with some route opportunities to get to at the line of scrimmage, and I think those guys have just gotten so comfortable with that stuff.” Darnold's long-delayed breakout performance under O'Connell has been one of the stories of the NFL this season, one that wouldn't have unfolded as neatly for the third overall pick in the 2018 draft without such synergy between him and his superstar wide receiver. If the Vikings (13-2) win their last two games, they will not only be NFC North champions for the second time in three years but also get the No. 1 seed and the lone first-round bye in the NFC for the playoffs. “Every single game we’re finding different ways to overcome adversity, overcome the different stuff defenses have thrown towards us," Jefferson said. “Sam has done a great job being a leader.” The pass rush was strong, with Andrew Van Ginkel recording two sacks and pressure leading to both interceptions of Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith. The Vikings were credited with eight hits on Smith. The Vikings converted only three of 12 third downs, their second-worst rate of the season. Theo Jackson, who saw significant playing time at safety with Harrison Smith out, had the game-sealing interception with 49 seconds left. Tight end Josh Oliver has played 47% of the snaps the last two games, his two lowest usage rates of the season. He dropped the only pass he was thrown on Sunday. The defense ought to get a big boost this week with the expected return of the 13-year veteran Smith from his first absence in two years when he was sidelined at Seattle with a foot injury. Linebacker Ivan Pace, who has missed four games on injured reserve with a hamstring strain, is also on track to be back with his return to practice. Backup defensive lineman Jalen Redmond, who didn't play against the Seahawks because of a concussion, has made progress through the protocol, O'Connell said. Backup cornerback Fabian Moreau, who was inactive at Seattle with a hip injury, will continue to be evaluated throughout the week. 13.6% — That's the third-down conversion allowance rate for the Vikings over the last two games, with Chicago and Seattle combining to go just 3 for 22. The Vikings rank second in the NFL in third-down defense at 33.7% for the season and also rank second on fourth down at 36.7%. The Vikings host Green Bay on Sunday, with the kickoff moved to the late afternoon showcase spot on Fox. If Minnesota loses to the Packers, the Lions will clinch the NFC North and the Vikings would open the playoffs on the road as the No. 5 seed at best. Even if the Lions were to lose at San Francisco on Monday night, the Vikings would need to win at Detroit on Jan. 5 to take the division title. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFLSaturday’s contest at Bon Secours Wellness Arena has the Furman Paladins (9-1) taking on the South Carolina State Bulldogs (5-6) at 12:00 PM ET. Our computer prediction is a lopsided 77-63 victory, as our model heavily favors Furman. According to our computer prediction, Furman projects to cover the 12.5-point spread in its matchup against South Carolina State. The over/under is listed at 141.5, and the two sides are projected to go under that total. Catch tons of live college basketball , plus original programming, with ESPN+ or the Disney Bundle. Place your bets on any men’s college basketball matchup at BetMGM. Sign up today using our link. Furman has a 7-1-0 record against the spread so far this season compared to South Carolina State, who is 5-4-0 ATS. The Paladins have a 2-6-0 record going over the point total, while games involving the Bulldogs have a record of 4-5-0 when it comes to hitting the over. The teams score an average of 156 points per game, 14.5 more points than this matchup’s total. Bet on this or any men’s college basketball matchup at BetMGM. Rep your favorite players with officially licensed gear. Head to Fanatics to find jerseys, shirts, hats, and much more. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER .

Acehnese Women: Crucial Role In Peacebuilding Overlooked, Discriminated By Local Regulations #Acehnese #Women: #Crucial #Role #Peacebuilding #Overlooked, #Discriminated #Local #Regulations #USA #Russia #Biden #Ukraine #War #Palestine #Gaza #Israel #

OpenAI's legal battle with Elon Musk reveals internal turmoil over avoiding AI 'dictatorship'AP Business SummaryBrief at 6:23 p.m. ESTIt looked like a recipe for disaster. So, when his country's swimmers were being accused of doping earlier this year, one Chinese official cooked up something fast. He blamed it on contaminated noodles. In fact, he argued, it could have been a culinary conspiracy concocted by criminals, whose actions led to the cooking wine used to prepare the noodles being laced with a banned heart drug that found its way into an athlete's system. This theory was spelled out to international anti-doping officials during a meeting and, after weeks of wrangling, finally made it into the thousands of pages of data handed over to the lawyer who investigated the case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for that same drug. The attorney, appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, refused to consider that scenario as he sifted through the evidence. In spelling out his reasoning, lawyer Eric Cottier paid heed to the half-baked nature of the theory. “The Investigator considers this scenario, which he has described in the conditional tense, to be possible, no less, no more,” Cottier wrote. Even without the contaminated-noodles theory, Cottier found problems with the way WADA and the Chinese handled the case but ultimately determined WADA had acted reasonably in not appealing China's conclusion that its athletes had been inadvertently contaminated. Critics of the way the China case was handled can't help but wonder if a wider exploration of the noodle theory, details of which were discovered by The Associated Press via notes and emails from after the meeting where it was delivered, might have lent a different flavor to Cottier's conclusions. “There are more story twists to the ways the Chinese explain the TMZ case than a James Bond movie,” said Rob Koehler, the director general of the advocacy group Global Athlete. "And all of it is complete fiction.” In April, reporting from the New York Times and the German broadcaster ARD revealed that the 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine, also known as TMZ. China's anti-doping agency determined the athletes had been contaminated, and so, did not sanction them. WADA accepted that explanation , did not press the case further, and China was never made to deliver a public notice about the “no-fault findings,” as is often seen in similar cases. The stock explanation for the contamination was that traces of TMZ were found in the kitchen of a hotel where the swimmers were staying. In his 58-page report , Cottier relayed some suspicions about the feasibility of that chain of events — noting that WADA's chief scientist “saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities.” But without evidence to support pursuing the case, and with the chance of winning an appeal at almost nil, Cottier determined WADA's “decision not to appeal appears indisputably reasonable.” A mystery remained: How did those traces of TMZ get into the kitchen? Shortly after the doping positives were revealed, the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations held a meeting on April 30 where it heard from the leader of China's agency, Li Zhiquan. Li's presentation was mostly filled with the same talking points that have been delivered throughout the saga — that the positive tests resulted from contamination from the kitchen. But he expanded on one way the kitchen might have become contaminated, harkening to another case in China involving a low-level TMZ positive. A pharmaceutical factory, he explained, had used industrial alcohol in the distillation process for producing TMZ. The industrial alcohol laced with the drug “then entered the market through illegal channels,” he said. The alcohol "was re-used by the perpetrators to process and produce cooking wine, which is an important seasoning used locally to make beef noodles,” Li said. “The contaminated beef noodles were consumed by that athlete, resulting in an extremely low concentration of TMZ in the positive sample. "The wrongdoers involved have been brought to justice.” This new information raised eyebrows among the anti-doping leaders listening to Li's report. So much so that over the next month, several emails ensued to make sure the details about the noodles and wine made their way to WADA lawyers, who could then pass it onto Cottier. Eventually, Li did pass on the information to WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel and, just to be sure, one of the anti-doping leaders forwarded it, as well, according to the emails seen by the AP. All this came with Li's request that the noodles story be kept confidential. Turns out, it made it into Cottier's report, though he took the information with a grain of salt. “Indeed, giving it more attention would have required it to be documented, then scientifically verified and validated,” he wrote. Neither Wenzel nor officials at the Chinese anti-doping agency returned messages from AP asking about the noodles conspiracy and the other athlete who Li suggested had been contaminated by them. Meanwhile, 11 of the swimmers who originally tested positive competed at the Paris Games earlier this year in a meet held under the cloud of the Chinese doping case. Though WADA considers the case closed, Koehler and others point to situations like this as one of many reasons that an investigation by someone other than Cottier, who was hired by WADA, is still needed. “It gives the appearance that people are just making things up as they go along on this, and hoping the story just goes away," Koehler said. “Which clearly it has not.” AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

President-elect Donald Trump has surrounded himself with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs — including Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, and David Sacks — who are now advising him on technology and other issues. When it comes to AI, this crew of technologists is fairly aligned on the need for rapid development and adoption of AI throughout the U.S. However, there’s one AI safety issue this group brings up quite a bit: the threat of AI “censorship” from Big Tech. Trump’s Silicon Valley advisers could make the responses of AI chatbots a new battleground for conservatives to fight their ongoing culture war with tech companies. AI censorship is a term used to describe how tech companies put their thumb on the scale with their AI chatbots’ answers in order to conform to certain politics, or push their own. Others might call it content moderation, which often refers to the same thing but has a very different connotation. Much like social media and search algorithms, getting AI answers right for live news events and controversial subjects is a constantly moving target. For the last decade, conservatives have repeatedly criticized Big Tech for caving to government pressures and censoring their social media platforms and services. However, some tech executives have begun to moderate their positions in public. For example, ahead of the 2024 election, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to Congress for bending to the Biden administration’s pressure to aggressively moderate content related to COVID-19. Shortly after, the Meta CEO said he’d made a “20-year political mistake” by taking too much responsibility for problems that were out of his company’s control — and said he wouldn’t be making those mistakes again . But according to Trump’s tech advisers, AI chatbots represent an even greater threat to free speech, and potentially a more powerful way to effect control over speech. Instead of skewing a search or feed algorithm toward a desired outcome, such as downranking vaccine disinformation, tech companies can now just give you a single, clear answer that doesn’t include it. In recent months, Musk, Andreessen, and Sacks have spoken out against AI censorship in podcasts, interviews, and social media posts. While we don’t know how exactly they’re advising Trump, their publicly stated beliefs could reveal the conversations they’re having behind closed doors in Washington, D.C., and Mar-a-Lago. “This is my belief, and what I’ve been trying to tell people in Washington, which is if you thought social media censorship was bad, [AI] has the potential to be a thousand times worse,” said a16z co-founder Marc Andreessen in a recent interview with Joe Rogan. “If you wanted to create the ultimate dystopian world, you’d have a world where everything is controlled by an AI that’s been programmed to lie,” said Andreessen in another recent interview with Bari Weiss . Andreessen also disclosed to Weiss that he has spent roughly half his time with Trump’s team since the election happened, offering advice on technology and business. “[Andreessen] explained the dystopian path we were on with AI,” said former PayPal COO and Craft Ventures co-founder, David Sacks, in a recent post on X shortly after he was appointed to be Trump’s AI and crypto czar. “But the timeline split, and we’re on a different path now.” On All In — the popular podcast Sacks hosts alongside other influential venture capitalists — Trump’s new AI adviser has repeatedly criticized Google and OpenAI for, as the show’s hosts describe it, forcing AI chatbots to be politically correct. “One of the concerns about ChatGPT early on was that it was programmed to be woke, and that it wasn’t giving people truthful answers about a lot of things. The censorship was being built into the answers,” said Sacks on an episode of All In from November 2023 . Despite Sacks’ claims, even Elon Musk admits xAI’s chatbot is often more politically correct than he’d like. It’s not because Grok was “programmed to be woke,” but more likely a reality of training AI on the open internet. That said, Sacks is making it more clear every day that “AI truthfulness” is something he’s focused on. Is there a way to score AI models based on how truthful they are? Let’s call it the Galileo Index. Suggestions welcome. https://t.co/fJzwOH3JJa “That’s how you get Black George Washington at Google” The most cited case of AI censorship was when Google Gemini’s AI image generator generated multiracial images for queries such as “U.S. founding fathers” and “German soldiers in WWII,” which were obviously inaccurate. But there are other examples of companies influencing specific results. Most recently, users found out that ChatGPT just won’t answer questions about certain names , and OpenAI admitted that at least one of those names triggered internal privacy tools. At another point, Google’s and Microsoft’s AI chatbots refused to say who won the 2020 U.S. election . During the 2024 election, almost every AI system refused to answer questions about election results, except for Perplexity and Grok . For some of these examples, the tech companies argued they were making a safe and responsible choice for their users. In some cases, that may be true — Grok hallucinated about the outcome of the 2024 election before votes had even been counted . But the Gemini incident stuck out; it caused Google to turn off Gemini’s ability to generate images of people — something the free version of Gemini still cannot do. Google referred to that incident as a mistake and apologized for “missing the mark.” Andreessen and Sacks don’t see it this way. Both venture capitalists have said that Google didn’t miss the mark at all, but rather, hit it a little too obviously. They considered it a pivotal mask-off moment for Google. “The people running Google AI are smuggling in their preferences and their biases, and those biases are extremely liberal,” said Sacks on an episode of All In from February 2024, responding to the Gemini incident. “Do I think they’re going to get rid of the bias? No, they’re going to make it more subtle. That is what I think is disturbing about it.” “It’s 100% intentional; that’s how you get Black George Washington at Google,” said Andreessen in the recent interview with Weiss , rehashing the Gemini incident. “This goes directly to Elon’s argument, which is that at the core of this, you have to train the AI to lie [i.e., to produce answers like Gemini’s].” As Andreessen mentions, Elon Musk has been outspoken against “woke AI chatbots.” Musk originally created his well-funded AI startup, xAI, in 2023 to oppose OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which the billionaire said at the time was infected with the “woke mind virus.” He ultimately created Grok, an AI chatbot with notably fewer safeguards than other leading chatbots. “I’m going to start something which you call TruthGPT or a maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe,” said Musk in an interview with Fox from 2023. When Musk launched Grok, Sacks applauded the effort: “Having something like Grok around will — at a minimum — keep OpenAI honest and keep ChatGPT honest,” said Trump’s AI czar in an All In episode from November 2023 . Now, Musk is doing more than just keeping ChatGPT honest. He has raised more than $12 billion to fund xAI and compete with OpenAI. He’s also suing Sam Altman’s startup and Microsoft, potentially halting OpenAI’s for-profit transition. Musk’s influence on conservative government officials has already shown to carry weight in other areas. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton is investigating a group of advertisers that allegedly boycotted Elon Musk’s X. Musk previously sued the same advertising group, and since then, some of the companies have resumed advertising on his platform. It’s not clear what Trump and other Republicans could do if they actually wanted to investigate OpenAI or Google for AI censorship. It could be investigations by expert agencies, legal challenges, or perhaps just a cultural issue that Trump can press on for the next four years. Regardless of the path forward, Trump’s Silicon Valley advisers are not mincing words on this issue today. “Elon, with the Twitter files, did a privatized version of what now needs to happen broadly,” said Andreessen to Weiss , referring to Musk’s allegations of censorship at Twitter . “We, the American population, need to find out what’s been happening all this time, specifically about this intertwining of government pressure with censorship ... There needs to be consequences.”

Pune, Dec. 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Broadcast Scheduling Software Market Size Analysis: “ The SNS Insider report indicates that the Broadcast Scheduling Software Market size was valued at USD 1.6 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to USD 7.8 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 19.34% over the forecast period of 2024-2032. ” The Broadcast Scheduling Software Market Is On Track For Substantial Growth, Driven By Transformative Shifts Within The Media Sector With the rise of digital content consumption, broadcasters are increasingly turning to software solutions to automate complex processes such as schedule management, resource allocation, and workflow coordination. This growing demand for smooth content delivery across multiple platforms—from traditional television to streaming services—has made broadcast scheduling software a pivotal component of modern broadcasting operations. The surge of OTT (Over-the-top) platforms has introduced new challenges to traditional broadcasting models, driving the need for more agile, real-time scheduling tools. As a result, broadcast scheduling software has integrated advanced technologies like AI and machine learning to efficiently process large datasets, optimize workflows, and improve audience targeting. Technological Innovations, Particularly In Cloud Computing And AI, Are Major Contributors To The Market's Expansion Cloud-based platforms enable broadcasters to access scheduling tools remotely, fostering enhanced collaboration and real-time adjustments. AI-driven functionalities are being utilized to predict audience preferences, enabling personalized content delivery. For instance, recently reported that, a 30% reduction in operational costs after implementing AI-enhanced, cloud-based scheduling software, which boosted content delivery efficiency and audience engagement. Get a Sample Report of Broadcast Scheduling Software Market @ https://www.snsinsider.com/request-analyst/4671 Major Players Analysis Listed in this Report are: Advanced Broadcast Services Limited (ABSVision, ABSTraffic) AMC Networks Inc. (AMC Scheduling Tool, AMC Distribution System) AxelTech (AxelCast, AxelFlow) MEDIAGENIX (WHATS'ON, WHATS'ON Workflow) Marketron Broadcast Solutions (Marketron Traffic, Marketron Revenue) Schedule it Ltd. (Schedule it! Scheduler, Schedule it! Planner) WideOrbit (WideOrbit Traffic, WideOrbit Scheduling) Imagine Communications (Selenio, Nexio) Chetu Inc. (Broadcast Management Software, Scheduling Software Solutions) BroadView Software Inc. (BroadView Traffic, BroadView Scheduler) Broadcast Scheduling Software Market Report Scope: Do you have any specific queries or need any customization research on Broadcast Scheduling Software Market, Make an Enquiry Now@ https://www.snsinsider.com/enquiry/4671 Segmentation Analysis By Deployment The on-premise segment held the largest revenue share of 51.8% in 2023, driven by a large number of broadcasters dependent on traditional broadcasting systems proliferating in developing economies of countries such as China, India, and Brazil. Since consumers in these nations primarily depend on satellite and DTH TV, the broadcasters rely on on-premise infrastructure and systems. The cloud segment is anticipated to register the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. This segment is expected to grow due to the change in consumer preference from traditional TV channels to online and streaming media and entertainment services due to the increasing penetration of smartphones, smart TVs, and other connected devices. In addition to the factors responsible for the growth of this segment, the perks of deploying media services over the cloud including flexibility, real-time access to broadcasting content along with other services, and cost-effectiveness is another driver of this segment. Broadcast Scheduling Software Market Segmentation: By Solution Software Services Professional Services Managed Services By Deployment On-Premises Cloud Hybrid By Application TV Radio Digital Platforms Buy an Enterprise-User PDF of Broadcast Scheduling Software Market Analysis & Outlook 2024-2032@ https://www.snsinsider.com/checkout/4671 Regional Landscape North America dominated the market in 2023 with a revenue share of more than 38.5%. This dominance is primarily due to the advanced nature of the region along with widespread development in the broadcasting industry, technology advancements, and supportive government initiatives for the adoption of digital broadcasting solutions. In addition, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission announced that more than 90% of the U.S. TV networks switched to all-digital broadcasting over the past year into 2022 respectively, thus raising the level of the scheduling software demanded and the government helped project such as Digital Video Broadcasting, launched in Canada, which is in process in the U.S. in a continued effort to strengthen the broadcasting infrastructure in time and will therefore, augment the market growth as a result. The Asia-Pacific region is anticipated to experience the fastest rate of growth, poised to register the fastest CAGR over the forecast period due to rapid digital broadcasting growth in India, China, and Japan. For Instance, the Indian government's "Digital India" initiative is undoubtedly going to achieve its objective. India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has released a report that says that digital TV subscriptions to grow by 25% for 2023. The escalating demand for broadcast scheduling software is a testimony to the rise for sure. Digital innovation is being rolled out by the Japanese government with its "Society 5.0" initiative, which will drive market growth as broadcasters adopt sophisticated scheduling solutions to support increasing channels and platforms. Recent Developments March 2024 – Avid unveiled a new version of its broadcast scheduling software that integrates advanced AI capabilities for content prediction and audience engagement. This version aims to help broadcasters enhance their operational efficiency while reducing scheduling errors. February 2024 – Imagine Communications launched an upgraded broadcast scheduling platform offering real-time analytics and machine learning capabilities for broadcasters, enabling them to automate scheduling processes and optimize content delivery for improved viewer engagement. Table of Contents – Major Key Points 1. Introduction 2. Executive Summary 3. Research Methodology 4. Market Dynamics Impact Analysis 5. Statistical Insights and Trends Reporting 6. Competitive Landscape 7. Broadcast Scheduling Software Market Segmentation, By Solution 8. Broadcast Scheduling Software Market Segmentation, By Deployment 9. Broadcast Scheduling Software Market Segmentation, By Application 10. Regional Analysis 11. Company Profiles 12. Use Cases and Best Practices 13. Conclusion Access Complete Report Details of Broadcast Scheduling Software Market Analysis Report 2024-2032@ https://www.snsinsider.com/reports/broadcast-scheduling-software-market-4671 [For more information or need any customization research mail us at info@snsinsider.com] SNS Insider Offering/ Consulting Services: Go To Market Assessment Service Total Addressable Market (TAM) Assessment Competitive Benchmarking and Market Share Gain Buying Options 5 Reports Pack (USD 7500) 10 Report Pack (USD 12000) Vertical Subscription (150 Reports Pack Valid for 1 Year) Use this link to Purchase above packs @ https://www.snsinsider.com/subscription About Us: SNS Insider is one of the leading market research and consulting agencies that dominates the market research industry globally. Our company's aim is to give clients the knowledge they require in order to function in changing circumstances. In order to give you current, accurate market data, consumer insights, and opinions so that you can make decisions with confidence, we employ a variety of techniques, including surveys, video talks, and focus groups around the world.

