The Democratic Party has a problem, both at the national and state levels: they have lost ground with traditionally Democrat voting blocs like Blacks and Hispanics. Big time. It's so bad the absolute peaches at The Bulwark are now in favor of deporting Hispanics because they pivoted so hard to Trump. Will they learn how to get those voters back? Probably not. In Florida, Democrat State Rep. Susan Valdes realized her now-former party has no interest in helping her constituents and she's jumped ship to the GOP: #BREAKING : Florida Democratic Rep. Susan Valdes switches registration to Republican, saying her previous party "ignore[d] the needs of [her] community" She said Speaker @Daniel_PerezFL 's vision for the coming session inspired her to want to be part of the GOP caucus... pic.twitter.com/WI6ZJPhPH3 Here's more from Florida's Voice: State Rep. Susan Valdes announced Monday she is switching her party registration from Democratic to Republican. In her statement, she pointed to new House Speaker Daniel Perez’s 'vision for the House that focuses on empowering House members to work on real problems facing our communities.' 'I have spent my adult life fighting to give a voice to the people of my West Tampa home. I have done so as a Democrat partly out of habit – I come from a family of Democrats – and partly because I believed the Democrats were the party most concerned with the working families I represent,' Valdes said. 'In the House, I have long known that no one has a monopoly on good ideas,' she said. 'I will not waste my final two years in the Florida Legislature being ignored in a caucus whose leadership expects me to ignore the needs of my community.' Welcome to the party. From Tulsi Gabbard, to mayor of Dallas and perhaps soon the mayor of NYC, there have been a great many politicians switching from Democrat to Republican often with a stop at independent in between the last several years. Politicians are seeing the Democratic Party went far left. So far Left they're pushing everyone else to the Right. I'd like some of the big podcasters reaching out to interview these flippers. I'd like to hear actual conversations and real, thoughtful reasoning as to why they switched. I think it's great that they do. But, I want to hear the thought process. That would be interesting to listen to. @JohnFetterman At this point you have entirely too much common sense to keep hanging out with the political left. He's not wrong. This is fine. Welcome to the club. Just understand many of the principles the current Democratic Party are not compatible with the populous Republican movement. It'll be interesting to see how she votes going forward. Welcome to the GOP, Rep. Valdes! Congrats to Speaker @Daniel_PerezFL on the biggest Republican majority in the history of the Florida House! https://t.co/vf1oif6cBy What a great state Florida has become under DeSantis' leadership. This is a big deal. With Rep. Valdes joining the GOP, Florida's House now has the biggest Republican majority ever. Florida has turned from a swing state to a red state under Governor @RonDeSantis ' leadership, and Speaker @Daniel_PerezFL is helping to make it even redder! 🎉 https://t.co/ASKuBh5xNq Absolutely amazing. Welcome to the Republican Party, @SusanLValdesFL ! Your decision is a testament to the shared values of freedom, opportunity, and responsibility. Looking forward to seeing the impact you'll make with your voice and leadership! https://t.co/WjxHcBOG29 There's more that unites us than divides us.On the horizon for the Los Angeles Chargers (8-6) is a division matchup with the Denver Broncos (9-5) on Thursday, December 19, 2024 at SoFi Stadium. If you are in the market for Chargers vs. Broncos tickets, information is available below. Los Angeles Chargers vs. Denver Broncos game info NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more. How to buy Chargers vs. Broncos tickets for NFL Week 16 You can purchase tickets to see the Chargers square off against the Broncos from multiple sources. Los Angeles Chargers vs. Denver Broncos betting odds, lines, spreads Odds courtesy of BetMGM Los Angeles Chargers schedule Los Angeles Chargers stats Denver Broncos schedule Denver Broncos stats This content was created for Gannett using technology provided by Data Skrive.50 jili asia 。

OLEAN, N.Y. (AP) — Chance Moore scored 16 points as Saint Bonaventure defeated Buffalo 65-55 on Saturday night. Moore shot 5 of 11 from the field, including 0 for 3 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 8 from the line for the Bonnies (9-1). Melvin Council Jr. scored 12 points while shooting 5 for 11, including 2 for 5 from beyond the arc and added three steals. Jonah Hinton had 12 points and shot 3 of 5 from the field, including 2 for 3 from 3-point range, and went 4 for 4 from the line. Ryan Sabol led the way for the Bulls (5-5) with 14 points. Buffalo also got 14 points from Bryson Wilson. Brayden Jackson had 11 points. Saint Bonaventure took the lead with 19:26 remaining in the first half and did not give it up. Hinton led their team in scoring with 10 points in the first half to help put them ahead 32-22 at the break. Saint Bonaventure closed out the victory in the final half, while Moore led the way with a team-high 10 second-half points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

(BPT) - The holidays are almost here! It means parties and events, hustle and bustle ... and figuring out what to buy for everyone on your list. Sometimes it's hard to get inspired with great ideas that your nears and dears will love at a price you can afford, right? The good news? Inspiration + savings are covered this year. One of the top gifts of Holiday 2024 is technology, and there are a lot of deals out there right now. Done and done! Here are 5 ideas for hot tech gifts for everyone on your list. Smartphones for the family T-Mobile is running a hot deal right now. Get four new smartphones at T-Mobile — this includes Samsung Galaxy S24 and other eligible devices — and four lines for just $100/month . It doesn't get better than that! These new Galaxy phones are tech-tastic, too, with features like AI, Circle to Search with Google, which can be used to help solve math problems and translate entire pages of text in a different language, and Note Assist with Galaxy AI, which lets you focus on capturing your notes and then Note Assist will summarize, format and even translate them for you. High tech spiral notebook for students We've got to admit, this is pretty cool. The Rocketbook looks (a bit) like a regular spiral, paper notebook. Here's the high tech twist: You can take notes, capture ideas, brainstorm, draw — whatever you do on paper — on the pad, and the Rocketbook digitizes your doodles and saves to the cloud device of your choice. Then you simply wipe the pad clean and it's good to go. Look for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales at your favorite online retailer. Wrist-worthy smartwatches for athletes (or those who want to be) Everyone loves smartwatches (if you're not already tracking your sleep and heart rate, where have you been?) and the Google Pixel Watch 3 (41mm & 45mm) takes it to the next level with features for athletes or anyone who may be setting fitness goals for the coming year. The watch has workout prompts like Real Time Guidance — audio and haptic cues for when to sprint, cool down or maintain pace. It gives you the ability to program your workouts and even monitors your cadence and stride. It also has Offline Maps, with driving navigation, search and maps. Here's the deal of the century: Get it for free at T-Mobile when adding a qualifying watch line. Cute wireless keyboard for people who are all thumbs Who else is annoyed by typing email or texts or social posts on a smartphone? The Logitech Multi-Device Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard solves that problem with style! It comes in sweet colors like lavender, it's wireless, it's small and portable, and it works with just about any device. Pop it into your backpack or purse and you'll never have to thumb-out a message again. Speakers perfect for hosting and giving Have a music lover in your life or need the perfect hosting gift? T-Mobile has you covered. For a limited time, you can get the JBL Clip 5 for free when you pick up a Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 9 . The JBL Clip 5 is an ultra-portable Bluetooth speaker perfect for those on the go and the Onyx Studio 9's sleek design and booming sound will take care of all your holiday hosting needs. For more tech-tastic holiday gift inspiration, check out T-Mobile's holiday gift guide at t-mobile.com/devices/tech-gifts .

Washington — President-elect Trump is meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Chew on Monday at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to sources familiar with the meeting. The news was first reported by CNN . A spokesperson for TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At a news conference earlier Monday, Trump had warm words about TikTok and its near-term future. "We'll take a look at TikTok. You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok, because I won youth by 34 points. And there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with that," Trump said when asked about how he would stop a ban. Harris won 54% of voters under 30, but Trump made inroads. During his first term in the White House, Trump tried to ban the app. President Biden earlier this year signed into law a bill passed by Congress requiring TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, face a Jan. 19 deadline to cut ties or be banned in the U.S. The companies have tried to delay the deadline pending a Supreme Court review, but a federal appeals court, which upheld the law , denied the request last week. The companies asked the Supreme Court on Monday to temporarily pause the law. "A modest delay in enforcing the Act will create breathing room for this Court to conduct an orderly review and the new Administration to evaluate this matter — before this vital channel for Americans to communicate with their fellow citizens and the world is closed," the emergency application said. The filing asked the Supreme Court to make a decision on the request by Jan. 6 so ByteDance and TikTok can "coordinate with their service providers to perform the complex task of shutting down the TikTok platform only in the United States" if the justices decline. A 90-day extension could be granted if a sale is in process by the deadline. But TikTok has argued that a sale is unfeasible and the Chinese government opposes the sale of the algorithm which powers the app.NEW YORK (AP) — A number of President-elect Donald Trump 's most prominent Cabinet picks and appointees have been targeted by bomb threats and “swatting attacks," Trump's transition team said Wednesday. The FBI said it was investigating. “Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them," Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. She said the attacks ranged from bomb threats to swatting, in which attackers initiate an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim under false pretenses. The tactic has become a popular one in recent years. Leavitt said law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted and Trump and his transition team are grateful. Among those targeted were New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick to serve as the next ambassador to the United Nations ; Matt Gaetz, Trump’s initial pick to serve as attorney general ; and former New York congressman Lee Zeldin, who has been tapped to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Law enforcement officials are also looking into whether Susie Wiles, Trump’s incoming chief of staff, and Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general whom Trump has chosen as Gaetz’s replacement, and other incoming administration officials were also victims — as well as how each was targeted, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity as the investigation continues. Wiles and Bondi did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The FBI said in a statement that it was “aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees" and was investigating with its law enforcement partners. The FBI added: "We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement.” White House spokesperson Saloni Sharma said President Joe Biden had been briefed and the White House is in touch with federal law enforcement and Trump's transition team. Biden “continues to monitor the situation closely," Sharma said, adding the president and his administration “condemn threats of political violence.” Stefanik's office said that, on Wednesday morning, she, her husband, and their 3-year-old son were driving home from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence in Saratoga County. Her office said “New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism.” The New York State Police said a team was dispatched to sweep Stefanik’s home on Wednesday morning in response to the bomb threat but did not locate any explosive devices. The agency directed further questions to the FBI. Zeldin said in a social media post that he and his family had been threatened. “A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message,” he wrote on X . “My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops.” Police in Suffolk County, Long Island, said emergency officers responded to a bomb threat Wednesday morning at an address listed in public records as Zeldin’s home and were checking the property. In Florida, the Okaloosa County sheriff’s office said on Facebook that it “received notification of a bomb threat referencing former Congressman Matt Gaetz’s supposed mailbox at a home in the Niceville area" around 9 a.m. Wednesday. While a family member resides at the address, the office said, Gaetz “is NOT a resident.” No threatening devices were found. Gaetz was Trump’s initial pick to serve as attorney general, but he withdrew from consideration after allegations that he paid women for sex and slept with underage women. Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said last year that a Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls had ended with no federal charges against him. The threats follow a political campaign marked by disturbing and unprecedented violence. In July, a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing the then-candidate in the ear with a bullet and killing one of his supporters. The Secret Service later thwarted a subsequent assassination attempt at Trump's West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course when an agent spotted the barrel of a gun poking through a perimeter fence while Trump was golfing. Trump was also the subject of an Iranian murder-for-hire plot , with a man saying he had been tasked with planning the assassination of the Republican president-elect. Also this week, authorities arrested a man they say posted videos on social media threatening to kill Trump, according to court documents. In one video posted on Nov. 13, Manuel Tamayo-Torres threatened to shoot the former president while holding what appeared to be an AR-15 style rifle, authorities said Among the other videos he posted was one from an arena in Glendale, Arizona on Aug. 23, the same day Trump held a campaign rally there, according to court papers. An attorney for Tamayo-Torres did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Public figures across the political spectrum have been targeted in recent years by hoax bomb threats and false reports of shootings at their homes. About a year ago the FBI responded to an uptick in such incidents at the homes of public officials, state capitols and courthouses across the country around the holidays. Many were locked down and evacuated in early January after receiving bomb threats. No explosives were found and no one was hurt. Some of those targeted last year were Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. In Wu’s case, a male caller told police he had shot his own wife and tied another man up. When police and EMT responders arrived at the address given by the caller, they quickly realized it was the Boston mayor’s home. Wu, a Democrat, has also been targeted by many swatting calls since she took office in 2021. The judges overseeing the civil fraud case against Trump in New York and the criminal election interference case against him in Washington were both targeted earlier this year. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who recently abandoned the two criminal cases he brought against Trump, was also the subject of a fake emergency call on Christmas Day last year. Earlier this year, schools, government buildings and the homes of city officials in Springfield, Ohio, received a string of hoax bomb threats after Trump falsely accused members of Springfield’s Haitian community of abducting and eating cats and dogs. And in 2022, a slew of historically Black colleges and universities nationwide were targeted with dozens of bomb threats, with the vast majority arriving during the celebration of Black History Month. The U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement Wednesday that anytime a member of Congress is the victim of a swatting' incident, “we work closely with our local and federal law enforcement partners.” The force declined to provide further details, in part to “minimize the risk of copy-cats.” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called the threats “dangerous and unhinged.” “This year, there was not just one but TWO assassination attempts on President Trump," he wrote on X . “Now some of his Cabinet nominees and their families are facing bomb threats.” He added: “It is not who we are in America.” ___ Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Eric Tucker in Washington, Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York, contributed to this report.Qatar's prime minister said on Saturday that momentum had returned to talks aimed at securing a truce and hostage exchange deal in Gaza following Donald Trump's election as US president. The Gulf emirate, along with the United States and Egypt, had been involved in months of unsuccessful negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release. But in November, Doha announced it had put its mediation on hold, saying it would resume when Hamas and Israel showed "willingness and seriousness". "We have sensed, after the election, that the momentum is coming back," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani told the Doha Forum for political dialogue. He spoke as a source close to the Hamas delegation in the talks told AFP that a new round of negotiations will "most likely" begin in the coming week. Sheikh Mohammed said that while there were "some differences" in the approach to an agreement by the outgoing and incoming US administrations, "we didn't see or recognise any disagreement on the goal itself to end the war". He said there had been "a lot of encouragement from the incoming administration in order to achieve a deal, even before the president comes to the office", adding this had affected Qatar's decision to get talks "back on track". "We hope to get things done as soon as possible. We hope that the willingness of the parties to engage in a good faith continues," he said. The source close to the Hamas delegation, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP: "Based on contacts with the mediators, we expect a new round of negotiations to begin in Cairo, most likely this week, to discuss ideas and proposals regarding a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange." The source added that Turkey, as well as Egypt and Qatar, had been "making commendable efforts to stop the war". In a statement later on Saturday, the group said Turkish spy chief Ibrahim Kalin met with a Hamas delegation in Doha to discuss the war in Gaza. The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. During the attack, militants kidnapped 251 people, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the Israeli military. Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 44,664 people, a majority civilians, according to figures from the territory's Hamas-run health ministry which the UN considers reliable. The US president-elect this week warned on social media of unspecified massive repercussions if the hostages were not released by the time he takes office next month. Trump has vowed staunch support for Israel and to dispense with outgoing President Joe Biden's occasional criticism, but has also spoken of his desire to secure deals on the world stage. On Saturday, Qatar's premier dismissed the prospect of his country facing greater pressure over the status of the Hamas political bureau, which the Gulf state has hosted since 2012 with Washington's blessing. Sheikh Mohammed called the Hamas office a "platform to convene between the different parties". Qatar was not "expected to enforce solutions" on the Palestinian militants, he added. csp/srm/dcp/it

