lodigame register The “Xin Shanghai,” a vessel operated by China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, arrived in Shanghai’s Yangshan Port at around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday after a 23-day journey from Peru’s Chancay Port, becoming the first vessel to arrive in Shanghai from Chancay after the Peruvian port officially opened in November. The journey also marked the opening of two-way operational sea link between Shanghai and Chancay Port, a newly inaugurated flagship project of Belt and Road cooperation between China and Peru. The cargo on the voyage includes a variety of Peruvian products, such as blueberries, avocados and mineral products. According to Wu Jianzhong, a regional manager at Joy Wing Mau Fruit Technologies Corporation Limited (JWM), owner of the Peruvian blueberries on the vessel, half of the blueberries will be distributed in Shanghai, targeting wholesale markets and supermarkets in east China, while the rest will be shipped to northern China. Before the opening of Chancay Port, trade between Peru and China was primarily handled through Peru’s Port of Callao. With Chancay Port now operational, more container shipping services have been introduced along the South American west coast, reducing shipping time between Peru and China to around 23 days — much faster than the current market average. The launch of the new route is expected to enhance the entry of Peru’s fresh fruits and other products into the Chinese and Asia-Pacific markets. To ensure the quality of perishable goods during transport, China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited has integrated cutting-edge technology and digital solutions. These innovations enable real-time monitoring of temperature and humidity, ensuring a secure and efficient cold-chain process. Looking ahead, the company plans to expand its shipping routes based on the development of Chancay Port and contribute to establishing a new land-sea transport corridor between Latin America and Asia. This new direct route between Chancay Port and Shanghai will contribute to a more efficient, interconnected trade network linking Peru’s coastal regions with inland areas, as well as other Latin American countries, said Chen Xiaochen, trade manager for Latin America at COSCO Shipping Lines Co., Ltd. The route is a significant landmark in China’s broader strategy of enhancing global maritime connectivity, demonstrating the country’s growing role in building a more integrated and efficient international trade network, Chen added. As the first smart and green port in South America, the Chancay Port, inaugurated in November, is located about 78 km north of Lima, the Peruvian capital. With a total length of 1,500 meters and four berths, the port, powered by China’s intelligent technologies, can handle ships with a capacity of 18,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) and is projected to process 1 million TEUs annually, with the capacity to scale up to 1.5 million TEUs in the long run. Source: Xinhua

Clearmind Medicine Inc. CMND saw its shares rise on Tuesday after announcing that it has received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for its Phase I/IIa clinical trial of CMND-100, a drug targeting alcohol use disorder (AUD) . This approval marks a significant milestone in the company’s FDA-regulated clinical program, and the trial will be conducted at Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry, led by Anahita Bassir Nia , an expert in psychiatry and addiction medicine. The trial will evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of CMND-100, a proprietary investigational drug designed to reduce alcohol cravings and consumption in individuals with moderate to severe AUD. Adi Zuloff-Shani , CEO of Clearmind Medicine, emphasized the importance of this step, noting that alcohol use is a leading preventable cause of death globally, responsible for 2.6 million deaths annually. Also Read: What’s Going On With NIO Stock On Tuesday? Current treatment options are limited, with low efficacy and patient compliance. Clearmind aims to address this gap with CMND-100, offering a potential solution for treating AUD that could significantly improve patient outcomes. The trial is expected to provide critical data to support the advancement of CMND-100 through its clinical pipeline, offering hope for more effective treatment options for those struggling with alcohol addiction. According to Benzinga Pro , CMND stock has lost over 6% in the past month. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via AdvisorShares Psychedelics ETF PSIL . Price Action: CMND shares are trading higher by 35% to $1.64 at last check Tuesday. Read Action: Bitcoin Flat, Ethereum, Dogecoin Spike Ahead Of Christmas: Analyst Says Decline In BTC Dominance Leaves ‘Room For Altcoins To Pick Up' Photo: Shutterstock This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Atif Ikram Sheikh has said the US is one of the few countries in the world with which Pakistan enjoys a bilateral trade surplus, and Pak-US trade volume crossed the $7 billion mark in 2023 and continues to increase in 2024 as it has crossed $6.3 billion in the first 10 months. "From the perspective of the business, industry and trade community, we believe that this volume can potentially be doubled within a short span of a few years, given the demand for Pakistani products in the US, surging information technology exports and anticipated diversification of Pakistani export basket for the US," he said, according to a statement released by the FPCCI on Tuesday. Ambassador of Pakistan to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh stressed that Pakistan has a very large and influential diaspora of 1 million Pakistani-Americans in the US, Pakistan is the largest importer of American cotton in the world, 40,000 Pakistani doctors are working in America, 5,000 Pakistani nursing staff will soon be exported to the US and pharmacists are expected to follow. He said the US considers Pakistan as a strategic partner, bilateral defence ties remain strong and the US continues to be one of the top countries from where Pakistan receives foreign remittances. Ambassador Sheikh explained that the economies of California and Texas are the world's fourth and sixth largest respectively, and things which seem impossible in political diplomacy can be achieved in economic diplomacy, and "that is where our emphasis is." The FPCCI president said the US GSP programme may be renewed and expanded, and Pakistani exporters should remain agile and committed to making full use of the opportunities the enormous export market of the US has to offer. He said that 55% of Pakistani exports to the US comprise textiles, however, other sectors are catching up as IT exports to the US have crossed the $1 billion mark. COMMENTS Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our

Fort scores 27 in Samford's 97-90 victory over Alabama A&M

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week observed at Amritapuri campus

Nonelodi 7777 。

Save $140 on this Samsung Galaxy A35 and Buds FE bundle at Amazon for Black Friday(The Center Square) - California Gov. Gavin Newsom said if President-elect Donald Trump ends the $7,500 electric vehicle rebate program, he’ll get Californians to pay for new credits. However, the credits would not include Tesla, which is the most popular EV company and the only EV manufacturer in the state. This comes weeks after Newsom and his administration passed new refinery and carbon credit regulations that will add up to $1.15 per gallon of gasoline and require Californians with gasoline-powered cars to earn up to another $1,000 per year in pretax income to afford. “We will intervene if the Trump Administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California,” said Newsom in a statement. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose rocket launches were recently blocked by a California regulatory board that cited his personal politics, shared his disapproval on his social media platform, X, after Newsom staff told Bloomberg that Tesla models would not qualify for California rebates. “Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California,” said Musk. “This is insane.” Musk recently moved SpaceX and X out of California, citing a new law signed by Newsom banning parental notification for gender change requests from K-12 students. The credits would be paid for through California’s cap-and-trade program, which requires carbon emitters to purchase credits from the state — costs which are generally passed on to consumers in the form of more expensive gasoline, energy, and even concrete. Emitters buy a few billion dollars worth of credits from California each year, with the state’s $135 billion high speed rail project getting the lion’s share of the revenue. The California Resources Board — all but two of whose voting members are appointed by the governor — recently approved $105 billion in EV charging credits and $8 billion in hydrogen charging credits to be largely paid for by drivers of gas cars and diesel trucks. An investigation by The Center Square found the change was pushed by EV makers and the builders of EV charging systems. Buyers of EV chargers, who pay for the energy and own the charger, sign installation contracts that permanently give away their rights to government or other EV charging credits generated from fueling a vehicle with electrons instead of gasoline. These chargers are often bundled with the purchase of an EV, or covered entirely by utility or government rebates, meaning they are permanent, zero-or-low-cost revenue streams for the company collecting the credits.

Barclays PLC Has $1.78 Million Position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)The Inner Circle acknowledges, Tane Remington as a Pinnacle Professional Member

Congress damaged dignity of Dr Manmohan Singh: BJP hits back at RahulFantasy Football Week 13 Start 'Em & Sit 'Em Running Backs: Bucky Irving has top-10 upside in all leagues - CBS SportsWoodward: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot

Elon Musk has been a presence in our lives for a long time now, and it doesn’t seem like that’s going to change any time soon. Whether it’s starting , venturing , turning Twitter into X, and now running the Department of Government Efficiency under the incoming Trump administration, the CEO has a hand in things that affect your life, directly or indirectly. And like any other , he has gotten into the booze game, even if it’s a vague affiliation—Tesla just released a new mezcal priced at a cool $450, and we got to sample this curiosity. The marque’s was a tequila that launched in 2020, a $250 bottle produced by tequila and mezcal brand Nosotros and sold by Speakeasy Co., followed by another tequila marked to an astounding $1,000 per bottle. This new mezcal was also produced in partnership with Nosotros, the second run of limited-edition mezcal that now has spirits e-commerce site and subscription service Flaviar onboard as “tech, online marketing, and fulfillment partner.” The first release came out last June and sold out pretty quickly, and this expensive bottle is also being released in pretty limited numbers. “At Flaviar, we’re inspired by the ecosystem Tesla has created through its groundbreaking innovations and are proud to be the trusted technology and fulfillment partner for Tesla Mezcal,” said Josh Jacobs, the brand’s SVP of strategic partnerships. “As with Tesla Tequila and Beer before, we have seen the first batch of Tesla Mezcal fly off the shelves in June, and we are positive this holiday restock will be no exception.” Tesla’s director of product design Javier Verdura thought up the black lightning bolt–shaped bottle; he says he was inspired by his Mexican roots. To be fair, it really looks more just like a Tesla design than anything that has to do with Mexican culture, and it sits in a holder to keep it upright but is a bit unwieldy to pour. Tesla Mezcal is an ensemble expression made from Espadín and Bicuishe agave varietals. According to the brand, the agave is milled using a tahona wheel, a traditional volcanic stone that crushes the pinas, and it is distilled in alembic stills before being bottled at 86 proof. This is an assertive mezcal, with a strong smokiness throughout every sip. There are notes of raisin, pineapple, overripe lime, and some under-ripe stone fruit on the palate, along with equal parts mineral and floral flavors. This is not some watered down version of one of Mexico’s most beloved agave spirits categories, but it still begs some questions. As Javier Cabral pointed out on the website last week, selling mezcal feels like exploitation and appropriation taken to a new level, even in an agave-spirits industry in which that is rampant. And it’s not that Tesla Mezcal is actually bad as far as quality or flavor—in fact, Nosotros is a well-regarded brand, although it is made at a distillery that produces many, many others. If you’d like to give this status-symbol mezcal a try to see what you think, you can purchase a bottle now from the Tesla Mezcal . Sign up for . For the latest news, follow us on , , and .None

Bay Shore house fire sends two residents to the hospital with smoke inhalation

1 2 Prayagraj : Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath exuded confidence that forthcoming Maha Kumbh will be a standard in itself of digital, divine and grandeur. He said no Indian would want to remain deprived of seeing uninterrupted and pure Ganga or the holy Kumbh bathing at the holy confluence of Maa Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. This time, Maha Kumbh will be made special by Prime Minister's guidance, blessings of saints and participation of common people, said Yogi on his visit to Prayagraj on Wednesday to take stock of preparations. He expressed his resolve to make Maha Kumbh an ideal example of social equality and public participation. During his visit, the chief minister unveiled equipment and development projects worth Rs 237.38 crore for security, Swachhata Mitras and Ganga Sevadoots in the fair area. "The world will get to see the rich cultural heritage of Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh and India through the world's largest spiritual and cultural gathering," said the CM, adding that preparations for the event were progressing rapidly and after its successful completion, he would return to congratulate all stakeholders. He said area of Kumbh had been increased from 1,800 hectares to 4,000 hectares, spread out in 25 sectors. Parking facility of 1,850 hectares was being provided and 14 flyovers and underpasses were being built. Along with this, nine concrete ghats were being built, seven river front roads, temporary ghats, were under construction, while 550 shuttle buses, 7,000 roadways buses along with electric buses would ply to and from seven bus stands that were being built. Through bioremediation by tapping all drains and sewers, no trash would be allowed to fall into the Ganga. The CM said that on Dec 13, PM Modi was scheduled to come to Prayagraj and pray to Ganga. He sought public cooperation to make Ganga completely clean and pure. Yogi directed officials to promote importance of Kumbh at global level to connect people from every section to ‘Green Prayagraj-Green Maha Kumbh'. He stressed special plans for safety and facilities for devotees. Instructing the police to adopt polite behaviour, he instructed them to make strong arrangements for drone surveillance, cyber security and disaster management. He said special action plan should be made for special bathing days with deployment of disaster rescue teams. The CM said there was plan to improve road, rail and air connectivity for pilgrims. Instructions were also given to run public awareness campaigns along with deploying additional manpower for cleanliness and banning single-use plastic. He said there were technical arrangements, so that various aspects of Maha Kumbh could be presented in digital form. Also, the goal of ‘Green Maha Kumbh' will be realised by activating Mohalla committees in Prayagraj. He directed officials to complete work on time and not compromise on quality. He ordered completion of work of land filling at Sangam Nose and construction of roads on time. He directed to keep NDRF and SDRF ready for adverse conditions. Laying emphasis on medical and other arrangements, the CM directed preparation of temporary hospitals for medical treatment in the fair area and gave priority to cleanliness. He also emphasised taking help of specialised institutions to study various dimensions related to Maha Kumbh. Yogi said there was curiosity all over the world for Maha Kumbh 2025 and it will be made historic with public cooperation.

' incredible success with Team USA at the has seen her nominated as one of the finalists in the 2024 Texan of the Year award as she prepares to be honored by her home state. The artistic gymnast claimed gold in the team, all-around and vault events in Paris, as well as adding a silver on the floor to bring her career haul to 11 medals in the Summer Games and to leave no doubters to her greatness after her turbulent 2020 campaign in Tokyo. The 27-year-old then embarked on her Gold Over America Tour (GOAT) across the to continue to perform her skills and to promote her sport too, as she bathes in the shine of her glory. Despite the medal haul from Europe and adoration across the nation, the nomination for Texan of the Year might be her favorite one through her staunch patriotism and passion for the Lone Star State that she grew up in and is building a home in. Biles honored by Associated Press The successes continue to come pouring Biles' way after her determined 2024 too, as the star finds herself honored as the AP Female Athlete of the Year runner-up behind the . Biles earned 25 votes to finish 10 behind the WNBA icon, and a long way ahead of in third-place, who won just four. The Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani won the AP Male Athlete of the Year too. The 4ft 8in gymnast earned recognition for her performances, and also for her awareness regarding mental health after she backed out of the Olympics in Japan after suffering the twisties before staging her fightback in 2024. "Everybody's mental health journey is unique," Biles told CNN's Coy Wire. "I'm not the poster child for it, but I'll support (anyone's) mental health journey. "Now people come up to me and they're like, 'I've been in therapy for the first time in my life, and thank you so much'. There's power in that. And I just know I'm helping people out there."

lodigame 291 register

Shoppers have complained after seeing Easter eggs already out on supermarket shelves. Easter Sunday is four months away, falling on 20 April next year, but chocolate eggs and hot cross buns have already been spotted for sale in shops including Morrisons , Tesco and Asda . Gary Evans, 66, from Margate, shared a picture of Creme Eggs on display at his local Morrisons on Boxing Day. "I just think it's crazy that everything is so superficial and meaninglessly commercial... [there's] something quite frantic about it," he said. Another bemused shopper, Joseph Robinson, saw themed Kit-Kat and Kinder Surprise products at his local Morrisons in Stoke-on-Trent on Friday evening. "It's funny as they've not even managed to shift the Christmas chocolates off the shelves yet and they're already stocking for Easter," the 35-year-old admin support worker said. "I wish that supermarkets weren't so blatantly consumerist-driven and would actually allow customers and staff a time to decompress during the Christmas period." A social media user, @Jingle1991, shared an image of Malteser Bunnies in Sainsbury's on Christmas Eve and pointed out: "Jesus hasn't even been born yet." Read more from Sky News: Major UK airport issues fog warning Anti-Christmas protest cancelled in Japan Romeo and Juliet star dies at 73 Others were less critical of the early Easter confectionary. Mike Chalmers, a devout Christian from Chippenham, Wiltshire, said: "Christmas and Easter are the two centrepoints of the Christian good news story so it's no bad thing to see the connections. "It's about more than shapes of chocolate though!" Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News Be the first to get Breaking News Install the Sky News app for free Marketing consultant Andrew Wallis, 54, admitted he was surprised to see Easter eggs in the Co-op in Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire, but added it also illustrates "forward-thinking" from big businesses. "It made me reflect on how big brands are always thinking ahead and planning early," he said. "My message to retailers would be: while planning ahead is important, it's also essential to be mindful of consumer sentiment. "Some might feel it's too early for seasonal products like this but others might see it as a sign of forward-thinking. Striking the right balance is key to keeping customers happy."An online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump’s political coalition

High school recruiting isn't the only way to build a winner in the transfer portal eraMiddle East latest: Israeli strikes kill a hospital director in Lebanon and wound 9 medics in Gaza