I turned down SEVEN figure offer to lose my virginity on camera – I still make millions on OnlyFans without having sex

NEW YORK, Dec. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Monteverde & Associates PC (the "M&A Class Action Firm"), has recovered millions of dollars for shareholders and is recognized as a Top 50 Firm by ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. We are headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City and are investigating: Liberty Broadband Corporation (NASDAQ: LBRDA , LBRDK , LBRDP ) , relating to the proposed merger with Charter Communications, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, Liberty Broadband common stockholders will receive 0.236 of a share of Charter common stock per share of Liberty Broadband common stock they own. Click here for more information https://monteverdelaw.com/case/liberty-broadband-corporation-lbrda-lbrdk-lbrdp/ . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. Battery Future Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: BFAC ) , relating to the proposed merger with Class Over, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, Class Over has been given an enterprise value of approximately $135 million. Click here for more https://monteverdelaw.com/case/battery-future-acquisition-corp-bfac/ . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. (OTC: LTRPA , LTRPB ) , relating to the proposed merger with Tripadvisor, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, shares of Liberty TripAdvisor Common Stock will be converted into the right to receive $0.2567 in cash. Click here for more https://monteverdelaw.com/case/liberty-tripadvisor-holdings-inc-ltrpa-ltrpb/ . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. NOT ALL LAW FIRMS ARE THE SAME. Before you hire a law firm, you should talk to a lawyer and ask: Do you file class actions and go to Court? When was the last time you recovered money for shareholders? What cases did you recover money in and how much? About Monteverde & Associates PC Our firm litigates and has recovered money for shareholders...and we do it from our offices in the Empire State Building. We are a national class action securities firm with a successful track record in trial and appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. No company, director or officer is above the law. If you own common stock in any of the above listed companies and have concerns or wish to obtain additional information free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at jmonteverde@monteverdelaw.com or by telephone at (212) 971-1341. Contact: Juan Monteverde, Esq. MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC The Empire State Building 350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4740 New York, NY 10118 United States of America jmonteverde@monteverdelaw.com Tel: (212) 971-1341 Attorney Advertising. (C) 2024 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC ( www.monteverdelaw.com ). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.S&P 500 futures were near the flatline Monday night after all three major averages kicked off the holiday-shortened trading week in the green. Futures linked to the broad market index traded just below the flatline, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were little changed. Nasdaq 100 futures slipped nearly 0.2%. > Philadelphia news 24/7: Watch NBC10 free wherever you are This comes amid what is expected to be a more toned-down week for trading activity. On Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange closes early at 1 p.m. ET for Christmas Eve, while the bond market closes at 2 p.m. The market is also closed on Wednesday for Christmas Day. Monday was a relatively sparse day of trading, with the S&P 500 rising around 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite closing about 1% higher. The 30-stock Dow also finished up nearly 0.2%. Tech names and semiconductor stocks were among the big winners of the day, lifting the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Meta Platforms jumped more than 2% and Broadcom advanced more than 5%, while Nvidia rose 3.7%. Elsewhere, Honda and Xerox each finished the session more than 12% higher. The Japanese automaker announced it has entered into official merger talks with fellow Japanese automaker Nissan. Xerox said it is going to buy printer maker Lexmark in a deal valued at $1.5 billion. That said, the day was still affected by weak economic data. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 104.7 in December. The reading missed the Dow Jones estimate of 113.0 and marked the index's lowest level since September's reading of 98.7. Additionally, orders for durable goods fell 1.1% in November , which is the largest month-over-month decline since June. With few trading days in store, some investors are hoping for a Santa Claus rally to conclude what has already been a strong year for the market. And that's not completely out of the ordinary. According to the Stock Trader's Almanac, the S&P 500 has gained 1.3% on average between the last five trading days of the year and the first two in January, dating back to 1969. But Jay Hatfield of Infrastructure Capital Advisors is calling for a bit of a stall in the market over the coming days. He is sticking with his year-end 2024 S&P 500 target of 6,000, which implies only a 0.4% increase for the broad market index from Monday's close. "We might get a Santa Claus rally, but those aren't that powerful [of] rallies," the firm's CEO told CNBC. "We're neutral on the market." Big retail ETF limps into the holiday season It's been a rocky December for the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) , which is off more than 3% this month alone. Notable losers in the ETF during the period include Signet Jewelers , down 19%, and Foot Locker , which is off more than 14% in December. Clothing company Guess is also off 13% this month. Not all constituents in the retail ETF are on pace for a losing month, however. The top performer of the bunch is Ollie's Bargain Outlet , up nearly 19% in December. Academy Sports and Outdoors and Five Below are each up 16% this month. — Jason Gewirtz, Darla Mercado Investors are 'too pessimistic about inflation,' Jay Hatfield says The inflationary pressures that could likely come as a result of President-elect Donald Trump's tariff plans may not be all that impactful, according to Infrastructure Capital Advisors' Jay Hatfield. The firm's CEO thinks investors may be missing the deflationary element present in the dollar's gains. His remarks come as the dollar index , which inched higher on Monday, has risen more than 6% year to date. "In general, investors are too optimistic about growth and too pessimistic about inflation," Hatfield said in an interview with CNBC. "It's kind of irrational for investors to fear inflation from tariffs, but yet the dollar has already wiped out all of the potential – or most of the potential – increase in prices." Late last month, Trump vowed to raise tariffs by an additional 10% on goods from China , as well as a 25% duty on goods from Mexico and Canada. During his campaign for president, Trump threatened imposing a tariff of 60% on Chinese goods. "If the Trump administration raises tariffs 10%, but the dollar is appreciated 10%, that shouldn't have any significant impact," Hatfield continued. — Sean Conlon Stock futures open little changed U.S. stock futures opened relatively unchanged Monday evening. S&P 500 futures, as well as Nasdaq 100 futures, traded just above the flatline. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 31 points, or about 0.1%. — Sean Conlon(SNA) - Analyzing Snap-on's Short InterestSwitzerland, a nation known for neutrality and preparedness, is modernizing its network of nuclear shelters. This action comes as global tensions increase, especially in the wake of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The war in Ukraine has significantly highlighted the importance of civil defense. Now, as per a Reuters report, the Swiss government is taking a considerable interest in protecting its people by infusing new investments in these protective structures. Switzerland has a long history of prioritizing the safety of its residents. A law passed in 1963, during the Cold War era, mandates that every person in the country must have access to a designated shelter space. This includes foreign nationals and refugees as well. This law has resulted in a vast network of shelters integrated into Swiss society. Many of these shelters are located in private residences, apartment buildings, and communal spaces. Need for maintenance and modernization Over the years, these shelters have often served other purposes. They are commonly used as storage areas, wine cellars, or hobby rooms. Their thick concrete walls provide stable temperatures, making them ideal for these purposes. However, their primary function remains to provide protection from potential threats. This includes bombing and nuclear fallout. But inspections have highlighted the need for upgrades and maintenance in some shelters. Civil protection officers conducting checks have encountered issues. These include jammed doors, blocked ventilation, and obstructed escape routes. These findings show the importance of maintenance and modernization. The Swiss Federal Council has recognized this need. They have proposed an increase in the budget for shelter maintenance. It will rise from 9 million to 15 million Swiss francs starting in 2027. This money will be used to replace parts of the shelters. These include ventilation systems and filters. This ensures the shelters remain functional in emergencies. Switzerland has enough shelter spaces for its population. However, it faces challenges in ensuring these spaces are evenly distributed. Five cantons currently lack shelter spaces. This shows the need for investment in these areas. Switzerland’s expertise and global surge in nuclear bunker demand Switzerland’s commitment to civil defense extends beyond its borders. The country is a leader in bunker design and technology. It exports its expertise to other nations. Many countries have sought Swiss assistance in constructing protective structures. The Swiss government’s plan to upgrade its nuclear shelters shows the importance of preparedness. By investing in these structures, Switzerland is taking steps to ensure the safety of its people. This is regardless of future challenges. The concept of nuclear bunkers has gained widespread attention lately due to war-like situations in various regions of the world. Some of the situations have escalated as much as a nuclear confrontation is also feared, especially in the case of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, where the former recently changed its nuclear attack protocol. Therefore, the demand for advanced nuclear bunkers has skyrocketed, and several governments and even private companies are building such facilities. It is in this context that Russia recently started mass production of mobile bomb shelters that can offer protection for up to 48 hours in case of a nuclear weapon attack. Meanwhile, companies like Survival Condo and DEFCON Underground Mfg have taken this concept further by offering nuclear bunkers that are equipped with top-notch and luxurious facilities.

FACT FOCUS: Vermont ruling does not say schools can vaccinate children without parental consentSteelers vs. Browns live score, updates, highlights from NFL 'Thursday Night Football' game | Sporting News

Noodles and wine are the secret ingredients for a strange new twist in China's doping saga

China-EU trade war a ‘lose-lose’ situation, top diplomat Wang Yi warnsLONDON — After a sprawling hacking campaign exposed the communications of an unknown number of Americans, U.S. cybersecurity officials are advising people to use encryption in their communications. To safeguard against the risks highlighted by the campaign, which originated in China, federal cybersecurity authorities released an extensive list of security recommendations for U.S. telecom companies — such as Verizon and AT&T — that were targeted. The advice includes one tip we can all put into practice with our phones: “Ensure that traffic is end-to-end encrypted to the maximum extent possible.” End-to-end encryption, also known as E2EE, means that messages are scrambled so that only the sender and recipient can see them. If anyone else intercepts the message, all they will see is a garble that can’t be unscrambled without the key. Law enforcement officials had until now resisted this type of encryption because it means the technology companies themselves won’t be able to look at the messages, nor respond to law enforcement requests to turn the data over. Here’s a look at various ways ordinary consumers can use end-to-end encryption: Texting Officials said the hackers targeted the metadata of a large number of customers, including information on the dates, times and recipients of calls and texts. They also managed to see the content from texts from a much smaller number of victims. If you’re an iPhone user, information in text messages that you send to someone else who also has an iPhone will be encrypted end-to-end. Just look for the blue text bubbles, which indicate that they are encrypted iMessages. The same goes for Android users sending texts through Google Messages. There will be a lock next to the timestamp on each message to indicate the encryption is on. But there’s a weakness. When iPhone and Android users text each other, the messages are encrypted only using Rich Communication Services, an industry standard for instant messaging that replaces the older SMS and MMS standards. Apple has noted that RCS messages “aren’t end-to-end encrypted, which means they’re not protected from a third party reading them while they’re sent between devices.” Samsung, which sells Android smartphones, has also hinted at the issue in a footnote at the bottom of a press release last month on RCS, saying, “Encryption only available for Android to Android communication.” Chat apps To avoid getting caught out when trading texts, experts recommend using encrypted messaging apps. Privacy advocates are big fans of Signal, which applies end-to-end encryption on all messages and voice calls. The independent nonprofit group behind the app promises never to sell, rent, or lease customer data and has made its source code publicly available so that it can be audited by anyone to examine it “for security and correctness.” Signal’s encryption protocol is so reputable that it has been integrated into rival WhatsApp, so users will enjoy the same level of security protection as Signal, which has a much smaller user base. End-to-end encryption is also the default mode for Facebook Messenger, which like WhatsApp is owned by Meta Platforms. What about Telegram? Telegram is an app that can be used for one-on-one conversations, group chats and broadcast “channels” but contrary to popular perception, it doesn’t turn on end-to-end encryption by default. Users have to switch on the option. And it doesn’t work with group chats. Cybersecurity experts have warned people against using Telegram for private communications and pointed out that only its opt-in ‘secret chat’ feature is encrypted from end-to-end. The app also has a reputation for being a haven for scammers and criminal activity, highlighted by founder and CEO Pavel Durov’s arrest in France. Making calls Instead of using your phone to make calls through a wireless cellular network, you can make voice calls with Signal and WhatsApp. Both apps encrypt calls with the same technology that they use to encrypt messages. There are other options. If you have an iPhone you can use Facetime for calls, while Android owners can use the Google Fi service, which are both end-to-end encrypted. The only catch with all these options is that, as with using the chat services to send messages, the person on the other end will also have to have the app installed. WhatsApp and Signal users can customize their privacy preferences in the settings, including hiding IP address during calls to prevent your general location from being guessed.Suchi Semicon inaugurates Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Testing plant in Surat

TBILISI, Georgia Georgia’s president said Monday that the country is facing a political crisis and the only way out is to hold new parliamentary elections. Salome Zurabishvili’s remarks came during a news conference on recent developments in the country. Noting that protests which began following parliamentary elections on Oct. 26 have continued following the government's suspension of accession negotiations with the European Union until 2028, she said protesters are demanding fresh parliamentary elections. Zurabishvili, who is critical of the government’s decision, said there is a political crisis in the country. “The only way out of the crisis is the renewal of the elections,” she added. She called on the government to hold talks with her by Dec. 29 to set a new election date, stressing that the crisis should not escalate further. Zurabishvili said “if a compromise solution, dialogue, is not reached, there is a second option -- we will go to regime collapse before the elections.” Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said Sunday that Zourabichvili must leave office before Dec. 29 with anti-government protests continuing in the South Caucasus nation for almost a month. “President Zourabichvili will have to leave office on Dec. 29. Let’s see where she continues her life – behind bars or outside. I believe she has enough sense to avoid violating the Criminal Code,” Kobakhidze told a press briefing in the capital, Tbilisi, public broadcaster 1TV reported. His remarks came a day after Zourabichvili reiterated her call for new elections as well as her readiness to talk about the issue with Bidzina Ivanishvili, the honorary chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party. On Nov. 28, Kobakhidze said that Georgia will suspend EU accession talks until 2028, a move that has led to widespread protests across the country, including in the capital. ​​​​​​​*Writing by Esra Tekin in Istanbul

First dog-friendly cruise scheduled for 2025. Organizers hope it turns into a recurring event.KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes paced up and down the Chiefs’ sideline, yelling toward everyone yet no one in particular. His first-half pep talk, a waste. His body, bruised. His frustration, public for all to see. If you didn’t know any better — if you didn’t check the date on this column — you might have guessed I ripped the scene from Christmas Day a year earlier. Except for just one tiny detail. The Chiefs won. They beat the Las Vegas Raiders 19-17 on Friday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, and for all of the close, funky conclusions that have defined this season, we have a masterpiece: a botched snap. A year after the Raiders robbed the Chiefs of a Christmas Day celebration, they gifted them a victory when center Jackson Powers-Johnson snapped the ball before quarterback Aidan O’Connell expected it. Nick Bolton pounced on it. That’s how the Chiefs just beat the worst team in football. Look, the Chiefs are still a very good team, but with the record of a very great team requesting to be judged on the curve of the very best teams the league has to offer. That’s not some unfair grading system we invented for them — it’s how they judge themselves. Been that way for a while now. And about the only positive thing I can offer from Friday’s game — other than, you know, the win — is to wonder if perhaps the outcome will convince Raiders owner Mark Davis that head coach Antonio Pierce is a good fit for the job. The Chiefs’ offense gained just 4.9 yards per play, the third-worst mark among the 12 teams to play the Raiders this season. The Chiefs defense allowed 6.9 yards per play, 1.3 more yards per play than anyone had allowed the Raiders this year. Chiefs coach Andy Reid botched a fourth-down decision in which he elected to put the end of the game in the hands of that defense, rather than his quarterback. Everyone shared some blame. But for all of that, there are no bigger concerns than the root of Mahomes’ outburst. Left tackle. For the third time this year, Reid benched his left tackle in-game, enacting a full-on state of emergency that sent Joe Thuney, an All-Pro guard, to protect Mahomes’ blindside. To hell with it, Reid apparently said, and who could blame him? Starting left tackle Wanya Morris, who doubles as the replacement for the first guy KC benched this season, allowed 11 pressures and a career day not from Maxx Crosby, but from K’Lavon Chaisson — who had eight pressures, per Next Gen Stats. A ticket-taker slows traffic more efficiently than Morris slowed the Raiders’ navigation to his quarterback. On three occasions, Chaisson reached Mahomes is less than 2 1/2 seconds. Those plays were over before they started. “He’s playing against a couple of good players,” Reid said of Morris. “But you gotta do better than what we did there.” At one point, visibly frustrated, Mahomes stretched out both arms from his sides and turned his palms skyward, as if to ask the very question that will hover over the rest of the Chiefs’ quest for the NFL’s first three-peat: What now? Well, it sure seems like one of the most important players to the Chiefs’ Super Bowl hopes just became someone who hasn’t put on a football uniform in more than 11 months — someone who has never put on a Chiefs uniform. D.J. Humphries, you’re up. After spending the past 11 months out of football — not even a practice since his ACL injury with the Arizona Cardinals last December — the Chiefs have little choice but to ask Humphries to step into one of the most important jobs in the sport. A risky solution. I’ll listen for others. The Chiefs have survived subpar left tackle play in this era. They’re almost stuck with it, given the constraints of their salary cap paired with their draft position falling at the end of every round. Donovan Smith was below average a year ago, even if time has elevated that memory. Heck, Cam Erving protected Mahomes at one point. They’ve managed. This is different. They aren’t even giving Mahomes a chance. Before the season, I could not offer you a single example of a left tackle flat-out whiffing on an edge rusher. I’m sure it’s happened. I don’t remember it. Today, if asked for that example, I would reply with a question: Which one? Morris continually elected to just try to punch at Chaisson. He came about as close as a 58-year-old boxer on Netflix. To Morris’ credit, and this will be dismissed more quickly than it should, he remained by his locker as media entered the room after the game. He took every last question he was asked. “There’s no better time to learn than when you get your (rear-end) beat,” Morris told me, and he did not say rear-end. “It sucks to get your (rear-end) beat, but when you get your (rear-end) beat, you can have two responses: You can lay down, or you can get back up and try something new. I’m going to get back up and try something new.” What’s becoming obvious: The Chiefs cannot afford him that chance. They cannot afford their second-round pick, Kingsley Suamataia, that chance, either. A year ago, the Raiders supplied the Chiefs a wake-up call: They’d better take the rest of the season seriously if they intended to make another Super Bowl run. This year, the wake-up call is how drastically one position can derail their plans. On a first-half drive Friday, Mahomes completed a no-look pass to tight end Noah Gray for 26 yards. A few plays later, tight end Travis Kelce lateraled a ball to running back Samaje Perine for a first down. Three more plays later, Mahomes absorbed a shot to the chest but managed to somehow flick a pass to receiver Justin Watson, who made a contested catch for a touchdown. A no-look. A lateral. A contested catch, which this team almost never makes. That once comprised the look of a team showing off. On Friday, it comprised the requirements for scoring. It was the recipe for the only time the Chiefs reached the end zone. Those plays I glossed over? They were interrupted by the constant pressure. Even the touchdown should have been interrupted by the pressure. A miraculous throw, really. But the Raiders — and that outburst — illuminated something in the process. Even a franchise savior has a limit. ©2024 The Kansas City Star. Visit kansascity.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Healthcare technology continues to advance each year, including IoT-assisted wearable sensor devices, AI, and blockchain, as well as improved medical diagnosis . Jeff Elton, CEO at ConcertAI has outlined several expert industry healthtech predictions around SaaS, real-world data and AI in evolving healthcare, precision medicine and clinical trials. AI will enhance life sciences through advanced Digital Twins and AI-designed drugs Elton explains how accuracy will be the turning point of AI, supported by LLMs over ambient AI. In particular, Elton states: “AI regulations in healthcare will be marked by highly differentiated approaches and AI adoption. Oncology-specific AI and LLM systems will work together across the entire lifecycle – from discovery to clinical trials.” With digital twins, Elton provides the advantages: “Twins will simulate early-phase clinical trials and will help identify the most beneficial and likely successful drugs in trials. Fully integrated patient-to-trial matching in provider workflows will cut time and costs for late-stage trials by 30 percent. All of this will lower costs and increase the success rates of pharmaceutical R&D processes.” These different programs will unify discovery, translational, and developmental processes Accuracy will be the turning point of AI, supported by LLMs over ambient AI. There will continue to be an increase in the integration of AI in daily workflows and decision-making as AI increases in accuracy and efficiency, opines Elton. The expert finds: “2025/2026 will see the enormous potential of AI as a ‘decision augmentation’ of expert humans. This will come from context-sensitive solutions, LLMs, that can align other LLMs to collect, analyse, and recommend options to clinical teams that are aligned to that specific decision and the unique characteristics of that patient. This needs to and will happen as there are not enough staff and specialists to provide the needed care.” AI regulations in healthcare will be marked by highly differentiated approaches and AI adoption. Elton believes AI regulation currently encourages responsible innovation and self-regulation, allowing space for new advancements. As examples, Elton provides: “Current Gen 1 solutions, often single-LLM-based, are expected to be short-lived and evolve into multi-model, highly tuned systems with domain-specific models and advanced prompt engineering. Most healthcare AI will be run on data locally, edge deployed, or done within secure, segregated clouds to ensure control, prevent misuse, and protect patient health data.” Elton concludes with: “Lastly, leading AI SaaS solutions will heavily publish performance metrics, certify against model drift, and provide transparent data flow and model disclosures. This would be the equivalent of certifying drug safety and manufacturing standards.” Oncology-specific AI and LLM systems will work together across the entire lifecycle – from discovery to clinical trials . As to the benefits from large language models (LLMs), Elton has formulated: “LLMs specific to oncology will allow for the consideration of Agents as “Interpretation Experts” with performance comparable to the highest-trained humans for 90%+ of patient decisions. There will be a new generation of multi-modal infrastructure with persistent data analysis occurring over the life of the clinical trial. Trial designs, patient matching, data collection, and real-time analysis will have AI enablement throughout the process.” AI2AI programs will unify discovery, translational, and developmental processes. This part of the process is one grounded in the future state. The first translational programs will be simulated at a mass scale and will give way to new scientific and AI-based engineering approaches. According to Elton: “This ensures that the notion of a “funnel” for clinical development is left behind.” Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news.Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.jm77777 com login 。

None

NEW YORK (AP) — In a string of visits, dinners, calls, monetary pledges and social media overtures, big tech chiefs — including Apple’s Tim Cook, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos — have joined a parade of business and world leaders in trying to improve their standing with President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office in January. “The first term, everybody was fighting me,” Trump said in remarks at Mar-a-Lago . “In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.” Tech companies and leaders have now poured millions into his inauguration fund, a sharp increase — in most cases — from past pledges to incoming presidents. But what does the tech industry expect to gain out of their renewed relationships with Trump? A clue to what the industry is looking for came just days before the election when Microsoft executives — who’ve largely tried to show a neutral or bipartisan stance — joined with a close Trump ally, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, to publish a blog post outlining their approach to artificial intelligence policy. “Regulation should be implemented only if its benefits outweigh its costs,” said the document signed by Andreessen, his business partner Ben Horowitz, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and the company’s president, Brad Smith. They also urged the government to back off on any attempt to strengthen copyright laws that would make it harder for companies to use publicly available data to train their AI systems. And they said, “the government should examine its procurement practices to enable more startups to sell technology to the government.” Trump has pledged to rescind President Joe Biden’s sweeping AI executive order, which sought to protect people’s rights and safety without stifling innovation. He hasn’t specified what he would do in its place, but his campaign said AI development should be “rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.” Trump’s choice to head the Interior Department, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, has spoken openly about the need to boost electricity production to meet increased demand from data centers and artificial intelligence. “The AI battle affects everything from defense to healthcare to education to productivity as a country,′′ Burgum said on Nov. 15, referring to artificial intelligence. “And the AI that’s coming in the next 18 months is going to be revolutionary. So there’s just a sense of urgency and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration′′ to address it. Demand for data centers ballooned in recent years due to the rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and local governments are competing for lucrative deals with big tech companies. But as data centers begin to consume more resources, some residents are pushing back against the world’s most powerful corporations over concerns about the economic, social and environmental health of their communities. “Maybe Big Tech should buy a copy of ‘The Art of The Deal’ to figure out how to best negotiate with this administration,” suggested Paul Swanson, an antitrust attorney for the law firm Holland & Hart. “I won’t be surprised if they find ways to reach some accommodations and we end up seeing more negotiated resolutions and consent decrees.” Although federal regulators began cracking down on Google and Facebook during Trump’s first term as president — and flourished under Biden — most experts expect his second administration to ease up on antitrust enforcement and be more receptive to business mergers. Google may benefit from Trump’s return after he made comments on the campaign trail suggesting a breakup of the company isn’t in the U.S. national interest, after a judge declared its search engine an illegal monopoly . But recent nominations put forward by his transition team have favored those who have been critical of Big Tech companies, suggesting Google won’t be entirely off the hook. Cook’s notoriously rocky relationship with the EU can be traced back to a 2016 ruling from Brussels in a tax case targeting Apple. Cook slammed the bloc’s order for Apple to pay back up to $13.7 billion in Irish back taxes as “total political crap.” Trump, then in his first term as president, piled on, referring to the European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who was spearheading a campaign on special tax deals and a crackdown on Big Tech companies, as the “tax lady” who “really hates the U.S.” Brussels was eventually vindicated after the bloc’s top court rejected Apple’s appeal this year, though it didn’t stop Cook from calling Trump to complain, Trump recounted in a podcast in October. Trump hosted Cook for a Friday evening dinner at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly. Neither Apple nor the Trump transition team has commented on the nature of their discussions. Altman , Amazon and Meta all pledged to donate $1 million each to Trump’s inaugural fund. During his first term, Trump criticized Amazon and railed against the political coverage at The Washington Post, which billionaire Bezos owns. Meanwhile, Bezos had criticized some of Trump’s past rhetoric. In 2019, Amazon also argued in a court case that Trump’s bias against the company harmed its chances of winning a $10 billion Pentagon contract. More recently, Bezos has struck a more conciliatory tone. He recently said at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit in New York that he was “optimistic” about Trump’s second term, while also endorsing president-elect’s plans to cut regulations. The donation from Meta came just weeks after Zuckerberg met with Trump privately at Mar-a-Lago. During the 2024 campaign, Zuckerberg did not endorse a candidate for president, but voiced a more positive stance toward Trump. Earlier this year, he praised Trump’s response to his first assassination attempt. Still, Trump in recent months had continued to attack Zuckerberg publicly. And Altman, who is in a legal dispute with AI rival Elon Musk, has said he is “not that worried” about the Tesla CEO’s influence in the incoming administration. Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year alleging that the maker of ChatGPT betrayed its founding aims of benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits.One of the first things militant groups did upon taking control in Syria was to of Bashar al-Assad's political enemies. That includes the most notorious military prison of all, the Saydnaya facility on the outskirts of Damascus. Coverage:

