US stocks tumble at end of holiday weekOWINGS MILLS — The biggest question facing the Baltimore Ravens right now has little to do with Lamar Jackson or even a defense that started the season poorly. It’s about a kicking conundrum that has turned into a crisis. Can the Ravens make it to the Super Bowl with Justin Tucker? One of the more surprising subplots of this NFL season has been Tucker’s decline from one of the greatest of all time to a week-in, week-out liability. Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia might have been the nadir — he missed two field goals and an extra point in a game the Ravens ultimately lost 24-19 . “Points were at a premium in the game. They have been in a few of these games. Sometimes we haven’t made the most of our opportunity to score points,” coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “We’re racking our brains, talking to Justin, looking at what we’re doing. I’m very confident that it’s going to get fixed. I believe it will. It has to. “And he’s the guy to get it fixed.” Harbaugh has given every indication that he’s standing by Tucker, who is in his 13th season and is under contract through 2027. When he’s at his best, he’s the type of kicker that gives his team a clear advantage in close games, but this season he has missed eight field goals. Sunday showed that against a good defensive team, the Ravens (8-5) can’t simply assume their excellent offense will pile up points. There almost certainly will be close games in the weeks to come. Tucker’s ability to come through will be tested again, and it’s hard for Baltimore to feel too confident at the moment. “When he was hitting, three or four years ago, hitting bombs, we were going 57, 58, 56 pretty regularly,” Harbaugh said. “That’s tightened up a little bit.” What’s working The Ravens continue to do a good job stopping the run. Although Saquon Barkley did eventually surpass the 100-yard mark late in the game, Baltimore held the Eagles to 140 yards on the ground, well below their usual output. What needs help Even beyond Tucker’s problems, Sunday wasn’t a great showing by Baltimore’s special teams. Tylan Wallace was shaky returning punts, and the Ravens had to start four drives inside their own 20 and two inside their own 10. “They had great bounces, and they downed right down in there,” Wallace said. “I’m pretty sure we’ll come back and talk about those and see what we can do to avoid those.” Stock up The Ravens’ defense continued to show signs of improvement, holding Philadelphia to 252 total yards. “I think we’ve just locked in on some things, and we’re playing our deep coverages better, bottom line,” Harbaugh said. “You watch the coverage, you watch the guys’ spacing, positioning, eyes, the communication, the checks that get made, and you just keep chasing doing the right things. It’s not (that we) changed the defense. We’re just playing it a lot better.” Stock down Harbaugh was vague on receiver Diontae Johnson’s situation. He was active Sunday but didn’t play, and he has only one catch in four games since the Ravens acquired him in a trade from Carolina. “I’m going to have to wait just to clarify it,” Harbaugh said. “There’s some moving parts there that we’re going to have to figure out and explore and just see where we’re at. I know that’s not the answer you want, but that’s the best I can do in fairness to everybody right now.” Injuries The Ravens were missing pass-rushing ace Kyle Van Noy (hamstring/neck) on Sunday, and WR Rashod Bateman was dealing with knee soreness. Key stats Through his first 12 seasons, Tucker made field goals at a 90% clip. That’s dropped to 70% this season. He had a 95% success rate from under 50 yards, and that’s dipped to 83%. Next steps The Ravens have this week off before a Dec. 15 road game against the New York Giants. Then comes a home matchup with Pittsburgh that may determine whether Baltimore has any shot to win the AFC North. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Cricket Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News. You just love to see it. A fresh camera angle has revealed Sam Konstas’ cheeky send-off to Virat Kohli after Australia snagged the Indian star’s wicket in the dying hours of day two at the MCG. By that time of the match, Konstas had already won the Australian public over with his rambunctious style of play on debut, ramping the best bowler in the world around the park on his way to a maiden fifty atop the order. Watch every ball of Australia v India LIVE & ad-break free during play in 4K on Kayo | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1 . Limited time offer. The nation rallied around him further when Kohli, a multi-millionaire celebrity 17 years his senior, strolled over to intimidate him with a shoulder nudge in front of the Boxing Day crowd. Konstas has clearly enjoyed the hoo-ha and was seen revving up the crowd in the outfield yesterday, giving Indian fans a cheeky shoulder charge gesture in some good-hearted banter before stumps. So when Kohli finally fell for 36, Konstas couldn’t help himself and turned it on again. The 19-year-old gave him a juicy little send-off as Kohli trudged off in defeat. The Melbourne crowd broke the decibel barrier at the sight of the fiery veteran dragging his feet with his head bowed as Konstas raised his hand as if to say “sod off, mate”, or something close to that description. To add insult to injury, Kohli was seen briefly stopping