At the not-that-old age of 39, I've already seen the world around me change a lot. So, I'm fascinated by how even older adults have seen trends come and go. Recently, older adults on Reddit shared wonderful things from the past that younger generations don't even know they're missing, and it made me really nostalgic (yes, even for the things I was too young to experience). Here's what they had to say: 2. "Handwritten letters." — r_colo "Particularly thank-you letters." — DifficultStruggle420 3. "Heading down to the video store on a Friday night and crossing your fingers that there are still copies of the new releases. Getting a massive bag of chips, popcorn, and a soft drink, getting home, and having the best night of the week." — YouGottaRollReddit 5. "The concept of feeling totally safe as a kid in school, except for the schoolyard bully and the duck and cover drills." — vmdinco 6. "Small towns filled with individually owned businesses that created a community, instead of chains of corporate-owned replicas of the store one town over." — Gilligan_G131131 "I moved to a tiny town and it is about a 45 drive to any chain, except Dairy Queen — the only fast-food joint in town. It is like living in the Gilmore Girls , and I love it. Plus, my husband bought a fixer-upper for $6k about six years ago and has fixed it up cash only. I work from home and now have about $1.5k in monthly expenses (car, insurance, groceries, etc.) and have a plan to save $700k in the next 10 years. The American Dream is still alive, at least in rural Minnesota, but most people can’t live without endless consumption." — Opandemonium 8. "Secret songs at the end of a CD." — MartyFreeze "Oh yeah! My friends and I would always call those 'Track 99.' That reminds me — how about the beep tones at the end of a cassette tape to let you know you had to eject it and flip it over?" — drummerboy-98012 9. "Bench front seats in cars. There was nothing better in high school than having your girlfriend with you in a car that had a bench front seat." — ResponsibleFreedom98 11. "Being able to just disappear for a couple of weeks on vacation. No phones. Nothing. Just loose on the continent on a motorcycle or in a car. No 'checking in.' No work intrusions. Just complete unaccountability until we decided to resurface." — kbasa 12. "Seeing the Milky Way at night." — newleaf9110 14. "Stupid and small, but I used to love calling time and weather. 'At the tone, the time will be...' We had a rotary phone that would actually call after the first three numbers, so you didn't have to dial the final random four." — mereseydotes "Wow, I’d totally forgotten about that. Thanks for bringing a smile to my face!" — DC2LA_NYC 15. "Phone booths. If we had to call home and we didn’t have a dime on us, we could dial the operator (0) and tell them we needed to use our 10 cent credit and they would put the call through with no questions asked." — Jet-pilot 17. "Calling a business and having a nice, helpful person answer the phone within four rings and then help you." — ColoradoInNJ "I am feeling this hard. Yesterday, I spent 45 minutes on the phone. A total of three minutes, I was talking to an actual human; Two of the humans couldn't help and had to transfer me to a third, who initially kept repeating the script 'til they realized what I actually needed." — Mammoth_Ad_3463 18. "Being able to go out cruising with your friends and nobody knows where you are or what you’re doing, and the only rule is to be home by curfew. I feel bad for kids whose parents watch their every single move. I can’t imagine how suffocating that must feel." — Nofrillsasmr "On my co-worker's daughter's first day of high school, she was glued to her phone, watching the app she had tracking her daughter (yes, the daughter knew about the tracker). 'Now she's walking to History.' 'Now the day is over, and she's walking home.' I can't imagine that's healthy for the daughter OR her mother." — DoctorRabidBadger 20. "Real social interaction seems to be missing these days. People should have long, thoughtful conversations sometimes. Instead they have shallow conversations and seem to prefer typing out texts rather than an actual phone call. They'll spend so much money and effort to put something on social media so someone clicks like on their page but actually miss simply enjoying the moment. I see people worrying more about taking selfies or videos at events rather than enjoying the event or, shock, talking to their companions." — Garden_Lady2 "At Thanksgiving this year, I watched the parents of a little boy sit at the table looking at their phones while he was trying to get their attention. It made me so sad. He's being raised by people who are privileging a phone screen over eye contact, connection, attentiveness, etc." — hellocutiepye 21. "A bunch of different products have been ruined in the name of profitability. I feel bad knowing kids will grow up thinking shrinkflated products are the normal size of things, like cereal boxes an inch thick and tiny candy bars. And so many of the processed foods in the US were once much better than they are now. I miss the old Twinkies and fruit pies." — loztriforce 23. "Not having to know everyone's opinions. Thanks to social media, negativity and hate are spewed towards total strangers. I can't imagine people saying some of those things face-to-face with a stranger. I feel like I liked people better when I didn't know everything about them." — Cute-as-Duck21 24. "Nothing. They don't know how to do their own nothing, make up their own games or pastimes. It's all manufactured for them on the Internet, or programmed for them by parents." — Tall_Mickey 26. "Truly shared pop culture . Like going to school/work and everyone had watched the same thing on TV on the night before (especially if it was a big "event" like a miniseries or something). More or less familiar with the same music, saw the current movies because you could only see them when they were in the theater." — bookant 27. "Do you remember when you would wait in line to buy tickets to a concert? It was first come, first serve. And ticket prices were reasonable. I loved it because the best seats went to the best fans. Now all the tickets go to brokers online that are then resold at triple the price. The only one that wins is Ticketmaster." — Superdiscodave "Standing in line for hours to buy concert tickets was a social thing. It was fun, and we didn't mind doing it. Total strangers stuck together just hanging out and having fun. I don't think there is anything like it now, and if there was, most people would just stand there scrolling and not interacting with each other." — Granny_knows_best 29. "Local radio. Back in the '70s and '80s and even into the early '90s, local bands could get radio airplay on their local stations. As a result, they'd get a local following, and people would go out to clubs to see their favorite local bands play. In places like Boston, the club scene was robust enough that pretty much anyone who picked up a guitar could get a gig somewhere. I miss going out to see my friends play at some crappy little club. Kids don't go out to see music anymore unless it's a stadium show with a mega-star like Taylor Swift . I think it's because they don't listen to the radio anymore. And even if kids listened to the radio, these days almost all radio stations that are still around are corporate owned, and there's no way for a local band would get any airplay." — hermitzen 30. "The anticipation and excitement of getting a roll of film developed." — lrswager "And severe disappointment when mum’s finger was ALWAYS in the way or all the heads were cut off." — PurpleCollarAndCuffs 32. And finally, "I grew up in mid-Missouri in the '60s. My family didn’t have air conditioning anywhere. It was hot because it was summer. It was normal. I slept against the screen widow and hoped for a breeze. As a young girl, during the long, hot afternoons, I lay in a hammock hung from a metal frame on the screen porch. The ceiling fan was always on. I read chapter books that felt so real my reality faded." "My family moved into the air-conditioned world in 1970. I continued my love of books but never completely disappeared into the pages as completely as I did on the shady porch." — pyrofemme What's something from the past that you think younger generations are missing out on? Tell us what you think in the comments.Interview: Jennifer Love Hewitt Talks Collab With Ferrero Rocher, Memoir, & Christmas Movies By ComingSoon caught up with actress Jennifer Love Hewitt to discuss her new collab with chocolate brand Ferrero Rocher, her love of hosting and the holidays, plus her new memoir and Lifetime movie. The also discussed the reboot and several iconic past roles. “This holiday season, Ferrero Rocher, the iconic premium chocolate brand with a passion for helping people elevate their celebrations, is looking to inspire hosts with simple ways to level up their event to the gold standard with their new campaign, Add Your Golden Touch,” says the official description. “To help bring these helpful hosting inspirations to life, Ferrero Rocher is partnering with beloved actress and self-proclaimed holiday hosting extraordinaire Jennifer Love Hewitt to help share simple ways you can ‘add your golden touch’ with Ferrero Rocher.” : I was really honored [to be asked] to team up. I consider myself the holiday junkie. So I am a big hostess during the holiday season — really all year long, but definitely during the holiday season. And Ferrero Rocher is such a nostalgic and classic brand. So many people, when we announced our partnership, reached out. “Oh my gosh, I grew up with that chocolate in my house all the time, or my grandma’s house, or my aunt’s house, or my mom’s house.” So it just feels familiar to people. I’m familiar to people and sort of nostalgic for people as well coming from the nineties. So, it felt like a great partnership. I love their chocolate. I love what they do. I love that the Golden Touch adds a little bit of magic to the holiday season. It’s a great hosting gift. It’s a great last-minute gift. I love that you can find their chocolates in your local grocery store and reach for them if you’ve forgotten or if you need a last-minute sparkle on your table. We just had such a good time doing the little ads. When I walked on the set, I was like, “Can I live here? This is so beautiful.” So it was great, and I’m just really honored. Yeah, 100%. I’ve been putting them in my kids’ lunches since we did the since we did ads, and they’re loving it. Now the kids are fighting over Ferrero Rocher at school, which is kinda cute. Oh yeah. I always start my Christmas movie year out with The Holiday. It’s my favorite. But I’m also a big Christmas TV movie fan, so I watch all the Christmas movies when they come on. I’m really lucky to get to be in one this year, which is awesome. But yeah, we definitely do that. Right now Aiden, my three-year-old, is very much into The Grinch. So we have Grinch on all day, all night over and over and over. So, we only had 15 days to shoot, which was crazy. [laughs] It was wild. So we shoot like a 9-1-1 episode in eight to nine days, and that’s a certain page count. This was double that page count. Plus, I was in everything. It was a lot, but it was amazing. I love directing so much. I wish I could just do that full-time. And we just had a great time. It was surprising to me how much I enjoyed having Christmas in June. I was like, “Is this gonna make me sick of Christmas early in the year?” And it didn’t happen. I just loved it. It was great. Well, I have to be bossy, so that’s great. ’cause I love to be bossy. So it was like, “Guys, you know what? I have to boss you around. I’m so sorry to my friends and my family.” [But] that was nice. It gave me an excuse to do that. [And] he is so wonderful in this movie. He has not done a Christmas movie before. I think he should be in all of them. He’s a perfect Christmas movie guy, just dreamy, talented... all the things. We had a lot of fun getting to fall in love with each other every day. It was great. Just getting to know a little bit about me and my family. We’re pretty private about that stuff, but this felt like a really nice way to share. Also hoping to inspire people to add the intention of their own sort magic into their families a little bit more every day, and being able to honor my mom was really a blessing for me. Not only just in life but in my grief journey. It felt really special to honor her this way. It’s so crazy. Yeah. The movie just turned 27, so did I. I’m only 27 – that’s what I call myself now [laughs]. Yeah, it’s great. My kids just watched it for the first time and that was wild. My big kids sitting with them and their friends watching a movie and seeing myself at 18 and looking just like my daughter, which is crazy. They loved it. I loved that fan base. I love that people still root for that movie. It was a big moment for me in my life. It was my first time really starring in a movie I was 18. It just has a special place in my heart for sure. So, the interesting thing is I’m not officially signed on yet, but we’re close. We’ve been trying to figure out a lot with the 9-1-1 schedule. It’s been a little tricky. But the idea of returning to Julie James is really exciting for me. It’s scary. I think on the personal level of being like, “what are people gonna think of the 45-year-old version of Julie James?” I think ’cause I’m a woman and human, that part of it makes me a little nervous. But playing her again would be an honor. I think I feel excited to show or see what she’s been up to and how she has changed, and what she still holds onto from that infamous night on the road. Everyone in it was tremendous. For me, it was such a crazy experience because I had never been to a high school party. It’s still, to this day, the only high school party I’ve ever been to, and what a party it was. It just kept going and going and going. So for me it was a really special movie because it was sort of my high school experience that film. I loved playing Amanda Beckett. So many people still come up to me and say, “Amanda!” and they love it. There are so many group costumes still on Halloween where like friends – adult friends – come as the cast from Can’t Hardly Wait. It’s like a great group costume, I guess, and it’s pretty funny. So, I get a big kick out of it. Right? That was so fun. I had such a good time. I was so excited. And it was just on the other day, which is so weird that you brought it up. I just got to see it again the other day. And it was really fun and silly and good. Then they mentioned me on South Park [S2E26, “Cow Days”] – like, in the same year or something. I was like, “Oh yeah, we’ve made it.” It was super cool. Oh, it was such a beautiful song. I absolutely loved it. Mickey Rourke in that video was wild. It was so fun getting to do cool stunt stuff with him. We had a blast filming the video. It was really beautiful. My daughter actually started singing that song out of nowhere like five months ago. She was like, “Oh, I just heard this amazing song,” and I was like, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard it.” But that video’s a little saucy, so I haven’t told her I was in the video yet. We’ll see one day soon. You know what? They called, like, randomly – super last minute – and asked if I would do it. And I was absolutely so honored. I was there for, I don’t know, 45 minutes. It was super fast. But it ended up being really cool. That’s another one where randomly, people will just yell, “Tropic Thunder!” in a mall or something, and I’m like, “Yeah, all right.” It’s kind of funny. Tyler Treese is ComingSoon and SuperHeroHype's Editor-in-Chief. An experienced entertainment journalist, his work can be seen at Sherdog, Fanbyte, Rock Paper Shotgun, and more. When not watching the latest movies, Treese enjoys mixed martial arts and playing with his Shiba Inu, Kota. Share articleNo. 25 Illinois' TD with four seconds left upends Rutgers50 jiliasia 。

Dec. 4 (UPI) -- President-elect Donald Trump has nominated former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Paul Atkins to replace current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler after he leaves the position on Jan. 20. "Paul is a proven leader for common-sense regulations," Trump said Wednesday in a post on Truth Social . "He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of investor and that provide capital to make our economy the best in the world."