Colorado faces BYU in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024 (12/28/24) at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. How to watch: Fans can watch the game for free via a trial of DirecTV Stream or fuboTV . You can also watch via a subscription to Sling TV , which is offering half off your first month. Here’s what you need to know: What: Alamo Bowl Who: Colorado vs. BYU When: Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024 Where: Alamodome Time: 7:30 p.m. ET TV: ABC Live stream: DirecTV Stream or fuboTV AP Story: SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Colorado is relishing the chance to end its season on a high note regardless of the outcome of the Valero Alamo Bowl. While a number of teams are shuffling their roster with players opting out of bowl games to enter the transfer portal or prepare for the NFL Draft, the Buffaloes have their entire two-deep roster available. No. 20 Colorado (9-3, No. 23 CFP) will face the 17th-ranked BYU Cougars (10-2, No. 17 CFP) in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday. “We appreciate every single moment,” Buffaloes linebacker B.J. Green said. “This group of guys will never be together again. You have to appreciate that stuff. Football is supposed to be a fun sport. I feel a lot of time these days people have turned it into a job, and it’s not supposed to be that.” Colorado coach Deion Sanders honored his players’ commitment by securing additional disability insurance coverage for his team, including record coverage for his star duo of Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and quarterback son Shedeur. Many scouting services have Sanders rated as the top quarterback in this year’s draft, but he didn’t want to sit out and miss his final game with the Buffaloes. “It’s about cherishing the moment,” Sanders said. “It’s about knowing this is the final collegiate game, and each and every game we left it all out there. There’s no regret. I don’t ever want to go anywhere with regret, so that’s the thing.” Sanders is also looking forward to competing against BYU’s stellar defense. The Cougars had 12 different players record an FBS-best 20 interceptions this season. “(It’s) very hard to find a flaw when it comes to them because of the way they go about their business ... the way they’re able to move and react different ways,” Shedeur said. “You don’t know who is doing what, you know, so they have a great scheme. They have a great everything. I’m very blessed for my final collegiate game to go against that type of challenge.” The Cougars face a similar challenge. Shedeur Sanders completed 337 of 454 passes for 3,926 yards and 35 touchdowns. Hunter had 92 receptions for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. “Difficult matchup,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “The goal is to try to stop everybody, but I don’t know if you can do that with all the weapons they have.” Air apparent Top quarterback prospect Julian “JuJu” Lewis is working with Shedeur Sanders and Colorado this week just days after completing his high school career. Lewis, rated as the No. 2 recruit by ESPN for the Class of 2025, enrolled at Colorado after graduating early from Carrolton (Ga.) High School. Lewis completed 30 of 42 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns as Carrolton lost 38-24 to Grayson in the Georgia High School State Championship on Dec. 19. Lewis will vie for starting quarterback on Colorado’s high-powered offense next season with Sanders leaving for the NFL. Long time no see This is the 13th matchup between Colorado and BYU but the first since 1988. Ty Detmer, who won the Heisman in 1990, rallied the Cougars past the Buffaloes 20-17 in the ‘88 Freedom Bowl. Colorado leads the series 8-3-1. Heisman hardware Hunter is the second player to compete in the Alamo Bowl directly after winning the Heisman Trophy. A few weeks after receiving the Heisman Trophy in 2011, quarterback Robert Griffin III led Baylor to a 67-56 victory over Washington in the Alamo Bowl. The Bears set a bowl record for the most points and total yards (777) and combined with the Huskies to set an NCAA record for most combined points in regulation. Sharing the wealth BYU had 17 different players score touchdowns this season. The Cougars are the nation’s only team with four special teams touchdowns — three kickoff returns and one punt return for a score. Thank you for supporting journalism you can trust.VANCOUVER - Global Affairs Canada is warning Canadians in South Korea to avoid demonstrations and exercise caution after the country’s president imposed an hours-long period of martial law. The situation in South Korea arose after President Yoon Suk Yeol imposed martial law on Tuesday, vowing to eliminate what he described as “anti-state” forces from the opposition that controls parliament. Yoon’s declaration triggered tense political drama, as troops surrounded the parliament while 190 lawmakers gathered inside to vote to lift the martial law shortly after it was imposed. Global Affairs Canada has not raised the risk level for Canadians in South Korea but did ask those in the country to monitor local media for the latest information, while following authorities’ instructions, such as curfew orders. A Vancouver-based travel agent says the chaos in Seoul is not likely to have a major effect on Canadian visitor numbers to South Korea. Glynnis Chan, owner of Happy Times Travel, says the martial law dissolved quickly and will likely have minimal impact on people’s travel plans, which tend to be made at least two months in advance. “There’s always some sort of impact, but it really depends on what happens with the situation over the long term,” Chan says. “If nothing more happens, people forget after a week or so about what took place.” Chan says she is not expecting any impact on her business, since Japan is a more popular destination among her customers. Several Korean-Canadian travel agencies in Metro Vancouver declined to comment on the political situation in Seoul. After Yoon’s declaration of martial law, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the national assembly, waving banners and calling for Yoon’s impeachment, while others scuffled with military troops. The South Korean parliamentary members eventually voted to lift the declaration, with national assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik declaring it “invalid.” Police and military personnel were then seen leaving the assembly’s grounds after Woo’s call for their withdrawal. Jae-Yeon Lim, vice-president of the Canada Korea Business Association, says seeing military personnel clash with protesters and lawmakers brought back “harrowing” memories of the 1980 student-led demonstrations in Gwangju that were violently suppressed. Yoon’s move was the first declaration of martial law since the country’s democratization in 1987, and South Korea’s last previous martial law was in October 1979. “It has been a very difficult experience to see that,” Lim says of the latest martial law declaration. “But that said, I’m really happy to see that ... the national assembly managed to get the majority vote to repeal this, and they managed to do that at the risk of their own lives, even though military was there. “This is a country that will stand up for democracy.” Lim also says there would likely be little impact on bilateral relations or trade between the two countries stemming from the sudden onset of political drama, given how quickly martial law was lifted. “It’s not going to stop business from seeking to expand in Canada,” Lim says. “There’s still a very strong interest to do so from many businesses (in South Korea). “We have yet to see what will happen next, but I think that I’m a little bit reassured in seeing what has transpired ... that people are ready to defend their country and democratic rule-of-law.” — With files from The Associated Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024.WASHINGTON (AP) — One year after the Jan. 6, 2021 , U.S. Capitol attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department was committed to holding accountable all perpetrators “at any level” for “the assault on our democracy.” That bold declaration won't apply to at least one person: Donald Trump. Special counsel Jack Smith's move on Monday to abandon the federal election interference case against Trump means jurors will likely never decide whether the president-elect is criminally responsible for his attempts to cling to power after losing the 2020 campaign. The decision to walk away from the election charges and the separate classified documents case against Trump marks an abrupt end of the Justice Department’s unprecedented legal effort that once threatened his liberty but appears only to have galvanized his supporters. The abandonment of the cases accusing Trump of endangering American democracy and national security does away with the most serious legal threats he was facing as he returns to the White House. It was the culmination of a monthslong defense effort to delay the proceedings at every step and use the criminal allegations to Trump's political advantage, putting the final word in the hands of voters instead of jurors. “We always knew that the rich and powerful had an advantage, but I don’t think we would have ever believed that somebody could walk away from everything,” said Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law professor and former Justice Department official. “If there ever was a Teflon defendant, that’s Donald Trump.” While prosecutors left the door open to the possibility that federal charges could be re-filed against Trump after he leaves office, that seems unlikely. Meanwhile, Trump's presidential victory has thrown into question the future of the two state criminal cases against him in New York and Georgia. Trump was supposed to be sentenced on Tuesday after his conviction on 34 felony counts in his New York hush money case , but it's possible the sentencing could be delayed until after Trump leaves office, and the defense is pushing to dismiss the case altogether. Smith's team stressed that their decision to abandon the federal cases was not a reflection of the merit of the charges, but an acknowledgement that they could not move forward under longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Trump's presidential victory set “at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: On the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities . . . and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law,” prosecutors wrote in court papers. The move just weeks after Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris underscores the immense personal stake Trump had in the campaign in which he turned his legal woes into a political rallying cry. Trump accused prosecutors of bringing the charges in a bid to keep him out of the White House, and he promised revenge on his perceived enemies if he won a second term. “If Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may very well have spent the rest of his life in prison,” Vice President-elect JD Vance, wrote in a social media post on Monday. “These prosecutions were always political. Now it’s time to ensure what happened to President Trump never happens in this country again.” After the Jan. 6 attack by Trump supporters that left more than 100 police officers injured, Republican leader Mitch McConnell and several other Republicans who voted to acquit Trump during his Senate impeachment trial said it was up to the justice system to hold Trump accountable. The Jan. 6 case brought last year in Washington alleged an increasingly desperate criminal conspiracy to subvert the will of voters after Trump's 2020 loss, accusing Trump of using the angry mob of supporters that attacked the Capitol as “a tool” in his campaign to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence and obstruct the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory. Hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters — many of whom have said they felt called to Washington by Trump — have pleaded guilty or been convicted by juries of federal charges at the same courthouse where Trump was supposed to stand trial last year. As the trial date neared, officials at the courthouse that sits within view of the Capitol were busy making plans for the crush of reporters expected to cover the historic case. But Trump's argument that he enjoyed absolute immunity from prosecution quickly tied up the case in appeals all the way up to the Supreme Court. The high court ruled in July that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution , and sent the case back to the trial court to decide which allegations could move forward. But the case was dismissed before the trial court could get a chance to do so. The other indictment brought in Florida accused Trump of improperly storing at his Mar-a-Lago estate sensitive documents on nuclear capabilities, enlisting aides and lawyers to help him hide records demanded by investigators and cavalierly showing off a Pentagon “plan of attack” and classified map. But U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case in July on grounds that Smith was illegally appointed . Smith appealed to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but abandoned that appeal on Monday. Smith's team said it would continue its fight in the appeals court to revive charges against Trump's two co-defendants because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.” In New York, jurors spent weeks last spring hearing evidence in a state case alleging a Trump scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. New York prosecutors recently expressed openness to delaying sentencing until after Trump's second term, while Trump's lawyers are fighting to have the conviction dismissed altogether. In Georgia, a trial while Trump is in office seems unlikely in a state case charging him and more than a dozen others with conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. The case has been on hold since an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case. Associated Press reporter Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed.

Despite yesterday's wide-ranging Israel aerial assault on Yemen, the Houthis have hit back - showing they remain undeterred in their willingness to attack Israel - having launched an overnight ballistic missile on Tel Aviv. The missile was reportedly intercepted by air defenses before it entered Israeli airspace, but a Houthi spokesman claimed that Ben Gurion international airport was targeted in a significant escalation. The Houthis even claim it was hit. Times of Israel notes that the population of central Israel has been on edge: " For the fifth night in the last eight days, sirens sounded in large swathes of central Israel overnight Thursday-Friday, after another ballistic missile attack by Yemen’s Houthis." The same report indicated that some 20 people were hurt amid the panic and evacuations, with 18 of those slightly injured while rushing to bomb shelters and two suffering anxiety attacks. The Houthi statement said that "the missile succeeded in reaching its target despite the enemy’s censorship, and the operation resulted in casualties and the cessation of navigation at the airport." But the Israeli military confirmed that there were no strikes which hit the airport or its vicinity . A drone was also reportedly sent from Yemen but didn't appear to cause damage. Despite Israel stepping up its attacks on Yemen, including Netanyahu's recent vow to hunt down Houthi leadership, the Houthis have vowed to not stop the attacks "until the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege is lifted." Days ago, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the leaders of the Yemeni group have made themselves targets. Taking them out will now be a top priority for the Israeli military. "Just as we took care of Sinwar in Gaza, Haniyeh in Tehran and Nasrallah in Beirut, we will deal with the heads of the Houthis in Sana’a or anywhere in Yemen," Katz has said in the Tuesday comments, making reference to the slain leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas. "We will act both against their infrastructure and against them to remove the threat," he pledged while inspecting an Arrow air defense system battery which just intercepted the latest Houthi missile attack. NEW: Yemen's Houthis launched another ballistic missile toward Tel Aviv following Israeli airstrikes on Yemen yesterday. The missile was intercepted by Israel. pic.twitter.com/ElZO1SJ20G He also again called out Iran, warning that "whoever sponsors the Houthi terror in Hodeida or Sana’a will pay the full price." Washington has for years documented Tehran's support to the group, which has included advanced missiles and drone technology. This has allowed the threat out of Yemen to grow significantly. Last Saturday saw one of the biggest Houthi strikes to date, coming in the form of a reported hypersonic ballistic missile which hit Tel Aviv, leaving 16 people injured. And Tuesday morning saw another Houthi missile launch on Israel, which at that point had marked the third such attack in less than a week.

DENVER — So you're the most valuable player of that annual Thanksgiving Day backyard flag football game. Or played tackle football on any level. Or ran track. Or dabbled in basketball. Or toyed with any sport, really. Well, this may be just for you: USA Football is holding talent identification camps all over the country to find that next flag football star. It's "America's Got Talent" meets "American Idol," with the stage being the field and the grand prize a chance to compete for a spot on a national team. Because it's never too early to start planning for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, where flag football will make its Summer Games debut. Know this, though — it's not an easy team to make. The men's and women's national team rosters are at "Dream Team" status given the men's side has captured six of the last seven world championships and the women three in a row. To remain on top, the sport's national governing body is scouring every football field, park, track, basketball court and gym to find hidden talent to cultivate. USA Football has organized camps and tryouts from coast to coast for anyone ages 11 to 23. There are more than a dozen sites set up so far, ranging from Dallas (Sunday) to Chicago (Dec. 14) to Tampa (March 29) to Los Angeles (TBD) and the Boston area (April 27), where it will be held at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. The organization has already partnered with the NFL on flag football initiatives and programs. The numbers have been through the roof, with engagement on social media platforms increasing by 86% since flag football was announced as an Olympic invitational sport in October 2023. The participation of boys and girls ages 6 to 17 in flag football last year peaked at more than 1.6 million, according to USA Football research. "We pride ourselves on elevating the gold standard across the sport," said Eric Mayes, the managing director of the high performance and national teams for USA Football. "We want to be the best in the world — and stay the best in the world." Flag football was one of five new sports added to the LA28 program. The already soaring profile of American football only figures to be enhanced by an Olympic appearance. Imagine, say, a few familiar faces take the field, too. Perhaps even NFL stars such as Tyreek Hill or Patrick Mahomes, maybe even past pro football greats donning a flag belt for a country to which they may have ties. Soon after flag football's inclusion, there was chatter of NFL players possibly joining in on the fun. Of course, there are logistical issues to tackle before their inclusion at the LA Olympics, which open July 14, 2028. Among them, training camp, because the Olympics will be right in the middle of it. The big question is this: Will owners permit high-priced players to duck out for a gold-medal pursuit? No decisions have yet been made on the status of NFL players for the Olympics. For now, it's simply about growing the game. There are currently 13 states that sanction girls flag football as a high school varsity sport. Just recently, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles helped pave the way to get it adopted in Pennsylvania. Around the world, it's catching on, too. The women's team from Japan took third at the recent word championships, while one of the best players on the planet is Mexico quarterback Diana Flores. "Could flag football globally become the new soccer? That's something to aspire to," said Stephanie Kwok, the NFL's vice president of flag football. This type of flag football though, isn't your Thanksgiving Day game with family and friends. There's a learning curve. And given the small roster sizes, versatility is essential. Most national team members need to be a version of Colorado's two-way standout and Heisman hopeful Travis Hunter. Forget bump-and-run coverage, too, because there's no contact. None. That took some adjusting for Mike Daniels, a defensive back out of West Virginia who earned a rookie minicamp invitation with the Cleveland Browns in 2017. "If a receiver is running around, I'm thinking, 'OK, I can kind of bump him here and there and nudge him,'" Daniels explained. "They're like, 'No, you can't.' I'm just like, 'So I'm supposed to let this guy just run?!' I really rebelled at the idea at first. But you learn." The competition for an Olympic roster spot is going to be fierce because only 10 players are expected to make a squad. The best 10 will earn it, too, as credentials such as college All-American or NFL All-Pro take a backseat. "I would actually love" seeing NFL players try out, said Daniels, who's also a personal trainer in Miami. "I'm not going to let you just waltz in here, thinking, 'I played NFL football for five years. I'm popular. I have a huge name.' I'm still better than you and I'm going to prove it — until you prove otherwise." Around the house, Bruce Mapp constantly swivels his hips when turning a hallway corner or if his daughter tries to reach for a hug. It's his way of working on avoiding a "defender" trying to snare the flag. That approach has earned the receiver out of Coastal Carolina four gold medals with USA Football. The 31-year-old fully plans on going for more gold in Los Angeles. "You grow up watching Usain Bolt (win gold) and the 'Redeem Team' led by Kobe Bryant win a gold medal, you're always thinking, 'That's insane.' Obviously, you couldn't do it in your sport, because I played football," said Mapp, who owns a food truck in the Dallas area. "With the Olympics approaching, that (gold medal) is what my mind is set on." It's a common thought, which is why everything — including talent camps — starts now. "Everybody thinks, 'Yeah, the U.S. just wins,'" Daniels said. "But we work hard all the time. We don't just walk in. We don't just get off the bus thinking, 'We're going to beat people.'" Get local news delivered to your inbox!US News Today Live Updates: In today’s dynamic landscape, staying updated on the latest developments across the United States is essential. US News delivers the most impactful and current stories from coast to coast, covering a broad spectrum of topics, including politics, economic trends, healthcare, social issues, and cultural shifts. From significant government actions and economic shifts to breakthroughs in technology and the latest social debates, we provide real-time updates and thoughtful analysis to keep you informed. Our goal is to keep you connected to the stories that shape American life, ensuring you’re always in the know on the news that matters. US News Today Live: Most anticipated movies of 2025: Avatar 3, Jurassic World, Back in Action, The Fantastic Four, Michael, and more

Last Email from Shaheed BibiBy Lagi Keresoma/ Apia, Samoa – 04 December 2024 – The Director General of Health, Aiono Dr. Alec Ekeroma is suing the Samoa National Provident Fund (SNPF) and the Samoa Observer newspaper for divulging confidential customers’ loan information. “I suspect that a member of the Parliament Finance Committee requested information from SNPF through the committee and the latter was not legally or duly bound to release that information,” said Aiono. Aiono believes a Parliamentary Committee member “leaked” the information to the Samoa Observer for “political reasons and malice.” He is also considering suing the individual or individuals involved. Aiono’s health clinic was among six businesses that were approved major investment loans from SNPF which drew public criticisms when the information and details were published in the newspaper.Astronaut Suni Williams and Astrobee

Broncos hope to continue playoff push when they meet the banged-up RaidersFACT FOCUS: Vermont ruling does not say schools can vaccinate children without parental consentNEW YORK , Dec. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Walmart Inc. ("Walmart" or the "Company") (NYSE: WMT ). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980. The investigation concerns whether Walmart and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here for information about joining the class action] On December 23, 2024 , the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") announced that it had filed a lawsuit against Walmart and Branch Messenger for forcing delivery drivers to use costly deposit accounts to get paid and for deceiving workers—"last mile" drivers in Walmart's Spark Driver program—about how they could access their earnings. The CFPB's lawsuit alleges that Walmart and Branch opened Branch accounts for Spark Drivers, and Walmart then deposited drivers' pay into these accounts, without the drivers' consent. According to the CFPB, Walmart told Spark Drivers that they were required to use Branch to get paid and that they would terminate workers who did not want to use these accounts. Further, Walmart and Branch also misled workers about the availability of same-day access to their earnings. In addition, in a press release announcing the lawsuit, the CFPB stated that "[d]rivers had to follow a complex process to access their funds, and when they finally did, they faced further delays or fees if they needed to transfer the money they earned into an account of their choice. This resulted in workers paying more than $10 million in fees to transfer their earnings to an account of their choice." On this news, Walmart's stock price fell sharply during intraday trading on December 23, 2024 . On December 16, 2024 , Enovix issued a press release "announc[ing] that CFO Farhan Ahmad has left the company and that it is searching for a new CFO." On this news, Enovix's stock price fell $0.56 per share, or 6.24%, to close at $8.42 per share on December 16, 2024 . Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York , Chicago , Los Angeles , London , Paris , and Tel Aviv , is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz , known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud , breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com . Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. CONTACT: Danielle Peyton Pomerantz LLP [email protected] 646-581-9980 ext. 7980 SOURCE Pomerantz LLPSouth Korea's President Yoon declares 'emergency martial law', suspends parliament, opposed by own party leader