in the tunnel to stare at a fan who clearly said something unfavourable. Sam Konstas is getting stuck in. Scott Boland was the danger man late on day two. Konstas has been exactly what the Australian team needs this series. A laid-back, barely-graduated generational talent with a sense of humour is exactly what Australian fans love to see and Konstas has helped light a much-needed flame under Test cricket. His future will be dictated on how he performs overseas, but Mark Waugh has already put his debut half century down as one of the most unforgettable innings in recent times. Pending India’s performance on day two, we might not even see him bat again until Sydney. India was cruising at 2/153 in reply to the home side’s first innings of 474 all out, with young gun Yashasvi Jaiswal (82) and veteran Virat Kohli (36) producing a hundred-run partnership. The crowd loves him. Australia's Sam Konstas re-enacts his shoulder charge with India's Virat Kohli.- But it all came crashing down after Jaiswal took off for a single and Kohli wasn’t going anywhere, leaving the opener stranded and ultimately run-out. That sparked a collapse of 3/6 as the tourists fell in a heap, leaving Australia with a 310-run lead and India just five wickets in hand entering day three. Skipper Pat Cummins (2/57) and MCG cult hero Scott Boland (2/24) led the way with the ball, leaving India with an enormous task on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Steve Smith (140) recorded his 34th Test century, moving him into a tie for seventh on the all-time list. Jasprit Bumrah (4/99) was India’s best with the ball yet again, but the Australian batting line-up fired in its first innings. Originally published as Sam Konstas gives Virat Kohli spicy send-off, wins over entire nation More related stories Cricket India battling in MCG massacre as Kohli’s ‘schoolboy error’ lashed India is massively on the back foot at the MCG - and superstar Virat Kohli is still creating headlines, and copping heat from back home, for his game-changing runout. FOLLOW LIVE INSIDE. Read more Cricket Kohli drama as star turns on spectator Video has emerged of Virat Kohli being involved in a tense moment with spectators at the MCG after being booed from the field. Read more
The grand Christmas tree in the biblical birthplace of Jesus is missing as the war in Gaza rages on. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned of a "dark shadow" hanging over Christmas celebrations. DW has more. What you need to know Christmas festivities in Jerusalem have been toned down for a second year running due to the ongoing war in Gaza . Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the highest representative of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land led the traditional Christmas procession to the Church of the Nativity. In his Christmas message, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for unity following the deadly Christmas market attack in Magdeburg. "Hatred and violence must not have the final word," he said. Ukraine , which used to celebrate Christmas on January 7 along with the Russian Orthodox Church, is celebrating its second Christmas in December after a change in the law last year to move to the Western calendar. Below, you can read how Christmas is being marked around the world on Tuesday, December 24, 2024. German president: Christmas market attack casts 'dark shadow' Speaking just days after the deadly car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said there was a "dark shadow" hanging over this Christmas. "Mourning. Pain. Horror. Bewilderment over what happened in Magdeburg just a few days before Christmas," the president said in his traditional end-of-year speech . Steinmeier went on to say that "we can only imagine" what the relatives of the victims are going through after losing their loved ones. "You are not alone in your pain. The people throughout our country feel for you and mourn with you," he added, while also thanking police and the medical staff for their work after the attack. Speaking about the attack's effects on society, Steinmeier called for people living in Germany to reject division. "Hatred and violence must not have the final word," he said. "Let's not allow ourselves to be driven apart. Let's stand together!" He also referred to the Ukraine war , the conflicts in the Middle East as well the collapse of Germany's governing coalition earlier this month and other pressing issues at home. "There’s a great deal of dissatisfaction about politics, business, red tape, about injustice. The tone in our country has become rougher, at times hostile, in our everyday lives," Steinmeier said. "We have to speak candidly about what is going wrong, about what isn’t working in our country as it could and should. Above all, we must talk about what needs to be done urgently," he added. Pope Francis to lead Christmas mass at St Peter's Basilica Pope Francis is set to open the "Holy Door" of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican to launch Jubilee 2025, a year of events that is expected to draw millions of pilgrims to Rome . The 88-year-old pontiff will appear in front of 30,000 people and a live TV audience worldwide on Tuesday evening to kick off the occasion, which is also known as Holy Year and takes place every 25 years. Catholics can be forgiven for their sins in a ritual that involves walking through the imposing bronze Holy Door, which is normally