Georgia loses QB Carson Beck (arm) during SEC title gameFrom wealth and success to murder suspect, the life of Luigi Mangione took a hard turnMrs Hinch makes heartbreaking confession about grief and anxiety 'taking over' and admits she just 'wants her dad' back as she prepares to welcome third child
N.C. is ‘rethinking’ how language arts is taught. Here’s what could change in schools.You Should Buy Foreign Stocks. Here's How to Get Started.
Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema and education minister Harjot Singh Bains on Monday held meetings with four employee organisations of the education department to discuss the various demands, including regularisation of services. During the meetings held here, Cheema directed the formation of a committee comprising officials from the education department, personnel department, and finance department. This committee will examine the demand for regularisation of services raised by three employee organisations, namely AIE kachhe adhiypak union, IERT Vishesh Adhiyapak Union, and Sarva (Samagra) Shiksha Abhiyan/mid-day meal daftri karmchari union. Cheema assured the union leaders that the committee will consider their demands and submit its report soon. He also directed the officials to study the financial demands raised by the unions. Regarding the demands of the Computer Teachers Union, the FM asked the education department officials to consider the demands of these teachers recruited under the Punjab Information and Communication Technology Education Society (PICTES) and take appropriate action.
DJ Akademiks Reacts To Funkmaster Flex Backing Drake Amid UMG Legal BattleLuigi Nicholas Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a healthcare executive in New York City, apparently was living a charmed life: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and with degrees from one of the nation's top private universities. Friends at an exclusive co-living space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Hawaii where the 26-year-old Mangione once lived widely considered him a “great guy,” and pictures on his social media accounts show a fit, smiling, handsome young man on beaches and at parties. Now, investigators in New York and Pennsylvania are working to piece together why Mangione may have diverged from this path to make the violent and radical decision to gun down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a brazen attack on a Manhattan street. The killing sparked widespread discussions about corporate greed, unfairness in the medical insurance industry and even inspired folk-hero sentiment toward his killer. But Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sharply refuted that perception after Mangione's arrest on Monday when a customer at a McDonald's restaurant in Pennsylvania spotted Mangione eating and noticed he resembled the shooting suspect in security-camera photos released by New York police. “In some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero. Hear me on this, he is no hero,” Shapiro said. “The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald’s this morning.” Mangione comes from a prominent Maryland family. His grandfather, Nick Mangione, who died in 2008, was a successful real estate developer. One of his best-known projects was Turf Valley Resort, a sprawling luxury retreat and conference center outside Baltimore that he purchased in 1978. The Mangione family also purchased Hayfields Country Club north of Baltimore in 1986. On Monday, Baltimore County police officers blocked off an entrance to the property, which public records link to Luigi Mangione’s parents. Reporters and photographers gathered outside the entrance. The father of 10 children, Nick Mangione prepared his five sons — including Luigi Mangione’s father, Louis Mangione — to help manage the family business, according to a 2003 Washington Post report. Nick Mangione had 37 grandchildren, including Luigi, according to the grandfather's obituary. Luigi Mangione’s grandparents donated to charities through the Mangione Family Foundation, according to a statement from Loyola University commemorating Nick Mangione’s wife’s death in 2023. They donated to various causes, including Catholic organizations, colleges and the arts. One of Luigi Mangione’s cousins is Republican Maryland state legislator Nino Mangione, a spokesman for the lawmaker’s office confirmed. “Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media by Nino Mangione. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.” Mangione, who was valedictorian of his elite Maryland prep school, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a university spokesman told The Associated Press. He learned to code in high school and helped start a club at Penn for people interested in gaming and game design, according to a 2018 story in Penn Today, a campus publication. His social media posts suggest he belonged to the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi. They also show him taking part in a 2019 program at Stanford University, and in photos with family and friends at the Jersey Shore and in Hawaii, San Diego, Puerto Rico, and other destinations. The Gilman School, from which Mangione graduated in 2016, is one of Baltimore’s elite prep schools. The children of some of the city’s wealthiest and most prominent residents, including Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., have attended the school. Its alumni include sportswriter Frank Deford and former Arizona Gov. Fife Symington. In his valedictory speech, Luigi Mangione described his classmates’ “incredible courage to explore the unknown and try new things.” Mangione took a software programming internship after high school at Maryland-based video game studio Firaxis, where he fixed bugs on the hit strategy game Civilization 6, according to a LinkedIn profile. Firaxis' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, said it would not comment on former employees. He more recently worked at the car-buying website TrueCar, but has not worked there since 2023, the head of the Santa Monica, California-based company confirmed to the AP. From January to June 2022, Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu. Like other residents of the shared penthouse catering to remote workers, Mangione underwent a background check, said Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin. “Luigi was just widely considered to be a great guy. There were no complaints,” Ryan said. “There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they’re saying he committed.” At Surfbreak, Martin