Ranked teams will be on Thursday’s college basketball schedule in one game, the UConn Huskies taking on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Watch women’s college basketball, other live sports and more on Fubo. What is Fubo? Fubo is a streaming service that gives you access to your favorite live sports and shows on demand. Use our link to sign up. No. 2 UConn Huskies at No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Catch tons of live women’s college basketball , plus original programming, with ESPN+ or the Disney Bundle.PLB Viet Nam - Genuine bearing distributor in VietnamS&P/TSX composite index slightly up Wednesday, U.S. stock markets also riselodigame redeem code 。

ASX set to rise as Wall Street extends winning streak

Mayor Adams set to kick off pivotal re-election year with State of the City address at Apollo Theater

Big Ten Signing Day: Late flips push Oregon ahead of Ohio State and Michigan in rankings

Three better ways of investing in irrigation

Brazil shares higher at close of trade; Bovespa up 1.06%Why Stellar, Polkadot and NEAR Protocol Were 3 Of the Biggest Crypto Winners This Weekend

Falcons QB Cousins is looking to avoid interceptions, have bounce-back game in Minnesota homecomingEnergy bills set to rise again for UK households from January amid ongoing market volatilityDrysdale property where two homes will double the fun

Independence Blue Cross launches Epic Payer Platform to transform care coordination and boost member health outcomesQatar tribune QNA Doha The Qatar Credit Bureau (CB) has announced the launch of its five-year strategy aimed at enhancing and advancing its services to keep abreast with global changes. The strategy seeks to create a healthy and sustainable credit environment that fosters trust in the State of Qatar’s credit sector. The strategy aims to expand the Qatar Credit Bureau’s credit database by including new sectors. Currently, the database encompasses 32 sectors, such as banks, finance companies, telecom, and automotive companies. It will now be expanded to include insurance companies, increasing the total number of regulated sectors. The bureau stated that its five-year strategy will leverage big data and artificial intelligence technologies to develop innovative products. These products will help credit providers make more accurate credit decisions, fostering greater transparency and mitigating credit risks. The bureau also reaffirmed its commitment to raising public awareness about the importance of maintaining a good credit record. Through its awareness initiatives, the bureau aims to guide individuals toward improved financial management and achieve financial stability that benefits all. page 8 Copy 23/12/2024 10

Toll Brothers Announces Cash Dividend

Judge in Calgary asked to overturn new blanket residential zoning bylawNORAD’s Santa tracker was a Cold War morale boost. Now it attracts millions of kids.TORONTO — Canada's main stock index edged higher in trading on Wednesday, helped by strength in the technology sector, while U.S. stock markets also rose. The S&P/TSX composite index was up 5.45 points at 25,641.18. The index took a “breather” Wednesday ahead of key labour market indicators set to be released both in Canada and the U.S. this week, said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones. Statistics Canada will report the latest data from the national labour force survey on Friday, the same day the November jobs report is due in the U.S. “That's the last important data point for the Bank of Canada before they meet next week,” said Kourkafas. November was a strong month for equities, he said, so it isn't surprising that investors are digesting the gains while they await new data. He said it’s expected that Statistics Canada will report an acceleration of job gains after last month brought a “relatively weak reading,” with job gains at about half of what analysts were expecting. While Canada’s central bank is expected to cut its key interest rate a fifth straight time on Dec. 11, the size of the cut could depend on that jobs data, he said. “We're now looking at a rebound, but as the Bank of Canada deliberates between a quarter point cut versus half a percentage point cut, I think what we are going to see in terms of unemployment rate and the base of job gains is going to have a say into that,” said Kourkafas, adding that wage growth is another important metric to watch. “If we see steady job growth and slowing wages, that can potentially tilt the Bank of Canada towards a larger cut.” In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 308.51 points at 45,014.04. The S&P 500 index was up 36.61 points at 6,086.49, while the Nasdaq composite was up 254.21 points at 19,735.12. U.S. markets were propelled by strength in the technology sector, said Kourkafas, highlighting strong results in quarterly earnings released this week by Salesforce Inc. and Marvell Technology Inc. “I think today's results highlight that there is still a long runway and still enthusiasm, excitement about artificial intelligence and kind of that multi-year adoption cycle,” he said. The Canadian dollar traded for 71.09 cents US compared with 71.14 cents US on Tuesday. The January crude oil contract was down US$1.40 at US$68.54 per barrel and the January natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$3.04 per mmBTU. The February gold contract was up US$8.30 at US$2,676.20 an ounce and the March copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.20 a pound. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press

Will Howard and Ryan Day Send Clear Message to Fans Ahead of Indiana-Ohio State Gamewww lodigame ph 。

The New Jersey Devils defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on Thursday night at the Prudential Center, ending their six-game win streak. The Devils put together a stifling defensive effort and beat the Kings at their own game to earn a big two points in the standings. With the win, the Devils improved to 19-10-3, while the Kings fell to 17-9-3. Game Recap: Devils vs. Kings Period One The Devils held the early edge in play, putting some dangerous shots on David Rittich in the first 10 minutes. New Jersey kept the pressure on throughout the period, but as has been the trend, they couldn’t find the back of the net despite outplaying their opponent. The Devils outshot the Kings 9-1 in the first frame. Period Two New Jersey continued to carry play in the first half of the second period, again outshooting the Kings. Paul Cotter took an awkward backward fall over Kevin Fiala , who was down on the ice, which led to a scoring chance for the Kings that Jacob Markstrom defended. Cotter was slow to get up but remained on the bench. The Kings got a fast break, and Alex Turcotte was hooked, resulting in a penalty shot. Turcotte missed the net on his attempt. After the Devils had a two-on-one chance in their own end, the puck went the other way and at 16:41, Jordan Spence scored from distance through Brett Pesce’s legs. Alex Laferriere and Phillip Danault had the assists. The Devils answered right back at 18:56 with a play created by Jack Hughes , who circled the net and fired a shot that deflected in off Ondrej Palat’s stick. Jesper Bratt added a secondary assist. JACK HUGHES, SHOT OUT OF A CANNON, JUST CIRCLED AROUND THE ICE ON THE KINGS pic.twitter.com/TEr3Q4RaNC New Jersey led the shot total 9-8 in the second period. Period Three New Jersey came out strong in the third, forcing turnovers and throwing pucks toward the Los Angeles net. Both teams settled into a very defense-first structure, with a lot of neutral zone traffic that forced dump-ins. Nico Hischier got caught with a high stick, and the Devils were awarded the first power play opportunity for either team. New Jersey got a few shots through to Rittich, but they couldn’t convert. Dawson Mercer was hit in the face with a deflected shot and immediately went down the tunnel. He did not return to the game. The Devils grabbed their first lead of the game with Jack Hughes’ 12 th goal of the season at 12:58. Palat found Hughes in front with a beautiful backhanded-pass through traffic for his second point of the night. Brenden Dillon got on the scoresheet with a secondary assist. Palat returned the favor... JACK HUGHES GOAL pic.twitter.com/vx1eGAWix0 New Jersey was tagged for a tripping penalty with just under four minutes left in the game. After a great save by Markstrom and a clear by Jack Hughes, the Devils broke out. At 17:17, Pesce scored his first goal as a Devil and his first career shorthanded goal. Jack Hughes had the only assist, earning him another three-point night. Hey shorty, how ya doin? pic.twitter.com/6hSL3tbbLY The Kings pulled their goalie, but the Devils closed out a great performance with a deserved victory. The Devils outshot the Kings 26-13 in the win. Takeaways Devils Defense Reigns Supreme The Devils put together an impressive defensive performance and out-dueled one of the best shutdown teams in the NHL. They allowed just 13 total shots against a team that averages over 27 per game. Contrarily, the Kings allow just 24.2 shots per game, the lowest average in the league, and the Devils put 26 on Rittich, successfully scoring three. This came on the heels of another quality defensive effort against the Maple Leafs, when the Devils allowed just 17 total shots by Toronto’s potent offense. It also marked the second consecutive game that the team allowed just one shot in the first period. While New Jersey ultimately fell to the Maple Leafs in overtime, such stifling defense in back-to-back games is a welcome sight for Sheldon Keefe. “A major priority when I was coming here was to get this team to defend, and we’re really starting to figure it out, and it’s been exciting,” said Keefe postgame. New Jersey’s defensive improvements are reflected in the statistics. They’re allowing an average of 2.66 goals per game, which is 6 th fewest in the league. They also have a top 10 penalty kill in the league, operating at 81.3%. The penalty kill, in particular, was huge for the Devils against the Kings. While there weren’t many odd-man situations for either team, New Jersey’s penalty kill came through at a pivotal point in the game and even scored an insurance goal to secure the victory. Jack Hughes also continued his excellent defensive efforts, making a crucial play to clear the zone on the late penalty kill. Not only was he responsible for getting the puck out, but his defense resulted in offense with an assist on Pesce’s shorthanded goal just a few seconds later. It’s encouraging to see the whole team buy into the defensive system and be rewarded for their efforts. Palat Stays Hot Ondrej Palat has flown under the radar for much of the season, but his contributions have shown through in the past few games. He notched the only goal for New Jersey on Tuesday against the Maple Leafs and racked up another goal and an assist against the Kings. He doesn’t play a flashy game, but he consistently wins pucks and makes plays to find Jack Hughes and Bratt in scoring positions. More recently, he has gone to the dangerous areas of the ice and been the beneficiary of great passes from his linemates. While he doesn’t always find himself on the scoresheet, he has complemented his line nicely, and it is good to see him rewarded with some points. Up Next: Devils vs. Blackhawks The Devils look to close off their homestand on a high note when they take on Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon at the Rock. The Blackhawks sit at the bottom of the Central Division with a 9-18-2 record. In their most recent game, they fell just short of a four-goal comeback, losing 5-4 to the New York Islanders. Puck drop is set for 1:00 p.m. on MSGSN, CHSN and NHLN. This article first appeared on Inside The Rink and was syndicated with permission.China Industrial Air Compressor Market Size 2024: Global Share, Industry And Report Analysis By 2031 | Airman Asia Sdn Bhd (Hokuetsu Industries Co., Ltd.) Atlas Copco AB BAUER COMPRESSORS INC.

How to protect your communications through encryption

Mumbai: Close to 2,000 illegal posters and banners were removed on Saturday by BMC from across the city. Ahead of the oath- taking ceremony of the chief ministerand two deputy CMs on Dec 5, several illegal posters and banners had come up accross the city, especially around the Azad Maidan in Fort, the venue of the ceremony. Many of these posters and banners had political party workers congratulating the new CM and DCMs and welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Amit Shah who had come to Mumbai to attend the oath ceremony. According to action taken report shared by BMC, a total of 1,923 illegal posters and banners were removed. Of these, 766 were were removed from A ward alone which includes part of Fort, Churchgate, Marine Drive, Colaba and Nariman Point. Of these, 605 were flags alone. Among other civic wards, 140 were removed from S ward which includes parts of Bhandup and Powai, 106 from G North which includes parts of Dadar, Mahim. A BMC official said that there were strict instructions from the municipal commissioner to remove all illegal posters and banners immediately from accross the city. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .For one of the best VR headset deals , head to Best Buy right now. You can currently buy the Sony PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle for $350 instead of $600. $250 discount? Yup, it’s real. It’s the perfect gift for the whole family this holiday season. If you’re looking for a fun activity for the whole family to try after opening presents, this is the deal to nab. Why you should buy the Sony PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle Whether you’ve owned a PlayStation 5 for a while or you recently bought one, it’s fun to dive into VR gaming. With the PlayStation VR2 headset , you arguably gain more accessible gaming than other VR headsets. Setup is quick and only requires one wired connection to your console. It’s one of the best VR headsets around for many people thanks to its simplicity. It offers a 100-degree field of view with 4K HDR visuals and cutting-edge performance. Its two OLED displays with 2,000 x 2040 resolution look great on your eyes. There’s also eye tracking, headset feedback, and 3D audio. In conjunction with the PS5 controller, you get haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and finger touch detection, so it’s a truly immersive experience. You can really lose yourself in a game compared to more conventional methods. The bundle comes with Horizon: Call of the Mountain , which tops our look at the best PSVR2 games . The game is “more of a Horizon-themed amusement park ride than a standalone Horizon adventure, but it’s still a very impressive new look into the series’ techno-dystopia and is a visual masterpiece.” It’s a good entry point to VR gaming and a ton of fun. You can check out the beautiful world of Horizon in 360 degrees with intuitive movement for climbing mountains, shooting bows, and plenty of other activities. The Sony PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle normally costs $600, but right now you can buy it for $350 at Best Buy. A great deal for anyone who wants to try VR gaming, check it out now before the price goes back up.Red Bulls go into MLS Cup final with distinctly Canadian flavour in front office

Great Falls PD warns drivers of slippery roads as winter weather crashes rise

COLLEGE FB NOTESWatch | 'Vision is key, you can donate eyes but not vision', says Gadkari at IBLA 2024

How to protect your communications through encryption

NoneWays To Invest In Gold & Silver: Bullion, Etfs & Mining Stocks Guide ReleasedArsenal boss Mikel Arteta has explained why star Gabriel Magalhaes had to be substituted at half-time in Saturday's swashbuckling 5-2 win against West Ham . In-form centre-back Gabriel opened the scoring for the Gunners with just 10 minutes on the clock, heading home a Bukayo Saka corner to notch his second goal in as many games. Arsenal scored four more while West Ham pulled two back in a chaotic first half, but Gabriel didn't remerge for the second period. The Brazilian was replaced by Jakub Kiwior, who helped see out the Gunners' fourth win by a margin of three or more goals in the space of eight days. Post-match, Arteta was asked about Gabriel's condition and revealed that he'd suffered a reoccurrence of an injury picked up against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday. "It was related to the previous injury that he had in Lisbon," the Arsenal boss told reporters. "Obviously he did great to be part of that but with that result and with the niggle that he's feeling, we decided to take him off." Arteta was also asked about star man Saka as well as Riccardo Calafiori, who were both taken off in the second half. "He's fine. He's fine. No problem," the Arsenal boss said of Saka, who scored one goal and registered three assists. "Ricci, he's been with little niggles in the last few weeks. "Obviously he had a very serious knee injury and he's doing really well, but we have to manage his minutes and today we have to do the same." On the overall performance, Arteta hailed: "It was a spectacular 30 minutes. Straight away, how much the team wanted it, the purpose, the determination, the quality that we deliver, to score three great goals in different ways and then score the fourth one in a great way as well. Will Arsenal continue their hot streak against Manchester United? Have your say in the comments section . "But then after that, we had a period where the individual quality of them play a big part. 4-2, and then it's game on, you can sense the energy change and then what's next. I think it’s great to score the fifth one because that calmed everything down. For the second half, we could play a very different game, that it was much more suited to us." He was also greatly pleased with the substitutes who replaced Gabriel, Saka and Calafiori. "Very important, we had an issue with Gabi, we have an issue with Ricky as well, yesterday we lost Thomas [Partey] and Mikel [Merino] and Myles [Lewis-Skelly] which was very bad news but what I'm really happy about is Jakub has to come in, he does really well," Artet added. " Alex [Zinchenko] the same, Jorginho , I thought he was exceptional today as well. That's the level, every three days we're going to need everybody at their best and it’s a good sign that the team can do that." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Sky has slashed the price of its Sky Sports, Sky Stream, Sky TV and Netflix bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £240 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.pinstock/E+ via Getty Images PRFZ strategy Invesco FTSE RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid ETF ( NASDAQ: PRFZ ) was launched on 09/20/2006 and tracks the FTSE RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid Index. It has 1451 holdings, a 30-day SEC yield of 1.05% and a net Quantitative Risk & Value (QRV) provides you with risk indicators and data-driven, time-tested strategies. Get started with a two-week free trial now. Fred Piard, PhD. is a quantitative analyst and IT professional with over 30 years of experience working in technology. He is the author of three books and has been investing in data-driven systematic strategies since 2010. Quantitative Risk & Value Learn more Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

5 larong pinoy None

Ev Williams was lonely. He doesn’t want you to be.Trump picks Musk ally Jared Isaacman to head NASA

New Jersey Harassment Lawyer Adam M. Lustberg Releases Insightful Article on Harassment Laws in New Jersey2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections: What lies ahead for the INDIA bloc?