bricked up. Visitors to the Vatican are expected to do so in large numbers over the next year. Much of Rome has also been given a facelift in preparation, with monuments such as the Trevi Fountain and the Ponte Sant'Angelo cleaned up and roads redesigned to improve the flow of traffic. Some 700 security officers are being deployed for the Jubilee celebrations, with measures further tightened following Friday's deadly car-ramming on a Christmas market in Germany. Later Tuesday, Pope Francis will preside over the traditional Christmas Eve mass at St Peter's Square. On Wednesday, he will deliver his traditional Christmas Day blessing, Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world). On Thursday, Francis will open a Holy Door at a prison in Rome and preside over a mass in a show of support for the inmates. Ukraine celebrates its second Christmas in December after Russia snub Ukraine is this year celebrating Christmas in December for the second time after the law was changed to move away from the traditional January date observed by the Russian Orthodox Church. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the legislation in 2023 stating the country would "abandon the Russian heritage" of celebrating on January 7. "For the second time, we celebrate Christmas on the same date as one big family, one country. For the second time in modern history, Christmas unites all Ukrainians," Zelenskyy said in a social media post on Tuesday. "Whether in person or in our minds, we will greet each other, call our parents, kiss our children, hug our loved ones, and remember those we hold dear. In person, from afar, or in our hearts — Ukrainians are together today. And as long as we do this, evil has no chance." Between them, Ukraine and Russia are estimated to have lost around half a million soldiers during the nearly three-year war. More than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed. According to reports, around 150,000 Ukrainian soldiers remain at the frontline, out of a total of 2.2 million strong military personnel. Millions of Ukrainian refugees are spending their third Christmas abroad, having been offered shelter in neighboring European countries when the war began. Christmas in Bethlehem scaled back due to Gaza war Overshadowed by the Gaza war for the second year in a row, the traditional Christmas procession has arrived in Bethlehem, which Christians believe to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the highest representative of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land led a convoy of vehicles from Jerusalem and walked the stretch to the Church of the Nativity. Due to the Israel- Hamas conflict in Gaza, this year's celebrations in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank , are rather subdued, with many events called off and most tourists staying away. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of the city's income — almost all of it earned during the Christmas season. Traditionally, a grand Christmas tree would light up Manger Square, but local authorities opted against elaborate decorations for a second year. Prayers, including the church's famed midnight mass, will still be held in the presence of the Patriarch. Palestinian security forces have kept up a presence around the Church of the Nativity in case of violence. There are about 182,000 Christians in Israel , 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem and 1,300 in Gaza, according to the US State Department. mm, kb/rm (AFP, Reuters)Border measures begin to take effect in response to Trump’s tariff threat
Breyten Breytenbach (1939-2024) was an artist, poet, thinker and outspoken political activist who changed the literary landscape in South Africa. He died on 24 November in Paris, where he had first been exiled in the 1960s. Exploring themes of identity, exile and justice in a career spanning almost six decades, his paintings were exhibited in major galleries and he was awarded prestigious literary prizes. Breytenbach was a master of metaphor . Metaphors transcend the literal meanings of words, creating new associations and images that stir the reader’s imagination. But his metaphors leave all definitions and theories about metaphor short. By joining concepts and words in curious ways his metaphors create imaginative alternatives : die maan is ‘n silwer skree (The moon is a silver scream) Often he would create new words and meanings in the process: om te onthou, is om te verbeel ... ek ontbeel jou. (To remember, is to imagine ... I remagine you – where “ontbeel” is a new word.) His poetry brimmed with astonishing and often baffling metaphors. But for him, metaphors were never mere literary devices or ornamental tools of poetry, paired with rhythm and incantation. To him, metaphor was an ethical imperative. This act of sparking the moral imagination was, for Breytenbach, the essence of poetry – and indeed, of art. The ability to constantly imagine alternatives to the fixed meanings of words, to reimagine concepts like self, nation, group, identity, Afrikaans , Afrikaner , and Africa, remained the central focus of all his creative endeavours, whether in painting, poetry, or prose. Breytenbach’s resistance to all forms of oppression and exclusion, which led to his clashes with Afrikaner nationalism and apartheid in the 1960s, and ultimately to his imprisonment, was rooted in his resistance to the power of words to fix meanings and