learned Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life, including surfing, Ryan said. “He went surfing with R.J. once but it didn’t work out because of his back,” Ryan said, but noted that Mangione and Martin often went together to a rock-climbing gym. Mangione left Surfbreak to get surgery on the mainland, Ryan said, then later returned to Honolulu and rented an apartment. An image posted to a social media account linked to Mangione showed what appeared to be an X-ray of a metal rod and multiple screws inserted into someone's lower spine. Martin stopped hearing from Mangione six months to a year ago. An X account linked to Mangione includes recent posts about the negative impact of smartphones on children; healthy eating and exercise habits; psychological theories; and a quote from Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti about the dangers of becoming “well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” Mangione likely was motivated by his anger at what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by AP. He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and that the profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of the suspect’s handwritten notes and social media posts. He appeared to view the targeted killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO as a symbolic takedown, asserting in his note that he is the “first to face it with such brutal honesty,” the bulletin said. Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski a “political revolutionary” and may have found inspiration from the man who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology, the document said. Associated Press reporters Lea Skene in Baltimore; Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu; Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Michael Kunzelman in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.Historic College Football Stadium Blanketed in Snow on Saturday
Longtime Democrat switches to the GOP because of a glaring reason FL lawmaker switches parties immediately following reelection as a Democrat Sign up for the latest with DailyMail.com's U.S. politics newsletter By SARAH EWALL-WICE, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM IN WASHINGTON, DC Published: 21:09, 10 December 2024 | Updated: 21:18, 10 December 2024 e-mail 10 View comments A Florida state lawmaker who ran and won reelection as a Democrat in her Tampa district announced she is ditching the party and will move forward as a Republican barely a month after Election Day. Representative Susan Valdes announced her party switch to the GOP in a statement posted on X on Monday where she said she would not waste her final two years in the Florida legislature 'being ignored.' Republicans in Florida control both chambers in the state legislature and hold the governor's office. Valdes' party switch came just over a month after she won reelection as a Democrat to represent Florida's State House District 64 as a Democrat. The final vote in the November election had her beating her Republican challenger by just under 5 points or less than 3,000. In her statement, Valdes said she was a Democrat 'partly out of habit' and partly because she believed Democrats were the party most concerned with working families. But then she argued no one has a monopoly on good ideas. '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,' she stated. State Rep. Susan Valdes announced just over one month after winning reelection as a Democrat that she would be switching her party registration to Republican and joining the state's GOP House supermajority Valdes argued by joining the GOP caucus she will be able to work on the problems facing her community. 'I want to roll up my sleeves and work,' she said. 'I want to be part of solving problems for West Tampa. I'm tired of being the party of protesting when I got into politics to be part of the party of progress.' Valdes said she would continue to fight for the people of West Tampa, but she argued the 'best way to do that is to stand with Speaker Perez and join the Republican supermajority.' State Rep. Valdes full statement on switching from Democrat to Republican The Florida lawmaker first entered the state House after running unopposed as a Democrat in 2018. She then won reelection on the Democratic ticket in 2020, 2022 and 2024. But earlier this month she ran to chair the Hillsborough County Democratic Party and lost. Just days later she announced her party switch. Republicans celebrated Valdes' party change including the GOP House Speaker Daniel Perez who said in a post that he was 'thrilled' to welcome her to the GOP supermajority. Governor Ron DeSantis noted her party affiliation change gave the Republicans its biggest majority in the history of the state House. But others online slammed the move as deceitful, questioned why she waited until after the election and called for her to return donations. Florida State Rep. Valdes speaking in a post she shared on X Vanessa Lester, who won the race for Hillsborough County Democratic Party chair blasted the move in a statement. 'While it remains disturbingly unclear whether she was entertaining the switch to become a Republican even as she was running to lead the local Party, ultimately it is her constituents in District 64 who have the most reason to be upset and betrayed,' Lester said. 'They voted for a Democrat to fight for them and ended up with a political opportunist who abandoned them,' she continued. In the November election, Valdes received more than 31,500 votes to secure her victory. Florida state Rep. Valdes posing with her family outside the White House in a December 2023 post where she thanked President Biden for the 'unforgettable experience' and his leadership In August, she joined fellow Democrats in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention where she wore a shirt in support of Kamala Harris for president and posted photos from the United Center featuring prominent Democrats. She also retweeted a series of posts celebrating President Biden, touting her support of Harris and other Democrats and slammed President-elect Donald Trump leading up to Election Day. Her switch to the Republican party gives the Florida GOP 85 seats in the state House out of 120. While Valdes eked out a victory in her district as a Democrat, Trump won Hillsborough County as a whole and the state. Politics Share or comment on this article: Longtime Democrat switches to the GOP because of a glaring reason e-mail Add comment
A look back at 2024 in photosHigh school scores for Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024