NEW YORK (AP) — In a string of visits, dinners, calls, monetary pledges and social media overtures, big tech chiefs — including Apple’s Tim Cook, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos — have joined a parade of and world leaders in trying to improve their standing with President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office in January. “The first term, everybody was fighting me,” Trump said in . “In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.” Tech companies and leaders have millions into his inauguration fund, a sharp increase — in most cases — from past pledges to incoming presidents. But what does the tech industry expect to gain out of their renewed relationships with Trump? A clue to what the industry is looking for came just days before the election when Microsoft executives — who’ve largely tried to show a neutral or bipartisan stance — joined with a close Trump ally, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, to outlining their approach to artificial intelligence policy. “Regulation should be implemented only if its benefits outweigh its costs,” said the document signed by Andreessen, his business partner Ben Horowitz, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and the company’s president, Brad Smith. They also urged the government to back off on any attempt to strengthen copyright laws that would make it harder for companies to use publicly available data to train their AI systems. And they said, “the government should examine its procurement practices to enable more startups to sell technology to the government.” Trump has pledged to rescind President Joe Biden’s sweeping AI executive order, which sought to protect people’s rights and safety without stifling innovation. He hasn’t specified what he would do in its place, but his campaign said AI development should be “rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.” Trump’s choice to head the Interior Department, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, has spoken openly about the need to boost electricity production to meet increased demand from data centers and artificial intelligence. “The AI battle affects everything from defense to healthcare to education to productivity as a country,′′ Burgum said on Nov. 15, referring to artificial intelligence. “And the AI that’s coming in the next 18 months is going to be revolutionary. So there’s just a sense of urgency and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration′′ to address it. Demand for data centers due to the rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and local governments are competing for lucrative deals with big tech companies. But as data centers begin to consume more resources, some residents are pushing back against the world’s most powerful corporations over concerns about the economic, social and environmental health of their communities. “Maybe Big Tech should buy a copy of ‘The Art of The Deal’ to figure out how to best negotiate with this administration,” suggested Paul Swanson, an antitrust attorney for the law firm Holland & Hart. “I won’t be surprised if they find ways to reach some accommodations and we end up seeing more negotiated resolutions and consent decrees.” Although federal regulators began cracking down on Google and Facebook during Trump’s first term as president — and flourished under Biden — most experts expect his second administration to and be more receptive to business mergers. Google may benefit from Trump’s return after he made comments on the campaign trail suggesting isn’t in the U.S. national interest, after a judge declared its search engine . But recent nominations put forward by his transition team have favored those who have been critical of Big Tech companies, suggesting Google won’t be entirely off the hook. Cook’s notoriously rocky relationship with the EU can be traced back to a 2016 ruling from Brussels in a tax case targeting Apple. Cook slammed the bloc’s order for Apple to pay back up to $13.7 billion in Irish back taxes as “total political crap.” Trump, then in his first term as president, piled on, referring to the European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who was spearheading a campaign on special tax deals and a crackdown on Big Tech companies, as the “tax lady” who “really hates the U.S.” Brussels was after the bloc’s top court rejected Apple’s appeal this year, though it didn’t stop Cook from calling Trump to complain, Trump in October. Trump hosted Cook for a Friday evening dinner at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly. Neither Apple nor the Trump transition team has commented on the nature of their discussions. , Amazon and Meta all pledged to donate $1 million each to Trump’s inaugural fund. During his first term, Trump criticized Amazon and railed against the political coverage at The Washington Post, which billionaire Bezos owns. Meanwhile, Bezos had criticized some of Trump’s past rhetoric. In 2019, Amazon also argued in a court case that Trump’s bias against the company harmed its chances of winning a $10 billion Pentagon contract. More recently, Bezos has struck a more conciliatory tone. He recently said at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit in New York that he was “optimistic” about Trump’s second term, while also endorsing president-elect’s plans to cut regulations. The donation from Meta came just weeks after privately at Mar-a-Lago. During the 2024 campaign, Zuckerberg did not endorse a candidate for president, but voiced a more positive stance toward Trump. Earlier this year, he praised Trump’s response to his first assassination attempt. Still, Trump in recent months had continued to attack Zuckerberg publicly. And Altman, who is in a legal dispute with AI rival Elon Musk, has said he is about the Tesla CEO’s influence in the incoming administration. Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year alleging that the maker of ChatGPT betrayed its founding aims of benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits.

Former Bruins defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk announces retirement after 14 NHL seasonsWill Jamaal Williams Play in Week 13? NFL Injury Status, News & Updates

None

The Latest: UnitedHealthcare shooting suspect contests his extradition back to New York

ORLANDO, Fla. — UCF coach Gus Malzahn is resigning after four seasons with the school. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the move, which will see Malzahn to leave to take the offensive coordinator job at Florida State. Malzahn previously worked with FSU coach Mike Norvell during their time at Tulsa under then-coach Todd Graham from 2007-08. The Knights ended a disappointing 4-8 season in which they lost eight of their last nine games, the longest losing streak since 2015. Malzahn, 59, was in the fourth year of a contract through 2028. His buyout, it is reported, would have been $13.75 million. He finished 27-25 at UCF but lost 16 of his last 22 games and was a dismal 4-14 in two seasons in the Big 12. After back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2021-22, the Knights went 6-7 in 2023 and 4-8 in 2024. This season started with high expectations as Malzahn made sweeping changes to the program. He retooled the strength and conditioning department and hired Ted Roof and Tim Harris Jr. as defensive and offensive coordinators, respectively. He also added nearly 50 new players to the roster, leaning heavily on the transfer market. UCF started by winning its first three games against New Hampshire, Sam Houston and a thrilling comeback at TCU, but offensive struggles saw the Knights tumble through a TBD-game losing streak to finish the season. Terry Mohajir hired Malzahn on Feb. 15, 2021, six days after he was hired to replace Danny White. The move came eight weeks after Malzahn had been fired at Auburn after eight seasons of coaching the Tigers. The two briefly worked together at Arkansas State in 2012 before Malzahn left for the Auburn job. “When he [Mohajir] offered the job, I was like, ‘I’m in.’ There wasn’t thinking about or talking about ...,” Malzahn said during his introductory press conference. “This will be one of the best programs in college football in a short time. This is a job that I plan on being here and building it.” UCF opened the 2021 season with non-conference wins over Boise State and Bethune-Cookman before traveling to Louisville on Sept. 17, where quarterback Dillon Gabriel suffered a fractured collarbone in the final minute of a 42-35 loss. Backup Mikey Keene would finish out the season as Gabriel announced his intention to transfer. The Knights would finish the season on the plus side by accepting a bid to join the Big 12 Conference in September and then by defeating Florida 29-17 in the Gasparilla Bowl. Malzahn struck transfer portal gold in the offseason when he signed former Ole Miss quarterback John Rhys Plumlee. Plumlee, a two-sport star with the Rebels, helped guide UCF to the American Athletic Conference Championship in its final season. However, Plumlee’s injury forced the Knights to go with Keene and freshman Thomas Castellanos. The team finished with losses to Tulane in the conference championship and Duke in the Military Bowl. Plumlee would return in 2023 as UCF transitioned to the Big 12 but would go down with a knee injury in the final minute of the Knights’ 18-16 win at Boise State on Sept. 9. He would miss the next four games as backup Timmy McClain took over the team. Even on his return, Plumlee couldn’t help UCF, on a five-game losing streak to open conference play. The Knights got their first Big 12 win at Cincinnati on Nov. 4 and upset No. 15 Oklahoma State the following week, but the team still needed a win over Houston in the regular-season finale to secure a bowl bid for the eighth straight season. From the moment Malzahn stepped on campus, he prioritized recruiting, particularly in Central Florida. “We’re going to recruit like our hair’s on fire,” Malzahn said at the time. “We’re going to go after the best players in America and we’re not backing down to anybody.” From 2007 to 2020, UCF signed 10 four-star high school and junior college prospects. Eight four-star prospects were in the three recruiting classes signed under Malzahn. The 2024 recruiting class earned a composite ranking of 39 from 247Sports, the highest-ranked class in school history. The 2025 recruiting class is ranked No. 41 and has commitments from three four-star prospects. Malzahn has always leaned on the transfer market, signing 60 players over the past three seasons. Some have paid huge dividends, such as Javon Baker, Lee Hunter, Kobe Hudson, Tylan Grable, Bula Schmidt, Amari Kight, Marcellus Marshall, Trent Whittemore, Gage King, Ethan Barr, Deshawn Pace and Plumlee. Others haven’t been as successful, such as quarterback KJ Jefferson, who started the first five games of this season before being benched for poor performance. Jefferson’s struggles forced the Knights to play musical chairs at quarterback, with true freshman EJ Colson, redshirt sophomore Jacurri Brown and redshirt freshman Dylan Rizk all seeing action at one point or another this season. This season’s struggles led to several players utilizing the NCAA’s redshirt rule after four games, including starting slot receiver Xavier Townsend and kicker Colton Boomer, who have also entered the transfer portal. Defensive end Kaven Call posted a letter to Malzahn on Twitter in which he accused the UCF coaching staff of recently kicking him off the team when he requested to be redshirted. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Racing Optics® Introduces Game-Changing Twilight Tearoff to Enhance Visibility in Low-Light Racing Conditions

Fluence Energy, Inc. Announces Convertible Notes Offering and Intention to Enter into Capped ...Creative Group Spotlights Event Industry's 2025 Megatrends in Skift Meetings Report

God of War Art Director Joins Naughty Dog to Work on New PS5 Game

Europa League table: Lazio still leaders, Roma revitalisedDonald Trump’s election interference and classified documents cases dismissedmnl777 app download 。

Intel expects US to shave chip-making grant, sources say

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors moved Monday to dismiss the criminal charges against President-elect Donald Trump that accused him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election and to abandon the classified documents case against him, citing longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. The decision by special counsel Jack Smith, who had fiercely sought to hold Trump criminally accountable for his efforts to subvert the 2020 election, represented the end of the federal effort against the former president following his election victory this month despite the election-related cases and multiple other unrelated criminal charges against him and is headed back to the White House. FILE - Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to the media about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023, at an office of the Department of Justice in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) The decision, revealed in court filings, also amounts to a predictable but nonetheless stunning conclusion to criminal cases that had been seen as the most perilous of the multiple legal threats Trump has faced. It reflects the practical consequences of Trump’s victory, ensuring he enters office free from scrutiny over his hoarding of top secret documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Smith’s team emphasized that the move to abandon the prosecutions, in federal courts in Washington and Florida, was not a reflection of their view on the merits of the cases but rather a reflection of their commitment to longstanding department policy. “That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” the prosecutors wrote in Monday’s court filing in the election interference case. The decision was expected after Smith's team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The Justice Department believes Trump can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted. Trump has cast both cases as politically motivated, and had vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. President-elect Donald Trump arrives before the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 in Boca Chica, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Pool via AP) The 2020 election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing the Republican as he vied to reclaim the White House. But it quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House. The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial. The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence they planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of using “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden. ___ Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump's first administration, and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee's election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign. In a statement, Trump called McGinley “a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda, while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement.” Associated Press writer Colleen Long contributed to this story. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

ATLANTA — On Jan. 18 and 19 the AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! will be held at State Farm Arena in advance of the College Football Playoff national championship on Jan. 20. The star-studded lineup was announced Thursday at a news conference at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Performances will include Lil Wayne and GloRilla on Saturday; and Camila Cabello, Myles Smith and Knox on Sunday. On game day, the Allstate Championship Tailgate, taking place just outside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the Home Depot Backyard, will feature country acts on the Capital One Music Stage, including global superstar Kane Brown and iHeartCountry “On The Verge” artist Ashley Cooke. The concerts are just two of the festivities visiting fans can enjoy in the days leading up to the big game. The fan experience for both ticket holders and the general public has been a focus for event planners. All weekend long, an estimated 100,000 people from across the country are expected to attend fan events preceding kickoff. “It will be an opportunity for fans of all ages to come together to sample what college football is all about, and you don’t have to have a ticket to the game to be a part of it,” said Bill Hancock, executive director of the CFP in a press release. “We’ve worked closely with the Atlanta Football Host Committee to develop fan-friendly events that thousands will enjoy come January.” On Saturday, Jan. 18, Playoff Fan Central will open at the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta. The free, family-friendly experience will include games, clinics, pep rallies, special guest appearances, autograph signings and exhibits celebrating college football and its history. That day, fans can also attend Media Day, presented by Great Clips, which will feature one-hour sessions with student-athletes and coaches from each of the College Football Playoff national championship participating teams. ESPN and social media giants X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will be taping live broadcasts from the event. On Sunday, Jan. 19, the Trophy Trot, both a 5K and 10K race, will wind its way through the streets of downtown Atlanta. Each Trophy Trot participant will receive a T-shirt and finisher’s medal. Participants can register at atlantatrackclub.org . On Sunday evening, the Georgia Aquarium will host the Taste of the Championship dining event, which offers attendees the opportunity to indulge in food and drink prepared by local Atlanta chefs. This premium experience serves as an elevated exploration of local cuisine on the eve of the national championship. Tickets to the Taste of the Championship event are available on etix.com . Atlanta is the first city ever to repeat as host for the CFP national championship. The playoff was previously held in Atlanta in 2018. “We are honored to be the first city to repeat as host for the CFP national championship and look forward to welcoming college football fans from around the country in January,” said Dan Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council and Atlanta Football Host Committee. “This event gives us another opportunity to showcase our incredible city.” The College Football Playoff is the event that crowns the national champion in college football. The quarterfinals and semifinals rotate annually among six bowl games — the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential and the Allstate Sugar Bowl. This year’s quarterfinals will take place on Dec. 31, 2024 and Jan. 1, 2025, while the semifinals will be Jan. 9-10, 2025. The CFP national championship will be Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. For additional information on the College Football Playoff, visit CollegeFootballPlayoff.com . Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!

At a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee organized by Democrats on Tuesday, a researcher from a pro-immigration group said the economy would tank if President-elect Donald Trump deports millions of undocumented immigrants. "The president-elect's mass deportation plans would crash the American economy," said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. "Even an attempt to deport millions of people will have repercussions." Truth be told, many economists say removing millions of immigrants from the workforce would cause a costly shock to already tight labor markets and stressed supply chains. RELATED STORY | 'Have to send them all back': Trump outlines sweeping immigration plans for first day in office The industries likely to take the hardest hits are farming, construction, hospitality and food services. Supporters of Trump's plan argue that reducing the number of immigrants in the labor force willing to take low-paying jobs could result in higher wages for Americans who fill those positions. Several studies, however, show those better-paying jobs would end up driving up prices for consumers. "Building, maintaining and repairing houses would become more expensive, as would groceries, restaurants, travel and child care," Reichlin-Melnick said. A model by the independent Peterson Institute for International Economics shows prices would rise by about 9%, while U.S. production and employment would fall. America might have seen a preview of what might happen just after the pandemic when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said "a plunge in immigration" was one reason inflation rose so high. There is also the huge expense of carrying out deportations, which could cost hundreds of billions of dollars. RELATED STORY | Texas spotlights unaccompanied migrant children ahead of Trump deportation push While no one can say for sure how the economy would respond to a forced exodus of immigrants on a scale the country has never seen, Trump has said deporting undocumented immigrants is too important and necessary to consider the price tag. Trump transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt disputed forecasts of economic gloom. "President Trump will enlist every federal power and coordinate with state authorities to institute the largest deportation operation ... while simultaneously lowering costs for families and strengthening our workforce," a statement attributed to Leavitt said.Dejan Kulusevski cannot wait to play Man City again after Tottenham run riot

Gonzaga lands Virginia transfer G Jalen Warley

NoneResearchers, advocacy group team up to map Surrey's toxic drug crisis

Fire and Emergency's (FENZ) chief executive says the organisation is working to abolish poor behaviour. Kerry Gregory's message on social media comes after two independent reviews outlined bullying, harassment, sexism and racism in its culture . He said the organisation's reputation was being tarnished by those acting inappropriately, and those not willing to follow FENZ's code of conduct should leave. "My message is simple. Enough's enough. "Our organisation's values are not just words on a page. They describe who we are and what we want to be. If you're not willing to uphold our values, be accountable for your actions and show respect for those around you, then maybe Fire and Emergency is no longer the place for you to work or volunteer." In the video, Gregory acknowledged members who felt anxious and unsafe about going to work, saying it genuinely upsets him. "The feedback we received was direct and difficult to hear, but it was accurate and necessary and I'm committed to doing it better. "When I reflect on why this behaviour has continued, I believe it's because there's a sense that it's acceptable or that those responsible are untouchable and there's been a lack of trust in our organisation's ability to act." He said it needed to stop for the safety of FENZ staff. Gregory wanted members to hold themselves and other staff accountable. "If you see or hear something that you feel crosses the line, whether it's hurtful, disrespectful or just doesn't sit well with you, say something. This isn't about confrontation, it's about having honest conversations." Speaking to RNZ's Midday Report on Friday, Gregory said a lot of work had been done since the culture review in 2022 "to actually get the things in line, to give our people more tools to be able to, to deal with them". "We've put an independent complaints management process in place, not only to raise complaints, but also to get advice on how [staff] can deal with things. And we've now just put in place our code of conduct and our managing inappropriate behaviour and conduct policy." Gregory defended the years-long timeframe, saying culture change "takes a long time". "It's a long journey and on the whole, you know, our people are really good - but [there are] certainly pockets that I'm seeing where it is inappropriate behaviour... I don't think there's any place in FENZ for bullying, harassment, racism, sexism, all those. And like I said, culture change takes time and it takes a whole organisation to be able to wrap behind them and actually move the culture." He said since 2022 FENZ had "taken quite a different approach. To lead from the top, you cannot just say 'we need to change our culture'. Not everyone sees that, because the parts of the organisation that many of our people work in have a really good culture, really supportive of this... but where it's not appropriate, that's where there's no place for that in FENZ." The video's release was not a pre-emptive move against forthcoming information that might put FENZ in a bad light, he said. "It's just a chance to remind people and say, I need you as well. I need you to help to change the culture and, and get rid of these inappropriate behaviours... the video is not meant to be a game changer. The video is meant to be a call to action and for people to really think about their behaviour and the behaviours of others." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.By Jody Godoy (Reuters) - Andrew Ferguson, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to chair the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, has expressed the desire to go after Big Tech companies while taking a hands-off approach to regulating artificial intelligence. Ferguson's views on social media, data privacy, AI and the need to boost American competitiveness are likely to affect the regulator's approach to companies including Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Alphabet's Google. Here are some of the views Ferguson has expressed in statements during his term as an FTC commissioner which began in April and ends in 2030. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The "pro-regulation side of the AI debate" is "the wrong one," Ferguson said. "A knee-jerk regulatory response will only squelch innovation, further entrench Big Tech incumbents, and ensure that AI innovators move to jurisdictions friendlier to them — but perhaps hostile to the United States," he said in a September statement on the FTC's report on social media. The report called for comprehensive legislation to protect users' data and prevent AI from perpetuating discrimination. ONLINE PRIVACY Ferguson has described the vast collection, aggregation and indefinite storage of data on social media and internet users in the U.S. as an "online privacy crisis" that regulators should focus on. However, he has warned against regulating how such information is used to target advertising. "If regulators and lawmakers attempt to ban or seriously curtail targeted advertising, they will be undoing the balance of the online economy," he said. CONTENT MODERATION POLICIES Ferguson has criticized social media platforms for instituting "Orwellian policies banning nebulous categories of content like 'misinformation,' 'disinformation,' and 'hate speech.'" The FTC could take action against social media platforms if their terms of service misled users about content moderation policies. With more transparent policies, users could decide if they want to stay on the platforms, Ferguson said in December. "But the choice would be real only if there are suitable free-speech-respecting substitutes to the censorious platforms," Ferguson said, praising Elon Musk's "unusually firm commitment to free and open debate" after the billionaire took over social media platform X. PLATFORM COLLABORATION ON CONTENT Ferguson has expressed concern that social media platforms may have coordinated in banning Trump in 2021, taking down posts they deemed harmful during the COVID-19 pandemic, and restricting dissemination of stories about Hunter Biden's laptop computer. "If the platforms colluded amongst each other to set shared censorship policies, such an agreement would be tantamount to an agreement not to compete on contract terms or product quality," which would violate antitrust laws, Ferguson said. ADVERTISER COORDINATION Coordination between advertisers to pull money from platforms such as X over content concerns could violate antitrust laws, Ferguson said. The World Federation of Advertisers' Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which was formed to help advertisers avoid their ads being placed next to harmful content on social media, shut down after X sued, accusing it of facilitating group boycotts. Ferguson has said the FTC could investigate similar efforts. KIDS AND TEENS ONLINE Congress should pass a law that would require online service providers to give parents more control over children's online privacy, Ferguson said. "Congress should empower parents to impose whatever level of supervision and control over internet messaging they feel is right for their family and their children," he said. (Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)SHAREHOLDER INVESTIGATION: Halper Sadeh LLC Investigates AVAV, CTV, AE, PLL on Behalf of Shareholders

Comedian Duncan Norvelle, famed for ‘chase me’ catchphrase, dies aged 66

Kobe Sanders tied a season high with 27 points as Nevada claimed fifth place in the Charleston Classic with a 90-78 victory over Oklahoma State Sunday afternoon in South Carolina. Sanders helped the Wolfpack (6-1) earn a second win following one-possession games against Vanderbilt and VCU. After hitting the decisive 3-pointer with five seconds left in Friday's 64-61 win over VCU, Sanders made 7 of 10 shots, hit three 3s and sank 10 of 13 free throws Sunday. Nick Davidson added 223 points as Nevada led by as many as 19 and shot 58.9 percent. Brandon Love contributed 11 on 5-of-5 shooting as the Wolfpack scored 46 points in the paint and scored at least 85 for the fourth time this season. Marchelus Avery led the Cowboys (4-2) with 15 points and Arturo Dean added 13. Robert Jennings and Abou Ousmane added 11 apiece but leading scorer Bryce Thompson was held to seven points on 1-of-9 shooting as Oklahoma State shot 42 percent and 73.2 percent (30-of-41) at the line. After Avery's 3 forged a 12-12 tie with 13:41 remaining, Nevada gradually gained separation. The Wolfpack took a 24-15 lead on Chuck Bailey's jumper in the paint with 8:28 left but the Cowboys inched back, getting within 33-31 on a dunk by Avery with 4:11 left. Another Bailey jumper staked Nevada to a 40-33 lead by halftime. Nevada began pulling away early in the second half as it scored eight in a row for a 52-40 lead on a basket by Love with 16:44 left. A 3 by Sanders opened a 62-43 lead with 14:06 remaining before Oklahoma State charged back. After Nevada made eight straight shots, the Cowboys countered with 11 straight points and trailed 62-54 with 11:19 left on a 3-pointer by Avery. Thompson made his first basket by sinking a jumper with 10:37 left to get Oklahoma State within 64-56 left, and Keller's triple cut the margin to 70-64 nearly three minutes later. The Cowboys were within 78-72 on a basket by Avery with 3:56 remaining, but he fouled out about a minute later and the Wolfpack outscored Oklahoma State 12-6 the rest of the way as Sanders sank five free throws. --Field Level MediaPalestinians welcome ICC arrest warrants for Israeli officials