confine possibilities. I grew up in the confined and deeply nationalist, religious Afrikaner environment of the 1960s and 1970s. Afrikaners were settlers in South Africa who would later create apartheid under white minority rule. To me, Breytenbach offered a radically different way of being Afrikaans. His work – like that of André Brink and later Antjie Krog – inspired me to study literature. Over decades of teaching his writings, I saw first-hand how they transformed students’ perspectives on art, life, identity, justice and politics. His words and his life were deeply intertwined. In both, he rejected rigidity. For Breytenbach, the ethical question – how to live well – and the creative act of using language were one. Through poems, essays, letters, and speeches, he unmasked and resisted language’s tendency to fixate, to solidify. In doing so, he resisted the ways in which rigid language contributes to restrictive thinking and actions. Who was Breyten Breytenbach? Born in Bonnievale in the Western Cape province in 1939, Breytenbach grew up in Wellington and studied fine arts at the University of Cape Town before moving to France in the early 1960s. While he built a career as a painter in Europe, he made his debut as an Afrikaans poet in 1964 with Die ysterkoei moet sweet (The Iron Cow Must Sweat). This groundbreaking work, along with nearly all his subsequent output , profoundly shaped Afrikaans literature. He also wrote in English and French, fearlessly addressing themes of identity and justice. In apartheid South Africa, this placed him in direct opposition to the government, Afrikaner society, and even many of his fellow Afrikaans writers. Breytenbach was unrelenting in his critique of Afrikaner writers of the 1960s. He chastised them for being inspired by French novels and European philosophy while turning a blind eye to the oppressive conditions of the people around them and dismissing the work of Black writers whose voices were systematically silenced and banned . In Paris, Breytenbach met his Vietnamese wife, Yolande Ngo Thi Hoang Lien, but apartheid’s racial laws denied her a visa to visit South Africa, as she was classified as “non-white”. This forced the young couple to travel to neighbouring Swaziland (today Eswatini) to meet his parents. Prison and banning The personal affront of apartheid’s injustices became even more real to him, spurring his decision to join Okhela , a resistance organisation opposing the apartheid regime. He returned to South Africa under a false passport to rally support for the resistance but was caught, tried for treason – a charge that carried the death penalty – and sentenced to nine years in prison in 1975. While he penned some of Afrikaans literature’s most moving love poems , Breytenbach also authored searing critiques of the government, resulting in the banning of many of his works. His poem Brief uit die vreemde aan slagter (Letter from Abroad to the Butcher), addressed to apartheid prime minister John Vorster , was even used against him during his trial. After his release from prison in 1982, Breytenbach lived in exile in France and the US. Themes of identity and exile remained central to his work, as he navigated the liminal space of the “middle world” – never fully arriving, never truly leaving. Magical use of language His exuberant language, vivid imagery, and the magical interplay of sound and rhythm continued to captivate readers. Breytenbach travelled widely, forging connections with fellow poets in exile. Notably, he translated Palestinian writer Mahmoud Darwish ’s poetry into Afrikaans. Yet his unwavering commitment to justice often put him at odds with former allies, as he was unafraid to criticise those who betrayed their ideals once they wielded power. Ultimately, Breytenbach’s resistance was rooted in a steadfast opposition to power that seeks to define, exclude, or suppress. He believed that words, with their power to shape and confine meaning, must continually be renewed, challenged, and opened to new possibilities. For Breytenbach, the role of the artist was to nurture a creative imagination capable of imagining ethical alternatives to stagnation and dogma. This was not just an artistic philosophy; it was a way of life. Read more: More than an oppressor's language: reclaiming the hidden history of Afrikaans Breytenbach’s influence is profound and far-reaching. Those who have been touched by his words cannot remain unchanged. He was at once a conscience, an accuser, and an encourager – humane and gentle, reminding even the marginalised that they need not surrender to others’ definitions of them. He exhorted all to resist clichés, to reject fixed identities, and to keep reimagining the world anew. Willie Burger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.Canadian lawmaker to start work on defeating Trudeau government in early January
