Watkins and the Trojans (4-1) fell behind early and were down 21 points in the fourth quarter. She had 24 points, six rebounds and five assists. Hidalgo came out shooting well, hitting 5 of 8 from the floor in the first quarter and had 16 points at the break. She added six rebounds and eight assists. Hidalgo's backcourt mate, Olivia Miles, added 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Fighting Irish (5-0). Even though Hidalgo outshone her, Watkins’ imprint was all over the game. A documentary about her life aired on NBC leading into the nationally televised game. A buzz arose when Snoop Dogg walked in shortly before tipoff wearing a jacket in USC colors with Watkins' name and number on the front and back. Her sister, Mali, sang the national anthem. Notre Dame: The Irish struck quickly, racing to a 20-10 lead in the opening quarter. Even after cooling off a bit, they never trailed and stayed poised when the Trojans got within three in the second and third quarters. USC: The Trojans were without starting guard Kennedy Smith, whose defense on Hidalgo would have proven valuable. It was announced shortly before tipoff that she had a surgical procedure and will return at some point this season. The Trojans got within three points three times but the Irish remained poised and never gave up the lead. Notre Dame's defense forced the Trojans into 21 turnovers, which led to 22 points for the Irish. Watkins, Kaleigh Heckel and Talia von Oelhoffen had five each. USC was just 1 of 13 from 3-point range Notre Dame plays TCU on Nov. 29 in the Cayman Islands Classic. USC plays Seton Hall in the Women's Acrisure Holiday Invitational on Nov. 27 in Palm Desert, California. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketballWhen Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976, he did something no other Democrat has been able to accomplish since — win Texas. Part of his victory can be chalked up to where the state was politically at the time. “We should understand the 1976 election in Texas as part of a gradual transformation that occurred over several decades,” Mark Lawrence, the director of the LBJ Presidential Library, told The Texas Newsroom. It was President Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, who won Texas in both presidential elections in the 1950s. But the next decade was a different story. In the 1960s it was three Democratic candidates — President John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hubert Humphrey — who won Texas’ popular vote. “But thereafter you see that the state really shifted pretty dramatically toward the Republicans,” Lawrence said. “The one exception was 1976 when Jimmy Carter won by a small margin.” Carter snagged Texas from Republican candidate Gerald Ford by just 4 points. Overall, Carter received 297 electoral votes to Ford’s 240. So, why was Carter the exception? Lawrence cited several elements that contributed to Carter’s victory here, including “Carter’s stature as a white Southerner.” “I think Texas voters, like voters across the South, were inclined to give him a close look, because he looked like them, sounded like them, came from the South — which was somewhat unusual in the history of the United States after the Civil War,” Lawrence said. From left, President Gerald Ford, Lady Bird Johnson and President Jimmy Carter at the LBJ Presidential Library on April 13, 2000. Natasha Altema McNeely, an associate professor of political science at University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, said Carter was also able to win because he garnered the Black and Hispanic votes in states across the South. “His success in Texas is a more specific example of his success across the South,” McNeely said, adding that he also earned the vote of southern non-Hispanic voters and unions. But Carter’s presidency was as short-lived as his support from Texas voters. In his 1980 reelection bid, Carter lost to Republican Ronald Reagan by a landslide. Reagan beat Carter by 14 points in Texas. McNeely said the 1980 political environment created new difficulties for Carter. It was a controversial — and transitional — time in America. “With the candidacy of Ronald Reagan, you have Republicans really emphasizing religious beliefs ... smaller government, more effective government ... states rights,” McNeely said. In contrast, McNeely said Carter’s focus on human rights and social welfare “didn't quite appeal to many voters across the South, including Texas.” Another key moment McNeely said led to Carter’s defeat was the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. That’s when, as the U.S. Department of State describes it, “Iranian students seized the embassy and detained more than 50 Americans, ranging from the Chargé d’Affaires to the most junior members of the staff, as hostages.” The Americans were held hostage for 444 days. Many sharply criticized Carter for how he handled the hostage negotiations, including his Republican opponent. While McNeely acknowledges Carter’s significant impact on American politics, she believes his greatest legacy — particularly in Texas — happened after he left the Oval Office. For 35 years, Carter partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for people. In Texas, they built homes after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. “He was here in Texas in 2014 in Dallas, helping to build houses and repair houses,” McNeely said. “So, I think that was one of the many lasting components of his legacy outside of his political career." Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.12th annual 'Christmas with the Currys' showcases winter wonderland in OaklandAvalanche warning issued for Uttarakhand's Chamolislot game online mega888 free credit 。

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Stock futures were flat in overnight trading Sunday evening ahead of the last few trading sessions of 2024. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat, while S&P 500 futures edged up 0.04%. Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.1%. The major averages are heading into the yearend shy of record levels, with the S&P 500 and Dow up more than 25% and 14%, respectively, and on track for the best year since 2021. The Nasdaq has gained more than 31%. The benchmarks are also headed for a winning fourth quarter, with the Nasdaq on pace for its longest quarterly winning streaking since the second quarter of 2021. Despite a losing session for all the major averages on Friday, investors are hoping that stocks will continue to rise into the year-end and the new year, and trigger what's known as a Santa Claus Rally. The phenomenon refers to the market rising into the final five trading days of a calendar year and the first two in January. The S&P 500 has returned 1.3% on average during this period since 1950, according to LPL Financial. This week ushers in a light period for economic data, with the market closed Wednesday in observance of New Years Day. Chicago PMI and pending homes sales data are due out Monday.WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 