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Gratifying as it was for Sean McDermott to catch up with his family and get some rest during Buffalo’s bye week, the Bills coach on Wednesday found comfort returning to his weekly routine and familiar wardrobe — a gray T-shirt and sweatpants. “When I’m not wearing those, I go to my closet and I don’t know what to wear. I’m kind of like not myself,” he said before pulling up his hoodie for emphasis to reveal the gray shirt he had on underneath. “So I was telling some of the guys this morning, ‘It’s good to be back.’” Though there remain challenges ahead, these are upbeat times in Buffalo . The Bills (9-2) are off to their best start since 1992. They remain in contention for the AFC’s top seed by entering their break following a 30-21 win over Kansas City (10-1). And Buffalo is in position to clinch its fifth straight AFC East title as early as Sunday. To do so, the Bills would need Miami to lose to Green Bay on Thursday night, and Buffalo to win its game over San Francisco (5-6) on Sunday night. Buffalo has won six straight since back-to-back losses at Baltimore and Houston, and scored 30 or more points in each of its past five outings. RELATED COVERAGE 49ers LB Fred Warner has been playing through a broken bone in his ankle Resurgent and rested Saints seek a third straight victory when they host the Rams Lamar Jackson is 23-1 against the NFC. The Philadelphia Eagles present a formidable test Refreshed as McDermott sounded and appeared, it didn’t take long for him to revert to his game-at-a-time script when assessing what’s on the line this weekend. “We’re mostly focused on our level of play this week against a good football team,” he said. McDermott shed little light on the status of Buffalo’s lengthy list of injured players. There’s no timetable yet on Matt Milano being activated off injured reserve, even though the starting linebacker practiced fully for the first time since tearing his left biceps during a training camp practice in mid-August. Milano has actually missed nearly 14 months since sustaining a season-ending injury to his right leg in Week 5 last season. The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . Milano revealed little during a brief interview following practice. “I feel all right. Getting back into it with the team,” said Milano, who no longer wore a red non-contact jersey in practice. Meantime, rookie receiver Keon Coleman, who has missed two games with a right wrist injury, and starting right tackle Spencer Brown, who missed one game with an ankle injury, were limited in practice. Tight end Dalton Kincaid (knee) was Buffalo’s only player not practicing. The Bills also opened the three-week window for backup rookie defensive tackle DeWayne Carter (wrist) and backup offensive lineman Tylan Grable (groin) to return. McDermott has another positive going for him revolving around the bye week. The Bills are 8-0 coming out of their break since McDermott took over as coach in 2017. “I don’t really have the, hey, this is exactly what we do formula,” McDermott said on whether he’s changed his bye week approach. “It’s more of us really just getting back to what we do, getting back to basics.” ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflWake Forest still experimenting ahead of Detroit Mercy gamemnl777 net 。

When already this year you’ve bungee-jumped , jetskied and led your party to its best election result for a century, how can you possibly top that as a politician? If you are Ed Davey, the answer is obvious: try for a Christmas No 1. That, at least, is the ambition for the Liberal Democrat leader, who has teamed up with a choir of young carers to record an original song of theirs, complete with a Christmas-heavy video featuring festive jumpers and hats, tinsel, and baubles being hung on a tree. As with Davey’s many stunts for the general election, there is a serious purpose: to generate awareness of the plight of carers, particularly younger ones, and to raise money for good causes. The genesis of this latest move by 2024’s most consistently surprising MP came in the spring, when the widow of Davey’s former choirmaster sent a recording of him aged 13 singing a solo version of In The Deep Midwinter. After the election, when Davey and his team sought ways to push their message over carers, the idea of music came up again. The party hit on the idea of teaming up with the Bath Philharmonia orchestra and their Young Carers’ Choir to record a version of their self-written song, Love is Enough, which is released on Thursday. The result is uplifting and festive, and perhaps just the right side of saccharine to appeal to Christmas listeners. It does not, however, feature much audible input from Davey, whose contributions are slightly buried in the glossy mix. Asked if his adult voice is not quite as angelic as when he was a 13-year-old soloist, Davey told the Guardian: “Definitely. But the young carers is what it’s all about. It is the Young Carers’ Choir with Bath Philharmonia – featuring me. I’m not central to this. I sang all the choruses, by the way.” Davey has made a better deal for carers a key element of his party’s policies, drawing heavily on his own experiences as a young carer to his mother, and his caring responsibilities now to his teenage son, John, who is disabled. One of the Lib Dems’ breakout moments in the election was an election broadcast video that showed Davey with John, which was widely watched and praised. The Christmas single has a similarly policy-based aim beyond the money raised, which will go to the Carers Trust and Bath Philarmonia. Davey said he also hoped to generate publicity for the help available to young carers. Davey said that, while filming the video, he chatted to many of the choir members: “When you talk to young carers, you don’t actually talk much about their caring responsibilities, but one or two told me about them. “And I was in awe of what they are doing, with such heavy responsibilities. I think that getting a break, like doing this single, meant a lot to them.” Is the Christmas No 1 really in their sights? “I think Mariah Carey and all the rest of them are very worried,” Davey responded, deadpan. It might not happen. But when it comes to a party that began the year with 15 MPs and ended it with 72, you can never rule it out.

Javon Small scored 31 points to rally West Virginia to an 86-78 overtime upset of No. 3 Gonzaga in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, Wednesday in Nassau, Bahamas. The Mountaineers (4-1) trailed by 10 points early in the second half and by five in the final minute. But over the final 19 seconds of regulation, Tucker DeVries scored five straight points to send the game to overtime. In the extra session, Small scored five points and West Virginia held Gonzaga to a single field goal, which came after the outcome was decided with 19 seconds left. Amani Hansberry added a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds for West Virginia, which advances to the semifinals Thursday against another surprise first-round winner, Louisville, which stunned No. 15 Indiana. Braden Huff scored 19 points and Khalif Battle added 16 points for Gonzaga (5-1) which settles for a consolation-round game Thursday against Indiana. Nolan Hickman tallied 13 points. Ryan Nembhard delivered seven points and 12 assists for the Bulldogs. Huff put Gonzaga in position to win when he made three hook shots in the final 2:34 of regulation as the Bulldogs turned a one-point deficit into a 69-66 lead. Two free throws by Nembhard expanded the lead to 71-66 with 25 seconds left. But DeVries followed with a 3-pointer from the top of the key and then made a mid-court steal and drew a foul with 5.9 seconds left. His two free throws sent it to overtime. The Mountaineers never trailed in overtime. Sencire Harris wrapped it up with a steal and a breakaway slam that put West Virginia up 84-76 with 26 seconds left. Battle, a transfer from Arkansas, scored eight points in a span of 90 seconds late in the first half as the Bulldogs took control on their way to a 39-31 lead at the break. Gonzaga earned its biggest lead early in the second half when Graham Ike scored inside with an assist from Nembhard to make it 43-33. But West Virginia responded with a 17-2 run, fueled by Small as he hit two 3-pointers and two layups. Hansberry drained a trey and DeVries grinded for a putback layup to give the Mountaineers a 50-45 lead with 12:26 left. DeVries finished the game with 16 points and four blocks. --Field Level Media

These top ASX dividend shares offer whopping 8%+ yieldsLiverpool beat Real Madrid at Anfield to continue winning streak in Champions League - Liverpool FC

Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. Annual Report Available OnlineNORTH ALABAMA 100, DALTON STATE 69

By Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times (TNS) Every day millions of people share more intimate information with their accessories than they do with their spouse. Wearable technology — smartwatches, smart rings, fitness trackers and the like — monitors body-centric data such as your heart rate, steps taken and calories burned, and may record where you go along the way. Like Santa Claus, it knows when you are sleeping (and how well), it knows when you’re awake, it knows when you’ve been idle or exercising, and it keeps track of all of it. People are also sharing sensitive health information on health and wellness apps , including online mental health and counseling programs. Some women use period tracker apps to map out their monthly cycle. These devices and services have excited consumers hoping for better insight into their health and lifestyle choices. But the lack of oversight into how body-centric data are used and shared with third parties has prompted concerns from privacy experts, who warn that the data could be sold or lost through data breaches, then used to raise insurance premiums, discriminate surreptitiously against applicants for jobs or housing, and even perform surveillance. The use of wearable technology and medical apps surged in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, but research released by Mozilla on Wednesday indicates that current laws offer little protection for consumers who are often unaware just how much of their health data are being collected and shared by companies. “I’ve been studying the intersections of emerging technologies, data-driven technologies, AI and human rights and social justice for the past 15 years, and since the pandemic I’ve noticed the industry has become hyper-focused on our bodies,” said Mozilla Foundation technology fellow Júlia Keserű, who conducted the research. “That permeates into all kinds of areas of our lives and all kinds of domains within the tech industry.” The report “From Skin to Screen: Bodily Integrity in the Digital Age” recommends that existing data protection laws be clarified to encompass all forms of bodily data. It also calls for expanding national health privacy laws to cover health-related information collected from health apps and fitness trackers and making it easier for users to opt out of body-centric data collections. Researchers have been raising alarms about health data privacy for years. Data collected by companies are often sold to data brokers or groups that buy, sell and trade data from the internet to create detailed consumer profiles. Body-centric data can include information such as the fingerprints used to unlock phones, face scans from facial recognition technology, and data from fitness and fertility trackers, mental health apps and digital medical records. One of the key reasons health information has value to companies — even when the person’s name is not associated with it — is that advertisers can use the data to send targeted ads to groups of people based on certain details they share. The information contained in these consumer profiles is becoming so detailed, however, that when paired with other data sets that include location information, it could be possible to target specific individuals, Keserű said. Location data can “expose sophisticated insights about people’s health status, through their visits to places like hospitals or abortions clinics,” Mozilla’s report said, adding that “companies like Google have been reported to keep such data even after promising to delete it.” Related Articles A 2023 report by Duke University revealed that data brokers were selling sensitive data on individuals’ mental health conditions on the open market. While many brokers deleted personal identifiers, some provided names and addresses of individuals seeking mental health assistance, according to the report. In two public surveys conducted as part of the research, Keserű said, participants were outraged and felt exploited in scenarios where their health data were sold for a profit without their knowledge. “We need a new approach to our digital interactions that recognizes the fundamental rights of individuals to safeguard their bodily data, an issue that speaks directly to human autonomy and dignity,” Keserű said. “As technology continues to advance, it is critical that our laws and practices evolve to meet the unique challenges of this era.” Consumers often take part in these technologies without fully understanding the implications. Last month, Elon Musk suggested on X that users submit X-rays, PET scans, MRIs and other medical images to Grok, the platform’s artificial intelligence chatbot, to seek diagnoses. The issue alarmed privacy experts, but many X users heeded Musk’s call and submitted health information to the chatbot. While X’s privacy policy says that the company will not sell user data to third parties, it does share some information with certain business partners. Gaps in existing laws have allowed the widespread sharing of biometric and other body-related data. Health information provided to hospitals, doctor’s offices and medical insurance companies is protected from disclosure under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act , known as HIPAA, which established federal standards protecting such information from release without the patient’s consent. But health data collected by many wearable devices and health and wellness apps don’t fall under HIPAA’s umbrella, said Suzanne Bernstein, counsel at Electronic Privacy Information Center. “In the U.S. because we don’t have a comprehensive federal privacy law ... it falls to the state level,” she said. But not every state has weighed in on the issue. Washington, Nevada and Connecticut all recently passed laws to provide safeguards for consumer health data. Washington, D.C., in July introduced legislation that aimed to require tech companies to adhere to strengthened privacy provisions regarding the collection, sharing, use or sale of consumer health data. In California, the California Privacy Rights Act regulates how businesses can use certain types of sensitive information, including biometric information, and requires them to offer consumers the ability to opt out of disclosure of sensitive personal information. “This information being sold or shared with data brokers and other entities hypercharge the online profiling that we’re so used to at this point, and the more sensitive the data, the more sophisticated the profiling can be,” Bernstein said. “A lot of the sharing or selling with third parties is outside the scope of what a consumer would reasonably expect.” Health information has become a prime target for hackers seeking to extort healthcare agencies and individuals after accessing sensitive patient data. Health-related cybersecurity breaches and ransom attacks increased more than 4,000% between 2009 and 2023, targeting the booming market of body-centric data, which is expected to exceed $500 billion by 2030, according to the report. “Nonconsensual data sharing is a big issue,” Keserű said. “Even if it’s biometric data or health data, a lot of the companies are just sharing that data without you knowing, and that is causing a lot of anxiety and questions.” ©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Two years ago this reservoir was overflowing. This year it's dried upAn online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump’s political coalitionIndustrial Networking Solutions Market: Trends, Size, Share, Growth, and Demand by 2030

Mbappe misses penalty as Liverpool exact revenge on Real Madrid

Javon Small scored 31 points to rally West Virginia to an 86-78 overtime upset of No. 3 Gonzaga in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, Wednesday in Nassau, Bahamas. The Mountaineers (4-1) trailed by 10 points early in the second half and by five in the final minute. But over the final 19 seconds of regulation, Tucker DeVries scored five straight points to send the game to overtime. In the extra session, Small scored five points and West Virginia held Gonzaga to a single field goal, which came after the outcome was decided with 19 seconds left. Amani Hansberry added a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds for West Virginia, which advances to the semifinals Thursday against another surprise first-round winner, Louisville, which stunned No. 15 Indiana. Braden Huff scored 19 points and Khalif Battle added 16 points for Gonzaga (5-1) which settles for a consolation-round game Thursday against Indiana. Nolan Hickman tallied 13 points. Ryan Nembhard delivered seven points and 12 assists for the Bulldogs. Huff put Gonzaga in position to win when he made three hook shots in the final 2:34 of regulation as the Bulldogs turned a one-point deficit into a 69-66 lead. Two free throws by Nembhard expanded the lead to 71-66 with 25 seconds left. But DeVries followed with a 3-pointer from the top of the key and then made a mid-court steal and drew a foul with 5.9 seconds left. His two free throws sent it to overtime. The Mountaineers never trailed in overtime. Sencire Harris wrapped it up with a steal and a breakaway slam that put West Virginia up 84-76 with 26 seconds left. Battle, a transfer from Arkansas, scored eight points in a span of 90 seconds late in the first half as the Bulldogs took control on their way to a 39-31 lead at the break. Gonzaga earned its biggest lead early in the second half when Graham Ike scored inside with an assist from Nembhard to make it 43-33. But West Virginia responded with a 17-2 run, fueled by Small as he hit two 3-pointers and two layups. Hansberry drained a trey and DeVries grinded for a putback layup to give the Mountaineers a 50-45 lead with 12:26 left. DeVries finished the game with 16 points and four blocks. --Field Level Media

An online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump’s political coalition

Opinion: John Tayer: Giving thanks for our core valuesLeaving X: The right move or a leap into the unknown?

By KEVIN FREKING WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate won’t hold votes on four of President Joe Biden’s appellate court nominees as part of a deal with Republicans to allow for speedier consideration of other judicial nominations and bring Biden within striking distance of the 234 total judicial confirmations that occurred during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term. Currently, the number of judges confirmed under Biden totals 221. Republicans forced numerous procedural votes this week and late-night sessions as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., attempted to move ahead in getting more of Biden’s nominees confirmed before Congress adjourns and Republicans take control of the chamber in January. A Senate Democratic leadership aide said Thursday a time agreement had been reached to allow for consideration of seven district court judges the week following Thanksgiving. Plus, another six district judges would be placed on the Senate executive calendar, making it possible for them to be considered on the Senate floor in December. Excluded from that list were four circuit judge nominations awaiting a floor vote: Adeel Abdullah Mangi of New Jersey, nominated for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals; Karla M. Campbell of Tennessee, nominated for the Sixth Circuit; Julia M. Lipez of Maine, First Circuit; and Ryan Young Park of North Carolina, Fourth Circuit. Mangi would have been the first Muslim American to serve as a federal appellate court judge if he had been confirmed. Mangi received law degrees from Oxford and Harvard. He works in a prestigious law firm and has secured significant legal victories. But his limited volunteer work with two outside groups has imperiled his nomination. He faced opposition from some Democrats as well. The confirmation battles over circuit court judges are generally much harder fights given their role in hearing appeals from district courts and often having the last word on legal matters. Schumer’s office said the four circuit nominees lacked the support to be confirmed, and that they received more than triple the amount of other judges moving forward as part of the agreement. Related Articles National Politics | Democrat Bob Casey concedes to Republican David McCormick in Pennsylvania Senate contest National Politics | Republicans rally around Hegseth, Trump’s Pentagon pick, as Gaetz withdraws for attorney general National Politics | Several of Trump’s Cabinet picks — and Trump himself — have been accused of sexual misconduct National Politics | New study shows voting for Native Americans is harder than ever National Politics | Was it all a joke? How stand-up comedy helped reelect Trump Liberal groups in recent weeks have been pressuring Senate Democrats to do what it takes to get all of Biden’s judicial nominees confirmed before Trump takes office again. And some expressed disappointment with the deal. “Reports that there is a deal that would leave behind critical circuit court nominees are unacceptable. All of these nominees must be confirmed expeditiously before the end of the 118th Congress,” said Lena Zwarensteyn, an advisor at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “When senators return from the holiday break, Leader Schumer and senators must do whatever it takes — for as long as it takes — to confirm every single pending judicial nominee, including all circuit court nominees, to provide an important guardrail for our democracy. No matter what, this must get done,” Zwarensteyn said. Schumer has dedicated much of the Senate schedule to getting Biden’s judicial nominees confirmed. He called it a basic responsibility of the Senate. “We’ll take that responsibility very seriously between now and the end of the year,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.China released three Americans as part of a prisoner swap between the Biden administration and the Chinese government, according to a person familiar with the matter, a rare moment of cooperation between the adversaries. A statement from the National Security Council said the three Americans — Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung — would be reunited with their families “for the first time in many years.” The three had been designated as wrongfully detained in China, and the U.S. statement said there were no longer any Americans held in the country with that status. The NSC didn’t mention that the three were exchanged for Chinese citizens detained in the U.S. But a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing non-public information, said they were swapped for an unspecified number of Chinese. Swidan is a Texas businessman who was on China’s death row for alleged drug trafficking, and Li is a naturalized U.S. citizen who imported solar energy technology. Leung, who is also a Hong Kong permanent resident, was arrested in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison last year on spying charges. ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Morden goalie earns spot with WHL’s SilvertipsNvidia's stock is down over 10% as Trump talks up tariffsThomas Frank unhappy with officials in game with Brighton

NoneWhy financial independence matters

mnl777 com ph Dorocubicel is under clinical development by ExCellThera and currently in Phase II for Myelodysplastic Syndrome. According to GlobalData, Phase II drugs for Myelodysplastic Syndrome have a 30% phase transition success rate (PTSR) indication benchmark for progressing into Phase III. GlobalData tracks drug-specific phase transition and likelihood of approval scores, in addition to indication benchmarks based off 18 years of historical drug development data. Attributes of the drug, company and its clinical trials play a fundamental role in drug-specific PTSR and likelihood of approval. Dorocubicel overview Dorocubicel (ECT-001) cell therapy is under development for the treatment of blood cancers, multiple myeloma, anemia, relapsed and refractory acute myeloid leukemia, relapsed and refractory acute lymphoid leukemia, relapsed myelodysplastic syndrome, chronic myelogenous leukemia, lymphoma. It is administered through intravenous route. The ECT-001 technology is a combination of a small molecule, UM171, and an optimized culture system expanding cord blood. It was also under development for the treatment of graft versus host disease (GVHD, blood cancer, thalassemia, sickle cell disease, Crohn's disease, colitis, autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases and metabolic diseases. ExCellThera overview ExCellThera is a biotechnology company that develops molecules and bioengineering solutions to treat hematologic disorders and malignancies by expanding stem and immune cells. It is investigating hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) based cell and gene therapies in the fields of oncology, hematology, and immunology. The company utilizes its ECT-001 cell therapy technology that integrates a proprietary small molecule and UM171 cell therapy used to treat blood cancers, including leukemias and myelodysplasias. It operates its offices in Canada. ExCellThera is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. For a complete picture of Dorocubicel’s drug-specific PTSR and LoA scores, This content was updated on 12 April 2024 From Blending expert knowledge with cutting-edge technology, GlobalData’s unrivalled proprietary data will enable you to decode what’s happening in your market. You can make better informed decisions and gain a future-proof advantage over your competitors. , the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article. GlobalData’s Likelihood of Approval analytics tool dynamically assesses and predicts how likely a drug will move to the next stage in clinical development (PTSR), as well as how likely the drug will be approved (LoA). This is based on a combination of machine learning and a proprietary algorithm to process data points from various databases found on GlobalData’s .Sasa Ciani scores 16 to help UIC secure 73-67 victory over Illinois StateNFL roundup: Bengals top Broncos in OT, stay in playoff hunt

One of the key projects that Huawei undertook was the establishment of a digital education platform for the island's schools. Through this platform, students and teachers were able to access online resources, virtual classrooms, and interactive learning materials. This not only improved the quality of education but also fostered a sense of community and collaboration among the island's educators.

Sasa Ciani scores 16 to help UIC secure 73-67 victory over Illinois StateNORMAL, Ill. (AP) — Sasa Ciani had 16 points in UIC's 73-67 victory over Illinois State on Sunday. Ciani had nine rebounds for the Flames (9-4, 1-1 Missouri Valley Conference). Javon Jackson scored 14 points while going 4 of 10 from the floor, including 2 for 3 from 3-point range, and 4 for 6 from the line. Ahmad Henderson II shot 4 of 7 from the field, including 1 for 3 from 3-point range, and went 3 for 3 from the line to finish with 12 points. The Redbirds (8-5, 0-2) were led by Malachi Poindexter, who posted 20 points. Ty Pence added 10 points and Dalton Banks pitched in with nine points, five assists and two steals. Jackson scored nine points in the first half and UIC went into the break trailing 35-33. UIC outscored Illinois State by eight points in the second half. Ciani led the way with 14 second-half points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

Bihar civil service protest: Why Prashant Kishor, and more than 700 others face police casesOne of the standout features of the Three-Dimensional World Low-Code Platform is its comprehensive library of pre-built components and templates. These ready-to-use elements enable users to quickly assemble complex applications, saving significant time and effort. Whether it's building a customer relationship management system or an e-commerce website, the platform offers a wide range of tools to suit various project requirements.