Doughty scores 17 in Indiana State's 83-80 win against IonaIrish politics is stuck on a loop
Time and again I hear the same complaints. “Why is the government doing so badly?” “What is the story Keir Starmer is trying to tell?” “Why are they making so many errors?” The people asking these questions are not opponents of the Government. They are despairing Labour supporters. This week Keir Starmer tried to reassure the doubters. Downing Street insisted his big speech on Thursday was not a relaunch or a reboot or a reset but, whatever you wish to call it, it was clearly an acknowledgement that the ship needed to be steadied. There are now six clear goals by which the Government will be judged: improving living standards, cutting NHS waiting lists, building more homes, making streets safer, boosting green energy and supporting young children. As his opponents were quick to notice, immigration was omitted from this list of milestones. Downing Street may have decided that Labour is never going to outflank Reform when it comes to migration and including it among the targets would be to allow Nigel Farage to dictate the political conversation. Starmer will also have noted how the Conservatives came undone on migration by failing to meet their pledges to stop the Channel crossings or cut the number legally entering the country to the tens of thousands. Setting a target would only have given the populists another potential failure on which to feed. The thinking in No 10 is that the best way to address concerns about immigration is to tackle the problems which stoke the sense of grievance. If you improve communities, build more homes and fix the NHS then you reduce the opportunities to sow division and resentment. But Starmer knows better than anyone that if he fails to deliver on his promises then the populists stand ready to pounce. It is a reflection of how the political map is changing that Starmer chose to address the threat posed by Farage rather than take the fight to Kemi Badenoch ’s Conservatives. Labour MPs in traditional heartland seats have been telling No 10 that Reform now poses more of a danger than the Tories - a concern which was born out by a poll this week which had the Conservatives on 26 per cent, Reform on 24 per cent and Labour on 23 per cent. Starmer is betting everything on being able to show voters at the next election that their lives have got better. Not everyone is convinced that hitting a series of targets will be enough to keep the populists at bay. You only have to look at the United States where the Democrats presided over a booming economy and still got a kicking. Politics is not just a transactional process where votes are exchanged for delivery. It is also about telling a national story which people want to follow. Successful left-of-centre parties combine the retail side of government with a crusade to deliver social justice - this is what gives them identity and purpose. Starmer has his missions but he has yet to show he is a missionary.By MARY CLARE JALONICK and MATT BROWN WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Defense Department, said he had a “wonderful conversation” with Maine Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday as he pushed to win enough votes for confirmation. He said he will not back down after allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct. Related Articles National Politics | Donald Trump will ring the New York Stock Exchange bell. It’ll be a first for him National Politics | The Trump and Biden teams insist they’re working hand in glove on foreign crises National Politics | ‘You don’t know what’s next.’ International students scramble ahead of Trump inauguration National Politics | Trump is threatening to raise tariffs again. Here’s how China plans to fight back National Politics | Trump won’t be able to save the struggling US beef industry Collins said after the hourlong meeting that she questioned Hegseth about the allegations amid reports of drinking and the revelation that he made a settlement payment after being accused of a sexual assault that he denies. She said she had a “good, substantive” discussion with Hegseth and “covered a wide range of topics,” including sexual assault in the military, Ukraine and NATO. But she said she would wait until a hearing, and notably a background check, to make a decision. “I asked virtually every question under the sun,” Collins told reporters as she left her office after the meeting. “I pressed him both on his position on military issues as well as the allegations against him, so I don’t think there was anything that we did not cover.” The meeting with Collins was closely watched as she is seen as more likely than most of her Republican Senate colleagues to vote against some of Trump’s Cabinet picks. She and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a fellow moderate Republican, did not shy from opposing Trump in his first term when they wanted to do so and sometimes supported President Joe Biden’s nominees for the judicial and executive branches. And Hegseth, an infantry combat veteran and former “Fox & Friends” weekend host, is working to gain as many votes as he can as some senators have expressed concerns about his personal history and lack of management experience. “I’m certainly not going to assume anything about where the senator stands,” Hegseth said as he left Collins’ office. “This is a process that we respect and appreciate. And we hope, in time, overall, when we get through that committee and to the floor that we can earn her support.” Hegseth met with Murkowski on Tuesday. He has also been meeting repeatedly with Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, a military veteran who has said she is a survivor of sexual assault and has spent time in the Senate working on improving how attacks are reported and prosecuted within the ranks. On Monday, Ernst said after a meeting with him that he had committed to selecting a senior official to prioritize those goals. Republicans will have a 53-49 majority next year, meaning Trump cannot lose more than three votes on any of his nominees. It is so far unclear whether Hegseth will have enough support, but Trump has stepped up his pressure on senators in the last week. “Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!” Trump posted on his social media platform last week.Download the 9News App and follow us on digital and social media platforms
Bankwell financial director Carl Porto buys $6,448 in stockFrom wealth and success to murder suspect, the life of Luigi Mangione took a hard turn