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The Tennessee Titans will turn to Mason Rudolph as their starter at quarterback for a second consecutive week, despite a three-interception performance in a loss Sunday to the Indianapolis Colts. Titans head coach Brian Callahan announced the decision Tuesday after calling his starting quarterback situation a week-to-week proposition moving forward for his 3-12 team. Rudolph, who was inserted as starter Sunday in place of a struggling Will Levis, was 23-of-34 passing for 252 yards and two touchdowns, but the turnovers proved costly in a 38-30 loss at Indianapolis. Rudolph, who made three starts for an injured Levis earlier this season, has completed 63.8 percent of his passes this season in 188 attempts for 1,267 yards, eight TDs and eight interceptions. Callahan yanked Levis in the third quarter of a 37-27 loss to the visiting Cincinnati Bengals in Week 15. Levis threw for just 89 yards and three interceptions, including a pick returned for a touchdown. He also lost a fumble. Rudolph came on to complete 21 of 26 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns -- one on the final play of the game -- and an interception. Levis has thrown for 1,916 yards with 12 TDs and 12 INTs this season. He is 5-15 as a starter in his first two seasons in the NFL after he was a second-round draft pick in 2023 out of Kentucky. --Field Level MediaBy MICHELLE L. PRICE WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump’s supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump’s movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump’s Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer , a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer’s comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks , whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar.” Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with finding ways to cut the federal government , weighed in, defending the tech industry’s need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump’s world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift, and his presidential transition team did not respond to a message seeking comment. Musk, the world’s richest man who has grown remarkably close to the president-elect , was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump’s movement but his stance on the tech industry’s hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry’s need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Related Articles National Politics | Should the U.S. increase immigration levels for highly skilled workers? National Politics | Trump threat to immigrant health care tempered by economic hopes National Politics | In states that ban abortion, social safety net programs often fail families National Politics | Court rules Georgia lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to her Trump case National Politics | New 2025 laws hit hot topics from AI in movies to rapid-fire guns Trump’s own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the U.S. illegally but he has also sought curbs on legal immigration , including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order , which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Trump’s businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club , and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the the H-1B program for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country” and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump told a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country,” he told the “All-In” podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump’s budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes.
AP News Summary at 5:51 p.m. ESTSen. Joe Manchin calls on Biden to pardon Trump too after prez’s shocking Hunter move: ‘Clean that slate up’None
When the BBC aired a special, colorized edit of “The Daleks” to celebrate Doctor Who ‘s 60th anniversary last year, aside from the actual edit down to a shortened runtime, the serial was largely left as-is, aside from a cute trailer at the end to tease the next 60 years of adventures in time and space. With its second take—this time on Patrick Troughton’s iconic exit as the Second Doctor in “The War Games” —things got very different. Very different. Airing on BBC 4 in the UK earlier this week, the special colorized TV movie take on Doctor Who ‘s final black-and-white story—taking a four-hour saga and trimming it down to just 90 minutes—took the opportunity to weave in answers to questions Who fans have had for years at this point, creating something of an insane checklist of pointed references and acknowledgements to the show’s future that are now, in some ways, definitive parts of Doctor Who ‘s ever-evolving continuity. Here’s three of the biggest tweaks and changes added to the proceedings. The War Chief and the Master Arguably the biggest theory played with, “The War Games” in color made in particular one connection between the original story and Doctor Who ‘s immediate future much more explicit: that one of the serial’s major antagonists, the War Chief, was none other than an incarnation of the Master himself. Throughout the War Chief’s appearances in the colorization, the newly updated soundtrack incorporated contemporary Who composer Murray Gold’s iconic “Master Vainglorious” theme —and when the War Chief is executed by the Time Lords upon their arrival in the climax of “The War Games,” you can even briefly hear the telltale sound of Doctor Who ‘s modern regeneration SFX as his body is being dragged away. While it was always established in the original story that the War Chief was a renegade Time Lord, for years ancillary material and novelizations have bandied back and forth over the idea that he is an early incarnation of the Time Lord that would eventually take on the mantle of Master (the implication now being that he did so initially with Roger Delgado’s incarnation of the character). Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke, who wrote “The War Games,” went on to note in their own Doctor Who Target episode novelizations that the Master and the Doctor were the only renegade Time Lords to ever flee Gallifrey with their own TARDIS, implying that the War Chief and the Master were, indeed, one and the same. But later original novels as part of the Virgin New Adventures books would also treat the War Chief as a distinct character, one who survived the events of “The War Games” and would eventually regenerate into different incarnations, as would Big Finish audio dramas that established earlier incarnations of the Master separate from the War Chief. The Trial and the Faces of the Doctor Once particularly random alteration in the climax of the story comes during the Time Lords’ trial of the Doctor. After concluding in agreement with the Doctor that there were many perils across the universe worth confronting in spite of their non-intervention policies (embellished here from the original with extra clips from other Doctor Who stories), the Time Lords still choose to punish the Doctor with exile on Earth and a forced regeneration, offering the Doctor several choices of potential visages. However, in the colorization, these faces—all of which the Doctor still refuses for various reasons—are no longer just random unknown identities. Instead, the Doctor is offered the chance to regenerate into the faces of several of their future incarnations beyond the third Doctor, as the Time Lords project images that we know are in fact the Twelfth (rejected as “too old”), Tenth (“too skinny”), Thirteenth (“too young”), and Eleventh (simply described as “that won’t do at all!”) Doctors. This one is a particularly weird addition, considering there wasn’t really any particularly theorization or desire that these faces had a particular connection to the Doctor beyond the Time Lords offering them up to him in the moment. It’s not like Doctor Who hasn’t explored the idea of the Doctor having incarnations beyond ones we were already familiar with—we’ve had plenty of examples from the infamous faces glimpsed in “The Brains of Morbius” to contemporary Who ‘s addition of incarnations like John Hurt’s “War Doctor” between the Eighth and Ninth Doctors, or Jo Martin’s “Fugitive Doctor” and other incarnations prior to William Hartnell’s Doctor. But it’s a funny joke in the moment that the Doctor has little desire to have any of several faces we know they eventually end up with later on in life. The Second Doctor’s Regeneration (and UNIT Dating) “The War Games” colorization climaxes with an almost completely new addition, using rotoscoped footage of Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee’s Doctors to establish the actual moment of the second Doctor’s regeneration. Here, after the trippy sequence of the Doctor’s face contorting across a shadowy void from the original serial, the action cuts to inside the TARDIS, where, sitting in a chair as he hears flashes of his departed companions, the Doctor braces himself as he glows with regenerative energy, transforming into his next incarnation. As we recently covered , the second Doctor’s off-screen regeneration has been covered in other ancillary material outside of the show itself (no Time Lord-sanctioned scarecrow execution squads this time, alas), but now the moment itself has been brought in line with depictions of regeneration as seen in Doctor Who ‘s modern era, for better or worse. But that canonization isn’t the only fannish nod the new scene makes. As the newly regenerated Doctor checks to see when exactly he’s landed—before we cut to Pertwee’s first scene from “Spearhead From Space,” collapsing out of the TARDIS into the Oxley Woods—the TARDIS’ displays briefly flicker back and forth between the years 1970 and 1980. This in and of itself is a nod towards another long-running Doctor Who fan theory, the so-called “UNIT Dating Controversy.” Although many of the Third Doctor’s adventures appear to be contemporary to their broadcast in the early 1970s, two mentions of dates surrounding the career of one of his closest allies, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart—the 1968 Second Doctor story “The Invasion,” which establishes the existence of UNIT and promoted Lethbridge-Stewart to his famous rank of Brigadier, which is set around 1979; and the 1983 Fifth Doctor story “Mawdryn Undead,” which states that Lethbridge-Stewart retired from UNIT in 1976—throw continuity into disarray. There’s been several attempts to at least acknowledge, if not exactly fix, the perceived continuity error over the years across both the TV show itself as well as other tie-in media ( Doctor Who at the time, for the most part, largely treated the Third Doctor’s time on Earth as taking place in a similar timeframe to its broadcast), so while this isn’t the first time there’s been nods on-screen to the controversy, it’s the first time in a while we’ve seen it explicitly addressed, even if the answer is, hilariously, to have the TARDIS throw its metaphorical hands up in confusion. What Do These Changes Mean for Doctor Who ? At least in the case of both stories adapted so far so far, the colorizations are not the only way to experience these serials—both the original versions of “The Daleks” and “The War Games” are available on physical media and streaming at this point , so despite the “confirmations” this latest colorization has brought