Gordon Brown declares opposition to assisted dying law

DETROIT (AP) — If Donald Trump makes good on his threat to slap 25% tariffs on everything imported from Mexico and Canada, the price increases that could follow will collide with his campaign promise to give American families a break from inflation. Economists say companies would have little choice but to pass along the added costs, dramatically raising prices for food, clothing, automobiles, booze and other goods. The president-elect floated the tariff idea, including additional 10% taxes on goods from China, as a way to force the countries to halt the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the U.S. But his posts Monday on Truth Social threatening the tariffs on his first day in office could just be a negotiating ploy to get the countries to change behavior. High food prices were a major issue in voters picking Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris, but tariffs almost certainly would push those costs up even further. For instance, the Produce Distributors Association, a Washington trade group, said Tuesday that tariffs will raise prices for fresh fruit and vegetables and hurt U.S. farmers when other countries retaliate. “Tariffs distort the marketplace and will raise prices along the supply chain, resulting in the consumer paying more at the checkout line,” said Alan Siger, association president. Mexico and Canada are two of the biggest exporters of fresh fruit and vegetables to the U.S. In 2022, Mexico supplied 51% of fresh fruit and 69% of fresh vegetables imported by value into the U.S., while Canada supplied 2% of fresh fruit and 20% of fresh vegetables. Before the election, about 7 in 10 voters said they were very concerned about the cost of food, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters. “We’ll get them down,” Trump told shoppers during a September visit to a Pennsylvania grocery store. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada its top three suppliers, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. People looking to buy a new vehicle likely would see big price increases as well, at a time when costs have gone up so much that they are out of reach for many. The average price of a new vehicle now runs around $48,000. About 15% of the 15.6 million new vehicles sold in the U.S. last year came from Mexico, while 8% crossed the border from Canada, according to Global Data. Much of the tariffs would get passed along to consumers, unless automakers can somehow quickly find productivity improvements to offset them, said C.J. Finn, U.S. automotive sector leader for PwC, a consulting firm. That means even more consumers “would potentially get priced out of the activity” of buying a new vehicle, Finn said. Hardest hit would be Volkswagen, Stellantis, General Motors and Ford, Bernstein analyst Daniel Roeska wrote Tuesday in a note to investors. Stellantis and VW import about 40% of the vehicles they sell from Canada and Mexico, while it's 30% for GM and 25% for Ford. GM and Stellantis import more than half of their high-profit pickup trucks from the two countries, according to Bernstein. If Trump does impose the tariffs in January, the auto industry would have little time to adjust, putting operating profits at risk for the automakers, Roeska said in an email. “A 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada would severely cripple the U.S. auto industry,” he said. The tariffs would hurt U.S. industrial production so much that “we expect this is unlikely to happen in practice,” Roeska said. The tariff threat hit the stocks of some companies that could be particularly hurt, such as auto manufacturers and Constellation Brands, which sells Modelo and other Mexican beer brands in the United States. But the overall market held relatively steady near records as investors saw Trump’s proposal as more of an opening position for negotiations rather than as a definitive policy. It's not clear how long the tariffs would last if they are implemented, but they could force auto executives to move production to the U.S., which could create more jobs in the long run. But Morningstar analyst David Whiston said in the short term automakers probably won't make any moves because they can't quickly change where they build vehicles. To move to the U.S., they would have to buy equipment and revamp their parts supply chain, which can take years. “I think everyone is going to be in a wait-and-see mode,” Whiston said. Millions of dollars worth of auto parts flow across the borders with Mexico and Canada, and that could raise prices for already costly automobile repairs, Finn said. The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. said tariffs on tequila or Canadian whisky won’t boost American jobs because they are distinctive products that can only be made in their country of origin. In 2023, the U.S. imported $4.6 billion worth of tequila and $108 million worth of mezcal from Mexico and $537 million worth of spirits from Canada, the council said. “At the end of the day, tariffs on spirits products from our neighbors to the north and south are going to hurt U.S. consumers and lead to job losses across the U.S. hospitality industry just as these businesses continue their long recovery from the pandemic,” the council said in a statement. Electronics retailer Best Buy said on its third-quarter earnings conference call that it runs on thin profit margins, so while vendors and the company will shoulder some increases, Best Buy will have to pass tariffs on to customers. “These are goods that people need, and higher prices are not helpful,” CEO Corie Barry said. Walmart also warned this week that tariffs could force it to raise prices, as did Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who talked with Trump after his call for tariffs, said they had a good conversation about how the countries can work together on the challenges they face. "This is something that we can do, laying out the facts and moving forward in constructive ways. This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on and that’s what we’ll do,” Trudeau said. Trump's transition team wouldn't comment on the call. Also Monday, Trump turned his ire to China, saying he has “had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail.” The Chinese Embassy in Washington cautioned on Monday that there will be losers on all sides if there is a trade war. Trump's threats come as arrests for illegally crossing the border from Mexico have been falling . The most recent U.S. numbers for October show arrests remain near four-year lows. But arrests for illegally crossing the border from Canada have been rising over the past two years. Much of America’s fentanyl is smuggled from Mexico. Border seizures of the drug rose sharply under President Joe Biden. The tariffs would also throw into doubt the reliability of the 2020 trade deal brokered in large part by Trump with Canada and Mexico, the USMCA, which replaced NAFTA and is up for review in 2026. Trump transition team officials did not immediately respond to questions about what authority he would use, what he would need to see to prevent the tariffs from being implemented and how they would impact prices in the U.S. Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department and Economy Department also had no immediate reaction to Trump’s statements. ___ Rugaber reported from Washington. AP reporters Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, Stan Choe and Anne D'Innocenzio in New York, and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

Illinois St. 84, UAB 83

'Your situation is a tragedy': Former Penn Hills basketball standout sentenced in killing

Congressional bicameral team pushes for insurance, pharmaceutical reform

ONEOK Inc. stock rises Friday, still underperforms market

Hennepin County residents can face long wait times when applying for public assistance programs intended to help the community’s most vulnerable in times of crisis. In 2024, average wait times for county employees to process applications for safety net programs like food stamps, cash assistance and housing aid often were over a month, data through August from the human services department shows. Applicants and case workers say staffing shortages combined with a complex system for vetting requests means residents may wait days or weeks past the 30-day goal county officials have for processing most applications. Demand for aid programs is typically highest at the beginning of the year, and some fear 2025 will bring another backlog of applications. “Every time I talked to someone, they said they were backed up. They passed me off to someone else,” said Katelin Handy, a Minneapolis resident who visited the human services center on Lake Street recently. Earlier this year, her application for the Minnesota Family Improvement Program, which provides cash assistance to families with children, took almost two months to be processed, Handy said. Now she’s waited over a month for a response to her request for rental assistance. “My landlord just told me I have two weeks before I get evicted,” she said. County leaders acknowledge problems with the application system for public benefits, including long wait times, a challenging phone system and an online portal that can be tough to navigate. They’ve hired staff and tried to otherwise improve the system to make it function more quickly. “We are going to keep staffing up and making sure we have the right people in the right places,” said Commissioner Angela Conley, who chairs the County Board’s health and human services committee. “We are seeing an influx of people, and that speaks to how people are unable to afford their lives right now,” said Conley, who acknowledged the long waits could mean some residents losing housing, forgoing medical care or going hungry. “We don’t want that to happen.” What residents are experiencing Extended wait times for public support applications have been an issue for years in Hennepin County, and human services officials say they are not the only jurisdiction struggling to keep up. A big driver is demand; the number of applications has soared since the coronavirus pandemic and staffing has not kept pace. In 2020, the county had an average of 515 staffers processing applications, while this year, the average has fallen to 463 workers. The number of applications has grown 57% since 2020, with more than 175,000 requests filed this year. New employees take six months to a year to fully train on complex government systems. In a competitive job market, attrition has been a problem, too. Meanwhile, the county moved to a state-run website to take applications in 2021 but still uses legacy computer systems that are not fully compatible, so considerable information has to be re-entered by hand. Applicants often need to upload various forms to determine their eligibility, and they say the website can be tricky to use. Finally, most applications require a phone interview, and if an applicant misses a call from a case worker, they have to call back and often sit on hold. Earlier this year, the county’s phone lines were open from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Times were extended by an hour this summer. However, callers can only stay on hold for two hours; after that, to many applicants’ frustration, the system automatically hangs up. County data shows hold times averaged about 8 minutes in January 2020, when the system received about 26,000 calls. This January, the average wait was over 30 minutes, and the system logged 37,000 calls. Some applicants say they’ve waited much longer. Grace Baltich, a social worker and leader of the union that represents human services workers, says staffing shortages, technology challenges and long waits on the phone to connect with case workers have exacerbated delays. “A lot of the people who use economic supports are very poor or have disabilities and may not have the resources or capacity to utilize online technology to complete applications,” Baltich said. The county needs to improve pay to attract and retain staff while streamlining the application system and making more case workers available in person to applicants, she said. Otherwise, residents’ frustrations will continue, and that takes a toll. “It’s very toxic to your mental health, and that comes through to our workers, the frustrations that our clients have,” Baltich said. Latrice Opokumanu experienced that firsthand. After struggling with the phone system, she visited a county human services center to speak with a case worker in person. She had to wait there, too, but she was able to resolve her issue. “I was on hold for two hours. My phone died,” Opokumanu said. How county officials are responding Regina Wagner, the county’s director of economic support, said the county is committed to improving the application system and shortening processing times. That includes constantly examining metrics to be “nimble” and respond to changing demands. “We need to do better for residents, and there are a lot of things we have in motion to make the experience less frustrating and more beneficial and eliminate the need for repeat calls,” Wagner said. “We know the phone experience has not been all that it should be for our residents.” They’ve hired more than 100 people this year to work on applications and are trying to streamline the training process so those new employees can have a quicker impact, Wagner said. The County Board recently approved 4% wage increases each of the next three years for workers. That is on top of 3% annual merit pay increases employees are eligible for annually if they are not at the top of the pay scale for their position. County officials are working to update the phone system so applicants can more easily connect with the correct staff. There also are more case workers at the county’s five human services centers to help applicants in person. That’s welcome news to residents like Misty Reed, of Mound, who is homeless and stopped by a service center recently to check on her food stamp application. She said trying to apply online and over the phone was both frustrating and anxiety-inducing. “It’s good to talk to someone face to face,” she said..As party postpones national convention The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum has called for greater unity within the party’s ranks, urgent economic reforms and a reform of the electoral system. The PDP governors made the call in a communique read by Bala Mohammed, Bauchi State governor and chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum at the end of the party’s 7th meeting held on Saturday in Jos, the Plateau State capital. The meeting, which was attended by influential leaders within the PDP, including the National Working Committee (NWC), the Board of Trustees (BOT), and other major party figures, addressed various issues affecting the party and the nation. The forum expressed its commitment to addressing divisions within the party, emphasising the importance of unity ahead of the next general elections. “The Forum notes the concerns of Nigerians, PDP founding fathers, elders and members of our great Party of seeming divisions within the ranks and files. The Forum wishes to state categorically that it remains resolute in its determination to ensure unity and cohesion of this great Party that Nigerians have come to trust as the best platform for democratic governance.” A major development from the meeting was the acceptance of the postponement of the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, which was originally set for next week Thursday. The delay was made out of respect for the loss of the wife of Governor Eno Bassey of Akwa Ibom State. The party expressed its condolences, urging prayers for the governor and his family. The forum also urged the NWC to schedule the rescheduled NEC meeting by the first week of February 2025. “The Forum is constrained to accept the latest postponement of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Party in empathy with our colleague, H.E. Governor Eno Bassey, whose late dear wife will be buried on the same day earlier scheduled for NEC. Once again, the Forum wishes to commiserate with our colleague and pray that God will grant him and the family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. “The Forum is strongly advising the NWC to call NEC latest by the first week of February 2025 to allow for elaborate consultations with critical stakeholders of the Party. The period between November and February is to address the existential problems confronting the Party, with a deliberate timeline of activities within the period under review to address issues of leadership and litigations confronting the Party.” In response to the severe economic challenges facing Nigeria, the PDP governors called on the president to urgently review the country’s economic policies. They condemned the ongoing hardships inflicted on Nigerians under the policies of the APC-led federal government, with the PDP Governors’ Forum pledging continued efforts to alleviate these issues at the state level. They also took aim at recent electoral irregularities, specifically in Edo and Ondo States, accusing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of manipulating results to favour the ruling APC. The PDP called for a thorough examination of these electoral malpractices and urged the judiciary and National Assembly to intervene in order to safeguard the integrity of Nigeria’s democratic process. “The Forum empathizes with Nigerians who are groaning under the oppressive economic hardship foisted on the nation by the policies and decisions of the APC-led Federal Government. The Forum calls on the President to urgently review both macroeconomic and fiscal policies that will address the welfare and well-being of Nigerians. The Forum wishes to pledge that all PDP Governors will continue to aggressively pursue policies and programs that will reduce the hardship and ensure progress and development. “The Forum notes with concern the rape of democracy in Edo Governorship elections. It is clear to everyone with conscience that INEC manipulated results in favour of the APC candidate when in fact majority of lawful votes were won by the PDP candidate, Mr. Asue Ighodalo. Meanwhile, we are still examining the documents in Ondo Elections where the APC manipulated results after openly buying votes. The Forum calls on the judiciary to save Nigerian democracy and the National Assembly to look into our electoral laws to make it difficult for institutional sabotage of the will of the people,” the communique read in part. In addition, the forum expressed condolences over the recent disasters in Plateau and Jigawa states, including the devastating fire at Katako Market in Jos and the tragic tanker explosion in Jigawa. They pledged their support for the affected communities, while also acknowledging the progress made in Plateau State under its current government. The governors thanked Plateau State government for hosting the event and showcasing the state’s progress, particularly in areas such as social services, tourism, and transportation. Looking ahead, the PDP affirmed its commitment to reclaiming political power in Nigeria, with the party’s leaders expressing optimism about regaining their rightful place in the country’s political landscape by 2027.

An angry Rudy Giuliani lashed out in court Tuesday at the judge presiding over the collection proceeding for the $146 million defamation judgment against him — and complained he's having a hard time making ends meet. Speaking after U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman said the former personal lawyer to Donald Trump had not been complying with court orders to surrender his assets, Giuliani snapped: “The implications you are making against me are wrong. I have no car, no credit card, no cash, everything I have is tied up. They have put stop orders on my business accounts, and I can’t pay my bills.” The judge said Giuliani did not appear to be indigent and warned him against any further outbursts. The hearing in federal court in New York was held in part in response to allegations from attorneys for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss , the former Georgia election workers Giuliani defamed while challenging the 2020 election results in the state. The lawyers for Freeman and Moss have said that Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor, has not complied with court orders to turn over his assets to the pair. Giuliani's new attorney, Joseph Cammarata, said the former New York City mayor had turned over one of the assets — a 1980 Mercedes-Benz SL 500 that used to belong to Hollywood icon Lauren Bacall. Aaron Nathan, an attorney for Freeman and Moss, said Giuliani had surrendered the car, but not the title. The judge said the title must be turned over. “A car without a title is meaningless,” Liman said, questioning why Giuliani hadn't been able to get a new one. "Your client is a competent person. He was the U.S. attorney in the district. The notion that he can't apply for a title certificate ... " the judge told Cammarata before Giuliani cut him off and started his rant. "I did apply for it!" Giuliani barked, shaking his head. "What am I supposed to do, make it up myself? Your implication that I have not been diligent about it is totally incorrect," he continued, before complaining about his financial woes. Attorneys for the election workers have said they have a similar paperwork issue with Giuliani's co-op apartment in Manhattan. While the receivers have gotten access to the apartment, which is estimated to be worth over $5 million, Giuliani “still has not delivered the keys, stock, or proprietary lease,” they said in a court filing. The filing said he has turned over the majority of his luxury watch collection, but not all of it, as he was ordered to do last month. “Mr. Giuliani has delivered 18 watches and one diamond ring to the address provided by the Receivers,” the filing said, but still has nine more watches he’s supposed hand over. In court, Nathan said his clients want to move forward and collect what is theirs but have had to endure delay after delay with multiple extensions while Giuliani has failed to comply with court orders, refusing to turn over cash from his bank account and sports memorabilia, including a signed Joe DiMaggio jersey. Cammarata said he is appealing the judge's turnover order and asked the judge to extend some deadlines given that he had just signed on to the case after Giuliani's previous attorney withdrew for undisclosed reasons. Liman rejected the request. “You can’t restart the clock by firing one counsel and hiring another. He has already received multiple extensions and missed multiple deadlines,” the judge said, warning that Giuliani could face sanctions and potential incarceration if he doesn't comply with his orders. A trial is scheduled for Jan. 16 on two outstanding issues related to the judgment: whether Giuliani must surrender his Florida home and his four World Series rings, which his son, Andrew, says were given to him as gifts years ago. Giuliani listed the rings as his property in a bankruptcy case this year. Cammarata asked the judge to push the trial back to a later date so Giuliani could attend events related to Trump's inauguration . Giuliani, he said, regularly consults with Trump and "has the political right to be there." The judge refused the request, saying Giuliani's "social calendar" wasn't a reason to delay. After court, Giuliani suggested the trial is unnecessary because Liman is "going to rule against me. If you were sitting in the courtroom and couldn't figure it out, you're stupid." "His background is serious left-wing Democrat," he said, while acknowledging that Trump had nominated the judge to the bench. Still, Giuliani maintained, the judge is "about as left-wing as you get." Freeman and Moss filed suit against Giuliani after he repeatedly falsely accused them of committing election fraud during the 2020 election, claims that led to a torrent of racist death threats that forced them out of their jobs. State officials at the time said the pair had done nothing wrong. Giuliani continued accusing the mother and daughter of fraud — even after a lengthy state investigation cleared them . Last year, a jury awarded them $148 million in damages , which Liman reduced to $146 million. Asked if he regretted defaming Freeman and Moss, Giuliani said: "I do not regret it for a minute. I regret the persecution I have been put through."

lodigame app Wall Street stocks finished a lackluster week on a muted note Friday as concerns about rising Treasury bond yields competed with enthusiasm over artificial intelligence equities. Of the major indices, only the Nasdaq mustered a gain in Friday's session. The tech-rich index was also the only of the three leading US benchmarks to conclude the week higher. "Equities are kind of treading water," said LBBW's Karl Haeling. "A negative influence to some extent is the rise in bond yields." The latest US consumer price index data released this week showed prices ticked higher in November and the wholesale data also showed stubborn inflationary pressures. "Yields rose to their highest levels in over two weeks as markets brace for the Federal Reserve's final meeting of the year, reflecting concerns over sticky inflation," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG. There is also growing concern over the inflationary pressures from President-elect Donald Trump's pledges to cut taxes and impose tariffs, as inflation still stands above the Fed's target. "While the markets still anticipate a rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week, the likelihood of a move in January has dropped," said Patrick Munnelly, partner at broker Tickmill Group. The CME FedWatch tool shows the market sees a more than 75 percent chance that the Fed will hold rates steady in January. In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 index ended the day down 0.2 percent after French President Emmanuel Macron named his centrist ally Francois Bayrou as prime minister, ending days of deadlock over finding a replacement for Michel Barnier. Frankfurt also dipped, with Germany's central bank sharply downgrading its growth forecasts on Friday for 2025 and 2026. It predicted a prolonged period of weakness for Europe's biggest economy. London stocks were also lower after official data showed that the UK economy unexpectedly shrank for the second consecutive month in October. The euro recovered after flirting with two-year lows against the dollar following a warning Thursday by ECB president Christine Lagarde that the eurozone economy was "losing momentum", cautioning that "the risk of greater friction in global trade could weigh on euro area growth". In Asia, Hong Kong and Shanghai both tumbled as investors were unimpressed with Beijing's pledge to introduce measures aimed at "lifting consumption vigorously" as part of a drive to reignite growth in the world's number two economy. President Xi Jinping and other key leaders said at the annual Central Economic Work Conference they would implement a "moderately loose" monetary policy, increase social financing and reducing interest rates "at the right time". The gathering came after Beijing in September began unveiling a raft of policies to reverse a growth slump that has gripped the economy for almost two years. "We're still not convinced that policy support will prevent the economy from slowing further next year", said Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at research group Capital Economics. Among individual equities, chip company Broadcom surged nearly 25 percent after reporting a 51 percent jump in quarterly revenues to $14.1 billion behind massive growth in AI-linked business. New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 43,828.06 (close) New York - S&P 500: FLAT at 6,051.09 (close) New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 19,926.72 (close) London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,300.33 (close) Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,409.57 (close) Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 20,405.92 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 39,470.44 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.1 percent at 19,971.24 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 2.0 percent at 3,391.88 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0504 from $1.0467 on Thursday Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2622 from $1.2673 Dollar/yen: UP at 153.60 yen from 152.63 yen Euro/pound: UP at 83.19 pence from 82.59 pence Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5 percent at $74.49 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.8 percent at $71.29 per barrel burs-jmb/stFord gov’t passes law to remove Ontario bike lanes, frustrate future installations