The recent announcement of the finalists for the TGA Players' Voice award has sparked controversy among the gaming community. The finalists in question are three popular gacha mobile games, each accompanied by downloadable content (DLC). This unexpected lineup has left many players feeling dissatisfied and questioning the integrity of the selection process.Aaron Ramsdale, currently playing for Arsenal, has been in impressive form this season. Known for his shot-stopping abilities, agility, and command of the penalty area, Ramsdale has emerged as one of the top young goalkeepers in the Premier League. His performances for Arsenal have not gone unnoticed, with several top clubs reportedly monitoring his progress.

mnl7777 Gooding's Colston Loveland named finalist for John Mackey AwardInvestors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Dollar Tree DLTR . And retail traders should know. We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga. Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with DLTR, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen. So how do we know what these investors just did? Today, Benzinga 's options scanner spotted 8 uncommon options trades for Dollar Tree. This isn't normal. The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 75% bullish and 25%, bearish. Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 4 are puts, for a total amount of $189,850, and 4 are calls, for a total amount of $149,310. Expected Price Movements Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $55.0 to $105.0 for Dollar Tree during the past quarter. Analyzing Volume & Open Interest In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Dollar Tree options trades today is 1512.12 with a total volume of 601.00. In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Dollar Tree's big money trades within a strike price range of $55.0 to $105.0 over the last 30 days. Dollar Tree Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview Largest Options Trades Observed: Symbol PUT/CALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp. Date Ask Bid Price Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume DLTR PUT SWEEP BULLISH 06/20/25 $8.95 $8.85 $8.85 $75.00 $90.2K 681 114 DLTR CALL TRADE BULLISH 02/21/25 $12.2 $12.05 $12.2 $65.00 $58.5K 1.2K 171 DLTR PUT SWEEP BULLISH 09/19/25 $3.35 $3.2 $3.2 $55.00 $35.5K 508 114 DLTR CALL TRADE BULLISH 01/16/26 $6.55 $6.3 $6.55 $105.00 $34.7K 805 53 DLTR PUT SWEEP BULLISH 03/21/25 $4.2 $4.15 $4.15 $70.00 $34.0K 7.9K 96 About Dollar Tree Dollar Tree operates discount stores across the United States and Canada, with over 8,800 shops under its namesake banner and 7,700 under Family Dollar. About 47% of Dollar Tree's sales in fiscal 2023 were composed of consumables (including food, health and beauty, and cleaning products), around 45% from variety items (including toys and homewares), and over 5% from seasonal items. Dollar Tree sells most of its merchandise at the $1.25 price point and positions its stores in well-populated suburban markets. Conversely, Family Dollar primarily sells consumable merchandise (80% of the banner's sales) at prices below $10. About two thirds of Family Dollar's stores are in urban and suburban markets, with the remaining one third located in rural areas. Following our analysis of the options activities associated with Dollar Tree, we pivot to a closer look at the company's own performance. Present Market Standing of Dollar Tree Currently trading with a volume of 1,242,256, the DLTR's price is up by 0.39%, now at $76.49. RSI readings suggest the stock is currently may be approaching overbought. Anticipated earnings release is in 75 days. Expert Opinions on Dollar Tree 5 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $78.4. Unusual Options Activity Detected: Smart Money on the Move Benzinga Edge's Unusual Options board spots potential market movers before they happen. See what positions big money is taking on your favorite stocks. Click here for access .* An analyst from BMO Capital has decided to maintain their Market Perform rating on Dollar Tree, which currently sits at a price target of $70. * Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Guggenheim continues to hold a Buy rating for Dollar Tree, targeting a price of $100. * Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Telsey Advisory Group continues to hold a Market Perform rating for Dollar Tree, targeting a price of $75. * An analyst from Telsey Advisory Group persists with their Market Perform rating on Dollar Tree, maintaining a target price of $75. * In a cautious move, an analyst from Piper Sandler downgraded its rating to Neutral, setting a price target of $72. Trading options involves greater risks but also offers the potential for higher profits. Savvy traders mitigate these risks through ongoing education, strategic trade adjustments, utilizing various indicators, and staying attuned to market dynamics. Keep up with the latest options trades for Dollar Tree with Benzinga Pro for real-time alerts. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Greenland. Panama. Canada. Does incoming US President Donald Trump really want to make these the 51st, 52nd and 53rd United States? Trump’s eldest son has inflamed debate after posting an apparent joke proclaiming, “We are so back!!!” over an image of his father looking at a phone screen displaying an Amazon-style shopping cart. His purchases, under “Proceed to checkout”, include the three sovereign territories. Just days earlier, Eric Trump responded to a post from the President-elect about seizing the Panama Canal with the statement: “The grown-ups are back in charge”. Whether or not the 47th President of the United States is serious about the territorial acquisitions remains unclear. But the origins of the expansionist comments are. His first quip came as he included Canada among Mexico and China as targets for steep import tariffs. Trump alleges all three states are colluding in the smuggling of the drug fentanyl into the United States. We are so back!!! pic.twitter.com/PvybVULeAz — Eric Trump (@EricTrump) December 24, 2024 A few days later, Trump revived the idea of purchasing Greenland. The largely glacial landmass is strategically positioned between the United States and Russia. And access to the rapidly melting Arctic circle is of increasingly strategic importance. Then, the President-elect threatened to seize control of the Panama Canal. He complains that the fees and charges for the drought-stricken shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are too high. And that China is taking control. Look at the size of that thing. Australia by comparison. None are new ideas. And Trump is not the first US president to have expansionist real-estate ambitions. Greenland “I love maps. And I always said: ‘Look at the size of this. It’s massive. That should be part of the United States,’” the former President was quoted as saying in 2022. Now, a new episode of the long-running Trump-Greenland saga has begun. “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” President-elect Trump proclaimed at the weekend. The statement came shortly after he appointed PayPal co-founder Ken Howery as US Ambassador to Denmark. The US has tried – and failed – to buy Greenland four times in the past. Democrat President Harry Truman offered Denmark $US100 million in gold bullion in 1946. Since then, the island’s 56,000 people have been granted partial autonomy. Though Denmark still provides up to 20 per cent of Greenland’s tiny economy and handles all defence and foreign diplomacy matters. “Essentially, it’s a large real estate deal. A lot of things can be done,” Trump declared shortly after becoming President in 2019. He went on to tweet an image showing a golden Trump Tower soaring over a scenic Greenland Village (he promised he didn’t actually intend to build it). It all reveals Trump understood Greenland’s value as a prime piece of real estate. I promise not to do this to Greenland! pic.twitter.com/03DdyVU6HA — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2019 “The melting ice will create new commercially valuable sailing routes from the east; Greenland maintains security importance to the United States as the site of its northernmost military base at Thule; and finally, Greenland could become a crucial rare-earth mineral source,” a Foreign Policy report asserts. It’s an idea that also has an Australian connection. Mining entrepreneur Gregory Barns recently agreed to sell his Tanbreez Greenland Rare Earth Mine – one of the world’s largest deposits of critical minerals – to a Chinese consortium. “Barnes was said to have inspired Trump’s wish — a claim the Australian laughed at and categorically denied when I met him in Nuuk,” Foreign Policy analyst Regin Winther Poulsen writes. As Greenland’s glaciers retreat, mining magnates anticipate vast tracts of untouched oil, gas and mineral resources to be exposed for the taking. But warming waters also mean critical fish stocks are moving north. And new shipping lanes are opening across the Arctic. “Setting aside the potential resource benefits for the United States if it were to acquire Greenland, the geopolitical strategic significance would be considerable,” Donald Rothwell argued in a 2019 analysis for the Lowy Institute. US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during Turning Point's annual AmericaFest 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 22, 2024. Picture: JOSH EDELSON / AFP “It is not widely appreciated that the Arctic today is being actively contested both for its potential maritime resource riches and its potential commercial and military shipping routes. By virtue of its particular location, Greenland may be able to generate an extended continental shelf well beyond its current 200-nautical-mile limit to reach as far as, if not beyond, the geographic North Pole, thereby countering Russian claims to that area.” Panama Canal “Has anyone ever heard of the Panama Canal?” Trump told a convention at the weekend. “Because we’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else.” The canal has long been a central plank in the US economy. It was initiated in 1904 as a means of linking the eastern and western seaboard. Washington largely funded and built the lock infrastructure. It also administered the operation of the passage, as well as the surrounding territory. Panama Canal now carries about 2.5 per cent of global shipping traffic. But its significance is far higher for the United States. Some 40 per cent of its container and tanker shipping uses it to bypass Chile’s Cape Horn. The US handed control of the canal and surrounding lands back to Panama in 1999 under a 1979 treaty signed by President Howard Carter. However, many US politicians consider this treaty a strategic disaster. The Panama Canel is important to the US. Picture: Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP “It was given to Panama and the people of Panama, but it has provisions. You get to treat us fairly, and they haven’t treated us fairly. If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” Trump demanded in a weekend social media posting spree. Panama’s management of the canal cannot be faulted. It has expanded the locks to carry significantly larger ships. And it is carefully managing water supplies and traffic levels as an extended drought drains lakes needed to refill the channels. But Beijing has been expanding its interests in South and Central America. On Christmas Day, Trump complained that China was “operating” the canal, and that Panama had offered Washington no return for “Billions of Dollars in ‘repair’ money”. China’s Hutchison Ports PPC – which owns Sydney’s Port Botany and the Port of Brisbane – has purchased control of ports on either side of the canal. While not controlling the canal itself, these ports are central to the efficient transfer of shipping from one side to the other. US Southern Command General Laura Richardson recently told a US Senate hearing these purchases “pose a potential threat” to US economic activities. Demonstrators burn a banner with the image of US President-elect Donald Trump during a protest outside the US embassy in Panama City. Picture: ARNULFO FRANCO / AFP) Canada In recent weeks, President-elect Trump has suggested that Canada become part of the Union. He’s also referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the “governor” of the “Great State of Canada.” “Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform last week. “They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea. 51st State!!!” he added. But Trump has little love for his nation’s northern neighbours. “Canada has been very difficult to deal with ... they’re very spoiled,” he said in 2018. “They have been taking advantage of the United States for a long time. I am not happy with their requests. But I will tell you in the end we win, we will win and we’ll win big.” Many economists are at a loss attempting to understand Trump’s claims of an $US100 billion trade deficit. Such a figure, some argue, can only be reached if US service exports are ignored. And if re-exports (where imported goods are passed on to Canada) are added to the tally. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Picture: Dave Chan / AFP Now Trump is accusing Canada of complicity in US illegal immigration and fentanyl drug trades. On November 25, Trump included Canada with Mexico and China as targets for a 25 per cent tariff on “ALL products ... until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” Four days later, Prime Minister Trudeau flew to Mar-a-Logo for talks with the President-in-waiting. Fox News reports the meeting didn’t go so well. “Trump joked to him that if Canada can’t survive without ripping off the US to the tune of $100 billion a year, then maybe Canada should become the 51st state and Trudeau could become its governor,” the network reported sources close to Trump as saying. Buyer beware Perhaps unsurprisingly, President-elect Trump’s real estate ambitions have not been met with enthusiasm. “Greenland is ours,” its Prime Minister, Múte Bourup Egede, responded this week. “We are not for sale, and we will never be for sale. We must not lose our long fight for freedom.” Denmark first rejected the idea in 2019. A spurned Trump then cancelled his official state visit to the European nation. Canada, meanwhile, appears confounded at the unexpected turn of events with its long-term southern friend and ally. None, however, should be surprised. The United States has a long and controversial history of real estate acquisitions. A dodgy deal in 1737 swindled the Delaware Indians out of their lands. It was one of many similar legal transactions made with uncomprehending tribes. Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino is not happy about Trump’s words this week. Picture: ARNULFO FRANCO / AFP In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson conducted a more above-board deal to buy 2.1 million square kilometres of North America from France for $US15 million. In 1854, the US spent $10 million buying what is now southern Arizona and California. Then, in 1867, shortly after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, the federal government bought “renovator’s dream” Alaska from Russia for the bargain-basement sum of $US7 million. And in 1917, Denmark sold it the Danish West Indies (now the Virgin Islands) for $US25 million. Other transactions involved an exchange of bullets. The US annexed the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893. And it seized the strategic Philippine Islands after the Spanish-American War in 1898. But not all US ventures have been so successful. An attempt to invade Canada in 1812 backfired. A British counter-attack surged deep into US territory, eventually capturing the capital in August 1814. Several buildings – including the White House – were set alight. More Coverage Sydney principal caught touching students Sarah Keoghan ‘Further back’: Bad news for Aussies in 2025 Shannon Molloy Originally published as Real reason Trump wants to buy Greenland Read related topics: Donald Trump Leaders Don't miss out on the headlines from Leaders. Followed categories will be added to My News. More related stories Leaders Nation goes through three PMs in two weeks The country is sinking deeper into political crisis as it moves onto its third prime minister in two weeks. Read more Leaders ‘Shocking’: Musk’s relatives spill the beans Estranged relatives of Elon Musk have commented on “what he has become”, revealing an uncomfortable message the billionaire sent them. Read moreSingapore Sign Language: The unique, visual language of Deaf Singaporeans

BOCA RATON, Fla. , Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Boca Woods Country Club is thrilled to announce the grand opening of its newly redesigned Woods golf course. This momentous occasion took place on Sunday, December 8th at 12:00 PM , with a celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony marking the culmination of a remarkable $9M transformation that has captivated the attention of golf enthusiasts far and wide. More than 450 Members and distinguished guests from industry and government joined the Club for the ribbon cutting ceremony, cocktails and hors d' oeuvres. Attendees included PGA Junior Club Members standing aside past Club Presidents, sharing a commitment to excellence demonstrated by the investment to fully renovate the Woods Course. The ceremony concluded with the presentation of a lifetime Boca Woods Country Club Membership accepted by Rees Jones . The outcome of this extensive renovation: a formidable championship golf course, meticulously designed by the renowned Rees Jones and delivered through the craftsmanship of LaBar Golf. Stretching to a maximum yardage of 7,043 yards, the course boasts key risk/reward decisions for the experienced golfer while offering better playable options for those less experienced. Some key highlights of the renovation include: Redesigned Greens: Completely rebuilt to provide smoother, truer, and more consistent putting surfaces. Enhanced bunkering: Strategically repositioned and reshaped to create visual appeal and challenge. Improved drainage: a state-of-the-art drainage system has been implemented to ensure optimal playing conditions year-round, even after heavy rainfall. New Tee Boxes: multiple tee boxes have been added and repositioned on each hole, providing players of all skill levels with a fair and enjoyable challenge. " The Woods course is now a true championship layout, playing to a maximum yardage of 7,043 yards." Said Jeff Gullett , Director of Golf. He continued, " Rees Jones has incorporated a combination of green complexes and bunkering that will test every golfer's ability. We are confident that our Members will be delighted with the results." The Woods golf course offers an inspired blend of challenging greens and strategically placed bunkers, promising to test the mettle of even the most seasoned golfers. The harmonious fusion of design elements guarantees a truly exceptional and unforgettable round of golf. What truly distinguishes the Woods course is its serene and secluded setting. Nestled away from the luxury homes that dot the community, the course immerses players in the tranquility of South Florida's nature, offering a respite from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. " Bryce Swanson and I are pleased that the Woods Course at Boca Woods is reopening on time and on budget. The redesign of the golf course enhances the course's playability, strategy, and variety. The remodeled golf course will provide an enjoyable and thought-provoking experience for the Members and their guests on a continuing basis. It has been a pleasure to work with all involved in this project," said Rees Jones . This renovation is particularly significant due to Boca Woods' unique position in the golfing world. With 36 holes of championship golf and a limited Membership of only 590 golfers, Boca Woods provides an unparalleled level of exclusivity and access. The newly renovated Woods course further solidifies the club's reputation as a golfer's paradise, offering a rare combination of world-class amenities and a close-knit community of passionate enthusiasts. " It is amazing to witness the evolution taking place at this Club." Says David Sweet, General Manager/ COO. He continues, "In the last four years, Members have supported the development of modern amenities: a new Clubhouse with state-of-the-art virtual meeting spaces, a sports and wellness complex that offers 10,000 sq ft of fitness, modern racquet sports facilities including lights for night play, and now this championship course developed in partnership with the best names in the business. Rees has left his mark on Boca Woods, and the Club's future is bright!" Central to the course's allure is the masterful touch of Rees Jones , whose design philosophy seamlessly integrates the natural beauty of the surroundings with the strategic demands of the game. The result is a golfing experience that is both visually captivating and intellectually stimulating. "The Rees Jones' update to our Woods Course is inspirational. Coupled with renovations designed by Kipp Schulties on the Lakes Course, we offer a small community of players a wide range of golfing opportunities. As President of Boca Woods, I am proud of what we accomplished and the time frame we worked within. We listened to our players: men and women, scratch players and weekenders... the result is 36 holes of magnificent golf course architecture that challenges the best and offers playable options for every level. Our demographics say it all (reference the generations photo), and there are tee boxes for every player at every age to enjoy. Boca Woods is setting the standard" said Howard Mittleman , Board President for Boca Woods Country Club. The renovation of the Woods golf course represents a substantial investment in elevating the club's amenities, ensuring Members have exceptional golf experiences. The comprehensive project followed a $14.5M building and facilities renovation. For more information on the new Woods golf course or to inquire about membership opportunities, please visit bocawoodscc.com . The Club foresees many future investments, including the installation of TopTracer (technology owned and used by Top Golf Entertainment Group) on the driving range, sharing information about every shot for Members through fully integrated technology inclusive of ballistics scopes delivering multiple data points for every shot. About Boca Woods Country Club Boca Woods Country Club is an established residential country club community located in Boca Raton, Florida . Membership at Boca Woods offers extraordinary value in a golf community that features two championship golf courses and all the amenities that private country club living has to offer. Boca Woods Country Club is dedicated to providing a residential country club lifestyle featuring a community and club culture characterized by friendliness, civility and respect for its members and staff in an overall setting of refinement and casual elegance. Media Contact: membership@bocawoodscc.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grand-opening-of-the-rees-jones-woods-golf-course-announced-at-boca-woods-country-club-302334242.html SOURCE Boca Woods Country ClubThe Los Angeles Chargers activated running back J.K. Dobbins from injured reserve on Friday. Dobbins is formally listed as questionable but figures to be the team's top running threat for Saturday's road game against the New England Patriots. Teammate Gus Edwards (ankle) was ruled out Thursday. Dobbins has missed the past four games since sustaining a knee injury against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 25. He was a full practice participant Thursday before receiving the questionable label. The injury-prone Dobbins was enjoying a solid season prior to the knee ailment, with 766 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground and 28 receptions for 134 yards in 11 games. His career high for rushing yardage is 805 for the Ravens in 2020. Dobbins' return comes with the Chargers (9-6) just one win from clinching an AFC wild-card playoff spot. Los Angeles also elevated safeties Eddie Jackson and Kendall Williamson from the practice squad. --Field Level Media

Ohio State AD: Ryan Day ‘absolutely’ back in 2025Cheltenham 1 v 0 Tranmere - Rovers concede late goal to RobinsApple nears switch to in-house Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip for iPhone, smart home, Bloomberg reports

OTTAWA — The RCMP plans to create a new aerial intelligence task force to provide round-the-clock surveillance of Canada's border using helicopters, drones and surveillance towers. The move is part of the federal government's $1.3-billion upgrade to border security and monitoring to appease U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's concerns about the flow of migrants and illegal drugs. Trump has threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican exports to the U.S. as soon as he is inaugurated next month unless both countries move to improve border security. Canada will also propose to the United States the creation of a North American "joint strike force" to target organized crime groups that work across borders. In addition, the government intends to provide new technology, tools and resources to the Canada Border Services Agency to seek out deadly fentanyl using chemical detection, artificial intelligence and canine teams. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told a news conference Tuesday he has discussed parts of the plan with American officials and that he is optimistic about its reception. "We have a lot of work ahead of us," said LeBlanc, who tried to play down the notion Canada was simply bowing to American demands. "The fight against fentanyl is very much a fight that Canadians want to have because of its impact in Canada," he said. "Deepening, strengthening, being more visible in the posture at the border is something that we're happy to do with our American partners." The announcement followed a promise in the fall economic statement Monday to earmark the money over six fiscal years for the RCMP, the border agency, Public Safety Canada and the cyberspies at the Communications Security Establishment. Among the other planned measures: — a Canadian Drug Profiling Centre to complement existing laboratory capacity by allowing for more specialized analysis of synthetic drug samples, helping determine where substances were made; — a Precursor Risk Management Unit to increase oversight over chemicals used to make drugs and monitor emerging illegal drug trends; — an obligation for port owners and operators to provide the border agency with the space and facilities needed to conduct export inspections, just as they currently do for imports; — stronger efforts against money laundering to help starve organized crime groups of profits from human smuggling and drug and firearms trafficking; — and new restrictions on countries that do not rapidly facilitate the return of their citizens in the event of fraudulent entry or a removal order. RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme, who also attended the news conference, said the goal "for us is get the technology out there as soon as we can." "I can't just buy a helicopter tomorrow, but there are processes where you can rent the helicopter, and we're exploring every facet." Duheme said an aim of the joint strike force would be develop specialists on fentanyl, bringing together law enforcement partners both in Canada and abroad. The union representing rank-and-file Mounties welcomed the move to spend more on border security. National Police Federation president Brian Sauvé said in a statement Monday that members had been protecting the border with limited resources, and the new money will allow them to continue delivering on their mandate. Aaron McCrorie, the border services agency's vice-president of intelligence and enforcement, said in a recent interview that irregular migration and smuggling of drugs such as fentanyl are common concerns for Canada and the United States. "These aren't concerns that are unique to the United States. We share those same concerns," he said. "In that sense, it really speaks to the need for us to work collaboratively." McCrorie said the Canadian border agency is working closely with U.S. counterparts including Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security, as well as with agencies in Britain, Australia and New Zealand. "Criminal enterprises, organized crime, they don't respect international boundaries. They collaborate, they exploit weaknesses in the system," McCrorie said. "And so the best way to confront them is to collaborate on our side, fill those gaps, support each other's efforts." He said Canada's border agency has two targeting officers embedded with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the American agency plans to soon send a targeting officer to Canada. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2024. Jim Bronskill, The Canadian PressOhio State AD: Ryan Day ‘absolutely’ back in 2025

Border plan promises round-the-clock aerial surveillance, drug detection support

Ange Postecoglou has revealed Tottenham are looking into why so many players have suffered injury setbacks this season. Ben Davies is the latest to fall into that category, with the Welsh international initially primed to return for Sunday’s visit of Wolves but no longer available. Davies suffered a setback in training this week, which means Spurs could be without a fit centre-back after Radu Dragusin was forced off in the latter stages of Thursday’s 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest with an ankle issue. Postecoglou is already without first-choice central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven after both failed to make it through their comeback fixture against Chelsea on December 7. “Yeah, that’s been our major problem this year. Guys who are coming back from injury rather than us losing players as such,” Postecoglou said. “We’re looking at those things and why they’re happening. It’s certainly happened too often this year where guys have come back and they’re the ones who are missing. “I think just about all of them, apart from Vic (Guglielmo Vicario), are recurrences of an injury. “Even with Romero, it was a different injury but it’s still a guy coming back, so it’s something we’re looking at.” There could be good news on the horizon with attackers Mikey Moore and Richarlison expected to return to training next week. Richarlison suffered his own setback in November when his short-lived return after a calf issue was cut short when he injured the same area against Aston Villa. Moore, meanwhile, has been sidelined by a virus for the best part of two months but the 17-year-old could provide a much-needed spark in the new year when Newcastle visit on January 4. Postecoglou said: “Him and Richy are in the final phases. Next week they can start training. We’ve got a bit of a gap before the Newcastle game. “The plan is Mikey and Richy come back into first-team training next week.” Anticipated returns for Moore and Richarlison will fail to help Postecoglou against Wolves, with makeshift centre-back Archie Gray potentially set to partner up with fellow midfielder Yves Bissouma if Dragusin cannot recover. “All clubs are going to have to get their heads around it and authorities are going to have to get their heads around it. “One of two things need to happen: either you somehow change the fixture schedule, which doesn’t seem feasible, or you allow clubs bigger squads. Then you have other issues with that, as well. “The attrition rate you’re seeing and it’s not just us. We’re going through a particularly badly moment. Newcastle went through it last year and it affected them pretty badly. They were obviously in the Champions League as well and probably didn’t have the squad to cope with it. “It hits certain clubs at different times and is probably becoming more prevalent, and for all of us it’s a challenge as to how we navigate this process to keep our players healthy. “It’s not just a physical thing, it’s a mental thing. For us it’s been constant since August and we’re not even halfway through the year. And they’re not going to get a break now, so these things we’re constantly assessing.”Colorado hands No. 2 UConn second straight loss in Maui

A quick recap of Tuesday's Class C-1 state championship game at Memorial Stadium. Final: Wahoo 47, Central City 7 Turning point: Landon Fye picked up a Central City lateral behind the line of scrimmage and rumbled 33 yards in the second quarter for the first points of the game. Fye's touchdown also snapped a five-quarter scoring drought for the Warriors in the state championship game dating back to the 2023 title game. It was over when ...: The Warriors' defense took over in the second half. Logan Kelley recorded Wahoo's sixth interception of the game and Noah Bordovsky found Josh Fox for a 31-yard touchdown to give the Warriors a 41-7 lead over the Bison in the third quarter. Game ball: The Wahoo defense. Kelley finished with two interceptions Tuesday as the Warriors forced eight turnovers, including seven interceptions. People are also reading... Talking hardware: It's Wahoo's second state championship trophy, joining the 2019 state title. The Warriors finished second in 2023. .​ Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter Sent weekly directly to your inbox! Lincoln Stars/Lincoln Saltdogs reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.I'm a beauty writer and Shark's Flex-styler dries my hair rapidly, leaves it salon-worthy