Qatar tribune Agencies Asian equities tumbled on Wednesday as traders grappled with the surprise political storm in South Korea, where martial law was imposed and lifted only hours later. At the same time, a no-confidence vote in France put the euro in the spotlight. South Korea’s won, buoyed by suspected intervention, was stable but remained close to the two-year low against the dollar that it hit late on Tuesday. The benchmark KOSPI index was down 1.3%, taking its year-to-date losses to more than 7% and making it the worst-performing major stock market in Asia this year. That left the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which counts Samsung Electronics as one of its top constituents, mainly flat as most Asian markets aside from South Korea rose. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Wednesday he would lift a surprise martial law declaration he had imposed just hours before, backing down in a standoff with parliament which roundly rejected his attempt to ban political activity. “Martial law itself has been lifted but this incident creates more uncertainty in the political landscape and the economy,” ING senior economist Min Joo Kang said.“We are concerned that these events could impact South Korea’s sovereign credit rating, although this is uncertain at this stage. Copy 05/12/2024 10FOXBOROUGH - Keion White pushed some buttons and caused a stir by comments made in a story I wrote Friday at MassLive. Following Saturday’s blowout loss to the LA Chargers , I approached White, given Patriots coach Jerod Mayo had said prior to the game that the defensive end didn’t mean what he said in the story. White told me, and other reporters later, that he wasn’t taken out of context. His words about his play, the coaching staff and his future weren’t misrepresented. “You wrote exactly what I said,” White said. “I stand by everything I said. If people choose to read the whole article, or just read the headline, I really don’t care how anybody took it.” White acknowledged he and Mayo spoke on Friday, and hashed out the comments that were made. As Mayo also said during his pre-game hit on 98.5 the Sports Hub, White indicated they were fine, and on the same page about what’s going on. White said he wasn’t asking out or to be traded. That wasn’t his aim, he was just telling it like it is. “As long as we’re good on the inside, and me and Mayo have an understanding, I still rock by him, I’m still with him,” White said. “And me and him know what it is, and what it ain’t. People on the outside can take it any way they want to take it. It don’t matter to me.” White said in the initial story he was concerned about his play, specifically his run defense, and was trying to work out those issues with the coaching staff. Notably, he wasn’t confident those issues would be resolved before season’s end, and talked about seeing “where the cards may lie for my future.” “I stand by that. If you’re not producing in the NFL, you should get out,” White said. “If you’re not useful, not get out, but things should be changed. That’s anybody. “It’s a production based business. Whatever you gotta do in everything, me included, that’s what you gotta do. I don’t hold no ill-will towards anybody. And I know it’s a ‘what have you done for me lately’ league, and I accept that. It is what it is. I acknowledge I’m not doing good at run defense. We’re not getting pressure on the quarterback right now. That’s production.” Justin Herbert had plenty of time to pick about the Patriots defense en route to throwing three touchdown passes. He wasn’t sacked. He was barely touched. Meanwhile, the Chargers rushed for 147 yards. And speaking of change, that’s at the heart of White’s remarks. With the team now 3-13 after getting blown out 40-7, White believes something has to give. “I think, still, something gotta change,” he said. We’re losing, so obviously, we gotta change something. If you keep doing the same thing, you keep losing. “If you do the same thing over and over again without different results, or changing anything, then you’re going to get the same results.” White’s earlier remarks seemed to suggest there were internal problems with the coaching staff. The above remarks will have the same result. Asked specifically how he was with the defensive coaching staff, White once again left that door open to interpretation. “Like I said, if we keep doing the same thing ... something’s gotta change,” he said. Again, he’s not concerned if that remark stirs the pot even more. “There’s a lot of social media general mangers on the internet,” White said. “As long as I’m on the same page with my teammates, first and foremost, and every single one of my teammates doesn’t have a single problem with me, or hasn’t had a single problem with me all year. And we’re all on the same page, and we all stick by each other. That’s first and foremost what I care about. “So as long as my comments haven’t divided us, I don’t care how anybody takes it. That’s anybody that’s not in this locker room, me, coaches, anybody. You’ll can take it how you want to take it. Me and the team, they all rock with me.” More Patriots ContentGARDAI can now drive against traffic on busy roads and motorways under new rule change. The new road rule is part of a protocol to stop criminals evading capture. Gardaí now have the authority to drive against the flow of traffic on dual carriageways and motorways under specific circumstances. The "Spontaneous Pursuits" protocol allows officers to take this action when necessary, but only if it is deemed safe and in response to an immediate threat during a pursuit. The change was made in response to rising concerns that criminals are attempting to evade capture by driving on the wrong side of the road, a tactic that poses risks to public safety. The document reads: "There have been numerous incidents where drivers have entered contra flow onto dual carriageways and motorways. "Subject vehicle drivers may take such action in the belief that pursuing officers will terminate the pursuit, leaving them free to escape. "Although terminating a pursuit under these circumstances may reduce the perception of Garda involvement in any adverse outcome involving the subject vehicle, termination of the pursuit may not always be in the true interests of public safety." Earlier this year, the Garda Representative Association (GRA) raised concerns that the previous restrictions on officers during pursuits created a major weakness in the system. They argued that the limitations prevented gardaí from acting decisively in high-speed situations, allowing suspects to escape due to these constraints. The document added: "Using the Garda Decision Making Model (GDMM), a dynamic risk assessment must be continually utilised by all Garda personnel during managed pursuits. "The primary principle is the protection of the general public and minimised risk to Garda members, should take precedence over the arrest of suspects, considering the operational environment." With this updated procedure, the aim is to improve gardaí's ability to respond quickly and effectively to fleeing suspects while still prioritising road safety. This comes after new smart speed cameras have been fitted on busy roads for the first time in years last month. Earlier this year, Gardai kicked off the installation of two new "smart" speed cameras that track drivers' average speed. These cameras have been up and running since Friday, October 25. They will be located between Lislackagh and Cuilmore on the N5 in Swinford, Mayo, and between Kilduff and Billisthe on the N3 in Cavan. Starting at noon on Friday, any vehicles caught speeding over the 100km/h limit “will be subject to prosecution". Drivers caught breaking the speed limit will receive a fixed charge notice, which comes with a €160 fine and three penalty points on their license. These new cameras are replacing older yellow box models that have been out of action for years, serving as a heads-up to drivers that penalties are on the way if they exceed the limit. Regarding the new cameras, gardai said speed plays a major role in Irish road deaths. They said: "Speed is a significant contributor to road deaths and a cause in 30 per cent of fatal collisions. "International experience shows that safety cameras lead to a reduction in speed by drivers. “Infrastructure and technology for two average safety camera systems have been installed on the N3 (Cavan) and N5 (Mayo) - with the average safety camera sites chosen because they meet the criteria as being high collision sites with numerous road traffic collisions, involving injury, serious injury and fatalities.”

HOKA’s most popular running shoes including Bondi 8, Clifton 9, Arahi 7 and Mach 6 are on sale in an early Black Friday sale. Don’t miss out on buying some of HOKA’s post popular picks among shoppers. Select colorways of the top styles are on sale, but shoppers need to hurry before their size runs out. According to HOKA, some of the colors are flying off the online shelves. Don’t hesitate if you’ve been waiting for your favorite shoe’s price to get slashed. Become a HOKA member for free and always get free shipping and returns and get exclusive perks and alerted when products go on sale. One of the top-selling, most famous pair of shoes is the Bondi 8. The men’s Bondi 8 is on sale for $131.99 (originally $165 and pictured above). One of the most famous shoes of the HOKA family, the men’s Clifton 8 shoe is one of the hardest working shoes in the HOKA lineup, the retailer says. The shoe has a softer, lighter foams and a brand-new extended heel geometry. You will have a soft and balanced ride with these kicks. Below are the rest of the HOKA shoes that are discounted in the early Black Friday sale: This is the latest iteration of the Clifton line. It’s a lighter and more cushioned shoe that eliminates weight and delivers a revitalized underfoot with a responsive new foam and improved outsole design. The same as the men’s, it’s the lightest and most cushioned shoe of the Clifton franchise. Don’t pass up on getting a pair of these at a discounted price. This shoe delivers the same streamlined support as its predecessor with HOKA’s patented J-Frame technology. The shoe has been updated with a flat knit upper for improved midfoot stabilization. The shoe now has a plusher tongue, and a stretchy. This trainer shoe has extra energy return with a foam midsole and which has been updated for enhanced durability with rubber coverage in the outsole. It delivers foot hugging comfotr which also allows your feet to remain stable as you speed on the trail. The shoe features a symmetrical bed of cushion and is designed to provide support you want. It also features a low-profile cushion bed that keeps the foot closer to the ground and uses a firmer material designed to provide a good push-off. Kaylee Remington is the shopping and entertainment commerce reporter and metro reporter for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Read her work online .

Atkore ATKR has been analyzed by 6 analysts in the last three months, revealing a diverse range of perspectives from bullish to bearish. In the table below, you'll find a summary of their recent ratings, revealing the shifting sentiments over the past 30 days and comparing them to the previous months. Bullish Somewhat Bullish Indifferent Somewhat Bearish Bearish Total Ratings 2 1 3 0 0 Last 30D 0 0 1 0 0 1M Ago 1 0 2 0 0 2M Ago 0 0 0 0 0 3M Ago 1 1 0 0 0 Analysts have recently evaluated Atkore and provided 12-month price targets. The average target is $104.83, accompanied by a high estimate of $130.00 and a low estimate of $84.00. Highlighting a 15.23% decrease, the current average has fallen from the previous average price target of $123.67. Exploring Analyst Ratings: An In-Depth Overview The analysis of recent analyst actions sheds light on the perception of Atkore by financial experts. The following summary presents key analysts, their recent evaluations, and adjustments to ratings and price targets. Analyst Analyst Firm Action Taken Rating Current Price Target Prior Price Target Deane Dray RBC Capital Raises Sector Perform $102.00 $93.00 Deane Dray RBC Capital Lowers Sector Perform $93.00 $99.00 Chris Dankert Loop Capital Lowers Buy $115.00 $130.00 Alex Rygiel B. Riley Securities Lowers Neutral $84.00 $135.00 Chris Dankert Loop Capital Lowers Buy $130.00 $160.00 Jeffrey Hammond Keybanc Lowers Overweight $105.00 $125.00 Key Insights: Action Taken: In response to dynamic market conditions and company performance, analysts update their recommendations. Whether they 'Maintain', 'Raise', or 'Lower' their stance, it signifies their reaction to recent developments related to Atkore. This insight gives a snapshot of analysts' perspectives on the current state of the company. Rating: Analysts unravel qualitative evaluations for stocks, ranging from 'Outperform' to 'Underperform'. These ratings offer insights into expectations for the relative performance of Atkore compared to the broader market. Price Targets: Analysts navigate through adjustments in price targets, providing estimates for Atkore's future value. Comparing current and prior targets offers insights into analysts' evolving expectations. For valuable insights into Atkore's market performance, consider these analyst evaluations alongside crucial financial indicators. Stay well-informed and make prudent decisions using our Ratings Table. Stay up to date on Atkore analyst ratings. All You Need to Know About Atkore Atkore Inc is a diversified industrials company and a manufacturer of electrical, mechanical, and safety infrastructure solutions. Atkore has two business segments; Electrical and Safety and Infrastructure. Net sales are highest in the electrical business line. The key product categories in the electrical segment are PVC conduit, steel conduit, and PVC-coated conduit, which are staples for electrical distributors. The key product categories in the safety and infrastructure segment include in-line galvanized mechanical tubes, metal framing and related fittings, and security bollards. Also, the company provides ancillary services to customers in the form of slitting and cutting structural steel sheets. Geographically, the company derives its key revenue from the United States. Financial Milestones: Atkore's Journey Market Capitalization Analysis: Falling below industry benchmarks, the company's market capitalization reflects a reduced size compared to peers. This positioning may be influenced by factors such as growth expectations or operational capacity. Decline in Revenue: Over the 3 months period, Atkore faced challenges, resulting in a decline of approximately -9.38% in revenue growth as of 30 September, 2024. This signifies a reduction in the company's top-line earnings. In comparison to its industry peers, the company trails behind with a growth rate lower than the average among peers in the Industrials sector. Net Margin: The company's net margin is a standout performer, exceeding industry averages. With an impressive net margin of 9.17%, the company showcases strong profitability and effective cost control. Return on Equity (ROE): Atkore's financial strength is reflected in its exceptional ROE, which exceeds industry averages. With a remarkable ROE of 4.66%, the company showcases efficient use of equity capital and strong financial health. Return on Assets (ROA): The company's ROA is a standout performer, exceeding industry averages. With an impressive ROA of 2.42%, the company showcases effective utilization of assets. Debt Management: With a below-average debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62 , Atkore adopts a prudent financial strategy, indicating a balanced approach to debt management. How Are Analyst Ratings Determined? Analyst ratings serve as essential indicators of stock performance, provided by experts in banking and financial systems. These specialists diligently analyze company financial statements, participate in conference calls, and engage with insiders to generate quarterly ratings for individual stocks. Some analysts will also offer forecasts for metrics like growth estimates, earnings, and revenue to provide further guidance on stocks. Investors who use analyst ratings should note that this specialized advice comes from humans and may be subject to error. Breaking: Wall Street's Next Big Mover Benzinga's #1 analyst just identified a stock poised for explosive growth. This under-the-radar company could surge 200%+ as major market shifts unfold. Click here for urgent details . This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