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $200 million in humanitarian aid for conflict-torn Sudan during what was likely his final trip to the United Nations while in office. With the U.N. Security Council more divided than ever, Blinken led two meetings of the U.N.’s most powerful body on Thursday, capping his engagements with the world body after a tumultuous four years that saw war return to Europe and multiple crises in the Middle East. But neither focused on Russia’s war with Ukraine or the Mideast, where the U.S. has been frequently at odds with permanent members China and Russia and almost always in the minority when it comes to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Instead, in an apparent bid to produce a modicum of consensus, Blinken led Security Council sessions on artificial intelligence and Sudan , where conflict has sparked a dire humanitarian crisis that aid agencies say has not received enough attention. The money announced by Blinken will go toward food, shelter and health care for the people of Sudan. He also said the State Department will work with Congress to provide an additional $30 million to elevate civilian voices to help with the transition back to democratic governance. Here’s a look at America's top diplomat at the U.N.: Why did Blinken preside over Security Council meetings? Blinken has been appearing in person and virtually before the Security Council since March 2021, just after assuming his position as the Biden administration’s top diplomat. In addition to several one-off council meetings, including one in February 2022 shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine, Blinken has gone to New York for a week every September for the annual General Assembly gathering of world leaders. The presidency of the Security Council rotates alphabetically every month among its 15 members. This month, it's the U.S. turn. The country holding the presidency almost always organizes several signature events on topics its government chooses. Presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers often preside at these meetings, which ministers from other council nations are invited to attend. Why was the US not highlighting the Middle East or Ukraine? Russia and China have blocked all council action condemning the invasion of Ukraine. This has led U.S. officials to believe that a session on the topic, especially as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office with a stated goal of ending the war immediately, would likely be a waste of time. On the Middle East, the U.S. has frequently vetoed council action condemning Israel for its tactics against Hamas in Gaza, leaving it virtually alone at the United Nations in supporting Israel. Why was the US focusing on Sudan? War broke out in Sudan last year between rival generals heading the military and paramilitary forces. The fighting has left tens of thousands dead, forced millions from their homes and pushed a large swath of Sudan’s population to starvation — creating an often forgotten global crisis the U.S. is seeking to spotlight. The roughly $230 million in assistance announced Thursday brings total U.S. support to over $2.3 billion since the fighting erupted. Blinken said the fighting unleashed the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and every day “brings new atrocities, attacks on hospitals, on markets, displaced persons, camps, summary executions, women and girls subjected to unspeakable sexual violence.” “We continue to see war crimes and crimes against humanity committed across vast parts of Sudan,” he said. Why did the US choose AI? The U.S. leads the world in developing AI technology, according to a recently released Stanford University index, and it has been in the forefront of U.N. action on AI. In March, the first U.N. resolution on artificial intelligence was adopted by the 193-member General Assembly. Sponsored by the U.S., it gives global support to an international effort to ensure the powerful technology benefits all nations, respects human rights and is “safe, secure and trustworthy.” Blinken said AI has the potential to do “tremendous good” but can also pose “tremendous threats to the international peace and security that this council is charged with upholding.” He noted that “repressive regimes are using AI-enabled surveillance to target journalists and political dissidents" and that "if algorithms are built into weapon systems, and if they malfunction, they could spark a conflict.” “By setting rules of the road for AI we can minimize these risks, we can harness the exceptional promise of this technology,” he said. Did Blinken confront Russia? Blinken has represented the U.S. at the Security Council about half a dozen times at meetings ranging from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the war in Gaza. Russia, like the U.S. and China, is a permanent veto-holding member of the 15-nation council, and both have seats at its horseshoe-shaped table. But apart from pointed disagreements during debates, there have been no confrontations or one-on-one meetings between Blinken and Russian diplomats at previous U.N. meetings — and there was none on Thursday. Blinken thanked Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia after his remarks — as is custom — even though Nebenzia accused the U.S. of imposing rules on others but not abiding by them. But the Russian envoy agreed that “we cannot allow AI to dominate human beings and human values.” It is not unusual for Blinken or other senior U.S. officials to attend international meetings and conferences where Russian officials are present, but interactions are rare. ___ Lee reported from Washington. Edith M. Lederer And Matthew Lee, The Associated Press

None

Friday, December 20, 2024 Facebook Instagram Twitter WhatsApp Youtube Personal Finance Education Entertainment Jobs Alert Sports Hindi Technology Complaint Redressal. Fact-Checking Policy Correction policy Authors and Team DNPA Code of Ethics Onwership and Funding Cookie Policy Terms of Service Disclaimer Contact US About Us More Search Home India New Expressway: Now journey of 80 kilometers through the new expressway will... India New Expressway: Now journey of 80 kilometers through the new expressway will be completed in just 50 minutes. By Shyamu Maurya December 20, 2024 0 9 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Telegram New Expressway: Now journey of 80 kilometers through the new expressway will be completed in just 50 minutes. The 80 kilometer long section on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway originating from Kota and Bundi in Rajasthan has been opened. This has reduced both travel time and distance. Delhi-Mumbai Expressway: Crores of people of the country are waiting for the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway to be fully operational. Different sections of this 1350 km long expressway are gradually being opened to the general public. In this episode, an 80 km long section of the expressway coming from Kota and Bundi in Rajasthan has been opened. It goes from Gopalpura to Laban. The special thing is that with the opening of this section of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, this 80 km route will be completed in just 50 minutes. Earlier it used to take one and a half hours to complete the journey here and through Kota this distance used to be 100 km. But, with the opening of this section of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, both distance and time have been reduced. The distance has been reduced by 20 km and travel time by 50 minutes. A special tunnel is being built on this section. Let us tell you about the progress of the construction work of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway going on in Rajasthan. 7 and a half hour journey in just 5 hours The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is already open from Chechat to Mumbai and now it has also opened towards Delhi. However, one will have to wait for 2 more months to travel from Kota to Delhi via this expressway. Because, work is going on on package number 10 between Labanam to Sawai Madhopur. According to the DB report, lining, repairing and finishing work is still pending on this route. The special thing is that after the completion of this 28 km route, one can reach Delhi from Kota in less time. Currently, the travel time is 7 and a half hours which will be reduced to just 5 hours in future. The biggest 8 lane tunnel on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is also being built between Kota and Dara. The length of this tunnel is about 5 km. 70 percent of its construction work has been completed and it will be ready in October next year. Join Informal Newz Tags New Expressway Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Telegram Previous article Ration Card News: Now no need for ration card, ration will be available through Mera Ration 2.0 app Shyamu Maurya Shyamu has done Degree in Fine Arts and has knowledge about bollywood industry. He started writing in 2018. Since then he has been associated with Informalnewz. In case of any complain or feedback, please contact me @informalnewz@gmail.com RELATED ARTICLES Personal Finance Ration Card News: Now no need for ration card, ration will be available through Mera Ration 2.0 app December 20, 2024 India New expressway: Delhi-Dehradun new expressway will be ready in this much time, Nitin Gadkari has announced December 19, 2024 Personal Finance UPI Wrong Payment: Money sent to wrong account through UPI, complain here, money will be returned within 48 hours December 19, 2024 - Advertisment - Most Popular Ration Card News: Now no need for ration card, ration will be available through Mera Ration 2.0 app December 20, 2024 New expressway: Delhi-Dehradun new expressway will be ready in this much time, Nitin Gadkari has announced December 19, 2024 UPI Wrong Payment: Money sent to wrong account through UPI, complain here, money will be returned within 48 hours December 19, 2024 EPFO New System: From ATM withdrawal to emergency fund, these facilities will be available from March 2025 – Details December 19, 2024 Load more Recent Comments Gul Mohiudin on Kavita sister-in-law wore a sari without a blouse, seeing the pictures you will also be... Venkatesh on Urfi Javed crossed all limits, wore a front open hoodie top without inner, see photos and videos Gul Mohiudin on Malaika Arora came out in a backless strappy dress late at night, someone had to handle the gown and someone held her hand Gul Mohiudin on Priyanka Chopra reached award function without bra, shame had to be saved repeatedly in open jacket Venkatesh on Disha Patani shared a bo*ld picture while taking a bath, seeing Tiger Shroff’s heart beat will increase EDITOR PICKS Ration Card News: Now no need for ration card, ration will be available through Mera Ration 2.0 app December 20, 2024 New expressway: Delhi-Dehradun new expressway will be ready in this much time, Nitin Gadkari has announced December 19, 2024 UPI Wrong Payment: Money sent to wrong account through UPI, complain here, money will be returned within 48 hours December 19, 2024 POPULAR POSTS Ration Card News: Now no need for ration card, ration will be available through Mera Ration 2.0 app December 20, 2024 New expressway: Delhi-Dehradun new expressway will be ready in this much time, Nitin Gadkari has announced December 19, 2024 UPI Wrong Payment: Money sent to wrong account through UPI, complain here, money will be returned within 48 hours December 19, 2024 POPULAR CATEGORY Personal Finance 18011 Entertainment 17065 India 4524 News 3785 Technology 2254 Jobs Alert 789 Travel 652 Education 451 ABOUT US INFORMALNEWZ brings the Latest News & Top Breaking headlines on Politics and Current Affairs. Up-to-date news coverage, aggregated from sources all over the world by informal Newz. Find latest news coverage of breaking news events, trending topics, and compelling articles. Contact us: informalnewz@gmail.com FOLLOW US Facebook Instagram Twitter WhatsApp Youtube © - 2024 - informalnewz | Izon web Pvt. Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us - Izon Web Pvt. Ltd. Hno. 789, Basement, Dlf Phase 4 Sector 43, Gurgaon, Haryana -122009, Call: +91-9110801499, 0124-4941700 Home Privacy Policy Authors and Team About Us Contact US Cookie Policy Disclaimer DNPA Code of Ethics Onwership and Funding Terms of Service Complaint Redressal. Fact-Checking Policy Correction policy हिन्दी