Homebound seniors living alone often slip through health system’s cracksWASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he will nominate former White House aide Brooke Rollins to be his agriculture secretary, the last of his picks to lead executive agencies and another choice from within his established circle of advisers and allies. The nomination must be confirmed by the Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans when Trump takes office Jan. 20. Rollins would succeed Tom Vilsack , President Joe Biden’s agriculture secretary who oversees the sprawling agency that controls policies, regulations and aid programs related to farming, forestry, ranching, food quality and nutrition. Then-President Donald Trump looks to Brooke Rollins, president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, as she speaks during a Jan. 11, 2018, prison reform roundtable in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. Rollins previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The pick completes Trump’s selection of the heads of executive branch departments, just two and a half weeks after the former president won the White House once again. Several other picks that are traditionally Cabinet-level remain, including U.S. Trade Representative and head of the small business administration. Brooke Rollins, assistant to the president and director of the Domestic Policy Council at the time, speaks during a May 18, 2020, meeting with restaurant industry executives about the coronavirus response in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. Rollins, speaking on the Christian talk show “Family Talk" earlier this year, said Trump was an “amazing boss” and confessed that she thought in 2015, during his first presidential campaign, that he would not last as a candidate in a crowded Republican primary field. “I was the person that said, ‘Oh, Donald Trump is not going to go more than two or three weeks in the Republican primary. This is to up his TV show ratings. And then we’ll get back to normal,’” she said. “Fast forward a couple of years, and I am running his domestic policy agenda.” Trump didn’t offer many specifics about his agriculture policies during the campaign, but farmers could be affected if he carries out his pledge to impose widespread tariffs. During the first Trump administration, countries like China responded to Trump’s tariffs by imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports like the corn and soybeans routinely sold overseas. Trump countered by offering massive multibillion-dollar aid to farmers to help them weather the trade war. Brooke Rollins speaks at an Oct. 27 campaign rally for then-Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York. President Abraham Lincoln founded the USDA in 1862, when about half of all Americans lived on farms. The USDA oversees multiple support programs for farmers; animal and plant health; and the safety of meat, poultry and eggs that anchor the nation’s food supply. Its federal nutrition programs provide food to low-income people, pregnant women and young children. And the agency sets standards for school meals. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has vowed to strip ultraprocessed foods from school lunches and to stop allowing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beneficiaries from using food stamps to buy soda, candy or other so-called junk foods. But it would be the USDA, not HHS, that would be responsible for enacting those changes. In addition, HHS and USDA will work together to finalize the 2025-2030 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. They are due late next year, with guidance for healthy diets and standards for federal nutrition programs. Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writers Josh Funk and JoNel Aleccia contributed to this report. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump's first administration, and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee's election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign. In a statement, Trump called McGinley “a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda, while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement.” Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Long-suffering fans of the Dallas Cowboys could be forgiven for thinking that their season from hell couldn't possibly get any worse. Unfortunately, however, there is every chance that the iconic NFL franchise is still making its way to rock-bottom as they prepare to face the in-form Washington Commanders on Sunday. Record defeats, a miserable home losing streak and a season-ending injury to star quarterback Dak Prescott would have been bad enough. But on Monday, just to add to the impression of an organization engulfed by chaos, sections of metal sheeting from the roof of the AT&T Stadium plunged to the field before the team slumped to an abject 34-10 defeat to Houston. The jokes about the sky falling in on Dallas wrote themselves. Not for the first time, the franchise that likes to think of itself as "America's Team" had instead become America's punchline. But after the Cowboys latest loss, which virtually extinguished any chance of a ticket to the post-season, even the team's harshest critics began to take pity. ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith, who regularly delights in trolling the Cowboys, insisted that the club's crisis was no laughing matter. "This is a horror show," Smith said solemnly on ESPN's 'First Take' program this week. "I like getting on the Cowboys fans, and I enjoy their misery. But they've stripped the fun out of this because of how god-awful they have been. I can't believe how bad they are." The Cowboys' fall from grace has been decades in the making. The team which dominated the NFL in the early part of the 1990s -- winning three Super Bowls in four seasons between 1993 and 1996 -- has not been back to the championship game since that golden era. Head coaches and quarterbacks have come and gone, and none have come close to returning the Cowboys to the pinnacle of the NFL, despite the team being ranked as the most valuable sports franchise in the world according to Forbes, with a valuation of $11 billion. The one constant during those decades of disappointment has been owner Jerry Jones, the Texas billionaire who bought the team in 1989. Jones, one of the NFL's most colorful and polarizing personalities, was at a loss to explain the team's current problems. "I don't know that there's anything beyond the obvious -- and that is we just aren't playing very well," Jones told reporters after Monday's home defeat to Houston. The Cowboys stat-line this season makes for grim reading. After opening the campaign with a 33-17 defeat of Cleveland, the wheels came off in a 44-19 home loss to the New Orleans Saints where Dallas' vaunted defense leaked a whopping six touchdowns. To date, the Saints have scored more touchdowns at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington this season than the Cowboys. Other brutal losses have followed, notably a 47-9 home shellacking by the Detroit Lions, and a 34-6 trouncing by the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys, who are 3-7 in the NFC East, are the only team in North American professional sport who have not managed to win a game at home in 2024. There is every chance that Washington, led by their talented rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and expertly coached by former Dallas defensive guru Dan Quinn, will add to the Cowboys' woe when they host the Texas club on Sunday. It has left Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, who is in the final year of his contract, facing a bleak future. McCarthy put a defiant face on his team's problems as they attempt to somehow stop the bleeding. "We got seven losses. We've got to go. Backs against the wall. We got to fight, scratch, claw," McCarthy said. "We've got to do everything we can to go win the next game. That's where my mind's at." Jones, meanwhile, attempted to put a brave face on the team's season of woe, insisting he has seen worse. "You stay in this league long enough, you'll have times like this," the 82-year-old tycoon said. rcw/jsbmy777net 。

Utah Hockey Club bring 3-game losing streak into matchup with the PenguinsNo. 9 SMU aims to improve playoff odds vs. Cal

Jet crash disaster in South Korea marks another setback for BoeingJudith Graham | (TNS) KFF Health News Carolyn Dickens, 76, was sitting at her dining room table, struggling to catch her breath as her physician looked on with concern. “What’s going on with your breathing?” asked Peter Gliatto, director of Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program. “I don’t know,” she answered, so softly it was hard to hear. “Going from here to the bathroom or the door, I get really winded. I don’t know when it’s going to be my last breath.” Dickens, a lung cancer survivor, lives in central Harlem, barely getting by. She has serious lung disease and high blood pressure and suffers regular fainting spells. In the past year, she’s fallen several times and dropped to 85 pounds, a dangerously low weight. And she lives alone, without any help — a highly perilous situation. This is almost surely an undercount, since the data is from more than a dozen years ago. It’s a population whose numbers far exceed those living in nursing homes — about 1.2 million — and yet it receives much less attention from policymakers, legislators, and academics who study aging. Consider some eye-opening statistics about completely homebound seniors from a study published in 2020 in JAMA Internal Medicine : Nearly 40% have five or more chronic medical conditions, such as heart or lung disease. Almost 30% are believed to have “probable dementia.” Seventy-seven percent have difficulty with at least one daily task such as bathing or dressing. Almost 40% live by themselves. That “on my own” status magnifies these individuals’ already considerable vulnerability, something that became acutely obvious during the covid-19 outbreak, when the number of sick and disabled seniors confined to their homes doubled. “People who are homebound, like other individuals who are seriously ill, rely on other people for so much,” said Katherine Ornstein, director of the Center for Equity in Aging at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. “If they don’t have someone there with them, they’re at risk of not having food, not having access to health care, not living in a safe environment.” Related Articles Health | Bon Secours Mercy Health recognized for digital health excellence Health | Weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy are all the rage. Are they safe for kids? Health | Rural governments often fail to communicate with residents who aren’t proficient in English Health | Integrated Therapeutic Healing in Norwalk facilitates lifelong movement Health | Who gets obesity drugs covered by insurance? In North Carolina, it helps if you’re on Medicaid Research has shown that older homebound adults are less likely to receive regular primary care than other seniors. They’re also more likely to end up in the hospital with medical crises that might have been prevented if someone had been checking on them. To better understand the experiences of these seniors, I accompanied Gliatto on some home visits in New York City. Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program, established in 1995, is one of the oldest in the nation. Only 12% of older U.S. adults who rarely or never leave home have access to this kind of home-based primary care. Gliatto and his staff — seven part-time doctors, three nurse practitioners, two nurses, two social workers, and three administrative staffers — serve about 1,000 patients in Manhattan each year. These patients have complicated needs and require high levels of assistance. In recent years, Gliatto has had to cut staff as Mount Sinai has reduced its financial contribution to the program. It doesn’t turn a profit, because reimbursement for services is low and expenses are high. First, Gliatto stopped in to see Sandra Pettway, 79, who never married or had children and has lived by herself in a two-bedroom Harlem apartment for 30 years. Pettway has severe spinal problems and back pain, as well as Type 2 diabetes and depression. She has difficulty moving around and rarely leaves her apartment. “Since the pandemic, it’s been awfully lonely,” she told me. When I asked who checks in on her, Pettway mentioned her next-door neighbor. There’s no one else she sees regularly. Pettway told the doctor she was increasingly apprehensive about an upcoming spinal surgery. He reassured her that Medicare would cover in-home nursing care, aides, and physical therapy services. “Someone will be with you, at least for six weeks,” he said. Left unsaid: Afterward, she would be on her own. (The surgery in April went well, Gliatto reported later.) The doctor listened carefully as Pettway talked about her memory lapses. “I can remember when I was a year old, but I can’t remember 10 minutes ago,” she said. He told her that he thought she was managing well but that he would arrange testing if there was further evidence of cognitive decline. For now, he said, he’s not particularly worried about her ability to manage on her own. Several blocks away, Gliatto visited Dickens, who has lived in her one-bedroom Harlem apartment for 31 years. Dickens told me she hasn’t seen other people regularly since her sister, who used to help her out, had a stroke. Most of the neighbors she knew well have died. Her only other close relative is a niece in the Bronx whom she sees about once a month. Dickens worked with special-education students for decades in New York City’s public schools. Now she lives on a small pension and Social Security — too much to qualify for Medicaid. (Medicaid, the program for low-income people, will pay for aides in the home. Medicare, which covers people over age 65, does not.) Like Pettway, she has only a small fixed income, so she can’t afford in-home help. Every Friday, God’s Love We Deliver, an organization that prepares medically tailored meals for sick people, delivers a week’s worth of frozen breakfasts and dinners that Dickens reheats in the microwave. She almost never goes out. When she has energy, she tries to do a bit of cleaning. Without the ongoing attention from Gliatto, Dickens doesn’t know what she’d do. “Having to get up and go out, you know, putting on your clothes, it’s a task,” she said. “And I have the fear of falling.” The next day, Gliatto visited Marianne Gluck Morrison, 73, a former survey researcher for New York City’s personnel department, in her cluttered Greenwich Village apartment. Morrison, who doesn’t have any siblings or children, was widowed in 2010 and has lived alone since. Morrison said she’d been feeling dizzy over the past few weeks, and Gliatto gave her a basic neurological exam, asking her to follow his fingers with her eyes and touch her fingers to her nose. “I think your problem is with your ear, not your brain,” he told her, describing symptoms of vertigo. Because she had severe wounds on her feet related to Type 2 diabetes, Morrison had been getting home health care for several weeks through Medicare. But those services — help from aides, nurses, and physical therapists — were due to expire in two weeks. “I don’t know what I’ll do then, probably just spend a lot of time in bed,” Morrison told me. Among her other medical conditions: congestive heart failure, osteoarthritis, an irregular heartbeat, chronic kidney disease, and depression. Morrison hasn’t left her apartment since November 2023, when she returned home after a hospitalization and several months at a rehabilitation center. Climbing the three steps that lead up into her apartment building is simply too hard. “It’s hard to be by myself so much of the time. It’s lonely,” she told me. “I would love to have people see me in the house. But at this point, because of the clutter, I can’t do it.” When I asked Morrison who she feels she can count on, she listed Gliatto and a mental health therapist from Henry Street Settlement, a social services organization. She has one close friend she speaks with on the phone most nights. “The problem is I’ve lost eight to nine friends in the last 15 years,” she said, sighing heavily. “They’ve died or moved away.” Bruce Leff, director of the Center for Transformative Geriatric Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is a leading advocate of home-based medical care. “It’s kind of amazing how people find ways to get by,” he said when I asked him about homebound older adults who live alone. “There’s a significant degree of frailty and vulnerability, but there is also substantial resilience.” With the rapid expansion of the aging population in the years ahead, Leff is convinced that more kinds of care will move into the home, everything from rehab services to palliative care to hospital-level services. “It will simply be impossible to build enough hospitals and health facilities to meet the demand from an aging population,” he said. But that will be challenging for homebound older adults who are on their own. Without on-site family caregivers, there may be no one around to help manage this home-based care. ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

WASHINGTON – A machinists strike. Another safety problem involving its troubled top-selling airliner. A plunging stock price. 2024 was already a dispiriting year for Boeing, the American aviation giant. But when one of the company's jets crash-landed in South Korea on Sunday, killing all but two of the 181 people on board, it brought to a close an especially unfortunate year for Boeing. Recommended Videos The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and aviation experts were quick to distinguish Sunday's incident from the company’s earlier safety problems. Alan Price, a former chief pilot at Delta Air Lines who is now a consultant, said it would be inappropriate to link the incident Sunday to two fatal crashes involving Boeing’s troubled 737 Max jetliner in 2018 and 2019. In January this year, a door plug blew off a 737 Max while it was in flight, raising more questions about the plane. The Boeing 737-800 that crash-landed in Korea, Price noted, is “a very proven airplane. "It’s different from the Max ...It’s a very safe airplane.’’ For decades, Boeing has maintained a role as one of the giants of American manufacturing. But the the past year's repeated troubles have been damaging. The company's stock price is down more than 30% in 2024. The company's reputation for safety was especially tarnished by the 737 Max crashes, which occurred off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019 and left a combined 346 people dead. In the five years since then, Boeing has lost more than $23 billion. And it has fallen behind its European rival, Airbus, in selling and delivering new planes. Last fall, 33,000 Boeing machinists went on strike, crippling the production of the 737 Max, the company's bestseller, the 777 airliner and 767 cargo plane. The walkout lasted seven weeks, until members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers agreed to an offer that included 38% pay raises over four years. In January, a door plug blew off a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight. Federal regulators responded by imposing limits on Boeing aircraft production that they said would remain in place until they felt confident about manufacturing safety at the company. In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud for deceiving the Federal Aviation Administration regulators who approved the 737 Max. Acting on Boeing’s incomplete disclosures, the FAA approved minimal, computer-based training instead of more intensive training in flight simulators. Simulator training would have increased the cost for airlines to operate the Max and might have pushed some to buy planes from Airbus instead. (Prosecutors said they lacked evidence to argue that Boeing’s deception had played a role in the crashes.) But the plea deal was rejected this month by a federal judge in Texas, Reed O’Connor , who decided that diversity, inclusion and equity or DEI policies in the government and at Boeing could result in race being a factor in choosing an official to oversee Boeing’s compliance with the agreement. Boeing has sought to change its culture. Under intense pressure over safety issues, David Calhoun departed as CEO in August. Since January, 70,000 Boeing employees have participated in meetings to discuss ways to improve safety.

Trump taps Rollins as agriculture chief, completing proposed slate of Cabinet secretariesBEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- China has unveiled two newly revised national standards aimed at improving the quality of services provided by maternity matrons and nannies, in a bid to support childbirth amid shifting demographics. The standards, which will take effect on March 1, 2025, will better regulate domestic maternal and baby nursing services, and home-based care services for children from birth to three years old, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Maternity matrons, known as "yuesao" in Chinese, provide postpartum care to mothers and newborns during the first month or longer after childbirth. Nannies who take care of young children are known as "yu'ersao" in Chinese. Both groups are being increasingly sought after by Chinese parents who want better quality of life. The new standard for maternity matrons introduces or specifies the requirements for the training, procedures and quality of such services, better meeting consumers' growing demand for more professional, secure and individualized services, and providing the basis for effective oversight, said Zhang Boyu, an expert on domestic service standards who participated in drafting the standard. The standard for nanny services contains recommendations for taking care of children's emotional and psychological needs, apart from their basic life needs, and offers guidelines for early education, according to experts taking part in formulating the standard. This move comes as part of China's effort to enhance childbirth support and address the challenges of a rapidly aging population. A directive from the State Council in October outlined 13 targeted measures to enhance childbirth support services, expand child care systems, strengthen support in education, housing and employment, and foster a birth-friendly social atmosphere. The country has gradually relaxed its family planning policies over the past decade, phasing out the decades-long one-child policy. In 2021, it announced support for couples who wish to have a third child. Local governments across China have since put in place a series of stimulus measures for childbirth, including subsidies, expanded insurance coverage, extended maternity leave, and more public child care facilities.

A week of upsets continued on Wednesday as No. 3 Gonzaga lost to West Virginia 86-78 in overtime in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Leading by double digits in the second half, Gonzaga seemed on its way to a win, but the Mountaineers came storming back behind Javon Small's 31 points and nine three-pointers to force overtime. West Virginia outscored Gonzaga 15-7 in overtime to pick up an early-season signature win. After the game, fans were stunned to see the Mountaineers upset Mark Few's squad. This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis. For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app , homepage and social feeds—including Twitter , Instagram , Facebook and TikTok .ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, roughly 22 months after entering hospice care , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023 , spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center said on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. As reaction poured in from around the world, President Joe Biden mourned Carter’s death, saying the world lost an “extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian” and he lost a dear friend. Biden cited Carter’s work to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil and human rights, promote free and fair elections and house the homeless as an example for others. “To all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life – study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility,” Biden said in a statement. Biden spoke later Sunday evening about Carter, calling it a “sad day” but one that “brings back an incredible amount of good memories.” “I’ve been hanging out with Jimmy Carter for over 50 years,” Biden said in his remarks. He recalled the former president being a comfort to him and his wife Jill when their son Beau died in 2015 of cancer. The president remarked how cancer was a common bond between their families, with Carter himself having cancer later in his life. “Jimmy knew the ravages of the disease too well,” said Biden, who was ordering a state funeral for Carter in Washington. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors . He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners . He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian , would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn’t long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” The Carters and a “Peanut Brigade” of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015 . “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” Sanz is a former Associated Press reporter.

On Thursday night an AFC North showdown will kick off from Cleveland as the Browns prepare for their rivalry game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Veteran play-by-play man Al Michaels will be on the call with analyst Kirk Herbstreit and sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung. The pre-game show is hosted by former sideline reporter turned host Charissa Thompson, who shared a fun moment with friend Erin Andrews over the weekend. While hosting the NFL on Fox show, Thompson had a cut-in segment with her podcast partner - which led to her petitioning the network to let the two work together more often. "Dear Fox," she said, "please allow Erin and I to be on TV more often together. We understand, that maybe we don't need to do the whole show. But maybe a segment here and there would be awesome. If you guys would not mind, going to 10201 West Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles, California, and holding a poster board, asking to speak to the executives-that-be." Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Andrews seconded that request. "This, I will get on my female high horse," Andrews said. "You and I talking about being on a segment together? Guys, this just in: Women like sports! Women like to watch other women in sports. (That's) why, because I wear one friggin' jacket and my social media blows up." The friends won't be together on tonight's show, but Thompson is still ready for the game. Before kickoff she shared a video from a previous Steelers win where they talked postgame with star pass rusher TJ Watt. "Last time we caught up postgame with TJ Watt, talked about his love for Mike Tomlin," Thompson said in a message on her Instagram story before delivering her message. "Join us tonight: Steelers vs. Browns." Cleveland and Pittsburgh kick off tonight at 8:15 p.m. ET. Related: Charissa Thompson Said What Everyone Was Thinking About Erin Andrews

The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its nod to two bills aimed at implementing simultaneous state and national polls that are likely to be introduced during the ongoing winter session of Parliament in a bid to usher in sweeping changes in the ways elections are conducted in the world’s largest democracy. Also Read : Opposition says ‘One Nation, One Election' bill ’anti-democratic', BJP allies hail move The proposal to align elections was a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 2024 poll manifesto and has the backing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but is fiercely opposed by a raft of opposition parties and activists who allege that it will hurt democratic accountability and federalism. Also Read : What is one nation, one election? The 11 proposals in the draft cleared by cabinet today The Cabinet cleared the Constitutional Amendment Bill to conduct elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies together and a second bill to align the polls in the Union Territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir, said people aware of the details. The second bill does not require amending the Constitution. Also Read : One nation, one poll will secure a better future: Kovind The bills are likely to be introduced in the ongoing winter session, which concludes on December 20, and will likely be examined by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC), said people aware of details. The Union government as well as the BJP will carry out extensive outreach to create awareness about the provision of the bills and the implications these will have on the electoral reforms, the people cited above said. As a first step, the bills will focus on synchronising Lok Sabha and assembly elections, as suggested by the Ram Nath Kovind committee, and will take up the process of replicating the process for municipal and panchayat elections in the next phase, one of the people cited above said. The bill for holding simultaneous polls for all state and UT assemblies along with parliamentary elections can be passed by Parliament without consultation with state governments or ratification by state assemblies, saida person aware of the details. The bill to align local body polls or to create a single electoral roll through the Election Commission of India (ECI) will need ratification by at least half of the state legislatures, said the person quoted above. The Constitution Amendment Bill to amend articles 83 (duration of houses of Parliament) and 172 (duration of state legislatures) requires the support of at least two-thirds of the members of each house of Parliament present and voting. Since the current strength of the Lok Sabha is 542, the government will need the support of 361 MPs. In addition to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the government will need non-aligned parties like the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which supported the idea, to back the bill, said the person quoted above. In the Rajya Sabha, which has 231 members currently, the government will need support of 154 MPs. The NDA’s current strength in the Rajya House is 114, and six nominated members and the Opposition INDIA has 86, and others have 25. From the first elections in independent India in 1952 until 1967, elections were held simultaneously across the country. But since the Lok Sabha and state assemblies can be dissolved before their tenures end, the state and national elections came to be held at different times after that. Several committees, including a parliamentary panel, the Niti Aayog and the Election Commission of India, have studied simultaneous polls in the past, backing the idea but flagging logistical concerns. If implemented, simultaneous elections will become part of a raft of sweeping changes that will change the political and social landscape of India, including the census and the delimitation exercise based on it, and the women’s reservation bill that is supposed to come into effect after that. The bill has not been circulated among members so far, but Opposition leaders demanded scrutiny of the provisions. “The Union Cabinet has bulldozed their way through with the unconstitutional and anti-federal One Nation, One Election Bill, ignoring every legitimate concern raised by experts and opposition leaders. This is not a carefully-considered reform; it’s an authoritarian imposition designed to undermine India’s democracy and federal structure,” said West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on X. She said that Trinamool Congress members “will oppose this draconian legislation tooth and nail in Parliament”. Biju Janata Dal leader Sasmit Patra said there was need for greater consultation in Parliament. “What will happen when there’s a lack of majority, hung Parliament or assembly, or the government midway loses its confidence? I think there are several key issues which are constitutionally demanding and have not been addressed so far in one nation, one election. I believe wider consultation and dialogue needs to be done with political parties,” he said. Congress leader K Suresh said that the party found out about the cabinet nod through the media and the government should invite all political parties and state governments to discuss the national issue. “...Some consensus should be arrived at... But the government is going to introduce the bill without any discussion with the states and political parties... From the beginning, our stand on One Nation One Election has been clear. The government should tell why they want to bring the bill,” he said. Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Manoj Jha said his party was yet to see the provisions of the bill. “Is it going the same way as the Women Reservation Bill? We do not know when there will be delimitation or census,” he said. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin criticised the bill and said it will disrupt federalism. :This impractical and anti-democratic move will erase regional voices, erode federalism, and disrupt governance. Rise up INDIA! Let us resist this attack on Indian Democracy with all our strength.” he posted on X. In September, the Union cabinet approved the recommendations of a high-level committee – headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind. The 18,000-page Kovind panel report outlined a phased approach to synchronise elections, beginning first with Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, and following up with local body polls within 100 days. Modi has repeatedly pitched for simultaneous polls to bring down expenses and cut down on restrictions imposed on policy making. The Kovind panel – set up by the Union government on September 2, 2023 — received responses from 47 political parties, with 32 favouring simultaneous elections. These parties — which include the BJP, the BJD, Janata Dal United (JDU) and the Shiv Sena — said the proposal will save scarce resources, protect social harmony, and stimulate economic development. However, 13 political parties opposed simultaneous elections — including the Congress, TMC, DMK, Aam Aadmi Party and CPI(M) — expressing concerns that it could violate the basic structure of the Constitution, be anti-democratic and anti-federal, marginalise regional parties, encourage the dominance of national parties, and lead to a presidential form of government. The panel finally suggested an amendment to the Constitution to introduce synchronised polls to elect the Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step. It also suggested synchronising the elections to municipalities and panchayats with the Lok Sabha and assemblies at a later stage. National and state elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and local body polls are conducted by state election commissions. Indicating that 2029 might be the year to start with the first step, the panel recommended that terms of some of the state assemblies will have to be cut to hold simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state legislatures after the five-year term of the next Lok Sabha ends. The panel proposed a new legal regime, requiring certain amendments to enable simultaneous polls, even as it remained emphatic that the suggested changes are not anti-federal, violate the basic structure of the Constitution, or will result in a presidential form of government. For holding the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls together, the panel recommended amendments in Articles 83 (duration of Lok Sabha) and Article 172 (duration of state legislatures), which provide that their term will be of five years “unless sooner dissolved” by the President and the state governors respectively.Maika Sivo is ready to fight prolific Ash Handley and Ryan Hall for a Leeds wing spot - especially now he has a bed to sleep in. The Fiji international is one of the Rhinos’ big signings for 2025 after arriving from Parramatta Eels on a three-year deal. Sivo, 31, scored 104 tries in just 115 NRL games to prove his attacking prowess. But Leeds already have England star Handley and returning legend Hall - Super League’s greatest-ever try-scorer - in the Headingley fold. Three into two won’t go so boss Brad Arthur could have big decisions to make. But Sivo insisted: “It’s good. It’s healthy competition we have with Hally, Ash and a few young boys who are pushing for spots, too. “It’s made us all get better at every training session. It’ll be good - but it all depends on Brad who he picks on Boxing Day for that first game.” Rhinos face Wakefield in their traditional festive friendly when fans could get to see other new arrivals including ex-England star Jake Connor and Samoa prop Keenan Palasia. Sivo is definitely settling into life in West Yorkshire after he and his young family made the trip over from Sydney. He said: “It’s been good. It’s been a few weeks now - and our furniture finally arrived this morning. The beds are the things I’ve missed the most. We’d been sleeping with the kids! “But we’re all sorted now - and I can’t wait to get going in Super League.” Sivo, who spent five years under Aussie coach Arthur at Parramatta, joined the Rhinos squad on Thursday visiting children who are unfortunately in Leeds General Infirmary as the festive season approaches. He said: “It’s always a humbling experience, especially at this time of year. “It’s always good to go see the kids. It puts a smile on their faces - and on ours. At my old club [Parramatta] we used to go to the Ronald McDonald House [linked to Sydney Children’s Hospital].” Sivo still had a year left on his Parramatta deal but was released to join Leeds, who are mourning the death of their legendary ex-Great Britain centre Syd Hynes at the age of 80. He admitted: “I can’t wait to play under Brad again. “I obviously know him well. He’s straight-forward and tells you what you need to do. Some of the boys say it’s more attacking footy here compared to NRL. But the only thing I’m focused on is bringing my A game every time I get to play.” Meanwhile, Hull owner Adam Pearson has completed the sale of the club to Andrew Thirkill and David Hood, former Hull KR head coach James Webster has returned to the Robins as a specialist half-back coach for their academy and Kangaroos ace Isaah Yeo has won the Golden Boot.