with it, anyone who wants to see the original stories sans-embellishment can do so. While on the surface a lot of these changes and “retcons” are minor in the grand scheme of things, the fact that the scope of these colorizations has quickly grown between “The Daleks” and “The War Games” beyond cosmetic embellishment and condensation paints an intriguing picture for what future colorizations could tweak, as each new colorization brings with it an attempt to make even more connections across Doctor Who ‘s vast, and often contradictory, continuity. Just what stories could come next—and what changes could come with them—remains to be seen. As always with Doctor Who , time will tell.NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers formally asked a judge Monday to throw out his hush money criminal conviction , arguing that continuing the case would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the Presidency.“ In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that anything short of immediate dismissal would undermine the transition of power, as well as the “overwhelming national mandate" granted to Trump by voters last month. They also cited President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “President Biden asserted that his son was ‘selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,’ and ‘treated differently,’" Trump’s legal team wrote. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, they claimed, had engaged in the type of political theater "that President Biden condemned.” Prosecutors will have until Dec. 9 to respond. They have said they will fight any efforts to dismiss the case but have indicated a willingness to delay the sentencing until after Trump’s second term ends in 2029. In their filing Monday, Trump's attorneys dismissed the idea of holding off sentencing until Trump is out of office as a “ridiculous suggestion.” Following Trump’s election victory last month, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed his sentencing, previously scheduled for late November, to allow the defense and prosecution to weigh in on the future of the case. He also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier. He says they did not and denies any wrongdoing. The defense filing was signed by Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who represented Trump during the trial and have since been selected by the president-elect to fill senior roles at the Justice Department. Taking a swipe at Bragg and New York City, as Trump often did throughout the trial, the filing argues that dismissal would also benefit the public by giving him and “the numerous prosecutors assigned to this case a renewed opportunity to put an end to deteriorating conditions in the City and to protect its residents from violent crime.” Clearing Trump, the lawyers added, would also allow him to “to devote all of his energy to protecting the Nation.” Merchan hasn’t yet set a timetable for a decision. He could decide to uphold the verdict and proceed to sentencing, delay the case until Trump leaves office, 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. An outright dismissal of the New York case would further lift a legal cloud that at one point carried the prospect of derailing Trump’s political future. Last week, special counsel Jack Smith told courts that he was withdrawing both federal cases against Trump — one charging him with hoarding classified documents at his Florida estate, the other with scheming to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost — citing longstanding Justice Department policy that shields a president from indictment while in office. The hush money case was the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial, resulting in a historic verdict that made him the first former president to be convicted of a crime. Prosecutors had cast the payout as part of a Trump-driven effort to keep voters from hearing salacious stories about him. Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels. Trump later reimbursed him, and Trump’s company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses — concealing what they really were, prosecutors alleged. Trump has said the payments to Cohen were properly categorized as legal expenses for legal work. A month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that ex-presidents can’t be prosecuted for official acts — things they did in the course of running the country — and that prosecutors can’t cite those actions to bolster a case centered on purely personal, unofficial conduct. Trump’s lawyers cited the ruling to argue that the hush money jury got some improper evidence, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form, testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made during his first term. Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a sliver” of their case. If the verdict stands and the case proceeds to sentencing, Trump’s punishments would range from a fine to probation to up to four years in prison — but it’s unlikely he’d spend any time behind bars for a first-time conviction involving charges in the lowest tier of felonies. Because it is a state case, Trump would not be able to pardon himself once he returns to office.
AP News Summary at 4:37 p.m. ESTCong demands memorial for Manmohan Singh; committed to building one: GovtRailway Board To Involve PSUs In Competitive Bidding For Operation And Maintenance Of New Facilities