KYIV, Ukraine — NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks Tuesday after Russia attacked a central city with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile. escalating the nearly 33-month-old war. The conflict is “entering a decisive phase,” Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday, and “taking on very dramatic dimensions.” Ukraine’s parliament canceled a session as security was tightened following Thursday’s Russian strike on a military facility in the city of Dnipro. In a stark warning to the West, President Vladimir Putin said in a nationally televised speech the attack with the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was in retaliation for Kyiv’s use of U.S. and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks Friday during a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense, representatives of the military-industrial complex and developers of missile systems at the Kremlin in Moscow. Putin said Western air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile. People are also reading... Ukrainian military officials said the missile that hit Dnipro reached a speed of Mach 11 and carried six nonnuclear warheads, each releasing six submunitions. Speaking Friday to military and weapons industries officials, Putin said Russia will launch production of the Oreshnik. “No one in the world has such weapons,” he said. “Sooner or later, other leading countries will also get them. We are aware that they are under development. “We have this system now,” he added. “And this is important.” Putin said that while it isn’t an intercontinental missile, it’s so powerful that the use of several of them fitted with conventional warheads in one attack could be as devastating as a strike with strategic — or nuclear — weapons. Gen. Sergei Karakayev, head of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces, said the Oreshnik could reach targets across Europe and be fitted with nuclear or conventional warheads, echoing Putin’s claim that even with conventional warheads, “the massive use of the weapon would be comparable in effect to the use of nuclear weapons.” In this photo taken from a video released Friday, a Russian serviceman operates at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov kept up Russia's bellicose tone on Friday, blaming “the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries” in supplying weapons to Ukraine to strike Russia. "The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities, and the contours of further retaliatory actions in the event that our concerns were not taken into account have also been quite clearly outlined," he said. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, widely seen as having the warmest relations with the Kremlin in the European Union, echoed Moscow’s talking points, suggesting the use of U.S.-supplied weapons in Ukraine likely requires direct American involvement. “These are rockets that are fired and then guided to a target via an electronic system, which requires the world’s most advanced technology and satellite communications capability,” Orbán said on state radio. “There is a strong assumption ... that these missiles cannot be guided without the assistance of American personnel.” Orbán cautioned against underestimating Russia’s responses, emphasizing that the country’s recent modifications to its nuclear deployment doctrine should not be dismissed as a “bluff.” “It’s not a trick ... there will be consequences,” he said. Czech Republic's Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky speaks to journalists Friday during a joint news conference with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriiy Sybiha in Kyiv, Ukraine. Separately in Kyiv, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský called Thursday’s missile strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe.” At a news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Lipavský also expressed his full support for delivering the necessary additional air defense systems to protect Ukrainian civilians from the “heinous attacks.” He said the Czech Republic will impose no limits on the use of its weapons and equipment given to Ukraine. Three lawmakers from Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, confirmed that Friday's previously scheduled session was called off due to the ongoing threat of Russian missiles targeting government buildings in central Kyiv. In addition, there also was a recommendation to limit the work of all commercial offices and nongovernmental organizations "in that perimeter, and local residents were warned of the increased threat,” said lawmaker Mykyta Poturaiev, who said it's not the first time such a threat has been received. Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said the Oreshnik missile was fired from the Kapustin Yar 4th Missile Test Range in Russia’s Astrakhan region and flew 15 minutes before striking Dnipro. Test launches of a similar missile were conducted in October 2023 and June 2024, the directorate said. The Pentagon confirmed the missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate-range missile based on its RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. Thursday's attack struck the Pivdenmash plant that built ICBMs when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. The military facility is located about 4 miles southwest of the center of Dnipro, a city of about 1 million that is Ukraine’s fourth-largest and a key hub for military supplies and humanitarian aid, and is home to one of the country’s largest hospitals for treating wounded soldiers from the front before their transfer to Kyiv or abroad. From tuberculosis to heart disease: How the leading causes of death in America have changed From tuberculosis to heart disease: How the leading causes of death in America have changed We're all going to die someday. Still, how it happens—and when—can point to a historical moment defined by the scientific advancements and public health programs available at the time to contain disease and prevent accidents. In the early 1900s, America's efforts to improve sanitation, hygiene, and routine vaccinations were still in their infancy. Maternal and infant mortality rates were high, as were contagious diseases that spread between people and animals. Combined with the devastation of two World Wars—and the Spanish Flu pandemic in between—the leading causes of death changed significantly after this period. So, too, did the way we diagnose and control the spread of disease. Starting with reforms as part of Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s, massive-scale, federal interventions in the U.S. eventually helped stave off disease transmission. It took comprehensive government programs and the establishment of state and local health agencies to educate the public on preventing disease transmission. Seemingly simple behavioral shifts, such as handwashing, were critical in thwarting the spread of germs, much like discoveries in medicine, such as vaccines, and increased access to deliver them across geographies. Over the course of the 20th century, life expectancy increased by 56% and is estimated to keep increasing slightly, according to an annual summary of vital statistics published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2000. Death Records examined data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to see how the leading causes of death in America have evolved over time and to pinpoint how some major mortality trends have dropped off. Infectious diseases lead causes of death in America According to a report published in the journal Annual Review of Public Health in 2000, pneumonia was the leading cause of death in the early 1900s, accounting for nearly 1 in 4 deaths. By the time World War I ended in 1918, during which people and animals were housed together for long periods, a new virus emerged: the Spanish Flu. Originating in a bird before spreading to humans, the virus killed 10 times as many Americans as the war. Many died of secondary pneumonia after the initial infection. Pneumonia deaths eventually plummeted throughout the century, partly prevented by increased flu vaccine uptake rates in high-risk groups, particularly older people. Per the CDC, tuberculosis was a close second leading cause of death, killing 194 of every 10,000 people in 1900, mainly concentrated in dense urban areas where the infection could more easily spread. Eventually, public health interventions led to drastic declines in mortality from the disease, such as public education, reducing crowded housing, quarantining people with active disease, improving hygiene, and using antibiotics. Once the death rates lagged, so did the public health infrastructure built to control the disease, leading to a resurgence in the mid-1980s. Diarrhea was the third leading cause of death in 1900, surging every summer among children before the impacts of the pathogen died out in 1930. Adopting water filtration, better nutrition, and improved refrigeration were all associated with its decline. In the 1940s and 1950s, polio outbreaks killed or paralyzed upward of half a million people worldwide every year. Even at its peak, polio wasn't a leading cause of death, it was a much-feared one, particularly among parents of young children, some of whom kept them from crowded public places and interacting with other children. By 1955, when Jonah Salk discovered the polio vaccine, the U.S. had ended the "golden age of medicine." During this period, the causes of mortality shifted dramatically as scientists worldwide began to collaborate on infectious disease control, surgical techniques, vaccines, and other drugs. Leading causes of death tip toward lifestyle-related disease From the 1950s onward, once quick-spreading deadly contagions weren't prematurely killing American residents en masse, scientists also began to understand better how to diagnose and treat these diseases. As a result, Americans were living longer lives and instead succumbing to noncommunicable diseases, or NCDs. The risk of chronic diseases increased with age and, in some cases, was exacerbated by unhealthy lifestyles. Cancer and heart disease shot up across the century, increasing 90-fold from 1900 to 1998, according to CDC data. Following the post-Spanish Flu years, heart disease killed more Americans than any other cause, peaking in the 1960s and contributing to 1 in 3 deaths. Cigarette smoking rates peaked at the same time, a major risk factor for heart disease. Obesity rates also rose, creating another risk factor for heart disease and many types of cancers. This coincides with the introduction of ultra-processed foods into diets, which plays a more significant role in larger waistlines than the increasing predominance of sedentary work and lifestyles. In the early 1970s, deaths from heart disease began to fall as more Americans prevented and managed their risk factors, like quitting smoking or taking blood pressure medicine. However, the disease remains the biggest killer of Americans. Cancer remains the second leading cause of death and rates still indicate an upward trajectory over time. Only a few types of cancer are detected early by screening, and some treatments for aggressive cancers like glioblastoma—the most common type of brain cancer—have also stalled, unable to improve prognosis much over time. In recent years, early-onset cancers, those diagnosed before age 50 or sometimes even earlier, have seen a drastic rise among younger Americans. While highly processed foods and sedentary lifestyles may contribute to rising rates, a spike in cancer rates among otherwise healthy young individuals has baffled some medical professionals. This follows the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020. At its peak, high transmission rates made the virus the third leading cause of death in America. It's often compared to the Spanish Flu of 1918, though COVID-19 had a far larger global impact, spurring international collaborations among scientists who developed a vaccine in an unprecedented time. Public policy around issues of safety and access also influences causes of death, particularly—and tragically—among young Americans. Gun control measures in the U.S. are far less stringent than in peer nations; compared to other nations, however, the U.S. leads in gun violence. Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens (around 2 in 3 are homicides, and 1 in 3 are suicides), and deaths from opioids remain a leading cause of death among younger people. Globally, the leading causes of death mirror differences in social and geographic factors. NCDs are primarily associated with socio-economic status and comprise 7 out of 10 leading causes of death, 85% of those occurring in low- and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization. However, one of the best health measures is life expectancy at birth. People in the U.S. have been living longer lives since 2000, except for a slight dip in longevity due to COVID-19. According to the most recent CDC estimates, Americans' life expectancy is 77.5 years on average and is expected to increase slightly in the coming decades. Story editing by Alizah Salario. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick. This story originally appeared on Death Records and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!Bill Nash’s interest in woodworking started when he was six years old. Recalling one of his earliest memories, he says that while his dad was building a bedroom for his newborn brother, Nash could be found sauntering behind him picking up scraps of wood and building birdhouses out of them. His dad was wary but leaned into the teaching moment. “He encouraged me to go around the yard where we were working and pick up old nails from previous jobs,” he said from his workshop in Sault Ste. Marie. “He showed me how to straighten them out on a piece of wood with a hammer so they were usable again. And those were the nails I used when I built my little thing.” Now retired, Nash has a long and reputable career as a woodworker and carpenter in the region. He shares his knowledge of the craft as a host in SPACES, the Sault’s homegrown social media network . As an adult, Nash honed his skills by building his own house. Still a hobbyist carpenter, he says when he and his wife were newly married they wanted to enter the housing market. Feeling priced out, he adapted the mantra, “If you can’t buy one, build one.” In 1983, they bought an eight-acre parcel of land for $5,000 and built a house in sections, as they couldn’t afford to build their dream home all at once. It was his firestorm into woodworking, Nash says. Other than the masonry and electrical work, it was an inside job. “We did everything else ourselves: All the framing, all the roofing, all the finishing work, all the plumbing, cement work, trims, doors and kitchen cabinets, ” Nash said. Seventeen years and four kids later, and it was time to move on; Nash and his wife eventually sold their self-made home. They now live in central Sault Ste. Marie, but even into retirement, nothing will slow him down. His latest project? Being a host in our woodworking space , sharing tips and pics. See his patio, walkway and trellis set up, and the nifty hack he used to build on top of cement. When he’s not doing home reno projects, he can be found making smaller treasures, like keepsake chests for his grandchildren, or a customized poker table, complete with deep trays, cup holders and a foam-backed waterproof top to easily scoop up cards and chips. He wasn’t always a carpenter by trade; he worked at Canada Post for 32 years as a letter carrier and a postal clerk. It wasn’t until a chance encounter later in life while at the counter of Soo Mill that his professional career and woodworking/construction business began. While standing at the checkout counter in the summer of 1986 he overheard the clerk telling a customer on the phone that they could buy materials to build a fence at the store, but they would have to find someone else to construct it. “I don't even know what inspired me to say it, but I kind of interrupted them, and said, ‘you know, if you need someone to build a fence, I could do it.’” And just like that, Nash Enterprises, the husband-and-wife-run business, was born. It operated from the late 1980s til 2023, and during that time it pared down to just decks, and was aptly named, Decks and Only Decks. As he and his wife, Donna, amassed tons of experience they also grew familiar with the handyman scams that women in the area were subjected to. As a way to empower women in the Sault to DIY-it, they pitched the idea for The Handywoman course to Sault College around 2010. It was designed to assist women living on their own who relied upon hiring a handyman to do simple home repairs such as basic plumbing, wiring, drywall installation and patching, and other tasks like how to change doors and locks, and how to replace damaged shingles on a roof. After four years and eight classes of 10 to 16 people per class, the Sault market for women interested in this class was exhausted with over 100 women learning skills they never had before. His time as a woodworker isn’t without incident, unfortunately. While framing a roof on a house, he was prying 2x4s that were being used to temporarily hold trusses in place and accidentally nailed his hand to the frame. As he was working, one end of one of the 2x4s swung up into the air, causing his hammer to slip. Gravity factored in and forced the 2x4 to slap back onto the roof, and the nail that was originally in the 2x4 ended up piercing through his hand and nailing it to the truss. “So I was kind of like Jesus up there hanging from a cross on one hand,” Nash joked. When Nash isn’t sawing, sanding, measuring or nailing something, he can be found at the local Legion, playing cards or performing with the band. He splits the rest of his time between Sault Seniors Club 235 and the casino, playing the slots and having lunch. To follow his woodworking journey and connect with Nash, visit the new Woodworking space. It’s an inclusive group and a broad category; open to anyone interested in woodworking, including carving, staining, cabinet making and the like. He takes pride knowing that half of members in the group identify as women, and he hopes to equip them with knowledge to avoid being overcharged for home upgrades, and is happy to show them how to DIY home repairs.BATON ROUGE — Republican Gov. Jeff Landry got the Louisiana Legislature to back his bet of lowering individual and corporate income taxes to stimulate growth in the state. The Legislature adopted a 3 percent flat tax for individuals, trimmed corporate taxes and will make up some of the lost revenue by temporarily extending and increasing to 5 percent the state sales tax. Louisiana will now have the highest combined local and state sales tax in the nation at 10.6 percent. The tax package, passed Friday with the required two-thirds votes in both chambers, received bipartisan support by aligning Louisiana’s taxes with successful neighboring states. The bills now go to the governor for his signature. The action Friday closed a special session of the Legislature that opened on Nov. 6. “When we came to Baton Rouge, our goal was to have a long overdue conversation on our tax package,” said Sen. William Wheat, R-Ponchatoula. “This will put Louisiana in a better competitive space to compete with our surrounding states,” he said. In a closed-door session, Senate lawmakers merged the politically-palatable income tax cut with the steep sales tax increase to win support for the package as a whole. The idea was to flatten the personal income tax from a tiered-rate system with a top rate of 4.25 percent, which would have created over a billion dollars in deficits, prompting lawmakers to raise the sales tax and find other sources of revenue to offset the cuts. The bill passed the Senate 38-1 vote, with Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, casting the sole dissenting vote. House approval was 80-18, with Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Gray, as the only dissenting Republican. Still, it was not clear that all the revenue lost by cutting taxes would be made up. “You’re creating a budget shortfall to provide a tax break for people who don’t need it, and creating another fiscal cliff,” said Jan Moller, executive director of Invest in Louisiana, a nonpartisan group in Baton Rouge that represents lower-income citizens. This proposed sales tax increase mirrors one pushed by former Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in 2016, when Louisiana faced a significant deficit. However, Landry’s sales tax hike is intended to offset his plan to flatten income taxes, a step toward his long-term goal of eliminating income taxes entirely. To gain support, the income and sales tax measures were combined, enabling Republican legislators to stomach raising the sales tax to the highest rate in the nation. “We are not expanding sales tax into any new services,” Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, said. However, the package will for the first time tax digital services such as streaming services and games. The Senate approved a significant reduction in the corporate income tax and the complete elimination of the corporate franchise tax. The corporate income tax rate was lowered from 7.5 percent, one of the highest in the nation, to a flat 5.5 percent, a move legislators believe will make Louisiana more attractive to business. The bill was passed with a 38-1 vote in the Senate and a 90-9 vote in the House. The corporate franchise tax, a levy on owning property or conducting business in the state, will be fully eliminated starting Jan. 1, 2026. As part of this change, certain business tax credits will expire on June 30, 2025. Louisiana was previously one of only 17 states with a corporate franchise tax. The bill was passed unanimously in the Senate and by an 84-16 vote in the House. “Most states around us have eliminated the franchise tax,” said Sen. Jeremy Stine, R-Lake Charles, former marketing director for his family business, Stine Home and Yard. ”As a business owner this tax is a punishing tax.” The Senate also approved a bill to make permanent the $2,000 annual stipend teachers have received over the past two years. With Louisiana facing a shortage of some 2,500 teachers, this measure aims to retain current educators and attract new talent. The raise will be partially funded by reallocating $2 billion from the state’s Millennium Trust Fund, managed by the Louisiana Education Department, to reduce debt in the teachers’ retirement system. However, teachers at charter schools and other institutions that have not contributed to the retirement system will not qualify for the raise. Additionally, some school districts may have leftover funds after receiving this state funding. Any surplus must be directed toward other school employees rather than expenses like textbooks. The bill was unanimously passed in both houses. Two subsidies Landry wanted to eliminate were partially preserved after protests at the Capitol – tax credits for movie-making and historic preservation of buildings. “They can fill a room or two or three,” said Sen. Cameron Henry, R- Metairie, the president of the Senate.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution’s suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea “absurd.” Related Articles National Politics | Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time National Politics | Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies National Politics | A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden’s clemency list National Politics | Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ on official trip to Luxembourg National Politics | Veteran Daniel Penny, acquitted in NYC subway chokehold, will join Trump’s suite at football game The Manhattan district attorney’s office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to “pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a blistering 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump’s lawyers filed paperwork earlier this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won’t include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn’t sentenced and his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined comment. It’s unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump’s request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution’s suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution’s suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the “ongoing threat” that he’ll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. “To be clear, President Trump will never deviate from the public interest in response to these thuggish tactics,” the defense lawyers wrote. “However, the threat itself is unconstitutional.” The prosecution’s suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they argued. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump has tabbed for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution’s novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump had died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to “fabricate” a solution “based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump” who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September “and a hypothetical dead defendant.” Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what’s already a unique case. “This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding,” prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn’t “precipitously discard” the “meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers.” Prosecutors acknowledged that “presidential immunity requires accommodation” during Trump’s impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury’s verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution . Other world leaders don’t enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza . Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records . Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. In their filing Friday, Trump’s lawyers citing a social media post in which Sen. John Fetterman used profane language to criticize Trump’s hush money prosecution. The Pennsylvania Democrat suggested that Trump deserved a pardon, comparing his case to that of President Joe Biden’s pardoned son Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “Weaponizing the judiciary for blatant, partisan gain diminishes the collective faith in our institutions and sows further division,” Fetterman wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. Trump’s hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases , which pertained to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in all. Trump had been scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November. But following Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president’s sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Merchan also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. A dismissal would erase Trump’s conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison sentence. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.

Trump’s lawyers rebuff DA’s idea for upholding his hush money conviction, calling it ‘absurd’

Korea Zinc Delivers Strong Q3 Revenue of KRW 3.2 Tril., Up 40% YoY Amid External ChallengesWASHINGTON (AP) — The Commerce Department's efforts to curb China's and Russia's access to American-made advanced computer chips have been “inadequate” and will need more funding to stymie their ability to manufacture advanced weapons, according to a report published Wednesday by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The Biden administration imposed export controls to limit the ability of China and Russia ability to access U.S.-made chips after Russia's invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. The agency's Bureau of Industry and Security, according to the report, does not have the resources to enforce export controls and has been too reliant on U.S. chip makers voluntarily complying with the rules. But the push for bolstering Commerce's export control enforcement comes as the incoming Trump administration says it is looking to dramatically reduce the size and scope of federal government . President-elect Donald Trump has tapped entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” to dismantle parts of the federal government. The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. BIS’s budget, about $191 million, has remained essentially flat since 2010 when adjusted for inflation. “While BIS’ budget has been stagnant for a decade, the bureau works diligently around the clock to meet its mission and safeguard U.S. national security,” Commerce Department spokesperson Charlie Andrews said in a statement in response to the report. Andrews added that with “necessary resources from Congress” the agency would be "better equipped to address the challenges that come with our evolving national security environment.” In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, chair of the subcommittee, pointed to an audit of Texas Instruments that showed the Russian military continued to acquire components from Texas Instruments through front companies in Hong Kong to illustrate how the export controls are failing as an effective tool. The committee's findings, Blumenthal said, suggest that Texas Instruments “missed clear warning signs” that three companies in its distribution chain had been diverting products to Russia. Texas Instruments did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “While Congress must provide BIS more resources to undertake its critical mission, it is long past time for BIS to make full use of the enforcement powers Congress has conferred upon it and take aggressive steps to cut the flow of U.S. semiconductors into the Russian war machine,” Blumenthal wrote. It's not just Texas Instruments that's the issue. The subcommittee in September published a report that found aggregated exports from four major U.S. advanced chip manufacturers nearly doubled from 2021 to 2022 to Armenia and Georgia. Both of those countries are home to front companies known to assist Russia in acquiring advanced chips made in the U.S. despite export controls. China, meanwhile, has created “vast, barely disguised smuggling networks which enable it to continue to harness U.S. technology,” the subcommittee report asserts. Washington has been gradually expanding the number of companies affected by such export controls in China, as President Joe Biden’s administration has encouraged an expansion of investments in and manufacturing of chips in the U.S. But Chinese companies have found ways to evade export controls in part because of a lack of China subject matter experts and Chinese speakers assigned to Commerce's export control enforcement. The agency's current budget limits the number of international end-use checks, or physical verification overseas of distributors or companies receiving American-made chips that are the supposed end users of products. Currently, Commerce has only 11 export control officers spread around the globe to conduct such checks. The committee made several recommendations in its report, including Congress allocating more money for hiring additional personnel to enforce export controls, imposing larger fines on companies that violate controls and requiring periodic reviews of advanced chip companies’ export control plans by outside entities. Boak reported from West Palm Beach, Florida.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Paul Zilinskas put up 32 points as IU Indianapolis beat Alabama A&M 88-83 on Monday. Zilinskas shot 11 for 20 (5 for 10 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line for the Jaguars (3-5). Jarvis Walker scored 13 points while going 3 of 9 from the floor, including 2 for 5 from 3-point range, and 5 for 7 from the line. Timaris Brown and Sean Craight both added 11 points. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a weekBOSTON , Dec. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors (the "Board") of The China Fund, Inc. (the "Fund") has declared a distribution in the amount of $0.1497 per share. The distribution is comprised entirely of ordinary income. The dividend will be payable on January 10, 2025 , to stockholders of record on December 30, 2024 , with an ex-dividend date of December 30, 2024 . The Fund has a Dividend Reinvestment and Cash Purchase Plan (the "Plan") in which each stockholder automatically participates, unless the stockholder instructs Computershare Trust Company, N.A. (the "Plan Agent"), in writing, to have all distributions, net of any applicable U.S. withholding tax, paid in cash. If the Fund's shares are trading at a premium to the net asset value ("NAV") per share of the Fund on the distribution payment date, the Plan provides that stockholders will be issued Fund shares valued at NAV. If the Fund's shares are trading at a discount to the NAV per share, stockholders will be issued shares of the Fund valued at market price. Stockholders will not be charged a fee in connection with the reinvestment of dividends or capital gains distributions. A stockholder may terminate his or her participation in the Plan by notifying the Plan Agent in writing at the address below. Stockholders who have questions regarding the distribution may contact EQ Fund Solutions, LLC at 1-888-CHN-CALL (246-2255). The Fund is a closed-end management investment company with the objective of seeking long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities (i) of companies for which the principal securities trading market is in the People's Republic of China (" China "), or (ii) of companies for which the principal securities trading market is outside of China , or constituting direct equity investments in companies organized outside of China , that in both cases derive at least 50% of their revenues from goods and services sold or produced, or have at least 50% of their assets, in China . While the Fund is permitted to invest in direct equity investments of companies organized in China , it presently holds no such investments. The Fund's shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CHN." The Fund's investment manager is Matthews International Capital Management, LLC. For more information regarding the Fund and the Fund's holdings, please call 1-888-CHN-CALL (246-2255) or visit the Fund's website at www.chinafundinc.com . For more information about the Plan or to terminate your participation in the Plan, please contact Computershare Trust Company, N.A. at c/o The China Fund, Inc. at P.O. Box 43078, Providence, Rhode Island 02940-3078, by telephone at 1-800-426-5523 or via the Internet at www.computershare.com/investor . View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-china-fund-inc-declares-distributions-302331625.html SOURCE The China Fund, Inc.WORCESTER - Boston College women’s basketball soared past Holy Cross with a convincing 81-55 win against Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon at the Hart Center. The Eagles earn their first road win, improving to 6-1, while the Crusaders drop to 3-3.