Tetairoa McMillan, one of the best wide receivers in Arizona history, will skip his final year of eligibility and enter the 2025 NFL Draft, he announced on social media on Thursday. Projected as a top-10 draft pick, the 6-foot-5, 212-pound McMillan finished his illustrious career at Arizona with 3,423 receiving yards, breaking the mark set by Bobby Wade (3,351). In three seasons, the Hawaii native also posted the fourth-most catches (213) and third-most touchdowns (26) in school history. "Wildcat Nation, this journey has been everything I dreamed of and more," McMillan wrote on Instagram. "From the moment I committed to the University of Arizona, to every second spent wearing that Arizona jersey ... it's been an absolute honor. "The University of Arizona has provided me with the platform to grow and chase my dreams. ... Thank you from the bottom of my heart. To the best fans in the country, I appreciate you for all of the love and support you have given me these last 3 years. I will always be a Wildcat." In 2024, McMillan totaled 84 grabs (ninth in Division I) for 1,319 yards (third in Division I) and eight touchdowns for the 4-8 Wildcats. He also ranked third in Division I with 109.9 receiving yards per game. McMillan is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the most outstanding receiver in college football. --Field Level MediaIsraeli police set to probe Netanyahu’s wife over ‘harassment of witnesses’This Bendigo charity gives bikes to those in need. It needs a new homemnl77 slot 。

The man, known only as H6, brought a case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) after then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman said he should be excluded from the UK in March 2023. Judges were told that in a briefing for the Home Secretary in July 2023, officials claimed H6 had been in a position to generate relationships between prominent UK figures and senior Chinese officials “that could be leveraged for political interference purposes”. They also said that H6 had downplayed his relationship with the Chinese state, which combined with his relationship with Andrew, represented a threat to national security. At a hearing in July, the specialist tribunal heard that the businessman was told by an adviser to Andrew that he could act on the duke’s behalf when dealing with potential investors in China, and that H6 had been invited to Andrew’s birthday party in 2020. A letter referencing the birthday party from the adviser, Dominic Hampshire, was discovered on H6’s devices when he was stopped at a port in November 2021. The letter also said: “I also hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal and indeed his family. “You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship... Outside of his closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on.” In a ruling on Thursday, Mr Justice Bourne, Judge Stephen Smith and Sir Stewart Eldon, dismissed the challenge. The judges said: “The Secretary of State was entitled to conclude that the applicant represented a risk to the national security of the United Kingdom, and that she was entitled to conclude that his exclusion was justified and proportionate.” The Home Office confirmed in July 2023 that H6 would be excluded from the UK as he was considered to have engaged in “covert and deceptive activity” on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that he likely posed a threat to national security. The now-50-year-old former civil servant brought legal action for a review of the decision, arguing that it was unlawful. The tribunal in London heard that H6 had said he avoids getting involved in politics, and only had limited links to the Chinese state. His lawyers also argued that there was evidence that it was difficult for a Chinese national involved in business to avoid any contact with the CCP and that material related to his relationship with Andrew had to be read in the context of an advisor writing to someone who had been loyal to the duke in difficult times. However Home Office lawyers argued that H6 had downplayed his links to an arm of the CCP, and that his relationship with Andrew could be used for political interference. In their 53-page ruling, the judges said that Andrew could have been made “vulnerable” to the misuse of the influence H6 had. They said: “The applicant won a significant degree, one could say an unusual degree, of trust from a senior member of the Royal Family who was prepared to enter into business activities with him. “That occurred in a context where, as the contemporaneous documents record, the duke was under considerable pressure and could be expected to value the applicant’s loyal support. “It is obvious that the pressures on the duke could make him vulnerable to the misuse of that sort of influence. “That does not mean that the Home Secretary could be expected to exclude from the UK any Chinese businessman who formed a commercial relationship with the duke or with any other member of the Royal Family.” The three judges said that H6 had enjoyed a private life in the UK, which had been described as the businessman’s “second home”, adding: “He has settled status, a home and extensive business interests in the United Kingdom. He was regarded as a close confidant of the duke.” The judges continued the Home Secretary was “rationally entitled to decide” there was a potential to leverage the relationship, adding H6 was “not candid” about his links to the CCP. They concluded: “In our judgment it was open to the SSHD to take a reasonably precautionary approach to the risk, and to take action rationally aimed at neutralising it so far as possible. “Whilst excluding the applicant would not necessarily halt his activities, it would significantly hinder them. “Cultivating relationships with prominent UK individuals would logically be much more difficult if no meetings could take place in the UK.”Tetairoa McMillan, one of the best wide receivers in Arizona history, will skip his final year of eligibility and enter the 2025 NFL Draft, he announced on social media on Thursday. Projected as a top-10 draft pick, the 6-foot-5, 212-pound McMillan finished his illustrious career at Arizona with 3,423 receiving yards, breaking the mark set by Bobby Wade (3,351). In three seasons, the Hawaii native also posted the fourth-most catches (213) and third-most touchdowns (26) in school history. "Wildcat Nation, this journey has been everything I dreamed of and more," McMillan wrote on Instagram. "From the moment I committed to the University of Arizona, to every second spent wearing that Arizona jersey ... it's been an absolute honor. "The University of Arizona has provided me with the platform to grow and chase my dreams. ... Thank you from the bottom of my heart. To the best fans in the country, I appreciate you for all of the love and support you have given me these last 3 years. I will always be a Wildcat." In 2024, McMillan totaled 84 grabs (ninth in Division I) for 1,319 yards (third in Division I) and eight touchdowns for the 4-8 Wildcats. He also ranked third in Division I with 109.9 receiving yards per game. McMillan is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the most outstanding receiver in college football. --Field Level Media

Team claims NASCAR rescinded approval to buy new charter unless federal antitrust suit is dropped‘Dictatorial’ father of Sara Sharif said daughter ‘brings smile to my face’

NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks pulled Wall Street to another record amid a mixed Monday of trading. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% from its all-time high set on Friday to post a record for the 54th time this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 128 points, or 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. Super Micro Computer, a stock that’s been on an AI-driven roller coaster, soared 28.7% to lead the market. Following allegations of misconduct and the resignation of its public auditor , the maker of servers used in artificial-intelligence technology said an investigation found no evidence of misconduct by its management or by the company’s board. It also said that it doesn’t expect to restate its past financials and that it will find a new chief financial officer, appoint a general counsel and make other moves to strengthen its governance. Big Tech stocks also helped prop up the market. Gains of 1.8% for Microsoft and 3.2% for Meta Platforms were the two strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500. Intel was another propellant during the morning, but it lost an early gain to fall 0.5% after the chip company said CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired and stepped down from the board. Intel is looking for Gelsinger’s replacement, and its chair said it’s “committed to restoring investor confidence.” Intel recently lost its spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to Nvidia, which has skyrocketed in Wall Street’s frenzy around AI. Stellantis, meanwhile, skidded following the announcement of its CEO’s departure . Carlos Tavares steps down after nearly four years in the top spot of the automaker, which owns car brands like Jeep, Citroën and Ram, amid an ongoing struggle with slumping sales and an inventory backlog at dealerships. The world’s fourth-largest automaker’s stock fell 6.3% in Milan. The majority of stocks in the S&P 500 likewise fell, including California utility PG&E. It dropped 5% after saying it would sell $2.4 billion of stock and preferred shares to raise cash. Retailers were mixed amid what’s expected to be the best Cyber Monday on record and coming off Black Friday . Target, which recently gave a forecast for the holiday season that left investors discouraged , fell 1.2%. Walmart , which gave a more optimistic forecast, rose 0.2%. Amazon, which looks to benefit from online sales from Cyber Monday, climbed 1.4%. All told, the S&P 500 added 14.77 points to 6,047.15. The Dow fell 128.65 to 44,782.00, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 185.78 to 19,403.95. The stock market largely took Donald Trump’s latest threat on tariffs in stride. The president-elect on Saturday threatened 100% tariffs against a group of developing economies if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar. Trump said he wants the group, headlined by Brazil, Russia, India and China, to promise it won’t create a new currency or otherwise try to undercut the U.S. dollar. The dollar has long been the currency of choice for global trade. Speculation has also been around a long time that other currencies could knock it off its mantle, but no contender has come close. The U.S. dollar’s value rose Monday against several other currencies, but one of its strongest moves likely had less to do with the tariff threats. The euro fell amid a political battle in Paris over the French government’s budget . The euro sank 0.7% against the U.S. dollar and broke below $1.05. In the bond market, Treasury yields gave up early gains to hold relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed above 4.23% during the morning before falling back to 4.19%. That was just above its level of 4.18% late Friday. A report in the morning showed the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted again last month, but not by as much as economists expected. This upcoming week will bring several big updates on the job market, including the October job openings report, weekly unemployment benefits data and the all-important November jobs report. They could steer the next moves for Federal Reserve, which recently began pulling interest rates lower to give support to the economy. Economists expect Friday’s headliner report to show U.S. employers accelerated their hiring in November, coming off October’s lackluster growth that was hampered by damaging hurricanes and strikes. “We now find ourselves in the middle of this Goldilocks zone, where economic health supports earnings growth while remaining weak enough to justify potential Fed rate cuts,” according to Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. In financial markets abroad, Chinese stocks led gains worldwide as monthly surveys showed improving conditions for manufacturing, partly driven by a surge in orders ahead of Trump’s inauguration next month. Both official and private sector surveys of factory managers showed strong new orders and export orders, possibly partly linked to efforts by importers in the U.S. to beat potential tariff hikes by Trump once he takes office. Indexes rose 0.7% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Shanghai. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.Podcast: This Vikings-Packers game may be the most significant in recent memoryKUWAIT CITY, Dec 12: The forum “National Identity and Strengthening Citizenship Principles in Kuwaiti Society” held two discussions on Wednesday, focusing on the role of media in enhancing national identity and the impact of political and legal issues on national unity and citizenship. The first session, titled “The Role of Media in Strengthening National Identity and Citizenship Principles,” was chaired by Editor-in-Chief of Al-Rai newspaper Waleed Al-Jassim who emphasized that a variety of identities within society creates a beautiful mosaic, as long as no single identity dominates, ensuring national stability. Al-Jassim highlighted the media’s responsibility in fostering national identity while respecting individual differences and preserving the state’s identity, and also discussed the rise of a universal human identity through social media, questioning its potential risks. Meanwhile, former Minister of Information Sami Al-Nisf warned against prioritizing personal desires over national interests and stressed the importance of reinforcing national identity for coexistence among citizens. Al-Nisf discussed the crucial role of professional media in enhancing national identity, emphasizing the country’s achievements, and advancing the values that build nations. On his side, Professor of Mass Communication at Kuwait University Dr. Khaled Al-Qahs explained that each generation interacts with media differently, noting that the current generation, heavily involved with digital technology and social media, requires targeted communication to strengthen national identity through these platforms. He also outlined various types of digital citizenship, such as digital consumption, participation in decision-making, and political activity, mentioning both the benefits and challenges of digital citizenship, including security risks and the spread of fake news. The second session, titled “Political and Legal Issues and their Impact on National Unity and Citizenship Principles,” was chaired by Professor of Political Science at Kuwait University Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghanim. He underscored the complexity of national identity and its importance to everyone, underlining the role of forums like this in shaping youth perspectives for a stronger nation. Next, Professor of Public Law at Kuwait University Dr. Mohammad Al- Fiali discussed national identity as a psychological concept requiring a legal foundation, emphasizing the connection between law, rights, and citizenship, and explaining that law binds identity to human frameworks, protecting it from dangers. As for the Professor of International Relations Dr. Ghanim Al-Najjar, he pointed out that national unity is closely linked to national identity, with Kuwait facilitating the formation of both. He referenced a study showing high levels of security in Kuwait, stating that justice, equality, and equal opportunities positively strengthen national identity. The forum, which started on Tuesday, was organized by the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies Center at Kuwait University, the Women’s Institute for Development and Peace, and the National Unity Promotion Team at the Cabinet, and concluded today at the university’s Shuwaikh campus. (KUNA)

Drop in Boxing Day footfall ‘signals return to declining pre-pandemic levels’

Procter & Gamble Co. stock underperforms Tuesday when compared to competitorsTrump warns of "ALL HELL TO PAY" if Israeli hostages are not released

The House of Representatives, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to cause all frozen accounts of the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA) were unfrozen within 72 hours to enable the smooth resumption of all programmes and payment of outstanding stipends owed to 395,731 N-Power beneficiaries. The House has also urged the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management to ensure that all the administrative bottlenecks hindering the smooth operations of all programmes of NSIPA are immediately removed, as it seeks the concurrence of the Senate. President Tinubu had in the wake of corruption allegation surrounding the social investment programmes ordered both their suspension and related bank accounts frozen. However, the House in a resolution on a motion jointly sponsored by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, Hon. Babajimi Benson, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere and 18 others on Tuesday adopted the prayed request. Kalu in moving the motion noted that NSIPA was established pursuant to the National Social Investment Programme Agency (Establishment) Act, 2023, with the mandate of empowering unemployed persons, vulnerable widows, orphans, children, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable senior citizens, among others. He also noted that NSIPA oversees critical social intervention programmes such as grant for vulnerable groups, N-Power, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT), and the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP). He further noted that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government gave emphasis to the mandate of the NSIPA to cushion the effect of economic shocks on the poor and the vulnerable.

WASHINGTON — Death penalty opponents on Thursday launched a new effort to spare Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers and two others remaining on death row from being executed. Death Penalty Action submitted a letter to the White House signed by almost 450 organizations, asking President Joe Biden to commute the sentences of the three federal inmates facing execution plus four others on military death row. Biden on Monday granted clemency to 37 federal prisoners who were sentenced to death. That left just three people facing execution for federal crimes: Bowers; Dylann Roof — who killed nine worshippers at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015, and who, like Bowers, espoused white supremacist and bigoted rhetoric before carrying out a mass killing — and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted for his role in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people. "You said you granted clemency because you wanted to 'prevent the next administration from carrying out executions,'" the letter said. "This gives us hope. Unless you finish the job by granting clemency to the three men remaining on federal death row and extending your mercy to the four men on military death row, you will leave those seven men vulnerable to execution under Donald Trump's administration. This would seem counter to your intent." Bowers was convicted in June 2023 of 63 federal charges and was sentenced to death in the Oct. 27, 2018, shooting at the Squirrel Hill synagogue housing three congregations — Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life. It was the worst antisemitic attack in American history. The call for clemency gained new urgency following Trump's election last month. In the last year of Trump's first term in the White House, 13 federal prisoners were executed — more than in the previous eight decades combined, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Trump transition team called the commutations "Biden's sick Christmas gift to grieving families." "The danger of leaving the death penalty as an available tool for Donald Trump to use cannot be overstated," said Abraham Bonowitz, executive director of Death Penalty Action and co-founder of L'chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty. "Donald Trump idolizes dictators and relishes dictator-like power. We are absolutely grateful for what President Biden has done, but we urge him to finish the job. Do not give Trump the power to execute anyone." On Christmas Day, Trump used his Truth Social site to go after the 37 death row inmates whose sentences were commuted, falsely accusing Biden of pardoning them rather than sentencing them to life imprisonment without parole. "To the 37 most violent criminals, who killed, raped, and plundered like virtually no one before them, but were just given, incredibly, a pardon by Sleepy Joe Biden. I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky 'souls' but, instead, will say, GO TO HELL!" Trump said. ©2024 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.12 Dec 2024 Syria: how to rebuild a ‘corrupted narco-state’ It’s a matter of days since Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in Syria was toppled by a lightning-quick offensive led by the rebel group Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – and Syrians are still in a state of euphoria at their newfound freedoms, but also horror as evidence of Assad’s torture chambres are revealed. Channel 4 News’ Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Lindsey Hilsum have been on the ground in Damascus and in this week’s episode of The Political Fourcast they discuss what is really happening there and whether Syria can be rebuilt with Fuad Sayed Issa, founder of the charity Violet Organisation. Produced by Silvia Maresca, Ka Yee Mak, Calum Fraser. You can listen to, download and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts here . Also available on Google Podcasts , Spotify , Acast , CastBox and other good podcast apps. The RSS feed is here. Share on Facebook Share Share on Twitter Tweet Share on WhatsApp Send Share on WhatsApp Send Share on WhatsApp Email Load more share options Topics World , Syria , the political fourcastKings vs. Rockets Injury Report Today – December 3