As the Christmas season unfolds, BTS' V, also known as Kim Taehyung, is once again enchanting the ARMY with his soulful voice, continuing his yearly tradition. This time, he has joined forces with the legendary jazz musician Bing Crosby for a posthumous rendition of the iconic holiday classic White Christmas. This collaboration not only brings a fresh and heartfelt twist to the beloved song but also serves as a touching tribute to Taehyung’s late dog, Yeontan, making it a deeply personal and emotional gift to his fans during this festive time. BTS' V Pays Tribute To Late Dog Yeontan In White Christmas On Friday, December 6, the official social media handle released the much-anticipated music video for the collaboration between BTS’ V and the legendary Bing Crosby, reviving one of the best-selling singles of all time. This partnership brings together two global icons: V, a pop sensation of the 21st century, and Crosby, whose legacy in music is unparalleled. The song’s lyrics capture the holiday season's magic with themes of love and warmth. The animated music video features Bing Crosby delivering gifts on Santa’s sleigh, with V’s late dog Yeontan by his side, adding a heartfelt tribute and a touch of holiday joy. The release is especially significant as it marks 47 years since Crosby's iconic holiday duet with David Bowie in 1977, adding an extra layer of nostalgia and excitement for fans. V expressed his heartfelt gratitude for being part of such a special collaboration, sharing his deep appreciation for Bing Crosby’s legendary work. In an official statement, the BTS member said, "I’m truly thankful for the opportunity to be featured in a song with my all-time favourite jazz artist, Bing Crosby.” “Growing up, I listened to his song 'It’s Been a Long, Long Time' countless times each day, so it feels surreal to have the chance to sing alongside someone whose voice I have admired for so long. To collaborate with the voice of an idol I’ve looked up to for years is an incredible honor. As a huge fan of his, I made sure to sing with the utmost sincerity and respect,” Kim Taehyung further added.

Trump says he'll act on the "first day" on Jan. 6 defendants

50jili apk Sam Darnold sensed the backside pressure as soon as he dropped back with Minnesota trailing by four points late in the fourth quarter in Seattle, so he moved into a safe space in the pocket and did precisely what the Vikings would prefer him to do with the game on the line. He threw the ball down the field to Justin Jefferson. The perfectly placed throw near the sideline beat double coverage for a 39-yard touchdown that put the Vikings back in front with 3:51 remaining in a 27-24 victory over the Seahawks on Sunday. “It was a great call,” said Jefferson, who had 10 receptions for 144 yards and two scores, all season highs. “I’m not going to say too much about that play, but something went on where me and Sam were on the same page, and he found me and we went up.” The Vikings were understandably coy about the context around the go-ahead touchdown , when Darnold made a difficult on-the-run pass just over cornerback Tariq Woolen that Jefferson deftly twisted to catch next to his backside hip so he could shield the ball from late-breaking safety Julian Love. Darnold saw Love's shoulders initially shaded inside just enough to believe he couldn't retreat fast enough to prevent Jefferson from getting the ball. Jefferson also applied some improvisation to his route that Darnold clearly and properly read during the play. “I want those guys to have some freedom in those moments,” coach Kevin O'Connell said. “We do a lot of things with Justin and Sam, seeing the coverage and then with some route opportunities to get to at the line of scrimmage, and I think those guys have just gotten so comfortable with that stuff.” Darnold's long-delayed breakout performance under O'Connell has been one of the stories of the NFL this season, one that wouldn't have unfolded as neatly for the third overall pick in the 2018 draft without such synergy between him and his superstar wide receiver. If the Vikings (13-2) win their last two games, they will not only be NFC North champions for the second time in three years but also get the No. 1 seed and the lone first-round bye in the NFC for the playoffs. “Every single game we’re finding different ways to overcome adversity, overcome the different stuff defenses have thrown towards us," Jefferson said. “Sam has done a great job being a leader.” The pass rush was strong, with Andrew Van Ginkel recording two sacks and pressure leading to both interceptions of Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith. The Vikings were credited with eight hits on Smith. The Vikings converted only three of 12 third downs, their second-worst rate of the season. Theo Jackson, who saw significant playing time at safety with Harrison Smith out, had the game-sealing interception with 49 seconds left. Tight end Josh Oliver has played 47% of the snaps the last two games, his two lowest usage rates of the season. He dropped the only pass he was thrown on Sunday. The defense ought to get a big boost this week with the expected return of the 13-year veteran Smith from his first absence in two years when he was sidelined at Seattle with a foot injury. Linebacker Ivan Pace, who has missed four games on injured reserve with a hamstring strain, is also on track to be back with his return to practice. Backup defensive lineman Jalen Redmond, who didn't play against the Seahawks because of a concussion, has made progress through the protocol, O'Connell said. Backup cornerback Fabian Moreau, who was inactive at Seattle with a hip injury, will continue to be evaluated throughout the week. 13.6% — That's the third-down conversion allowance rate for the Vikings over the last two games, with Chicago and Seattle combining to go just 3 for 22. The Vikings rank second in the NFL in third-down defense at 33.7% for the season and also rank second on fourth down at 36.7%. The Vikings host Green Bay on Sunday, with the kickoff moved to the late afternoon showcase spot on Fox. If Minnesota loses to the Packers, the Lions will clinch the NFC North and the Vikings would open the playoffs on the road as the No. 5 seed at best. Even if the Lions were to lose at San Francisco on Monday night, the Vikings would need to win at Detroit on Jan. 5 to take the division title. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Furthermore, mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation have been established to oversee the implementation of the power transfer agreement and to address any challenges or discrepancies that may arise during the process. This will help to build trust and confidence between the government and the opposition, paving the way for a more sustainable and inclusive political transition in Syria.

TikTok's future uncertain after appeals court rejects its bid to overturn possible US banPresident Joe Biden ’s decision to commute the death sentences of 37 federal inmates has sparked an uproar in the legal and political worlds, with critics calling the move a blatant overreach of executive power. The action, taken in Biden’s final days in office, converted the sentences of those on federal death row to life imprisonment without parole, leaving only three inmates awaiting federal execution. Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy criticized the decision as a misuse of presidential authority, arguing it bypassed congressional intent. “I think it’s yet another abuse of the pardon power,” McCarthy told Fox News on Monday. “He wiped the slate clean on everyone else, and he did it in a way that is a categorical change of the law that’s for Congress to make.” Legal experts slam move as inconsistent and contrary to popular positions McCarthy also noted the apparent inconsistency in Biden’s approach, pointing out that the president did not spare the sentences of high-profile death row inmates such as Dylann Roof, convicted of the racist massacre of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina; Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers. “Last week, the Biden Justice Department filed death charges against somebody ... who I don't think is even a terrorism case, it's a grisly murder,” McCarthy said of the UnitedHealthCare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione, highlighting the inconsistencies for Biden's own classifications for terroristic acts. “Now today, he’s wiping the slate clean on death penalty charges brought by other administrations. But not in cases where he and his Justice Department actually had to deal with the victims and obviously the families of the victims of these brutal homicides," McCarthy added. Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell was even more scathing, describing the decision as a “slap in the face” to victims’ families. “Children were murdered, a naval officer was murdered — these are the worst of the worst,” Terrell said. “Joe Biden, who is mentally unfit to stand trial for himself, is not making these decisions. This is the social progressive left dictating policy as Biden burns down the house in his last 30 days in office.” Terrell emphasized that the decision contradicted public sentiment. “52 to 53% of Americans support the death penalty,” he said. “These murderers received justice through trials and a death penalty phase. Biden’s actions erase that.” Biden, who kicked off his last-ditch acts of grace by pardoning his own son Hunter Biden on Dec. 1 , defended his decision in a statement, acknowledging the heinous crimes but emphasizing the need for systemic change. “Make no mistake, I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden said in a statement. Mixed public reactions spotlight the death penalty divide Victims’ families expressed a mix of reactions, according to the Associated Press. Heather Turner, whose mother was killed during a 2017 bank robbery, called the move a “gross abuse of power,” accusing Biden of disregarding the victims. Others, like retired police officer Donnie Oliverio, said the commutations reflected Biden’s faith and moral conviction. Supporters of Biden’s decision, including advocacy groups like the ACLU, argue that it highlights the flaws of capital punishment and advances criminal justice reform. Across the pond, major religious figures like Pope Francis recently prayed that the sentences of death row prisoners in the United States “be commuted or changed." But critics in Congress, including Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, see it as another example of Democrats favoring “depraved criminals over their victims, public order, and common decency.” For many, the debate underscores the deep divisions in the U.S. legal system and the enduring controversy surrounding the death penalty. Biden adds complexity to Trump's capital punishment plans The commutations have fueled a political firestorm as President-elect Donald Trump, an advocate for expanding capital punishment, prepares to take office again. Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, called the decision “a slap in the face to the victims, their families, and their loved ones.” Biden's decision is likely to pose at least an optical hurdle for Trump as he aims to ramp up capital punishment over his next four years in office. Unlike his ability to reverse his predecessor's executive orders, commuted death sentences cannot be reapplied by a future president. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is nearing the release of its long-awaited review of the lethal injection protocol introduced by the Trump administration in 2019. This protocol employs a single sedative, pentobarbital, for executions, a method adopted amid shortages of other drugs traditionally used. Critics and death penalty opponents argue that pentobarbital can inflict severe pain during a prisoner’s final moments. Activists suggest the DOJ’s findings could strengthen calls for clemency. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Additionally, the Supreme Court is weighing a high-profile case surrounding a longtime Oklahoma inmate, Richard Glossip , who is slated for capital punishment. Glossip has argued, and even gained support from state Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R), for the justices to consider whether he was falsely accused of murder in the 1990s. A decision in the Glossip case is expected before the end of June.

As the clock winded down and the score remained tied, tension filled the air in the arena. The Red Team, led by the experienced Edwards, was determined to secure a victory, while the Blue Team was equally determined to defend their lead. It was in this high-pressure situation that Peyton's defensive skills were put to the test.In conclusion, Yilian Technology's decision to utilize its idle own funds for acquisitions reflects its strategic vision and commitment to driving sustained growth and innovation. By focusing on targeted investments in the tech industry, the company is well-positioned to strengthen its competitive position and deliver long-term value to stakeholders. As Yilian Technology continues to execute on its acquisition strategy, it is poised to emerge as a major player in the dynamic and rapidly evolving tech landscape.

AS predicts Real Madrid's starting lineup for this round of the Champions League: Mbappe, Modric in the ranks, Jovic plays as centre-backIn a statement following the incident, Cai Guo-Qiang expressed his regret over the drone crash, emphasizing that safety is always his top priority in his artistic endeavors. He also thanked the audience for their understanding and support in the face of the unexpected mishap.

The news of Liverpool's decision to extend Salah's contract has been met with widespread acclaim and excitement among fans and pundits alike. With his current deal set to expire in 2023, there were concerns that Salah could potentially leave the club if a new agreement was not reached. However, Liverpool's swift action in offering him a new contract demonstrates their commitment to keeping their top players and building for a successful future.

As the investigation into the incident unfolded, shocking details emerged regarding the circumstances surrounding the student's disappearance. It was uncovered that the student had been lured and abducted by a group of individuals with malicious intent. The motives behind the abduction remain unclear, but it is believed that the student was targeted for financial gain or other ulterior reasons.Kosovo arrests blast suspects, Serbia denies involvement60 jilibet 。

Congress slams government, says "stagnant wages" key cause of lower GDP growth in July-September quarter

Emily Atack shares rare photo of son Barney as she opens up about motherhood challenges

Flick bemoans 'awful' Barcelona performance, reportedly holds 'angry' team talk after Celta Vigo collapse | Sporting News

To address the challenges posed by algorithmic profiteering and systemic indifference, a multi-disciplinary approach is needed. Companies and policymakers must prioritize ethical algorithm design, transparency, and accountability to ensure that algorithms serve the public interest and uphold human values. User education and empowerment are also essential to help individuals navigate and advocate for their rights in an increasingly algorithm-driven world.

The move by Tencent Video and the potential response from iQIYI reflect the growing challenges faced by streaming platforms in the digital age. As the popularity of online content continues to soar, so does the prevalence of account sharing, password trading, and other forms of illicit access. These practices not only undermine the financial viability of the platforms but also diminish the value of premium content and compromise the integrity of the viewing experience.Title: The Holy Altar's Annual Best Women's Doubles - A Glorious Moment for Chinese BadmintonAdditionally, the emphasis on sustainable and environmentally-friendly development is creating new opportunities for real estate developers and construction firms. With increasing awareness of climate change and environmental degradation, there is a growing demand for green buildings, energy-efficient infrastructure, and eco-friendly construction practices. Securities firms are optimistic that companies embracing sustainable development principles will be able to capitalize on this trend and attract environmentally-conscious consumers and investors.

Columbus Blue Jackets Trade 5th Overall Pick David Jiricek: Full DetailsAP Trending SummaryBrief at 6:04 p.m. EST

The fierce competition in the banking sector has also led to innovative product offerings and enhanced customer service. Banks are rolling out new features and benefits for depositors, such as convenient mobile banking apps, 24/7 customer service, and exclusive perks for high-value depositors. This has raised the bar for customer expectations and forced banks to continuously improve their services to stay competitive.