Manufacturer marks Official Supplier status with 5 millionth tankless water heater donation and 50-year anniversary milestone PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. , Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rinnai America Corporation — manufacturer of a leading brand of tankless gas water heaters in North America — is proud to announce a landmark partnership with Homes For Our Troops (HFOT), a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and donating specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives. The new agreement makes Rinnai the Official Supplier of water heaters for new homes across the country through 2027. This exclusive collaboration strengthens both organizations' shared commitment to providing Veterans and their families with the resources they need to rebuild their lives after service. Also celebrating 50 years in North America , Rinnai marked the occasion by donating the 5 millionth tankless water heater manufactured at its state-of-the-art facility in Griffin, Georgia for a new home under construction in Texas . "Celebrating 50 years and reaching 5 million tankless water heaters sold in the North American market are significant milestones for us but knowing that our donation is helping a Veteran and their family start a new chapter in life is incredibly meaningful," said Frank Windsor , President, Rinnai America Corporation. "We are honored to help restore some of the freedom and independence to the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much defending our country. Our continued partnership with Homes For Our Troops is a powerful way for us to give back and deliver our brand promise of 'Creating a healthier way of living'." Since its inception in 2004, HFOT has built over 400 homes. Each specially adapted energy efficient home is designed to comfortably raise a family while limiting future expenses. Equipped with Rinnai's durable and highly energy efficient products, the homes constructed as part of this partnership will help reduce the families' long-term utility costs and serve as a safe and welcoming place to call home for years to come. "We are incredibly proud to extend our partnership with Rinnai. The company's passion for assisting Veterans and their families significantly helps us advance our mission of Building Homes and Rebuilding Lives for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans," said HFOT President/CEO, Brig. Gen., USA (Ret) Tom Landwermeyer . "These Veterans face enormous challenges, and through this partnership, we are also providing the comfort and convenience of a high-quality water heater to help create a home that promotes healing and independence." Army SGT Christopher Leverkuhn will receive the 5 millionth product, a SENSEI ® RX Series, for his home currently under construction in Kerrville, Texas . The most advanced condensing tankless water heater on the market, it sets the standard for efficiency at 0.98 UEF and creates a healthier way of living by delivering the ultimate in comfort, smart design and unlimited hot water. Over the next three years, Rinnai will donate appropriate products with features ideal for the hot water demands of each Veterans' home. Many will receive Rinnai's newest condensing tankless water heater, the SENSEI RXP. This product comes equipped with a built-in recirculation pump to deliver faster hot water to the faucet. Rinnai will also provide its RWM200 WiFi module, which can be used with the Rinnai Central TM app to control temperature and recirculation patterns. Veterans may also receive Rinnai's new electric heat pump water heater , one of the most sustainable electric water heating solutions available, meeting highest efficiency standards while reducing energy usage and costs. The agreement highlights the growing commitment of the sustainable manufacturer's corporate responsibility and charitable giving in addressing the needs of Veterans and their families. In addition to HFOT, Rinnai partners with Folds of Honor, a nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of military members who have fallen or been disabled while serving in the United States Armed Forces. These organizations prove that partnerships can lead to lasting change and help those who have given so much for their country. About Homes For Our Troops: Homes For Our Troops (HFOT) is a publicly funded 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives. Most of these Veterans have sustained injuries including multiple limb amputations, partial or full paralysis, and/or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). These homes restore some of the freedom and independence our Veterans sacrificed while defending our country, and enable them to focus on their family, recovery, and rebuilding their lives. Since its inception in 2004, nearly 90 cents of every dollar spent has gone to our program services for Veterans. HFOT builds these homes where the veteran chooses to live and continues its relationship with the Veterans after home delivery to assist them with rebuilding their lives. www.hfotusa.org . About Rinnai: Rinnai America Corporation, a subsidiary of Rinnai Corporation in Nagoya, Japan , was established in 1974 and is headquartered in Peachtree City, Georgia . Rinnai Corporation manufactures gas appliances, including tankless water heaters, a wide range of kitchen appliances, and heating and air conditioning units. As the technology leader in its industry, Rinnai is the largest gas appliance manufacturer in Japan and is the No. 1 selling brand of tankless gas water heaters in the United States and Canada . Annual corporate revenues, including those of its subsidiaries, are in excess of $3.3 billion . With a global perspective to create 21st-century products for the home and business, Rinnai Corporation commits itself to safety and Creating a healthier way of living ® . For more information about Rinnai's entire product line, visit www.rinnai.us . Copyright 2024. All rights reserved. Rinnai ® and Creating a healthier way of living ® are the registered trademarks of Rinnai Corporation used under license by Rinnai America Corporation. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rinnai-america-joins-forces-with-homes-for-our-troops-to-aid-injured-veterans-302336611.html SOURCE Rinnai America CorporationWASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith moved to abandon two criminal cases against Donald Trump on Monday, acknowledging that Trump’s return to the White House will preclude attempts to federally prosecute him for retaining classified documents or trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The decision was inevitable, since longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Yet it was still a momentous finale to an unprecedented chapter in political and law enforcement history, as federal officials attempted to hold accountable a former president while he was simultaneously running for another term. Trump emerges indisputably victorious, having successfully delayed the investigations through legal maneuvers and then winning re-election despite indictments that described his actions as a threat to the country's constitutional foundations. 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) “I persevered, against all odds, and WON," Trump exulted in a post on Truth Social, his social media website. He also said that “these cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought.” The judge in the election case granted prosecutors' dismissal request. A decision in the documents case was still pending on Monday afternoon. The outcome makes it clear that, when it comes to a president and criminal accusations, nothing supersedes the voters' own verdict. In court filings, Smith's team emphasized that the move to end their prosecutions was not a reflection of the merit of the cases but a recognition of the legal shield that surrounds any commander in chief. “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,” prosecutors said in one of their filings. They wrote that Trump’s return to the White House “sets at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: on the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities . . . and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law.” In this situation, “the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” they concluded. Smith’s team said it was leaving intact charges against two co-defendants in the classified documents case — Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.” Steven Cheung, Trump's incoming White House communications director, said Americans “want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.” Trump has long described the investigations as politically motivated, and he has vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. Now he will start his second term free from criminal scrutiny by the government that he will lead. The election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing Trump as he tried to reclaim the White House. He was indicted for plotting to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in 2020, an effort that climaxed with his supporters' violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 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) But the case 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 “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden. In dismissing the case, Chutkan acknowledged prosecutors' request to do so “without prejudice,” raising the possibility that they could try to bring charges against Trump when his term is over. She wrote that is “consistent with the Government’s understanding that the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office.” But such a move may be barred by the statute of limitations, and Trump may also try to pardon himself while in office. immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office. The separate case involving classified documents had been widely seen as legally clear cut, especially because the conduct in question occurred after Trump left the White House and lost the powers of the presidency. The indictment included dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing federal efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. The case quickly became snarled by delays, with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon slow to issue rulings — which favored Trump’s strategy of pushing off deadlines in all his criminal cases — while also entertaining defense motions and arguments that experts said other judges would have dispensed with without hearings. In May, she indefinitely canceled the trial date amid a series of unresolved legal issues before dismissing the case outright two months later. Smith’s team appealed the decision, but now has given up that effort. Trump faced two other state prosecutions while running for president. One them, a New York case involving hush money payments, resulted in a conviction on felony charges of falsifying business records. It was the first time a former president had been found guilty of a crime. The sentencing in that case is on hold as Trump's lawyers try to have the conviction dismissed before he takes office, arguing that letting the verdict stand will interfere with his presidential transition and duties. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is fighting the dismissal but has indicated that it would be open to delaying sentencing until Trump leaves office. Bragg, a Democrat, has said the solution needs to balance the obligations of the presidency with “the sanctity of the jury verdict." Trump was also indicted in Georgia along with 18 others accused of participating in a sprawling scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election there. Any trial appears unlikely there while Trump holds office. The prosecution already was on hold after an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case. Four defendants have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty. Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Michael Sisak and Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this story. ___ Special Counsel Jack Smith plans to step down before Trump’s inauguration, according to The New York Times. 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. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

This is where the data to build AI comes fromANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan's defense of the national championship has fallen woefully short. The Wolverines started the season ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25, making them the third college football team since 1991 to be ranked worse than seventh in the preseason poll after winning a national title. Michigan (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) failed to meet those modest expectations, barely becoming eligible to play in a bowl and putting the program in danger of losing six or seven games for the first time since the Brady Hoke era ended a decade ago. The Wolverines potentially can ease some of the pain with a win against rival and second-ranked Ohio State (10-1, 7-1, No. 2 CFP) on Saturday in the Horseshoe, but that would be a stunning upset. Ohio State is a 21 1/2-point favorite, according to the BetMGM Sportsbook, and that marks just the third time this century that there has been a spread of at least 20 1/2 points in what is known as "The Game." Michigan coach Sherrone Moore doesn't sound like someone who is motivating players with an underdog mentality. "I don't think none of that matters in this game," Moore said Monday. "It doesn't matter the records. It doesn't matter anything. The spread, that doesn't matter." How did Michigan end up with a relative mess of a season on the field, coming off its first national title since 1997? Winning it all with a coach and star player contemplating being in the NFL for the 2024 season seemed to have unintended consequences for the current squad. The Wolverines closed the College Football Playoff with a win over Washington on Jan. 8; several days later quarterback J.J. McCarthy announced he was skipping his senior season; and it took more than another week for Jim Harbaugh to bolt to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. In the meantime, most quality quarterbacks wanting to transfer had already enrolled at other schools and Moore was left with lackluster options. Davis Warren beat out Alex Orji to be the team's quarterback for the opener and later lost the job to Orji only to get it back again. No matter who was under center, however, would've likely struggled this year behind an offensive line that sent six players to the NFL. The Wolverines lost one of their top players on defense, safety Rod Moore, to a season-ending injury last spring and another one, preseason All-America cornerback Will Johnson, hasn't played in more than a month because of an injury. The Buckeyes are not planning to show any mercy after losing three straight in the series. "We're going to attack them," Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer said. "We know they're going to come in here swinging, too, and they've still got a good team even though the record doesn't indicate it. This game, it never matters what the records are." While a win would not suddenly make the Wolverines' season a success, it could help Moore build some momentum a week after top-rated freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood flipped his commitment from LSU to Michigan. "You come to Michigan to beat Ohio," said defensive back Quinten Johnson, intentionally leaving the word State out when referring to the rival. "That's one of the pillars of the Michigan football program. "It doesn't necessarily change the fact of where we are in the season, but it definitely is one of the defining moments of your career here at Michigan." AP Sports Writer Mitch Stacy in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Vikings right guard Dalton Risner says he’ll continue to get better at new position

United Airlines travelers with lost luggage have a new tool to track their bags. If the lost bag has an Apple AirTag in it, that information can now be passed directly to United, the airline announced Thursday. The new feature, called Share Item Location, allows travelers with an AirTag or other Find My network accessory to share the location with the airline’s customer service team to help locate their luggage in the event it’s misplaced. The feature is now available with iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 or macOS 15.2. “Apple’s new Share Item Location feature will help customers travel with even more confidence, knowing they have another way to access their bag’s precise location with AirTag or their Find My accessory of choice,” said David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer. Travelers on United whose bags do not arrive at their destination can file a delayed baggage report with United and share the link to the item’s location either through the United app or via text message. After the report has been submitted, customer service agents will be able to locate the item on an interactive map alongside a timestamp of a recent update. The shared location will be disabled after a customer has the bag, and customers can also stop sharing the location of the item at any time on their own. The location link will also automatically expire after seven days. Using AirTags or other tracking devices on luggage is increasingly popular among frequent travelers, with a significant boom following the , which displaced thousands of travelers over Christmas and into 2023, alongside much of their belongings. United says lost bags are rare, with more than 99% of its customers arriving with their bags. It says the new technology will help those with lost bags to recover them more quickly because the airline will have more information about them. Apple previously announced the new service will also be integrated at other air carriers, including Delta Air Lines. Others include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Vueling.lodigame online casino 。

India's former prime minister Manmohan Singh, architect of economic reforms, dies at 92Everyone will love this Marry Me chicken budget meal

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Mitch Mascari's 22 points helped Drake defeat Florida Atlantic 75-63 on Friday. Mascari shot 6 for 9 (6 for 8 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line for the Bulldogs (5-0). Bennett Stirtz scored 17 points and added six assists. Tavion Banks had 12 points and shot 2 of 5 from the field and 8 of 10 from the free-throw line. The Owls (4-3) were led in scoring by Leland Walker, who finished with 14 points and five assists. Matas Vokietaitis and Tre Carroll each scored 10 points. Drake entered halftime up 32-28. Mascari paced the team in scoring in the first half with 11 points. Drake took the lead for what would be the final time on Banks' free throw with 14:22 left in the second half. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

United Airlines travelers with lost luggage have a new tool to track their bags. If the lost bag has an Apple AirTag in it, that information can now be passed directly to United, the airline announced Thursday. The new feature, called Share Item Location, allows travelers with an AirTag or other Find My network accessory to share the location with the airline’s customer service team to help locate their luggage in the event it’s misplaced. United says more than 99% of its customers pick up their luggage without a hitch. The feature is now available with iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 or macOS 15.2. “Apple’s new Share Item Location feature will help customers travel with even more confidence, knowing they have another way to access their bag’s precise location with AirTag or their Find My accessory of choice,” said David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer. People are also reading... Travelers on United whose bags do not arrive at their destination can file a delayed baggage report with United and share the link to the item’s location either through the United app or via text message. After the report has been submitted, customer service agents will be able to locate the item on an interactive map alongside a timestamp of a recent update. The shared location will be disabled after a customer has the bag, and customers can also stop sharing the location of the item at any time on their own. The location link will also automatically expire after seven days. Using AirTags or other tracking devices on luggage is increasingly popular among frequent travelers, with a significant boom following the 2022 Southwest Airlines holiday meltdown , which displaced thousands of travelers over Christmas and into 2023, alongside much of their belongings. United says lost bags are rare, with more than 99% of its customers arriving with their bags. It says the new technology will help those with lost bags to recover them more quickly because the airline will have more information about them. Apple previously announced the new service will also be integrated at other air carriers, including Delta Air Lines. Others include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Vueling. 4 tips to help you experience exceptional cruise dining | PennyWise podcast Frontier Airlines introducing ‘first class-style’ seats US budget airlines are struggling. Will pursuing premium passengers solve their problems? Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!

The stock market will end 2025 lower than its current levels, according to Stifel chief investment strategist Barry Bannister. Bannister sees sticky inflation prompting the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates high as economic growth weakens, serving as key catalysts to the eventual pullback in the stock market rally. Bannister sees the S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) ending 2025 in the mid 5,000s. As of Thursday afternoon, the S&P 500 was hovering just shy of an all-time high at about 6,070. Among the more than 17 strategists tracked by Yahoo Finance who have listed 2025 year-end calls for the S&P 500, Bannister is the lone strategist to call for the benchmark index to fall in 2025. Still, he isn't alone in calling for a pullback in the second half of 2025. On Wednesday, Fundstrat head of research Tom Lee said he believes the S&P 500 will rally to 7,000 midway through the year before falling to 6,600. "The environment does not appear conducive to continued equity mania, and we prefer more defensive sectors," Bannister wrote in a note to clients on Thursday. He added that slower economic growth would benefit "defensive value" sectors, including the Healthcare ( XLV ), Utilities ( XLU ), and Staples ( XLP ) sectors. Bannister believes the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points at each of its next two meetings before enacting a longer pause on rate cuts due to sticky inflation and "zero fiscal visibility." To Bannister's point, recent data has shown inflation isn't falling rapidly to the Fed's 2% target. This has prompted economists to believe the Fed will likely cut interest rates less than initially hoped in 2025. Strategists have argued how much the Fed cuts in 2025 isn't the key determinant of the equity market. Instead, they argue, the key is the US economic growth trajectory. "The growth backdrop has been a key driver [of the stock market rally]," Charles Schwab senior investment strategist Kevin Gordon told Yahoo Finance. "So if you have still relatively sticky inflation, but if the economy's run rate is still relatively strong, which has been the case for most of this year, then I think the market can continue to do well." Continued strong growth from the US economy has been a key driver behind many of the calls for the bull market to keep running in 2025. Wells Fargo's Christopher Harvey has said he believes the S&P 500 ends next year at 7,007 and has highlighted a "cyclical opportunity catalyzed by upward GDP revisions." Bank of America Securities offered a similar take when calling for the S&P 500 to hit 6,600. BofA favors "GDP sensitive companies," with the firm recommending overweights on the Financials ( XLF ), Consumer Discretionary ( XLY ), Materials ( XLB ), Real Estate ( XLRE ), and Utilities ( XLU ) sectors. "We like companies with healthy cash return prospects and a tether to the US economy: large cap Value stocks," Bofa's Savita Subramanian wrote. As of Thursday, consensus expects the US economy to grow at an annualized rate of 2.1%, per Bloomberg data. Bannister is more bearish: He sees GDP falling to about 1.5% in the second half of the year "as lower real wages (slowing wages combined with flat inflation) pressure consumption growth, while fixed investment and net exports also weaken." RBC Capital Markets head of US equity strategy Lori Calvasina recently pointed out in her 2025 outlook why economic growth meeting or exceeding positive expectations could be crucial to the stock market rally. Dating back to 1947, GDP has grown between 1.1% and 2% five times. Stocks were higher just 40% in those years, with an average decline of 3.4%. Meanwhile, in years when GDP tracked between 2.1% and 3%, stocks were higher 70% of the time, with an average return of nearly 11%. Josh Schafer is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X @_joshschafer . Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Disagreements around strength of schedules across the Power Four college football conferences are dominating conversations as the College Football Playoff draws closer, and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey made his opinion clear on Thursday. The bulk of the discussion has centered around the nation's top teams that are fighting for a spot in the expanded 12-team playoff. Teams like No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 9 Miami and No. 12 Boise State rank far behind other top teams out of the SEC in that metric. On one hand, those out of the Big Ten and ACC aren't responsible for the strength of their conference schedules. Those are made by conference leadership years in advance. Denny Simmons/The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK On the other hand, though, strength of schedule is one of the many things taken in consideration by the playoff committee. And according to Sankey, there is a clear trend within the metric. "Interesting to read analysis from others as they examine “strength of schedule” in college football," Sankey wrote. "It does seem there is a trend to be identified." Interesting to read analysis from others as they examine “strength of schedule” in college football...it does seem there is a trend to be identified... pic.twitter.com/pXSfxRMxvL Sankey's post on X included strength of schedule rankings among the top 15 teams, featuring listings from ESPN, Massey and Sagarin models. The SEC represents the first six spots, including Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Texas. BYU, Penn State, Oregon and Ohio State follow in order, while Miami, SMU, Notre Dame, Boise State and Indiana are listed at the bottom of the 15. While the Week 13 playoff rankings appear to have rewarded Big Ten programs over SEC powerhouses with much better strength of schedules, UGA head coach Kirby Smart said the committee values wins and losses above all. Four of the top five SEC teams have two losses, all to conference opponents. “I don’t think they value the Big Ten over the SEC," he said to the media on Tuesday. "I think they value wins and losses. And so they place people based on a column, a column of wins and a column of losses, not on the eye test of going to watch them play and see them and see who they played."