Shinedown complete the headliners while Alice Cooper, Halestorm and Bush are also on the bill Def Leppard , Mötley Crüe , Nickelback and Shinedown have been announced as the headliners of the inaugural Boardwalk Rock Festival next year – buy tickets here . READ MORE: Mötley Crüe tell us about ‘Dogs Of War’ and being rockstars in the age of social media The festival – organised by C3 Presents, which is owned by Live Nation and looks after festivals including Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits – will take place in Ocean City, Maryland on May 17 and 18. It’s set to feature some of the biggest names, past and present, in rock. Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe have over 90 years of experience in music between them, while Nickelback and Shinedown have found consistent success over the past 20 years. Also on the bill are shock rock legend Alice Cooper , Pennsylvania rockers Halestorm and British grunge icons Bush , joined by the likes of Chevelle, Three Days Grace, Flyleaf with Lacey Sturm, Puddle of Mudd , 3 Doors Down , Extreme , The Struts and Black Stone Cherry . A post shared by Boardwalk Rock (@boardwalkrockfest) Festivalgoers can expect three stages, with two on the beach and one on the Ocean City boardwalk, as well as access to the boardwalk’s restaurants, bars, shops, and amusement park. Tickets begin at $165 for one-day passes, while weekend tickets start at $195. For $3,950, there’s an ‘Ultimate’ pass with premium perks including front-of-stage access, golf cart transportation, and exclusive lounges. Presale registration opens tomorrow (December 13) at 10am ET, with general ticket sales beginning an hour later at 11am. You can sign up for the presale passcode here and buy tickets here . Shortly before their Boardwalk Rock headline slot, Mötley Crüe will be enjoying a Las Vegas residency. The band announced this autumn that they’d be playing 11 shows at Dolby Live at Park MGM in the spring , 11 years since their last Vegas residency. The shows will take concertgoers back through their history, leading them through to ‘The Stadium Tour’, which they co-headlined with their fellow Boardwalk Rock headliners Def Leppard . Meanwhile, Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott features on Ricky Warwick’s recent Christmas single, ‘All I Want For Christmas... Is Christmas!’ alongside The Cult ’s Billy Duffy. Related Topics 3 Doors Down Alice Cooper Black Stone Cherry Bush Def Leppard Extreme Halestorm Live Music News Metal Mötley Crüe Nickelback Puddle Of Mudd Rock Shinedown The StrutsDeath penalty opponents make one more plea to President Biden to spare life of Pittsburgh synagogue shooterMany auto brands have jumped head-first into completely overhauling their top-sellers and icons, and fallen flat. Volkswagen, for example, has had issues with its latest Mk8 Golf , which lost the number one sales spot in Europe after 14 years in 2022; the current Land Rover Discovery was a big departure from its predecessors and has paid the price for it in terms of sales; and Mercedes-AMG has tuned away V8 lovers by plopping a four-cylinder PHEV powertrain into its C63 and GLC63 . Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Porsche avoided such blunders by making its first all-electric vehicle, the Taycan, a dedicated EV with no predecessor for loyalists and statisticians to benchmark it against. But now, the hallowed German performance vehicle brand’s top-selling Macan has gone EV-only as key markets around the globe continue to tighten emissions regulations. Since the nameplate debuted 10 years ago, the Macan has cemented itself as the world’s favourite Porsche. Over its decade-long lifespan it offered a range of four-cylinder and six-cylinder (inline and V6 respectively, not boxer) engines, and has long been lauded as the driver’s pick in the mid-sized premium SUV class. Fast forward to 2024, and the second-generation ‘Macan Electric’ has thrown the internal combustion engine out the window and adopted an all-electric platform and powertrains. Like the original, however, it was co-developed with Audi and has strong genetic links to a sister SUV from the Ingolstadt brand – this time in the Q6 e-tron rather than the Q5 . Regardless, the Stuttgart carmaker reckons the battery-powered MkII Macan is better than its ICE forebear in just about every metric. It’s quicker and more tech laden, thanks in part to Porsche’s learnings from the standard-setting Taycan sedan and wagon. This sounds like a sure-fire recipe for success, but is it? To find out, we attended the Australian media launch of the new Macan in Brisbane to see if the new and much more expensive Macan EV is a fitting sequel to the popular original. How much does the Porsche Macan cost? The move to entirely battery-electric powertrains has bumped up the price of the Macan significantly, with even the entry-level single-motor ‘Macan’ costing over $30,000 more than the outgoing petrol variant it replaces. For reference, the previous Macan petrol range remains on sale while stocks last – see below for MY25 pricing. To see how the Porsche Macan lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool What is the Porsche Macan like on the inside? If you’ve sat in the latest Cayenne or the Taycan , you’ll feel at home in the new Macan. A big part of the generational jump here includes an increased level of interior digitalisation, as seen in Porsche’s larger models – think Cayenne and Panamera, as well as the Taycan. But while the cabin tech upgrades are significant, the overall design and execution isn’t all that different to the most recent iteration of the old Macan, with familiar ergonomics and switchgear. Perhaps the biggest change is the new 12.6-inch digital instrument cluster, which is taken straight from those aforementioned models. It’s super sharp with buttery smooth animations, and offers a range of customisable layouts to suit different tastes. You can also option a swish augmented reality (AR) head-up display, but it’ll cost you $4120! The central infotainment system is likewise a sharp unit, based on the Android Automotive operating system. With its 10.9-inch touchscreen cleanly integrated into the dashboard, it offers connected services, third-party app compatibility, and requisite functions like wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, and embedded navigation. If you’re the particularly techy type, or have kids (or other passengers) in need of something to distract them while you’re on the road, you can also option an additional 10.9-inch touchscreen ahead of the front passenger, which is like a ‘lite’ version of the central display. Personally, I think it’s a bit naff and not worth the $2700 spend. As you’d expect, the overall ambience and sense of quality is right up there with the best in this segment, even if the piano black surfaces are vulnerable to fingerprint marks and hairline scratches after wiping dust off. The toggle-style climate controls mixed in with touch capacitive buttons is very modern Porsche, and while the latter are fiddly there’s nice clicky feedback from both the physical toggles and the touch buttons. Storage is pretty good but not overwhelmingly so, with a range of nooks and crannies to stow your odds and ends. I like the damped drawer lid over the wireless phone charger, which stops your phone flying around when you’re giving it a squirt up a winding B-road or on the racetrack – unlike the Polestar 4 we drove recently. Up front we sampled a couple of different seat specs in various vehicles, and the standard Comfort seats with 14-way electrical adjustment are fine – though the 18-way adaptive sports seats are even better. The optional ventilated front seats helped quite a bit during a hot and humid Queensland day, though $1710 is a pretty penny. You can even get massaging with ventilation, for a ‘cool’ $2860. In the second row, the Macan has never offered limousine levels of passenger space, but nor have rivals like the Q5, BMW X4 or Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe. Thankfully though, there has been a small but noticeable improvement to most dimensions, which now allow 6’1′′ me to sit behind 6’1′′ me snugly. Standard rear seat amenities include a fold-down centre armrest with cupholders, bottle holders in the doors, and directional air vents. You can option luxe four-zone climate control, but that’ll cost you $810 on all but the Turbo. It’s disappointing that the added 86mm in wheelbase hasn’t resulted in a similar improvement in rear passenger accommodation, given the Macan is often bought by families with multiple children. Further back, the Macan’s boot has grown to 540 litres with all seats in place, which is up around 50 litres on the old model. That grows to 1348 litres with the rear seats folded. There’s additional 84 litres of storage under the bonnet, in lieu of an internal combustion engine. It’s accessed via a touch-capacitive lid that can be opened by swiping your hand across the lower end of the shut line – though my attempt to film it for an Instagram reel required a few takes because it didn’t seem to respond every time. To see how the Porsche Macan lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool What’s under the bonnet? Gone is the internal combustion engine, which is replaced by the aforementioned front storage area that’s more in line with the company’s rear-engined sports cars, come to think of it... It’s worth noting that all Macan variants offer an overboost function that raises the maximum power output by about 10 per cent when using launch control. The claimed 0-100km/h times above are using launch control, too. Also worth noting is that Porsche Cars Australia’s range claims are based on the ECE standard, which is more closely based on the older NEDC measurement than the newer, more accurate WLTP protocol. To see how the Porsche Macan lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool How does the Porsche Macan drive? Perhaps the most important question here is: “does it still drive like a Porsche Macan?” In short, the answer is “mostly yes”. There’s certainly added urgency from its various electric drivetrain options to go with the welcome boost in interior tech levels, which brings the new Macan into line with the best rivals from premium and luxury brands. Our two-day launch event started with a drive from Brisbane airport down to Norwell Motorplex south of Queensland capital, followed on day two by a picturesque road drive from Brisbane through the hinterlands to the Gold Coast. The launch program centred around the Macan 4 and Turbo, since the base Macan and the 4S are still on the way to Australia despite already being on sale. We’ll bring you reviews of those when we can get behind the wheel. On the freeway, the Macan felt solid, secure and responsive. We started in a Turbo fitted with a number of options including big 22-inch wheels with carbon-fibre inserts, which cost nearly $15,000 (eek!) according to the local configurator. Even with the big rims and liquorice-thin rubber, the air-sprung Macan Turbo was comfortable over road imperfections and maintained great body control at everyday cornering speeds and on the highway. Road noise and wind noise were also impressively hushed. It’s worth calling out here the Macan’s impressive 0.25Cd drag coefficient figure, which no doubt aids the latter. And I continue to marvel at the ability of Porsche engineers to calibrate what I believe to be the perfect steering calibration when it comes to balancing response, weight and feedback, even in an SUV like the Macan. The Macan’s tiller feels incredibly accurate and the quick ratio means you aren’t twirling the wheel to do basic manoeuvres like you might in some other SUVs. It also has a great, weighty feeling about centre. At Norwell Motorplex we were given ample time to test out the Macan’s dynamic capabilities across a variety of exercises including a motorkhana-style handling course, drifting on the wet skid pan, 0-100km/h runs using launch control, and guided laps around the tight and technical circuit. The motorkhana was good fun and a great opportunity to test out the Macan 4’s sweet handling balance, while the launch control tests really demonstrated the Turbo’s monstrous 1130Nm of torque from standstill. We didn’t hook up timing gear, but it feels every bit as quick as the official 3.3-second claim, which based on Porsche tradition is likely a low-ball figure. On the skid pan we got the chance to get the Turbo a little sideways, upsetting the balance of the vehicle by opening the throttle on a rotating plate then getting skiddy on the wet concrete. The final exercise comprised a couple of guided laps around the tight circuit in the 4 and the Turbo, which again revealed the 4 to be the more balanced and sweeter steerer; the Turbo in comparison felt a little too powerful and heavy to be thrown around at pace on a circuit better suited to lightweight sports cars. On the road drive the following day, both variants proved to be lovely tourers, combining superb general comfort and refinement with strong performance, great steering feel, and eager handling. The Macan 4’s circa-75kg weight advantage is due to the smaller and less powerful electric motor on the rear axle relative to the Turbo, and there definitely is a sense that it is the lighter and more agile handler of the two. Keep in mind that even a V8-engined Cayenne is lighter than the Macan Electric... As we experienced on track at Norwell, the Turbo almost feels like too much in the sense that it’s so quick you can’t have much fun with it. Plus, its 2.4-tonne heft can’t defy physics in the kind of tight and technical conditions we drove it on during this event. I’m also not sure that many existing Macan owners will be particularly enamoured by the Porsche Electric Sport Sound, even if the old car’s turbocharged V6s weren’t particularly pleasing to the ear. The synthesised ‘engine’ note is standard in the Turbo and optional in lower grades, and while it works in the Taycan it lacks a bit of soul compared to the new Macan’s petrol forebears. The lack of one-pedal driving might also be irksome for a traditional EV buyer, but I’d imagine Porsche customers prefer the more conventional experience of controlling the brakes themselves. I’m also in the latter camp when it comes to driving an EV in a more dynamic manner. While it has grown in most dimensions, the Macan handles mostly like a smaller car, with the quick steering pointing a nose that’s eager to turn in, and a taut chassis that minimises body roll even during spirited on-road driving. As I noted earlier, it’s a really sweet thing to steer, and you don’t have to be driving at 10-10ths to enjoy it. To be frank, you’d almost never be driving the Macan at the limit anyway – it just isn’t that kind of vehicle. There’s heaps of grip and even in the 4 you can blast out of apexes early than anticipated with immediate, clinical effect, thanks to 650Nm of twist from the moment you prod the throttle. It really gives you the confidence to have a little fun on tight and twisty roads in a way that not a lot of SUVs do. That said, something like a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N delivers a more focused and sports car-like experience that will better suit keen drivers looking to dip their toes into the EV world – yes, Hyundai’s electric SUV is that good. Porsche has never been known for its ‘hands-off’ driving tech, but when the roads straighten out you can make use of the expanded and intuitive suite of driver assistance functions available in the new Macan. The adaptive cruise control does an excellent job of maintaining a set speed while managing the distance between you and a vehicle in front, without jerking the brakes or seesawing the speed. However, there’s no Active Lane Keeping function like in the Cayenne, which basically facilitates semi-autonomous driving on the freeway. There is a more basic lane keep assist system, which will counter-steer and alert you if you start drifting out of your lane, and there are handy blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert sensors that compensate for the Macan’s coupe-like roofline and thick C-pillar. Even better, the surround cameras (standard in Australia) make parking this 4784mm-long, 1938mm-wide electric SUV a much easier process – there are no excuses for dinged bumpers or scraped alloys. To see how the Porsche Macan lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool What do you get? Porsche is pretty vague about the standard specifications of its vehicles, though Porsche Cars Australia does detail additional equipment for our market compared to the global spec. Macan equipment highlights: Macan 4 adds: Macan 4S adds: Macan Turbo adds: Australian additional equipment – all models: Australian additional equipment – select models: To see how the Porsche Macan lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool Is the Porsche Macan safe? The new Macan Electric hasn’t been tested by ANCAP or Euro NCAP yet. Its predecessor scored five stars in 2014, though this rating for the outgoing model has expired. Standard safety features include: As noted earlier, some standard safety features in Australian-spec Macans are in addition to the global standard specification. To see how the Porsche Macan lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool How much does the Porsche Macan cost to run? Porsche Cars Australia persists with a three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, which lags behind its competitors. Also unlike its key rivals, Porsche doesn’t do advertised or capped service pricing, meaning prices can vary between Porsche Centres. Sadly, there’s also no official partnership or charging subscription tied to any public charger providers. To see how the Porsche Macan lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool CarExpert’s Take on the Porsche Macan Porsche has managed to maintain the essence of the Macan in this all-electric sequel, but it didn’t quite wow me like I thought it would, given how much I loved the heavily upgraded Taycan. Make no mistake, it feels unmistakably Macan in flavour, in that it’s a comfortable, refined and punchy mid-size luxury crossover wagon with one of the sweetest steering calibrations in the segment. Despite its weight, that shouldn’t come as a surprise since the old Macan was widely regarded as one of the world’s most dynamic SUVs. So the new all-electric underpinnings have unlocked more performance, but not necessarily better or more engaging handling. It’s quick – bloody quick in Turbo guise – but it’s also quite heavy and you can feel its mass more so than in the Taycan, particularly when you put it on a tight circuit like Norwell. Things get much better and more fun on a winding B-road, even if it’s a lot heavier than the old MLB-based original, making you hesitant to push like you would in one of Porsche’s sports cars, which is to be expected given this is an SUV. I’ve only driven the Macan 4 and the Turbo, but the lower-spec variants could well be my pick given they’re more than quick enough for the target demographic and will save you a big wad of cash for options and anything else you might want to funnel your funds towards. While the rear-drive Macan range-opener is the lightest and should be the most dynamic, the incoming 4S shapes as a potential sweet spot because of its improved performance while still maintaining a big price gap to the Turbo. Keep in mind, the 4S is quicker than even the fastest previous-generation Macan GTS. As you’d expect, the cabin is lovely and the new Macan offers more space than the old one, which has long been a key criticism. There’s also a much improved tech suite that brings the smaller and more attainable SUV in line with the larger Cayenne, as well as the likes of Porsche’s Taycan e-hero. But it’s still not all that big inside compared to some of its German rivals, and the lower grades in particular need a number of option boxes ticked to make the Macan feel properly special – and that can add up to some serious cash, on top of the substantial price increase for the new model, which means you’re pushing into Taycan territory. Then there’s the superficial stuff like the new exterior design, which appears to be polarising if the commentary on our site and socials is any guide, and the fact the departure of the old model’s combustion engines has taken a lot of the Macan’s soul with them. But with a more objective lens, the new Macan does a great job of transitioning into a sporty electric crossover, and continues to offer Porsche hallmarks like strong performance and fulsome handling. It will be interesting to see how warmly the original Macan’s traditional buyer demographic embraces the much more expensive and far quieter replacement for Porsche’s best-seller. Interested in buying a Porsche Macan? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here MORE: Everything Porsche Macan Pros Cons

On Football analyzes the biggest topics in the NFL from week to week. For more On Football analysis, head here . Getting benched may have been the best thing that happened to Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson. Both second-year quarterbacks are playing well since returning to the starting lineup. Young has steadily improved after coming back in Week 8. He’s displayed the skills that earned him a Heisman Trophy at Alabama and convinced the Carolina Panthers to draft him ahead of C.J. Stroud with the No. 1 overall pick in 2023. Young had his best game on Sunday, nearly leading Carolina to an overtime win over Tampa Bay if it weren’t for Chuba Hubbard’s fumble in field-goal range. He threw for 298 yards and a go-ahead touchdown pass in the final minute of a 26-23 loss . Young almost led the Panthers to a win over the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs a week earlier only to see Patrick Mahomes drive Kansas City into position for a winning field goal as time expired. Rookie coach Dave Canales benched Young for veteran Andy Dalton after just two games in which he had a 44.1 passer rating. The 23-year-old has completed 60.4% of his passes for 1,062 yards, six TDs and three interceptions — none in the past three games — while going 2-3 in the five starts since Young got another opportunity to lead the Panthers (3-9). Richardson has led Indianapolis to a pair of comeback wins late in the fourth quarter in three starts after he regained his starting job. The Colts (6-7) selected Richardson No. 4 last year and he started just 10 games before coach Shane Steichen benched him for Joe Flacco in Week 9. Richardson completed only 44.4% of his passes with four TDs and seven picks in his first six starts. He’s improved to 52.4% with three TDs and two picks since coming back. The 22-year-old tossed a 3-yard TD pass to Alec Pierce on fourth-and-goal with 12 seconds remaining and then ran in for a 2-point conversion to lift the Colts to a 25-24 win over New England on Sunday. Young and Richardson both have a long way to go to prove they can be franchise quarterbacks. But there’s far more optimism now that they’re not busts. Young is on his third head coach and second offensive coordinator in two seasons. Canales is known for getting the best out of quarterbacks, helping Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield revive their careers. He made a bold decision to bench Young after just two games but that allowed him to watch, grow and learn without the pressure of having to perform. Now it appears Young might have a future in Carolina when that seemed unlikely in September. Story continues below video Richardson just needs more experience. He threw only 393 passes in college and started four games as a rookie before he was injured. Steichen’s decision to bench him for Flacco didn’t work out. Flacco, who was the AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year last year after leading Cleveland to the playoffs by going 4-1 in five starts, struggled in two games. Still, that gave Richardson a chance to reset after tapping out for a play in the game before he was benched. Quarterbacks need time to develop. They can’t be judged fairly after one or two seasons, especially when they were high draft picks who joined bad teams that lacked talent. Matt Eberflus lost his job as Chicago’s head coach a day after he watched the offense run out of time with a timeout in hand, missing an opportunity to push Detroit to overtime on Thanksgiving. But Antonio Pierce made an even worse decision on Black Friday that cost the Raiders a chance to beat the Chiefs. Aidan O’Donnell drove Las Vegas to the Chiefs 32 with 15 seconds left. Instead of trying for a game-winning field goal down 19-17, Pierce wanted O’Donnell to take the snap, allow more time to tick and throw the ball away. But O’Donnell wasn’t ready for the snap, the Chiefs recovered the fumble and escaped with the win. aManaging the clock shouldn’t be this difficult for NFL head coaches. Ravens kicker Justin Tucker is having the worst season of his 13-year career. If he wasn’t one of the best kickers in NFL history, Baltimore would’ve made a switch already. But coach John Harbaugh has too much respect for Tucker, who began the season as the most accurate kicker in league history. Tucker has missed a career-high eight field-goal attempts, including two in a 24-19 loss to Philadelphia. Harbaugh, a former special teams coach, isn’t planning to replace Tucker. But the Ravens (8-5) have Super Bowl aspirations and Tucker needs to straighten things out. One solution would be to place him on injured reserve to work on his technique. In this case, Tucker has earned the right not to be released. Plus, he’s signed through 2027. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

While the new Government’s steps to eliminate wasteful expenditure are much applauded by the public, there is also a necessity to enact early electoral reforms to reduce the heavy burden on the treasury to elect people’s representatives and maintain them. Although the Government has many priorities to provide early solutions to reduce cost of living and related issues, it is also of paramount importance to enact electoral reforms before forthcoming Local Government and Provincial Councils election. Sri Lanka’s electoral system has undergone significant scrutiny and reform efforts in recent years, especially concerning Local Government elections and Provincial Councils. If the Local Government elections are held under the existing system, more than 8,000 representatives will be elected. However the electoral reforms already agreed upon by the political parties represented in the last parliament will reduce the numbers by half, thus saving the country a colossal amount of much-needed funds. These reforms aim to enhance democracy, ensure fair representation, and address the inefficiencies and criticisms of the existing electoral framework. Since 1978, Sri Lanka has operated under a mixed electoral system, combining elements of Proportional Representation (PR). The new proposed system will allow a mixture of PR and a first-past-the-post (FPTP) mechanism. While PR ensures broader representation of political parties, it has been criticised for diluting the direct accountability of representatives. Conversely, FPTP promotes accountability but risks underrepresenting smaller parties. The Local Government elections and provincial council system have been at the center of reform debates due to complaints about inefficiency corruption. The system also resulted in undue delays in holding elections. Provincial Councils were established under the 13th amendment to the constitution, which was introduced as a result of Indo-Sri Lanka agreement of 1987. The PC elections have faced repeated postponements, raising concerns about democratic accountability. Local Government elections have also suffered from delays due to administrative, judicial and political challenges. The PR system often favors larger political entities, marginalising smaller parties and Independent candidates. Hence there is a need for a mixed system. The conduct of elections under the PR system has been expensive, given the complexity of vote counting and seat allocation. Another important requirement is to enhance gender representation. Despite laws mandating a minimum quota for women, their representation in local bodies has remained inadequate. One positive sign is the increase in women representation in parliament to 19 from 12 in the 2024 General Election. Sri Lanka has embarked on several electoral reforms to address these issues including the proposal for Introduction of a mixed electoral system. A hybrid system combining FPTP and PR has been implemented for Local Government elections. Under this system: 60% of representatives are elected through FPTP. 40% are allocated proportionally based on party performance. Proposals have been made to adopt a similar mixed system for Provincial Council elections, ensuring better representation while retaining direct voter accountability. The Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act, 2017, introduced a 25% quota for women in Local Councils. Efforts are underway to improve its implementation at the provincial level. Delimitation commissions have been established to redraw electoral boundaries, addressing concerns of gerrymandering and ensuring equitable representation. Reforms include measures to prevent undue delays in conducting elections by setting strict timelines for their scheduling and conduct. The delimitation process has sparked controversies, with allegations of bias and lack of transparency. Despite reforms, administrative delays and political maneuvering continue to hinder timely elections. Larger political parties have resisted reforms that could reduce their dominance, complicating the legislative process. The reforms are also aimed at solving the issue of underrepresentation of minorities. Concerns persist that smaller ethnic and religious minorities may still face underrepresentation under the hybrid system. Electoral reforms in Sri Lanka must focus on enhancing inclusivity, transparency, and accountability. To achieve these goals, the following steps are essential. Strengthening Election Commission Powers: Empowering the Election Commission to act independently and enforce timelines for elections. Public Awareness Campaigns: Educating citizens about the importance of reforms to garner public support. Gender and Minority Inclusion: Ensuring better implementation of quotas and equitable representation of all communities. Digital and Technological Advancements: Streamlining electoral processes through technology to reduce costs and enhance efficiency. Sri Lanka’ is a nation with a proud history of 90 years of universal franchise. The journey toward comprehensive electoral reform is a testament to its commitment to democracy. While significant progress has been made, challenges remain. There is also a need to strengthen campaign finance regulations. Limiting campaign financing to reduce the influence of money in politics is a crucial aspect of the proposed reforms. 2024 Parliamentary Elections The 2024 Parliamentary elections marked a pivotal moment in Sri Lankan politics. The elections were held under a newly proposed framework aimed at improving transparency and voter engagement. The ongoing electoral reforms and recent election outcomes indicate a critical juncture for Sri Lanka’s democratic processes. The emphasis on inclusivity, transparency, and effective governance reflects a commitment to addressing past shortcomings while fostering a more representative political landscape.Kunlavut Vitidsarn will battle Jonatan Christie in the final Group B match on Friday with a place in the men's singles semi-finals of the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China, at stake. Kunlavut lost to Shi Yuqi 21-14, 19-21, 23-25 in the second group match on Thursday as the Chinese star became the first player to qualify for the last four of the men's singles event at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. World champion and Olympic silver medallist Kunlavut, who now has one win and one loss in Group B, will need to beat Christie of Indonesia in a winner-takes-all clash today to join Shi in the semi-finals of the US$2.5 million tournament. Christie rebounded from his opening loss to Shi on Wednesday as he beat Kodai Naraoka of Japan 21-12, 21-11, sending the Japanese star tumbling out after two successive losses. Shi will play Naraoka on Friday. Women's singles hopes Supanida Katethong and Busanan Ongbamrungphan suffered their second defeats on Thursday. Finals debutant Supanida was beaten by China's Han Yue 16-21, 18-21 in a Group B clash. The left-hander also lost to South Korea's An Se-Young in her opening match on Wednesday. In Group A, Busanan put up a brave fight against Gregoria Mariska Tunjung before falling to the Indonesian star in three games, 21-10, 10-21, 11-21. Busanan lost her opening match to China's Wang Zhiyi 19-21, 14-21 on Wednesday. Japan's Aya Ohori beat China's Wang Zhiyi 21-17, 13-21, 21-19 in the other Group A match on Thursday. Supanida will play Japan's Akane Yamaguchi while Busanan will meet Ohori in their final group matches on Friday. Tunjung will face Wang in the final group match, with the winner joining Ohori in the semi-finals.None

Mexico shares higher at close of trade; S&P/BMV IPC up 0.90%

NoneAI hardware startup Tenstorrent raised nearly $700 million in new funding. Tenstorrent raised a $693 million Series D round that values the company at more than $2.6 billion, Bloomberg first reported . The round was led by Samsung Securities and AFW Partners. Other investors include Hyundai and Jeff Bezos’ Bezos Expeditions, among others. The Toronto-based company said it plans to use the capital to build out its engineering team and to build artificial intelligence training servers to demonstrate its technology. Jim Keller, famed microprocessor engineer and Tenstorrent CEO, told Bloomberg that the company plans to release a new AI processor every two years and has signed customer contracts totaling nearly $150 million. Tenstorrent was founded in 2016 and is one of the many startups in the current race to chip away at Nvidia’s dominant AI chip market share. Other AI chip startups include Axelera , Etched and Groq , among many others.

None

Opposition against Cabinet nod to One Nation One Election, calls it 'Draconian, unconstitutional'