UCF will attempt to shake off a dreadful offensive performance when it collides with LSU on Sunday afternoon in the third-place game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. The Knights (4-1) couldn't get anything going against No. 19 Wisconsin on Friday, going 21-for-62 from the field (33.9 percent) and just 2-for-17 from 3-point range (11.8 percent) en route to an 86-70 loss. Jordan Ivy-Curry finished with 13 points while Keyshawn Hall and Dior Johnson added 11 apiece for UCF, which never led and fell behind by as many as 23. Knights coach Johnny Dawkins is hoping that his team's struggles don't carry over into the meeting with the Tigers (4-1). "We have to do better offensively," Dawkins said. "We have to space the floor better. We have to balance our offense between our perimeter and our bigs. Those are things that we didn't do consistently (on Friday)." LSU also needs to clean things up after committing 15 turnovers in a 74-63 setback against Pitt on Friday. Tigers forward Jalen Reed doesn't believe giving the ball away will be a lingering issue. "I feel like a lot of our turnovers were more on us than them," Reed said. "I feel like a lot of the turnovers were careless, but we're a better team than that and I feel like we'll take care of the ball better moving forward." Reed and Vyctorius Miller each posted 14 points in the loss to the Panthers, with Reed also hauling in seven rebounds. Cam Carter chipped in 11 points. Carter is putting up a team-leading 16.4 points per game. Jordan Sears (12.0 points per game), Reed (11.0) and Miller (10.2) also have scoring averages in double figures. Ivy-Curry (16.8 points per game), Hall (16.2) and Darius Johnson (13.0) have been leading the way for UCF. Sunday marks the first-ever meeting between the Knights and Tigers. --Field Level MediaSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — New Yorkers can get financial assistance in paying their heating bills this winter thanks to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). “With many New York families struggling to afford the basics, winter brings on a new stressor in the form of heating bills,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said in a written statement. “Fortunately, help is available. I fight for funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program every year, and so far this year, I’ve secured $360 million for New York alone. This funding will be a lifeline for millions of New Yorkers this winter, and I encourage everyone in need to apply as soon as possible.” LIHEAP aided over 1.1 million New Yorkers in keeping their homes warm in the 2022 to 2023 winter season, the statement said. The statements explained that “the program can provide financial assistance for those who heat their homes with electricity, natural gas, oil, coal, propane, wood or wood pellets, kerosene or corn.” For those in New York City, applications and the scope of eligibility can be found by clicking here. For those outside of the five boroughs, you can apply by clicking here. RECOMMENDED • silive .com NYPD seeking individuals wanted in connection to attack on 2 people in Brooklyn Nov. 17, 2024, 2:35 p.m. E. coli in contaminated carrots sicken 5 in New York; 1 dead in U.S. Nov. 17, 2024, 6:00 p.m. Residents also have the option to apply for assistance at their local social services department, whether it be in person or via traditional mail. Traditional HEAP assistance opened its 2024 portal on Nov. 1. Emergency HEAP assistance — “which assist households in immediate danger of running out of heating fuel or having their utility service shut off” — will begin to accept application in the new year on Jan. 2, 2025.In conclusion, the ongoing legal battle between Zhang Jizhong and his ex-wife is a stark reminder of the complexities and challenges that can arise in high-profile divorce cases. The court's decision to award damages and the ex-wife's application for compulsory enforcement demonstrate the determination of both parties to seek justice and closure in a dispute that has captured public attention. Only time will tell how this legal saga will ultimately unfold and what impact it will have on the lives of those involved.

By KELVIN CHAN, Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Looking for a new social media platform because X, Threads and Mastodon just aren’t cutting it? You could try Bluesky . People seeking to avoid chaos, noise and political bluster in the aftermath of the U.S. elections are noticing a different mood on the Bluesky social platform, where the vibe is seemingly welcoming and there are noticeably fewer trolls. The site announced it had rapidly added more than a million new users in the week after Election Day, and has emerged as one of the fastest growing rivals to Elon Musk’s X and similar platforms. If you’re tempted to check out the new space, here’s a guide on how Bluesky works: Getting started Maybe you’re not ready to commit to adding yet another social media account. No problem — you can still look around on Bluesky without signing up because all posts and profiles are public. You might get a sense of deja vu because the platform’s look and feel are very similar to X. That should be no surprise because Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey was an early Bluesky champion. (Dorsey’s no longer involved with Bluesky, which is owned and run by its executive team as a public benefit corporation.) If you take the plunge and get an account, you’ll need a username. You’ll notice Bluesky handles are a little bit different because they end by default in the site’s domain, .bsky.social. You can personalize your handle to make it more memorable, by using your own website’s domain or buying a custom one through Bluesky. But it might not be something most newbie users need or want to do right away. How do I find interesting people? Bluesky boasts that it gives users “algorithmic choice” to tailor the content they’re shown instead of leaving it up to the whims of a centralized system. “Our online experience doesn’t have to depend on billionaires unilaterally making decisions over what we see,” it says . What it means is that you can follow custom feeds set up by other users, or design your own. If you tap #Feeds in the menu on the left, you’ll see some default offerings like Cat Pics and Gardening. My Bangers is a list of your most popular posts by likes and Catch Up shows the site’s most popular posts from the past 24 hours. You can find more by doing a search and tapping the Feeds button. There’s also the usual “Discover” feed of suggested posts and a chronological feed of accounts that you follow. To help new users settle in, Bluesky has starter packs of recommended feeds and accounts to follow, which anyone can create and share. They don’t show up in Bluesky’s search results but can be found in directories online . Or someone might share one with you. After I signed up, a colleague pointed me to one for major news outlets . There are tens of thousands of starter packs, ranging from broadly appealing topics like Taylor Swift to niche interests like cargo bikes or U.K. comedians . You can follow the whole pack or scroll down the list to choose individual accounts. What about people you followed on X? There’s a browser extension tool called Sky Follower Bridge that will help you find X users who’ve migrated to Bluesky. But check before clicking the follow button to make sure it’s not a different user using the same display name or handle. How to post Ready to join the conversation? You can write posts or reply to others but keep it short because there’s a limit of 300 characters — 20 more than on X. You can also upload photos and videos, though videos can’t be longer than 60 seconds. GIFs and emojis are, of course, available too. You can still @ people by typing in their username, like posts by tapping a heart icon or use hashtags to highlight a theme. Bluesky has added a menu to hashtags, so when you click on one you’ll get different options for seeing, or muting, posts on that topic. What about trolls? Bluesky’s decentralization ethos extends to the content control options it offers. For starters, users can choose in their settings menu whether to see replies, reposts or quote posts in their feed. Specific words or tags can be muted temporarily, or forever, while accounts can be muted or blocked individually, or in bulk by adding them a moderation list. You can even fine tune the level of adult content that shows up in your feed. Bluesky has a team of content moderators to police the site for material that’s illegal or breaks the rules. But it’s also taking a different approach by open sourcing its content moderation system in an attempt to resolve problems with traditional moderation services which it says “lack transparency and user control.” So, individuals or groups can set up their own content filters, or labelers, that go beyond what Bluesky offers. These labelers can be used to categorize content or users, which can then be blocked or hidden. But they could also be used for informational or creative purposes, like curating or verifying content. There are labelers to identify images generated by artificial intelligence or to fact check news posts. You can find lists of labelers online. After I subscribed to a U.S. politics labeler, some posts in my feeds were flagged “!Donald Trump” or “!Democrat politician” and hidden unless I click Show. Follow Kelvin Chan on Bluesky Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen returns to a tournament after a dispute over jeans is resolved NEW YORK (AP) — Top ranked chess player Magnus Carlsen is headed back to the World Blitz Championship on Monday. That's after its governing body agreed to loosen a dress code that got him fined and denied a late-round game in another tournament for refusing to change out of jeans. The International Chess Federation president said in a statement Sunday that he’d let World Blitz Championship tournament officials consider allowing “appropriate jeans” with a jacket, as well as other "minor deviations” from the dress code. Carlsen quit the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships on Friday. He said Sunday he would play — and wear jeans — in the World Blitz Championship. 'Sonic 3' and 'Mufasa' battle for No. 1 at the holiday box office Two family films are dominating the holiday box office, with “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” winning the three-day weekend over “Mufasa” by a blue hair. According to studio estimates Sunday, the Sonic movie earned $38 million, while “Mufasa” brought in $37.1 million from theaters in the U.S. and Canada. The R-rated horror “Nosferatu” placed third with an unexpectedly strong $21.2 million. Thanksgiving release holdovers “Wicked” and “Moana 2” rounded out the top five. Christmas Day had several big film openings, including the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” the Nicole Kidman erotic drama “Babygirl” and the boxing drama “The Fire Inside.” Charles Shyer, ‘Father of the Bride’ and ‘Baby Boom’ filmmaker, dies at 83 An Oscar-nominated writer and filmmaker known for classic comedies like “Private Benjamin,” “Baby Boom” and “Father of the Bride," Charles Shyer has died. He was 83. On Sunday his daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer told The Associated Press that he died Friday in Los Angeles. No cause was disclosed. Born in Los Angeles in 1941 to a filmmaker father, Shyer's big breakthrough came with co-writing “Private Benjamin” for which he and Nancy Meyers received an Oscar nomination. He and Nancy Meyers were frequent collaborators through their nearly 20-year marriage, including on the remake of “The Parent Trap," starring Lindsay Lohan. LeBron James at 40: A milestone birthday arrives Monday for the NBA's all-time scoring leader When LeBron James broke another NBA record earlier this month, the one for most regular-season minutes played in a career, his Los Angeles Lakers teammates handled the moment in typical locker room fashion. They made fun of him. Dubbed The Kid from Akron, with a limitless future, James is now the 40-year-old from Los Angeles with wisps of gray in his beard, his milestone birthday coming Monday, one that will make him the first player in NBA history to play in his teens, 20s, 30s and 40s. He has stood and excelled in the spotlight his entire career. Belgium will ban sales of disposable e-cigarettes in a first for the EU BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium will ban the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes as of Jan. 1 on health and environmental grounds in a groundbreaking move for European Union nations. Health minister Frank Vandenbroucke tells The Associated Press that the inexpensive e-cigarettes have turned into a health threat since they are an easy way for teenagers to be drawn into smoking and get hooked on nicotine. Australia outlawed the sale of “vapes” outside pharmacies earlier this year in some of the world’s toughest restrictions on electronic cigarettes. Now Belgium is leading the EU drive. Belgium's minister wants tougher tobacco measures in the 27-nation bloc. Charles Dolan, HBO and Cablevision founder, dies at 98 Charles F. Dolan, who founded some of the most prominent U.S. media companies including Home Box Office Inc. and Cablevision Systems Corp., has died at age 98. Newsday reports that a statement issued Saturday by his family says Dolan died of natural causes. Dolan’s legacy in cable broadcasting includes founding HBO in 1972, Cablevision in 1973 and the American Movie Classics television station in 1984. He also launched News 12 in New York City, the first U.S. 24-hour cable channel for local news. Dolan also held controlling stakes in companies that owned Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and the New York Knicks and New York Rangers sports franchises. Snoop's game: Snoop Dogg thrills the crowd in the bowl that bears his name TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Miami of Ohio beat Colorado State in the Arizona Bowl, but Snoop Dogg was the main attraction. The Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop was much a spectacle as a football game. Snoop Dogg seemed to be everywhere all at once, from a pregame tailgate to the postgame trophy presentation. Snoop Dog donned a headset on Colorado State's sideline, spent some time in the broadcast and even led both marching bands as conductor during their halftime performance. Snoop Dogg saved the best for last, rolling out in a light green, lowrider Chevy Impala with gold rims and accents, the shiny Arizona Bowl trophy in his hand as fans screamed his name. Mavs star Luka Doncic is latest pro athlete whose home was burglarized, business manager says DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks is the latest professional athlete whose home has been burglarized. The star guard’s business manager tells multiple media outlets there was a break-in at Doncic’s home Friday night. Lara Beth Seager says nobody was home, and Doncic filed a police report. The Dallas Morning News reports that jewelry valued at about $30,000 was stolen. Doncic is the sixth known pro athlete in the U.S. whose home was burglarized since October. Star NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City and Joe Burrow of Cincinnati are among them. The NFL and NBA have issued security alerts to players over the break-ins. Victor Wembanyama plays 1-on-1 chess with fans in New York Victor Wembanyama went to a park in New York City and played 1-on-1 with fans on Saturday. He even lost a couple of games. Not in basketball, though. Wemby was playing chess. Before the San Antonio Spurs left New York for a flight to Minnesota, Wembanyama put out the call on social media: “Who wants to meet me at the SW corner of Washington Square park to play chess? Im there,” Wembanyama wrote. It was 9:36 a.m. And people began showing up almost immediately. Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen quits a tournament in a dispute over jeans NEW YORK (AP) — The International Chess Federation says top ranked player Magnus Carlsen has left the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships after refusing to change out of the jeans he wore to the competition. The federation said Friday that its regulations include a dress code that bars participants from wearing jeans at the event. The Norwegian chess grandmaster says he accepted a $200 fine but refused to change his pants out of principle before leaving the competition in New York. The federation said the dress code is designed to ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.

AP Business SummaryBrief at 6:57 p.m. EST50jili fun 。

Strategic Farming: Let’s Talk Crops programs planned in 2025The key to determining the right amount of sleep for you is to listen to your body and pay attention to how you feel throughout the day. If you consistently feel tired, groggy, or unfocused despite getting 7 hours of sleep, it may be a sign that you need more rest. Experiment with different sleep durations and patterns to find what works best for you and helps you wake up feeling refreshed and energized.