Drake beats Florida Atlantic 75-63

Military establishment distances itself from ongoing PTI-govt talksCAP Cayuga/Seneca: November busiest month of year for our food pantry

Gretchen McKay | (TNS) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette PITTSBURGH — Many Americans consider social media a scourge, but for a home cook, it can be a fun and informative place to get help deciding what to eat. Sure, some of the recipes would-be influencers recommend are in fact pretty abominable — check out @chefreactions on TikTok, Instagram or X for many, many examples — but I have stumbled across some pretty good recipes on many occasions, too. Related Articles Restaurants, Food and Drink | In season: The universal joy of carrots Restaurants, Food and Drink | Don’t shun pinot grigio! The good versions of wines you think are bad Restaurants, Food and Drink | Quick Fix: Horseradish Crusted Snapper with Arugula Pasta Restaurants, Food and Drink | An end to the hubcap margarita as Nacho Mama’s plans to close both locations Restaurants, Food and Drink | 3 recipes to help you through the busy holiday season One that’s been going viral for a while and but only recently caught my eye shines a spotlight on the creamy, tomatoey dish known as Marry Me chicken. There are probably as many recipes for Marry Me chicken on social media as there are cooks. (Delish claims to have created the video recipe for the original dish, also known as Tuscan chicken, in 2016.) But in my opinion, the best variations hang their chef’s hat on a sauce made with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and cream. Yum! This rich and luxurious entree is a definite step above the “engagement” chicken that caused a similar stir when it made its debut in Glamour magazine in 2004. That proposal-worthy recipe — saved for posterity in the 2011 cookbook “100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know: Engagement Chicken and 99 Other Fabulous Dishes to Get You Everything You Want in Life” — featured a whole chicken roasted with lemon and herbs. Awesome for sure, but not nearly as swoon worthy. I’ve been married for a very long time, so I’m not looking for a dish that will get me engaged. But who wouldn’t want applause when they put dinner on the table? That’s how Delish’s original recipe made it into the latest installment of “Dinner for Four for $25.” Usually when I’m building these economical meals, I do all my shopping in one store. This time, I shopped over the course of a weekend at some of my favorite haunts to see if that made a difference. (And no, I didn’t factor in the cost of gas, but maybe should have!) First stop after downing my Saturday morning latte and Nutella mele at a street-side table at Colangelo’s in the Strip District: Wholey’s Market, where I found boneless chicken breast at the bargain price of $3.89 per pound. I then crossed the street and headed down the block to Pennsylvania Macaroni Co., where I found several varieties of sun-dried tomatoes to chose from. I went with a jar of Ponti sun-dried cherry tomatoes for $5.09 — a definite splurge when your budget is only $25, but an ingredient I knew would deliver plenty of flavor. At Aldi, I found a bag of five huge lemons for $3.89, or 78 cents apiece, and a nice package of fresh broccoli for $2.28. A bargain, considering I would only use about two-thirds of it. The German supermarket chain known for its low prices and no-frills shopping experience (you have to deposit a quarter to get a shopping cart) also had butter — a main ingredient in my sandwich cookie dessert — on sale for $3.99 a pound. A bag of powdered sugar was pretty cheap, too, at just $2.09 for a two-pound bag. “Shopping” my pantry for ingredients I always have on hand, including garlic, olive oil, spices, rice, molasses and vanilla, once again helped keep costs down. Total bill: $24.38, or 62 cents under budget. Not bad when you consider the homemade dessert recipe makes more oatmeal sandwich cookies than a family can/should eat at one sitting. PG tested Sun-dried tomatoes could be considered a splurge item because even a tiny jar is expensive, but their concentrated, sweet and tangy tomato goodness add so much flavor to a dish! They are certainly the star of this chicken dish that has been making the rounds on social media platforms. Some say the entree is so good, you’ll get a marriage proposal out of it. At any rate, the Parmesan cream sauce that gets spooned on top of the chicken and rice will certainly make your diners swoon. This original recipe from Delish.com is a pretty easy dish to get on the table in quick fashion. Just remember to use a dry pot holder to take the pan out of the oven because it will be very hot; I very stupidly used a damp dish towel and now have another cooking scar. 4 (8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 3/4 cup chicken broth 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan Fresh basil, torn, for serving, optional Cooked rice, for serving Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Generously season chicken with salt and black pepper and cook, turning halfway through, until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a plate. In same skillet over medium heat, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Stir in garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in broth, tomatoes, cream, and Parmesan; season with salt. Bring to a simmer, then return chicken and any accumulated juices to skillet. Transfer skillet to oven. Bake chicken until cooked through and juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife, 10-12 minutes. Arrange chicken on a platter. Spoon sauce over. Top with basil, if using, and serve with cooked rice. Serves 4. — delish.com PG tested Broccoli is a reliable veggie when you need a little something extra to round out a meal and don’t want to spend a fortune. Here, it’s blanched until crisp-tender and then tossed with lemon juice and zest and a pinch of red pepper flakes. I used lemon olive oil (already on hand) for an extra burst of citrus flavor. 1 large bunch broccoli, separated into florets 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter 1 clove garlic, minced Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon 1 pinch (or two) red pepper flakes Flaky salt and freshly ground ground black pepper, to taste Place broccolini in a large skillet with about 2 inches of water; bring to a boil and cook until bright green, 1-2 minutes. Drain. Heat olive oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook until golden and fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Add broccoli; cook and stir until heated through, 2-3 minutes. Squeeze lemon juice and zest over broccoli and season with red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Serves 4. — Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette PG tested Remember how if you were lucky when you were a kid you got an individually wrapped Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie in your lunchbox? These soft and chewy oatmeal cookies sandwiched with vanilla buttercream taste exactly the same. Actually, they’re better because they’re not made with corn syrup and artificial flavorings, but rather real butter and brown sugar. It’s important to let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a rack. Otherwise they will fall apart. The icing is very sweet, so you might want to reduce the amount of powdered sugar. For cookies 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 cup packed light brown sugar 1 tablespoon molasses 1 large egg, room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt For filling 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 3 cups powdered sugar 2 tablespoons heavy cream 2 teaspoons vanilla Pinch of salt Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line two sheet pans with parchment paper. In stand mixer outfitted with whisk attachment add butter, brown sugar and molasses and beat on low speed until combined. Gradually increase speed to medium-high and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl with spatula, then add egg and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. Add flour, oats, baking soda and salt and beat on low speed until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Use a 1/2 -ounce cookie scoop tor tablespoon measure to portion out equal amounts of dough. Roll the dough in your hands to smooth the edges, then place 2 inches apart on prepared pans. Bake until cookies have puffed up and are set and firm around the edges but still somewhat soft in the middle, 9-11 minutes. Remove sheet pans from oven and allow cookies to rest on the pans for 5 minutes, then use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cookies have cooled, make filling. In stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, confectioners’ sugar, cream, vanilla and salt. Beat on low speed, gradually increasing the speed to high, until creamy and fully incorporated, about 45 seconds. If filling is dry, add a small splash or two of cream. Assemble cookies. Using a small offset spatula or butter knife to spread about 2 tablespoons of filling onto the bottom side of one cookie, then place second cookie on top to sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies and serve. Makes 16 sandwich cookies. —”Sweet Tooth” by Sarah Fennel (Clarkson Potter, $35) ©2024 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.LAS VEGAS — If Texas coach Steve Sarkisian holds aloft the College Football Playoff trophy next month, that will be bad news for BetMGM Sportsbook. It would be similarly disappointing if any of the coaches at Boise State, Indiana or Arizona State end up celebrating a title with confetti falling all around them inside Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Wait, what? Texas has attracted a lot of money all season to go all the way, but those other schools provide the hope of a big payoff. The fifth-seeded Longhorns are the co-favorite at BetMGM with No. 1 and unbeaten Oregon at 7-2 odds; the other three are least 40-1, while Georgia is right behind Oregon and Texas as the next favorite. "These teams get hot and people just want to have a flyer on them," BetMGM trading manager Seamus Magee said. "They don't want to be standing there and not have a ticket on some of these long-shot teams." Expanding the playoff field from four to 12 teams this year meant more betting in general on college football and more varieties of wagering on the postseason. There were meaningful games played in the final month by not only Arizona State, Boise State and Indiana, but also SMU, Army and UNLV — a number of teams not always in the national title conversation. "It's one of the highest handles we've ever had on our national-championship market," Magee said. "We're in more states, for one, but the activity and the betting patterns we're seeing, it definitely feels a lot more than it has in years past." Magee said BetMGM has received action on both sides of the first-round game between 11th-seeded SMU and sixth-seeded Penn State, but the Mustangs have drawn notable action at DraftKings and Caesars Sportsbook. Money on SMU dropped Penn State from a 9-point favorite at DraftKings to 8 1/2. "Any time they've played a real good team, they've had trouble," Johnny Avello, DraftKings race and sports operations director, said of the Nittany Lions. "SMU shows that they're pretty good on both sides of the football and pretty resilient as a team. Always in the game. Always finds ways to fight back." Joey Feazel, who oversees football trading for Caesars, said much of the early betting in general was on underdogs. "Usually, you see the dog money for these teams come late, especially on the sharps' (professional bettors) side," Feazel said. Boise State, which as the third seed has a first-round bye, will be the underdog in its quarterfinal matchup with Penn State or SMU. The Broncos got into the field as the highest-ranked Group of Five champion, but Avello said that doesn't mean they are one of the nation's top 12 teams (they are ranked No. 8 by AP and No. 9 by CFP). Avello said BYU, Colorado and Miami — none of which made the playoff — all would be favored over them. "There are a lot of teams that aren't in the playoffs that would be favored," Avello said. "That's just not the way these playoffs work." Feazel said Boise State not being able to play at home on its blue carpet will be a notable disadvantage. Boise State's quarterfinal game will be at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. "It will be all neutral," Feazel said. "It's a big step up in class for Boise." Instead of all the games being played in climate-controlled domes or warm-weather locales — as has been in the case in past postseasons — three of the four first-round matchups will take place in the Northeast and Midwest. While that might not make a difference when Notre Dame hosts in-state foe Indiana, Ohio State will be at home against Tennessee and SMU visits Penn State. BetMGM favors all four home teams by more than a touchdown. "You have to take the weather into account for some of these games," Magee said. "It's going to be really cool to see a team like Tennessee that will have to go up to Columbus, where it can get really cold. SMU has to go from Dallas to Happy Valley. That's definitely going to be one of the coldest games a lot of those kids have played in their lives." SMU was the last team in the field, getting the benefit of the doubt over Alabama. The Mustangs had one fewer defeat than the three-loss Crimson Tide, who did not appear in the SEC title game. SMU lost on a 56-yard field goal to Clemson in the ACC championship. The sportsbook operators said the Tide would be favored by 5-10 points if they met SMU on a neutral field. Get local news delivered to your inbox!KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pick your adjective to describe the Kansas City Chiefs this season — charmed, serendipitous, fortunate or just plain lucky — and it probably fits, and not just because they keep winning games that come down to the wire. Every time they need help at a position, they've found someone sitting on the couch, seemingly waiting for their call. First it was wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who returned to the Chiefs just before the season after Marquise Brown was lost to shoulder surgery. Then it was running back Kareem Hunt, who likewise returned to his former team when Isiah Pacheco broke his fibula. Left tackle D.J. Humphries came next when other options at the position were struggling, and this week it was Steven Nelson, who came out of retirement to help a secondary that has struggled for weeks. "Just got an opportunity, got a call. Was very excited about it," said Nelson, who spent his first four seasons in Kansas City before stints in Pittsburgh and Houston, and ultimately calling it quits in June so he could spend more time with his family. "I've got two daughters and been spending a lot of time with him," Nelson said, "but still trying to work out. It was kind of the perfect scenario, getting the call, especially where this team has been and this point in the season. Great opportunity." It's been a perfect opportunity for all of them. Perfect fits for the Chiefs, too. Each could have signed just about anywhere else and been able to contribute, yet they were still sitting around when Chiefs general manager Brett Veach reached out. In the case of Smith-Schuster, Hunt and Humphries, there were some concerns about injuries that had kept some teams away, but the Chiefs were willing to take a risk on them. Smith-Schuster, who has dealt with knee trouble for years, missed some time with a hamstring injury this season. But he still has 202 yards and a touchdown receiving, and has provided some veteran leadership in the locker room. Hunt was coming off a sports hernia surgery, a big reason why the Browns — whom the Chiefs visit Sunday — declined to bring him back after five years spent in a one-two punch with Nick Chubb. But when Pacheco went down, Hunt stepped in and their offense barely missed a beat; he has run for a team-leading 608 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games. Humphries was still rehabbing a torn ACL at the start of the season, but the former Pro Bowl tackle was cleared just before the Chiefs called him. Kingsley Suamataia and Wanya Morris had struggled to protect Patrick Mahomes' blind side, so they brought in Humphries to help out. And while he hurt his hamstring late in his debut last week against the Chargers, the Chiefs still hope he'll be recovered and fully up to speed in time for the stretch run and the playoffs. "I'm in Kansas City, bro. I'm pretty ecstatic. It don't get much better than this," Humphries said. "Everybody is excited for me to be here and that's a really good feeling. You're getting All-Pro guys' arms outstretched, like, 'We're so glad you're here.'" The providential signings don't stop at those four players, either. When the Chiefs lost kicker Harrison Butker to knee surgery, they signed Spencer Shrader off the Jets practice squad, and he promptly kicked a game-winner against Carolina. But then Shrader hurt his hamstring and landed on injured reserve. The 49ers had just waived Matthew Wright, and the Chiefs signed him up. He's gone 8 for 9 on field-goal tries, has been perfect on PATs, and banged the game-winner off the upright and through last week against Los Angeles. Just like Smith-Schuster, Hunt and Nelson, Wright had been with Kansas City a couple of years ago. "It definitely helps, him knowing how we do things, how we practice and what we expect," Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub said. "That all helped, for sure. And he's a veteran. He's been a lot of places. It wasn't like he was a rookie off the street." Or off the couch, for that matter. NOTES: Butker planned to kick again Thursday and could come off IR to face the Browns on Sunday. "He looked good," Toub said. "We have to see how he responds." ... Humphries (hamstring) did not practice Thursday. RT Jawaan Taylor (knee) was limited. ... SS Justin Reid will likely handle kickoffs against Cleveland. He has a stronger leg than Wright and also puts another athletic and adept tackler on the field on special teams.LA Galaxy win record 6th MLS Cup

In many ways, President Vladimir Putin seems to be winning. Russian forces are pushing ahead in Ukraine. President-elect Donald Trump is returning to the White House. War fatigue is spreading across Europe. North Korean troops have boosted the ranks of his army. And yet on Thursday, Putin appeared weary, threatened and newly aggrieved as he took his bellicose threats against his Western adversaries to a new level. Even with the prospect of a friendlier American administration around the corner, he has found himself struggling anew to confront perhaps the biggest failure of his war: Russia’s inability to deter the West from providing colossal amounts of military aid to Ukraine. As a result, Putin is bringing Russia closer to a direct conflict with the United States than at any point in decades. He announced Thursday evening that Russia had struck Ukraine with a new intermediate-range missile, one with nuclear capabilities, using a televised speech to cast the West as an aggressor that left Moscow with no choice but to respond. On Friday, Putin told a meeting of military leaders that Russia would continue using and begin regular production of the new missile. Two months from now, Trump’s second presidency could give Putin the chance to strike a peace deal with Ukraine that he could portray as a victory. But until then, people who study the Kremlin say, Putin is intent on driving home the chilling message that America risks nuclear war as it expands its support for Kyiv. “The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, said on Friday. “The contours of further retaliatory actions, if our concerns are not taken into account, have also been quite clearly outlined.” Capturing the mood, one of Russia’s most influential security hawks, Sergey Karaganov, a political scientist, published an article on Thursday warning that Russia risked “ripping defeat from the jaws of victory.” To prevail over the West, he argued, the Kremlin needed to step up the threat of nuclear weapons being used. “Russia has started to win in the fight against Western aggression in Ukraine,” Karaganov wrote. “But it’s early and dangerous to relax. The fight is only beginning.” Ever since he launched his invasion in February 2022, Putin has mostly been careful to avoid direct military conflict with NATO, even as Western countries poured modern weaponry into Ukraine that killed tens of thousands of Russian soldiers. But on Thursday, he said in the most explicit terms yet that he was ready for such an escalation: Russia was “entitled,” he said, to strike the military facilities of countries “that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities.” The main reason for that shift appears clear: President Joe Biden’s recent decision to allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory with U.S.-provided missiles that have a range of 190 miles. That was followed by a similar decision by the British government. While Ukraine’s present stock of Western missiles is not sufficient to change the course of the war, Putin appears to fear that the West could provide Ukraine with more powerful, longer-range missiles in the future. “From that point onward,” Putin said Thursday, referring to Ukraine’s missile attacks this week, “the regional conflict in Ukraine provoked by the West has assumed elements of a global nature.” But some analysts see a second reason Putin may feel prepared to take bigger risks now: Trump’s looming return to the White House. After all, Putin’s threats about a “global” war dovetail with Trump’s rhetoric about Biden risking World War III. So Putin — who quickly praised Trump after he won the election — may believe that taking more aggressive steps now could help him strike a favorable deal once Trump is inaugurated. “I don’t see him being concerned about ruining his chances for a deal with Trump — rather, quite the opposite,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. “Trump took the position that Biden’s policies are leading to World War III, and what Putin is doing confirms this.” Biden long resisted allowing Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with U.S. missiles, to Ukraine’s great frustration, amid concern about Putin’s response. In September, Putin said that such a move would put his country “at war” with NATO, for the first time defining a specific “red line” that he was warning the West not to cross. This week, the Biden administration crossed it, citing Putin’s own escalation of the war this fall by bringing thousands of North Korean troops into the fight. Biden administration officials calculate that the risk of escalation by Putin diminished with the election of Trump. But in Moscow, some question that notion. A former senior Russian official who remains close to the Kremlin said “no one knows” if a deal with Trump is really possible. But “a threat after Biden’s decision has already emerged,” he added, “so we have to respond.” He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive Kremlin deliberations. American officials “are overestimating both themselves and the significance of their agenda for others,” said Dmitry Trenin, a hawkish specialist on security policy at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, suggesting Putin is not so concerned about who holds power in Washington. “Putin has his schedule and his strategy, and he will follow them.” Still, Putin has repeatedly signaled that he is interested in a negotiated settlement, as long as he is able to keep the land Russia has captured in Ukraine and to extract political concessions, like a guarantee that the country won’t join NATO. He has often pointed to a draft treaty that Ukrainian and Russian negotiators hammered out in the first months of the invasion in 2022, in which Ukraine would have declared itself “permanently neutral” and accepted limits on the size of its army. Russia may be “quite cynical and skeptical” about the prospects for a deal after Trump takes office, said Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at the Rand Corp. “But they still recognize that they need a deal eventually.” Ukrainian and Western officials contend that Putin is simply looking for a deal only on his terms, tantamount to capitulation. The 2022 negotiations between Russia and Ukraine fell apart amid disputes over how the West could protect Ukraine from another Russian invasion in the future. That issue — the shape of “security guarantees” for Ukraine — is likely to loom as the most complicated factor in any renewed talks after Trump returns to the White House, more important than how much Ukrainian territory Russia is allowed to keep control over. Until then, conditions appear ripe for further escalation — because Russia and Ukraine are jockeying for better negotiating positions before Trump takes office, and because Putin appears determined to deter a further expansion of Western aid to Ukraine that could bring the fighting deeper into Russian territory. “We’re in an escalatory spiral,” Charap said. Separate from any preparation for future negotiations, he added, that spiral “is a sort of dynamic of its own.” This article originally appeared in The New York Times . © 2024 The New York Times Company