N.Z. customs officials say Canadian caught with gift-wrapped methamphetamine

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Customs officials in New Zealand are reporting the arrest of a Canadian woman who is alleged to have been caught with 10.2 kilograms of methamphetamine found inside her baggage and wrapped as if it belonged under a Christmas tree. The New Zealand Customs Service issued a news release Tuesday saying the woman took a flight from Vancouver to Auckland, arriving in the North Island city on Dec. 8. The individual was questioned after landing in Auckland, the customs service said. Officers searched her bag and allegedly found the drugs inside it. On social media, the customs service identified the accused as a Canadian national . But she was not identified by name in that posting, nor in the news release. The customs service said the woman faces "charges of importation and possession for supply of a Class A controlled drug" and that she appeared in Auckland's Manukau District Court on these same charges and has since been remanded into custody. Global Affairs Canada did not immediately provide a response on Tuesday to an emailed inquiry about the reported arrest of the Canadian in New Zealand. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority — the Crown corporation responsible for security screening at more than 80 Canadian airports, including Vancouver International Airport — told CBC News in an email that it "not aware" of the investigation in New Zealand and as such has no information about it. CBC Investigates Australian police say illicit drugs being snuck in via Canada The New Zealand Customs Service has reported at least two prior incidents this year involving Canadians flying out of Vancouver, landing in New Zealand, and then being arrested on allegations they were ferrying methamphetamine to the island country. One case involved a 27-year-old male who travelled overseas in August , while another involved a 27-year-old female who flew to Auckland in late October . The customs service had directly referred to the individuals in the prior cases as being alleged drug couriers. In the current case, it said only that it works closely "with our Canadian partners and collaborate with them closely to, in some cases, stop the drug couriers even before they board a flight here." Canadians have also allegedly been caught with methamphetamine inside their luggage Down Under in recent months, according to the Australian Federal Police . In separate cases in October, a 59-year-old man was arrested at an airport in Brisbane and a 38-year-old man was arrested in Sydney . Both had flown to Australia from Vancouver and both had multiple kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in their luggage, according to police.Aflac Incorporated Announces 16.0% Increase in the First Quarter 2025 Dividend

In a recent development in Shanxi Province, a case involving a missing female master's student who has been found has once again highlighted the issue of personal safety and security. The incident, which sparked widespread concern and drew attention from the public, has taken a new turn as authorities have revealed that the suspects involved have been taken into custody and are facing criminal sanctions.

50jili site Man City goalkeeper Ederson causes CHAOS after charging out of his box and leaving an open goal for Feyenoord's equaliser in 3-3 drawPublished 5:31 pm Tuesday, November 26, 2024 By Associated Press NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders. The tariffs, if implemented, could dramatically raise prices for American consumers on everything from gas to automobiles to agricultural products. 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. Trump made the threats Monday in a pair of posts on his Truth Social site in which he railed against an influx of illegal migrants, even though southern border apprehensions have been hovering near four-year lows. “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” he wrote, complaining that “thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” even though violent crime is down from pandemic highs. He said the new tariffs would remain in place “until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” “Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power,” he went on, “and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!” A senior Canadian government official said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump spoke after Trump’s posts. The two spoke about the border and trade and had a good conversation, the official said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. Trump also turned his ire on 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.” “Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America,” he wrote. The Chinese Embassy in Washington cautioned on Monday that there will be losers on all sides if there is a trade war. “China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu posted on X. “No one will win a trade war or a #tariff war.” He added that China had taken steps in the last year to help stem drug trafficking. It is unclear whether Trump will actually go through with the threats or if he is using them as a negotiating tactic before he returns to the White House in the new year. Trump’s nominee for treasury secretary, Scott Bessent — who if confirmed, would be one of several officials responsible for imposing tariffs on other countries — has on several occasions said tariffs are a means of negotiation. He wrote in a Fox News op-ed last week, before his nomination, that tariffs are “a useful tool for achieving the president’s foreign policy objectives. Whether it is getting allies to spend more on their own defense, opening foreign markets to U.S. exports, securing cooperation on ending illegal immigration and interdicting fentanyl trafficking, or deterring military aggression, tariffs can play a central role.” Trump won the election in large part due to voter frustration over inflation, but his threatened tariffs pose the risk of pushing prices even higher for food, autos and other goods. If inflationary pressures increase, the Federal Reserve might need to keep its benchmark interest rates higher. 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, with U.S. Border Patrol making 56,530 arrests in October, less than one third of the tally from October last year. Meanwhile, arrests for illegally crossing the border from Canada have been rising over the past two years. The Border Patrol made 23,721 arrests between October 2023 and September 2024, compared with 10,021 the previous 12 months. More than 14,000 of those arrested on the Canadian border were Indian — more than 10 times the number two years ago. Last week, a jury convicted two men on charges related to human smuggling for their roles in an international operation that led to the deaths of a family of Indian migrants who froze while trying to cross the Canada-U.S. border during a 2022 blizzard. Much of America’s fentanyl is smuggled from Mexico. Border seizures of the drug rose sharply under President Joe Biden, and U.S. officials tallied about 21,900 pounds (12,247 kilograms) of fentanyl seized in the 2024 government budget year, compared with 2,545 pounds (1,154 kilograms) in 2019, when Trump was president. If Trump were to move forward with the threatened tariffs, the new taxes would pose an enormous challenge for the economies of Canada and Mexico, in particular. The Canadian dollar weakened sharply in foreign exchange markets immediately following Trump’s post. During Trump’s first term, his move to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, and reports that he was considering a 25% tariff on the Canadian auto sector were considered an existential threat in Canada. Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 75% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S. 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. It’s unclear from Trump’s social media post how he would legally apply tariff hikes on those two pivotal U.S. trade partners, but the 2020 deal allows for national security exceptions. 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. When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term in office, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for instance, announced billions of new duties in 2018 against the U.S. in a tit-for-tat response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum. Many of the U.S. products were chosen for their political rather than economic impact. For example, Canada imports just $3 million worth of yogurt from the U.S. annually and most of it comes from one plant in Wisconsin, the home state of then-Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. That product was hit with a 10% duty. The Canadian government, in a joint statement from Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc, emphasized the close relationship between the two countries and said they will discuss the border and vast economic ties with the incoming administration. “Canada places the highest priority on border security and the integrity of our shared border. Our relationship today is balanced and mutually beneficial, particularly for American workers,” the statement read. Freeland, who chairs a special Cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations to address concerns about another Trump presidency, has said the president-elect’s promise to launch a mass deportation and concern that that could lead to an influx of migrants to Canada, is a top focus of the committee. A second senior Canadian official had said before Trump’s posts that Canadian officials were expecting him to issue executive orders on trade and the border as soon as he assumes office. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department and Economy Department also had no immediate reaction to Trump’s statements. Normally such weighty issues are handled by the president at her morning press briefings. Last week, a senior Chinese commerce official said higher tariffs on Chinese exports would backfire by raising prices for consumers. Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen also said China can manage the impact of such “external shocks.”

Alkami Technology's chief strategy officer sells $2.63 million in stock

Global Cooling Fabrics Market Set For 10.9% Growth, Reaching $4.98 Billion By 2028Michigan RB Sends Strong Message to Ohio State After Postgame Brawl

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NoneNo. 4 Penn State hosts Maryland in regular-season finale with CFP seeding in mind( MENAFN - PR Newswire) Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Securities Litigation Partner James (Josh) Wilson Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses Exceeding $100,000 In TD To Contact Him Directly To Discuss Their Options If you suffered losses exceeding $100,000 in TD between February 29, 2024 to October 9, 2024 and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310) . [You may also click here for additional information] NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP , a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against The Toronto-Dominion Bank ("TD" or the "Company") (NYSE: TD ) and reminds investors of the December 23, 2024 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company. Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors since its founding in 1995. See . As detailed below, the complaint alleges that defendants provided investors with material information concerning the scope of the issues surrounding TD's anti-money laundering ("AML") program employed to comply with the United States' Bank Secrecy Act ('BSA"), the ability for defendants to "fix" those issues, and the punitive and remedial compliance measures likely to be imposed upon TD through the resolution of these investigations. Defendants' statements included, among other things, confidence in the Company's optimistic claims of updating and fixing the existing AML program, alleging a full understanding of the scope of the issues the program was facing, and setting aside specific provisional estimates as to the monetary impact of the punitive and compliance measures believed to be imposed. Defendants provided these overwhelmingly positive statements to investors while, at the same time, disseminating materially false and misleading statements and/or concealing material adverse facts concerning the true state of TD's AML program; pertinently, TD concealed or otherwise minimized the significance of the failures of the Company's AML program and made no indication that the imposition of an asset cap or other punitive or compliance measures would be imposed that would undermine TD's continued growth for the foreseeable future. Such statements absent these material facts caused shareholders to purchase TD's securities at artificially inflated prices. On October 10, 2024, TD unveiled the resolutions reached from the United States investigations, which included, in addition to the punitive payment of $3.09 billion, both an asset cap, preventing TD's U.S. subsidiaries from exceeding a collective $434 billion, a reflection of the Company's assets as of September 30, 2024, and further subjects TD to more stringent approval processes for its product, service, and market rollouts. Further, the Department of Justice, in their own corresponding release, highlighted the significance of TD's failures as "the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to Bank Secrecy Act program failures, and the first US bank in history to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering." The unveiling of the scope of the Company's AML failures surprised investors and analysts alike as they reacted immediately to the revelations. The price of TD's common stock declined dramatically. From a closing market price of $63.51 per share on October 9, 2024, TD's stock price fell to $59.44 per share on October 10, 2024, and further to $57.01 on October 11, 2024, a decline of more than 10.23% in the span of just two days. The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not. Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding TD's conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others. To learn more about The Toronto-Dominion Bank class action, go to /TD or call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310) . Follow us for updates on LinkedIn , on X , or on Facebook . Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP ( ). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner. SOURCE Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP MENAFN30112024003732001241ID1108941581 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. 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Dodgers shortstop Jose Hernandez suspended for 2025 ACL season under minor league drug program

Retailers coax Black Friday shoppers into stores with big discounts and giveaways NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers in the U.S. have used giveaways and bigger-than expected discounts to reward shoppers who ventured out on Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving still reigns for now as the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season even if it’s lost some luster. Analysts reported seeing the biggest crowds at stores that offered real savings. They say many shoppers are being cautious with their discretionary spending despite the easing of inflation. Stores are even more under the gun to get shoppers in to buy early and in bulk since there are five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Online sales figures from Thanksgiving Day gave retailers a reason to remain hopeful for a lucrative end to the year. The ruble's in a slump. For the Kremlin, that's a two-edged sword Russia’s ruble is sagging against other currencies, complicating the Kremlin’s efforts to keep consumer inflation under control with one hand even as it overheats the economy with spending on the war against Ukraine with the other. Over time a weaker ruble could mean higher prices for imports from China, Russia's main trade partner these days. President Vladimir Putin says things are under control. One wild card is sanctions against a key Russian bank that have disrupted foreign trade payments. If Russia finds a workaround for that, the ruble could regain some of its recent losses. Why your favorite catalogs are smaller this holiday season PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — While retailers hope to go big this holiday season, customers may notice that the catalogs arriving in their mailboxes are smaller. Many of the millions of catalogs getting sent to U.S. homes were scaled down to save on postage and paper. Some gift purveyors are sending out postcards. In a sign of the times, the American Catalog Mailers Association rebranded itself in May as the American Commerce Marketing Association. Despite no longer carrying an extended inventory of goods, industry experts say catalogs help retailers cut through the noise and still hold their own in value because of growing digital advertising costs. Massachusetts lawmakers push for an effort to ban all tobacco sales over time BOSTON (AP) — A handful of Massachusetts lawmakers are hoping to persuade their colleagues to support a proposal that would make the state the first to adopt a ban meant to eliminate the use of tobacco products over time. Other locations have weighed similar “generational tobacco bans.” The bans phase out the use of tobacco products based not just on a person's age but on birth year. Lawmakers plan to file the proposal next year. If approved, the bill would set a date and ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born after that date forever, eventually banning all sales. Vietnam approves $67 billion high-speed railway project between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam has approved the construction of a high-speed railway connecting the capital Hanoi in the north with the financial capital of Ho Chi Minh in the south. It is expected to cost $67 billion and will stretch 1,541 kilometers (957 miles). The new train is expected to travel at speeds of up to 350 kph (217 mph), reducing the journey from the current 30 hours to just five hours. The decision was taken by Vietnam’s National Assembly on Saturday. Construction is expected to begin in 2027 and Vietnam hopes that the first trains will start operating by 2035. But the country has been beleaguered by delays to its previous infrastructure projects. Inflation rose to 2.3% in Europe. That won't stop the central bank from cutting interest rates FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro currency rose in November — but that likely won’t stop the European Central Bank from cutting interest rates as the prospect of new U.S. tariffs from the incoming Trump administration adds to the gloom over weak growth. The European Union’s harmonized index of consumer prices rose 2.3 percent, up from 2.0% in October, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. However, worries about growth mean the Dec. 12 ECB meeting is not about whether to cut rates, but by how much. Market buzz says there could be a larger than usual half-point cut in the benchmark rate, currently 3.25%. Stock market today: S&P 500 and Dow post gains and close out best month of 2024 NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed with solid gains as Wall Street put the finishing touches on one of its best months of the year. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 188 points, or 0.4%. The Nasdaq added 0.8%. Friday was an abbreviated trading day, with stocks closing at 1 p.m. ET and the bond market an hour later. Investors were looking to see how much shoppers are willing to spend on gifts for the holidays. Black Friday unofficially kicked off the holiday shopping season, although retailers had been offering early deals for weeks. Macy’s and Best Buy each gained around 2%. From T-shirts to thongs, how indie film merchandise became a hot commodity LOS ANGELES (AP) — Merchandise is nothing new. But in recent years, movie-inspired streetwear has exploded in popularity among film buffs, thanks in part to viral marketing campaigns put on by independent film studios. Take the hourslong line for one-day-only “Anora” pop-up in Los Angeles, for instance. Clothes are promoted as trendy and in limited supply and are often made in collaboration with popular brands. The experience of watching movies has become a less collective one in recent years. For many fans, repping their favorite films in public is a way to combat that. Santa's annual train visit delivers hope and magic to one corner of coal country ON BOARD THE SANTA TRAIN (AP) — Since 1943, the people of Appalachian Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee have looked forward to Santa’s arrival. Not in a sleigh on their rooftops, but on a train. At each stop of the CSX Santa Train there are dozens to hundreds of people. Many crowd around the back, where Santa and his helpers toss stuffed animals. Meanwhile groups of volunteer “elves” fan out with gifts, making sure every child goes home with something. Many of the children who line the tracks on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, waiting for Santa, are the third, fourth or fifth generation to do so. Sandra Owens has been coming for 43 years and now brings her grandchildren. She says, “The faces of the kids, that’s what makes me happy. You can’t see anything better.” Donald Trump's call for 'energy dominance' is likely to run into real-world limits WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is creating a National Energy Council that he says will establish U.S. “energy dominance” around the world. It will be key in Trump’s pledge to sell more oil to allies and his intent to move away from President Joe Biden’s focus on climate change. But the president-elect’s energy wishes are likely to run into real-world limits. For one, U.S. oil production under Biden is already at record levels. And Trump’s bid to boost oil supplies and lower U.S. prices is complicated by his threat to impose 25% import tariffs on Canada and Mexico, two of the largest sources of U.S. oil imports.None

Oklahoma residents on Sunday mourned the death of former Democratic U.S. Sen. Fred Harris, a trailblazer in progressive politics in the state who ran an unsuccessful presidential bid in 1976. Harris died on Saturday at 94. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * Oklahoma residents on Sunday mourned the death of former Democratic U.S. Sen. Fred Harris, a trailblazer in progressive politics in the state who ran an unsuccessful presidential bid in 1976. Harris died on Saturday at 94. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Oklahoma residents on Sunday mourned the death of former Democratic U.S. Sen. Fred Harris, a trailblazer in progressive politics in the state who ran an unsuccessful presidential bid in 1976. Harris died on Saturday at 94. Democratic Party members across Oklahoma remembered Harris for his commitment to economic and social justice during the 1960s — a period of historical turbulence. Harris chaired the Democratic National Committee from 1969 to 1970 and helped unify the party after its tumultuous national convention in 1968 when protesters and police clashed in Chicago. “Fred Harris showed us what is possible when we lead with both heart and principle. He worked to ensure everyone had a voice and a seat at the table,” said Alicia Andrews, chair of the Oklahoma Democratic Party. Harris appeared at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago earlier this year as a guest speaker for the Oklahoma delegation, where he reflected on progress and unity. “Standing alongside him in Chicago this summer was a reminder of how his legacy continues to inspire,” Andrews said. Kalyn Free, a member of the Choctaw nation of Oklahoma and the DNC, said that there is no one else in public service whom she admired more than the former senator. “He was a friend, a mentor, a hero and my True North. Oklahoma and America have lost a powerful advocate and voice,” Free said in a statement. “His work for Indian Country will always be remembered.” Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. “Senator Harris truly was an Oklahoma treasure and was ahead of his time in so many ways,” said Jeff Berrong, whose grandfather served in the state Senate with Harris. “He never forgot where he came from and he always remained focused on building a society that would provide equality of opportunity for all.” Harris served eight years in the state Senate before he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served another eight years before his 1976 presidential campaign. State party leaders commemorated his work on the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, or the Kerner Commission, to investigate the 1960s riots. Harris was the last surviving member of the commission. Shortly after his presidential campaign, Harris left politics and moved to New Mexico and became a political science professor at the University of New Mexico. —- Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Advertisement Advertisement

Software is in, chips are out as traders position for Trump era

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NEW YORK , Dec. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Report with the AI impact on market trends - The global post harvest treatment market size is estimated to grow by USD 1.31 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.07% during the forecast period. Increasing demand for fresh produce is driving market growth, with a trend towards growing adoption of post-harvest treatment in developing countries. However, lack of awareness and adoption poses a challenge. Key market players include AgroFresh Solutions Inc., Apeel Technology Inc., BASF SE, Bayer AG, Corteva Inc., FMC Corp., Fomesa Fruitech SLU, Futureco Bioscience SA, Gowan Co., John Bean Technologies Corp., Johnson and Johnson, Natural Offset Farming, Nufarm Ltd., Occidental Petroleum Corp., Post Harvest Solutions Ltd., Productos Citrosol SA, Sahyadri Farms Post Harvest Care Ltd., Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., Syngenta Crop Protection AG, Tagros Chemicals India Pvt. Ltd., UPL Ltd., and XEDA International SA. Key insights into market evolution with AI-powered analysis. Explore trends, segmentation, and growth drivers- View Free Sample PDF Post Harvest Treatment Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2023 Historic period 2018 - 2022 Forecast period 2024-2028 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 8.07% Market growth 2024-2028 USD 1310 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 7.5 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 53% Key countries US, China, France, Spain, and Brazil Key companies profiled AgroFresh Solutions Inc., Apeel Technology Inc., BASF SE, Bayer AG, Corteva Inc., FMC Corp., Fomesa Fruitech SLU, Futureco Bioscience SA, Gowan Co., John Bean Technologies Corp., Johnson and Johnson, Natural Offset Farming, Nufarm Ltd., Occidental Petroleum Corp., Post Harvest Solutions Ltd., Productos Citrosol SA, Sahyadri Farms Post Harvest Care Ltd., Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., Syngenta Crop Protection AG, Tagros Chemicals India Pvt. Ltd., UPL Ltd., and XEDA International SA Market Driver The global post harvest treatment market is experiencing a notable trend with increasing adoption in developing countries. Due to population growth, urbanization, and changing dietary preferences, there is a rising demand for fresh produce in these regions. Post-harvest treatment plays a crucial role in reducing food waste and extending the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. In response, governments in developing nations are investing more in post-harvest management to ensure food security and minimize losses. This investment opens up business opportunities for market participants in the post-harvest treatment sector. Companies are developing affordable, portable, and user-friendly solutions for small-scale farmers in these markets, fostering market growth and expansion. Overall, the adoption of post-harvest treatment in developing countries is a significant trend that is expected to fuel the growth of the global post harvest treatment market. The Post-harvest Treatment Market is a significant segment in the produce industry, focusing on extending the shelf life of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Synthetic chemicals like fungicides and chlorine dioxide gas are common treatments for preventing decay caused by biotic and abiotic stressors. However, natural techniques, such as essential oil washes and beneficial microbes, are gaining popularity due to consumer awareness and the demand for organic food items. Bio-coatings and coatings are also essential for maintaining produce quality during transportation and storage. Modern agricultural practices, including soil testing and modern production practices, contribute to post-harvest losses. The market caters to various crop types, including horticulture crops and flowers, and addresses the challenges of respiration, transpiration, and weather conditions. The market includes cleaners, synthetic and natural chemicals, and biotechnology techniques. The Post-harvest Treatment Market serves the agricultural commodities sector, including convenience foods, pre-cut fruits, and pre-washed fruits. Farmers and transportation facilities rely on this market to ensure high-quality agricultural produce reaches consumers. Request Sample of our comprehensive report now to stay ahead in the AI-driven market evolution! Market Challenges The post-harvest treatment market faces a significant challenge due to the limited awareness and adoption among farmers and consumers. Despite the numerous benefits of post-harvest treatments, many producers and cultivators are uninformed about their importance. Moreover, consumers often overlook the significance of post-harvest treatments in preserving the safety and quality of fresh produce. This lack of awareness translates to a small customer base for post-harvest treatments, hindering market expansion. To overcome this hurdle, market participants must invest in educating both farmers and consumers about the advantages of post-harvest treatments. By increasing awareness, the market is expected to experience growth during the forecast period. In summary, the post-harvest treatment market's expansion is being restricted due to the limited awareness and adoption among farmers and consumers. To stimulate growth, it is crucial for market players to invest in education and awareness campaigns. The Post-harvest treatment market is crucial for maintaining high-quality agricultural produce, particularly for perishable items like horticulture crops. However, several challenges exist in ensuring effective post-harvest treatment. Transpiration, weather conditions, and production practices can lead to significant post-harvest losses. Synthetic products like fungicides, sprout inhibitors, sanitizers, and ethylene blockers are commonly used to address biotic and abiotic stressors. However, the lack of cold chain infrastructure and transportation facilities in many farming communities poses a significant challenge. Farmers often rely on natural chemicals and traditional methods, but modern agricultural practices require more advanced solutions. Consumer awareness of organic food items and convenience foods like pre-cut and pre-washed fruits is driving demand for effective post-harvest treatments. The market for post-harvest treatment includes various synthetic products, as well as biotechnology techniques like chlorine dioxide gas and natamycin-based fungicides. Soil testing and adherence to modern agricultural practices are essential for optimizing post-harvest treatment and reducing losses. Discover how AI is revolutionizing market trends- Get your access now! Segment Overview This post harvest treatment market report extensively covers market segmentation by Application 1.1 Fruits 1.2 Vegetables Product Type 2.1 Coating 2.2 Ethylene blockers 2.3 Fungicides 2.4 Cleaners 2.5 Others Geography 3.1 APAC 3.2 Europe 3.3 North America 3.4 South America 3.5 Middle East and Africa 1.1 Fruits- The global post harvest treatment market is experiencing growth, particularly in the fruit application segment. Factors driving this expansion include the increasing global demand for fresh fruits and the health benefits they offer. Post-harvest treatments, such as coatings, help keep fruits fresh for extended periods. The food service industry's growing use of coated fruits for dishes like desserts, salads, and pastries is fueling demand for these treatments. Additionally, the preference for natural and organic products is leading to increased demand for fruits with natural coatings. Government regulations encouraging the use of post-harvest practices to reduce food waste and enhance food safety are also contributing to market growth. Overall, rising consumer awareness, shifting preferences, and regulatory support are expected to drive the expansion of the fruits application segment in the global post harvest treatment market. Download a Sample of our comprehensive report today to discover how AI-driven innovations are reshaping competitive dynamics Research Analysis Post-harvest treatments are essential processes applied to fruits and vegetables after they have been harvested to maintain their quality, extend their shelf life, and reduce post-harvest losses. These treatments can include synthetic chemicals, natural techniques, bio-coatings, essential oil washes, beneficial microbes, and more. Synthetic chemicals, such as chlorine dioxide gas and natamycin-based fungicides, have long been used to control biotic and abiotic stressors, including fungi, bacteria, and weather conditions. However, consumer awareness and the push for organic food items have led to an increased interest in natural techniques, such as essential oil washes and beneficial microbes. Coatings, cleaners, and biotechnology techniques are also used to improve produce quality and shelf life. Post-harvest treatments are crucial in the produce industry, where perishable items are vulnerable to spoilage due to production practices, transportation facilities, and other factors. Horticulture crops, agricultural commodities, and farmers all benefit from effective post-harvest treatments to ensure food production remains efficient and sustainable. Market Research Overview The Post-harvest treatment market refers to the industry that provides solutions to preserve and enhance the quality of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other agricultural produce after they have been harvested. Post-harvest treatments are essential in the produce industry to ensure long shelf life, reduce post-harvest losses, and maintain high-quality agricultural produce. These treatments include synthetic chemicals, natural techniques, bio-coatings, essential oil washes, beneficial microbes, and more. Synthetic chemicals like fungicides, sprout inhibitors, sanitizers, and ethylene blockers are commonly used to control biotic and abiotic stressors such as fungi, bacteria, insects, weather conditions, and respiration. Natural techniques like essential oil washes and beneficial microbes offer an alternative to synthetic chemicals for those seeking organic options. Bio-coatings and coatings are also popular post-harvest treatments that help maintain the freshness and appearance of produce. Cold chain infrastructure is crucial in the post-harvest treatment market to ensure proper storage and transportation of perishable items. The market caters to various crop types, including horticulture crops, flowers, and agricultural commodities. Consumer awareness and demand for convenience foods, pre-cut fruits, and pre-washed fruits have increased the use of post-harvest treatments in the food production industry. Modern agricultural practices and production practices also influence the market's growth. Post-harvest treatment market includes various players offering synthetic and natural products. Soil testing, biotechnology techniques, and chlorine dioxide gas are some of the emerging trends in the market. Farmers and organic food items producers are also significant consumers of post-harvest treatments. Table of Contents: 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation Application Fruits Vegetables Product Type Coating Ethylene Blockers Fungicides Cleaners Others Geography APAC Europe North America South America Middle East And Africa 7 Customer Landscape 8 Geographic Landscape 9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 10 Company Landscape 11 Company Analysis 12 Appendix About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contacts Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/post-harvest-treatment-market-to-grow-by-usd-1-31-billion-2024-2028-driven-by-demand-for-fresh-produce-with-ai-driving-market-transformation---technavio-302320537.html SOURCE Technavio © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER 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. Related Articles National Politics | After delay, Trump signs agreement with Biden White House to begin formal transition handoff National Politics | Rudy Giuliani in a courtroom outburst accuses judge in assets case of being unfair, drawing a rebuke National Politics | Surveillance tech advances by Biden could aid in Trump’s promised crackdown on immigration National Politics | Expecting challenges, blue states vow to create ‘firewall’ of abortion protections National Politics | Washington power has shifted. Here’s how the ACA may shift, too 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.49ers to place OL Ben Bartch on IR after high ankle sprain

Walmart's DEI rollback signals a profound shift in the wake of Trump's election victory

50 jili 777 OpenAI's legal battle with Elon Musk reveals internal turmoil over avoiding AI 'dictatorship'

How major US stock indexes fared Friday, 12/13/2024

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter . Michael Zuber began building his rental property portfolio in Fresno, starting with his first properties in 2001. He sold off much of his real estate portfolio right before the 2008 housing bust and then reentered the market after home prices crashed. By 2018, Zuber had grown his portfolio to more than 170 rental properties and made the decision to leave his tech job in Silicon Valley to focus on his passion for helping others achieve similar success. His YouTube channel, One Rental at a Time , has since amassed more than 60,000 followers, most of whom are single-family landlords themselves. Zuber studies the financial and housing market every day and has become a leading voice in the mom-and-pop landlord space —which represents the largest share of rental-property owners in the U.S. | ResiClub ‘s Meghan Malas recently interviewed Zuber about his insights and approach. Interest rates have gone up a lot since early 2021, so a lot of institutional capital that was moving into the space has pulled back. However, we are still seeing, on a percentage basis, a good number of single-family landlord purchases from mom-and-pop single-family landlords. How are single-family investors still finding deals that pencil in this type of market? Mom-and-pop landlords have an advantage over Wall Street money because they’re far more nimble. They only need to find one property versus dozens, making it easier in today’s environment to find the needle in the haystack. Institutional investors these days focus on newer homes, often less than a decade old, with three or four bedrooms. Mom-and-pop landlords can target properties that don’t fit the institutional “buy” box, finding ugly ducklings or missed listings. And while institutions rely on technology to query the market for deals, mom-and-pop landlords network and evaluate deals locally. Back in June, a ResiClub -Groundfloor Housing Investor Survey found that 80% of real estate investor-landlords are concerned about home insurance shocks. What should single-family investors be mindful of on the insurance front? Insurance has become a front-and-center issue for landlords. For over 25 years, I could estimate my insurance costs within $20 or $30. But in the last two years, we started facing nonrenewals and cancellations. In California, there was a period when insurance companies were leaving the market altogether. For years, I had a fourplex where insurance was consistently around $1,900. When my provider refused to renew, the next carrier charged almost $3,200 for the same coverage. Thankfully, in the last six months, the rate shocks, cancellations, and nonrenewals seem to be easing. And if you’ve been in the game long enough, you’ve likely benefited from significant rent increases between 2020 and 2023. While insurance costs might have jumped 50%, those rent increases have often outpaced them. As long as you’re managing your units effectively, the higher insurance costs—while they hurt cash flow—are manageable. You’ve said before that today’s housing market resembles that of the early 1980s—a time of significantly strained housing affordability in the U.S.—can you explain why? Between 1978 and 1982, we saw a dramatic increase in rates, which sharply reduced transactions. I made this call in 2022 right after the Jackson Hole meeting, where Jerome Powell essentially said, “Pain is coming.” In my 54-year spreadsheet , you can see the pattern: From 1978 to 1981, existing home sales transactions went down 50%, but the median home price went up. In 2022, when I predicted a crash in housing transactions alongside rising [national home] prices, many dismissed it as foolish. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what occurred. Even before existing home sales—and new listings—plummeted in 2022, you said that the “Fed broke the housing market.” What did you mean by that, and is that still true heading into 2025? Traditionally, the housing market follows a normal cycle. First-time homebuyers purchase a home, stay for six to eight years, and then move up. This cycle operated consistently for 40 years. But consider someone who bought an entry-level home in 2020 or 2021. Today, it’s likely they could not afford their current home due to its price increase of 25% to 50%, let alone trade up for a better home. The math no longer works. The home they want to buy is $100,000 more expensive, and mortgage rates have jumped from 3% to 7%. As a result, the “move-up buyer” has effectively disappeared from the market. The lack of move-up buyers breaks the housing market because their activity represents two transactions—a sale and a purchase. Without them, entry-level housing stays frozen. The homes selling are higher-end or luxury properties, which skews the market. Median home prices appear higher because lower-priced homes aren’t [selling]. Comparing how many entry-level homes sold in 2019 or 2020 to sales in 2024 or 2025 shows a significant drop—around 30% fewer. This is what defines a broken housing market. What is your outlook for the housing market in 2025? My call for 2025 is essentially “higher for longer.” Rates might be lower at the end of the year than at the beginning, but on average, 7% seems likely. Almost no one with a 3% mortgage on an entry-level home will trade up to a 7% rate—it simply doesn’t make financial sense. As a result, 2025 will likely be another slow year with low transaction volume. I expect national home prices to stay flat, rising by 1% or 2% in 2025. I predict more new home sales in 2025, but square footage will shrink. Builders are likely to focus on smaller, entry-level homes. I also believe the incoming administration will work to make housing construction faster and cheaper, possibly offering incentives for building entry-level housing. I do not foresee any “free money” first-time homebuyer programs. The last thing the market needs is more demand; we need supply. If such a program materializes, my call for 2025 would be wrong, as it would disrupt the current dynamics. Many people see real estate as a way to build wealth for retirement, but they don’t want to manage properties forever. As someone who once owned over 170 rentals, when did you decide to downsize, and how did you plan your exit? You don’t have to self-manage. From the beginning, [my wife and I] chose to invest in a market two and a half hours away while working demanding full-time jobs. Property management was a necessity for us, so we found deals that could support paying a 10% management fee. While we no longer pay 10% today, having property managers from Day One has helped reduce the operational stress of direct management. That said, managing the manager is still essential. We’ve had to fire property managers, deal with theft, and oversee operations to ensure everything ran smoothly. However, we’ve never spoken directly to tenants, collected rent, or called for repairs. We’ve always paid someone else to handle those tasks. As you approach retirement, other considerations come into play. For example, should you sell older properties and use a 1031 exchange to acquire newer ones? Newer properties typically require less management, which can significantly reduce headaches. A 1031 exchange also allows you to consolidate multiple properties into a single, higher-quality asset.

New Title: Nvidia Fever Continues! Could the AI Giant Boom Again in 2025?

Rumors are swirling ahead of the 2024 Game Awards Thursday — but they’re not about who will take home the show’s prizes. Instead, most of the buzz ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Geoff Keighley -hosted event, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, is surrounding what big announcements and trailers video game developers and publishers will choose to release out of the show. Will Take-Two Interactive use this as its moment to finally reveal the release date for “Grant Theft Auto 6”? Will Skydance Interactive and Disney unveil details surrounding their closely guarded “Star Wars” game? Will Xbox surprise gamers and quickly reveal the first downloadable content (DLC) for MachineGames’ new hit “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle”? “I always say, people get excited to see one thing because they know it exists — but what about all those things that you don’t know exist? That’s what’s kind of fun,” Keighley tells Variety . “We always see the fake lists online of, ‘All these things are getting announced.’ And it’s just because those are things people know exist. And I’m like, but, what if there’s a whole set of other things out there?” Keighley and Game Awards executive producer Kimmie Kim, director Richard Preuss and production designer LeRoy Bennett are remaining tight-lipped on that front, but have plenty to say about the work that’s gone into prepping the 10th annual Game Awards. “What’s interesting about our show is that all the clips are online,” Keighley said, noting the show has always been free to watch (and rewatch) via YouTube and the Game Awards’ social media channels. “You can see it. It used to be on anniversary shows, you have to roll all these clips and all the things that happen because you can’t find them anywhere else. For us, our shows have been very accessible to everyone for a decade. So we’re going to tip our hat to some great people and moments that have been part of our show’s history — but we’re also going to focus a lot on the future. And with our show, it’s half an award show and half a look-forward to what’s coming next. This audience really does want to see the future, so we’ll be focused not just on what’s happening in 2025 in gaming, but I think you’ll see some things that are even further out at the show.” It took time, but over the past decade, the Game Awards has gained the trust of the gaming industry to break these big moments and publishers plan a year out to have their titles and announcements revealed during the show. “I come from awards shows like the Oscars or the VMAs where, the day when we’ve finished and the show goes out, we plan for the next year,” Kim says. “And there’s a similar vibe here, where we’re working closely with the vast majority of game companies always thinking ahead, how they wanted to collaborate years ahead, which we didn’t see the first couple years.” During that 10-year time period, the production quality of the show has also evolved to keep up with the industry it’s showcasing. For the 2024 show, the production team is working with more LED screens than ever before for those anniversary surprises. “Over the years that I’ve been designing the show, every year, I’m trying to push technology boundaries and try different things,” Bennett says. “There’s a certain format that we have to stick to because of just the nature of the awards, the games, and how you show the video games on the screens and stuff. But I constantly try to change the look of the show and the production within the format. This year involves a lot more LED screens and modules than we’ve ever had before. It’s a very architectural LED-based set.” While game developers, execs and fans will be celebrating Thursday, it must be noted that the SAG-AFTRA strike against major gaming publishers rages on and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight at the moment for contract negotiations, which largely surround the issue of generative AI in video games. Keighley and the Game Awards team are monitoring the situation and have kept this in mind when booking talent for the show. “We’re learning about it as it evolves and we’ve seen some of the comments around what’s a struck game, what is not a struck game, and can people appear or not?” Keighley says. “So we want to be respectful of the performers and their choices and how they want to participate in the evolving situation. We’re looking at it day by day and trying to be very respectful and we hope for a positive resolution.” Over the past 10 years, Kim says the level of prestige has risen for the show, while it’s also managed to maintain its indie status — not airing on a specific network or streamer behind a paywall, but on YouTube — and create a kind of general tribute to the year in video games. “There’s definitely people invested in it,” Kim said. “There’s a friendship and partnership where this is a team, doing this together, which I really find it interesting and unique to any other award shows, in a way. So it became one of these true community coming together moments when planning things ahead. That’s very helpful for producing the show, and also such a morale booster and rewarding thing that we able to create.” Preuss agrees with the all-for-one-and-one-for-all sentiment that he’s seen from the gaming industry when it comes to the Game Awards — not something typical of a competition-based event where people are duking it out for the top prizes. “The nice thing about this show from year to year is that there are these surprises, there are these special announcements. And it’s so much more than about the awards,” Preuss says. “It is a total celebration of the industry in a way that I don’t think other awards do. They celebrate, of course, the accomplishments of that year, which the Game Awards does — but there is a just a greater history within the show and it also always looks to the future.” The industry might be in love with the Game Awards — but they don’t love its lengthy runtime. While not alone in that particular issue, a common complaint for the Oscars, Emmys and other top events, Preuss says they are working on improving it each year. “Similar to a lot of other award shows, it’s all about pumping the gas and the brakes to keep the show running as tight as possible, so that there’s no awkward pauses,” Preuss says. “And that’s where our crew is so great, in terms of having the next band set up, or getting The Muppets — who’ve joined us many years and are back again — set up. Keeping our show very tight, but also doing our best to let things breathe appropriately.”

Ovi scores but Kane, Wings prevail

Previewing the top state semifinal high school football gamesChristmas is upon us again. Houses are being decorated and a wintry moon hangs over chimney tops. Christmas FM will soon be belting out festive songs and snow (or rain) might fall. Whichever, I love this time of year, with the dreams of Santa coming and all that promises. The excitement is magic. If you’re a parent of a child in primary school and they are asking you for a smartphone for Christmas, please listen to what I am about to say. Firstly, smartphones are not phones. ‘Phone’ makes them seem innocuous, harmless, just a device to call your child on. But children don’t use them as phones. No. Smartphones are ‘endless internet-access devices’. That’s what we should call them. You’ll see what I mean the minute you give your child the ‘phone’. They will disappear into them, not to phone anyone, but to connect to Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, and Discord. The child that once played with you, or sat and chatted with you, will now be in their bedroom, alone, illuminated by blue light and connected to everything the online world has to offer: The good, bad, and the very ugly. A primary school child has no business having a smartphone. If we all agreed on that, how much easier it would be for us to parent. Initiatives rolled out by schools to limit smartphone use are welcome. Every school should be onboard, so children are free to concentrate on their studies and socialise. Lunch time would be noisy once again. I was in a school recently and the principal said to me, ‘Once they banned phones in school, the school burst into life again’. She said: “It was the noise that I noticed immediately, the students laughing and chatting with each other.” How have we allowed these devices to hijack our children’s social life so easily? And for the profit of these unscrupulous tech giants? I often wonder what we will say, when we look back on this period and how passive we all were. I advise parents to postpone their child’s smartphone ownership because of all the troubled young people I have worked with over the years. I am not against technology. I see the benefits of it and know it is here to stay. What I am against is children consuming hardcore material at a young and vulnerable age. I have worked on too many cases where this has happened. It is the end of childhood. It’s a hard full stop on innocence. Currently, there are no blockers to stop your child from accessing damaging material. It is a huge problem, and we need the next government to step up and put the health of our children first. This week, I spoke with Tánaiste Micheál Martin and I asked him about the Government’s commitment to dealing with technology in our children’s lives. The Tánaiste said that he views social media as the biggest public health threat of this era. He told me that he met Dr Anthony Faucci this year, and that Dr Fauci outlined the growing research in the US on the negative impact technology is having on children. I asked him about the mental-health bill, which has been delayed, with the dissolution of the Dáil. And Mr Martin assured me that if Fianna Fáil were back in government it would be enacted within months. I also asked him about the easy access children have to pornography. He said that AI has advanced so much that it is possible to stop children from accessing it. He acknowledged the role of big tech and their responsibility for the content they produce. It really feels like things are about to change with social media in our children’s lives. But we can’t rely on our government to parent our children. So, think before you hand over that device. Ask yourself an important question: ‘Do I want my eight-, nine-, or 10-year-old to see videos where consent is taken from girls and they are beaten and degraded? Pornography is embedded into these internet devices. And it’s not just pornography: It’s the videos they will see on TikTok or Instagram. They will be pushed content about diets, appearance, self-harm, animal cruelty, depression, and violence. I’m not trying to scare parents, but to wake them up to what these devices are really about and why you should delay bringing them into your child’s life. As the Tánaiste said, there is significant research to back up the negative impact social media is having on our children. It’s time for us to act on that research. My daughter asked me for a phone for Christmas a few years ago and I’ve always said the same thing; Santa doesn’t bring children phones. Now she is nearly 14, and asking again. The answer is the same. Her raised eyebrow is funny, but doesn’t change the outcome. Childhood should be a time of friendships and experiences, where we learn about ourselves in relation to others. Building true resilience is about being connected to others and feeling you are a valuable member of your community. Smartphones are here to stay, but delaying the arrival of one into your child’s world could be the greatest gift you ever gave your child for Christmas.FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) — Nyle Ralph-Beyer's 20 points helped Sacred Heart defeat Division III-member Manhattanville 100-60 on Sunday. Ralph-Beyer also had five rebounds for the Pioneers (5-8, 1-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference). Anquan Hill scored 18 points and added seven rebounds. Griffin Barrouk had 16 points and went 5 of 8 from the field (4 for 7 from 3-point range). Andrew Saint-Louis led the Valiants in scoring, finishing with 26 points. John Ranaghan added 10 points for Manhattanville. Don Mays Jr. also had eight points. Sacred Heart hosts Canisius in its next matchup on Sunday. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Thousands of drivers born before 1963 face £1,000 fine due to Highway Code law

India, Kuwait elevate ties to strategic partnership following PM Modi's talks with top Kuwaiti leadership