6, 2024-- Vicarious Surgical Inc. (“Vicarious Surgical” or the “Company”) (NYSE: RBOT, RBOT WS), a next-generation robotics technology company seeking to improve lives by transforming robotic surgery, today announced the pending departure of William Kelly, its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), to pursue other career opportunities, after nearly four years of dedicated service with the Company. Mr. Kelly has served as Vicarious Surgical’s CFO since January 2021. He will assist the Company to ensure minimal disruption and a successful transition of responsibilities prior to his departure, which is slated for January 2, 2025. “On behalf of the Company and Board, I want to extend my sincerest gratitude to Bill for his significant contribution over the last few years,” said Adam Sachs, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “Bill has been an incredible asset to Vicarious Surgical, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.” Mr. Kelly added “My tenure at Vicarious Surgical has been a period of significant progress and accomplishment, both for the Company and for me personally. I am deeply grateful for the opportunities I have been afforded and the collaborative spirit of the entire team. I depart with immense pride in our collective achievements and unwavering confidence in the Company's continued success under its strong leadership.” The Company has initiated a CFO succession process and will provide updates as appropriate. About Vicarious Surgical Founded in 2014, Vicarious Surgical is a next generation robotics company, developing a unique disruptive technology with the multiple goals of substantially increasing the efficiency of surgical procedures, improving patient outcomes, and reducing healthcare costs. The Company’s novel surgical approach uses proprietary human-like surgical robots to virtually transport surgeons inside the patient to perform minimally invasive surgery. The Company is led by an experienced team of technologists, medical device professionals and physicians, and is backed by technology luminaries including Bill Gates, Vinod Khosla’s Khosla Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Jerry Yang’s AME Cloud Ventures, Sun Hung Kai & Co. Ltd and Philip Liang’s E15 VC. The Company is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Learn more at www.vicarioussurgical.com . Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The company’s actual results may differ from its expectations, estimates, and projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained herein, are forward-looking statements that reflect the current beliefs and expectations of management. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are outside Vicarious Surgical’s control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: the ability to maintain the listing of Vicarious Surgical’s Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange; the approval, commercialization and adoption of Vicarious Surgical’s initial product candidates and the success of its single-port surgical robot, called the Vicarious Surgical System, and any of its future product candidates and service offerings; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the ability of Vicarious Surgical to raise financing in the future; the success, cost and timing of Vicarious Surgical’s product and service development activities; the potential attributes and benefits of Vicarious Surgical’s product candidates and services; Vicarious Surgical’s ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval for the Vicarious Surgical System, and any related restrictions and limitations of any approved product; the size and duration of human clinical trials for the Vicarious Surgical System; Vicarious Surgical’s ability to identify, in-license or acquire additional technology; Vicarious Surgical’s ability to maintain its existing license, manufacture, supply and distribution agreements; Vicarious Surgical’s ability to compete with other companies currently marketing or engaged in the development of products and services that Vicarious Surgical is currently marketing or developing; the size and growth potential of the markets for Vicarious Surgical’s product candidates and services, and its ability to serve those markets, either alone or in partnership with others; the pricing of Vicarious Surgical’s product candidates and services and reimbursement for medical procedures conducted using its product candidates and services; the company’s estimates regarding expenses, revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing; Vicarious Surgical’s financial performance; economic downturns, political and market conditions and their potential to adversely affect Vicarious Surgical’s business, financial condition and results of operations; Vicarious Surgical’s intellectual property rights and its ability to protect or enforce those rights, and the impact on its business, results and financial condition if it is unsuccessful in doing so; and other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in Vicarious Surgical’s filings with the SEC. Vicarious Surgical cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. The company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Vicarious Surgical does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241206242926/en/ CONTACT: Investors Kaitlyn Brosco Vicarious Surgical Kbrosco@vicarioussurgical.com Media Inquiries media@vicarioussurgical.com KEYWORD: MASSACHUSETTS UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MEDICAL SUPPLIES TECHNOLOGY OTHER HEALTH HEALTH ROBOTICS HEALTH TECHNOLOGY OTHER TECHNOLOGY MEDICAL DEVICES HOSPITALS SURGERY HARDWARE SOURCE: Vicarious Surgical Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/06/2024 04:05 PM/DISC: 12/06/2024 04:05 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241206242926/enStock Market Rallies On: AI Software, Biotechs, Costco Coming Up

(The Center Square) – Although it remains unclear how many Democratic Senators will vote for the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, some House members in the party have explained why they voted yes, despite a controversial provision restricting military-funded transgender surgeries for minors. The nearly $900 billion bill passed the House 281-140 Wednesday, with 200 Republicans and 81 Democrats voting in favor versus 124 Democrats and 16 Republicans voting against it. Most of the NDAA consists of bipartisan agreements, such as pay raises for service members, strengthened ties with U.S. allies, and funding of new military technology. But a critical point of contention is a Republican addition that would prohibit the military’s health program from covering any gender dysphoria treatments on minors that could "result in sterilization.” The must-pass bill is so critical that nearly 40% of House Democrats voted in favor–but not without expressing their disappointment. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., condemned Republican colleagues who, she said, “chose to sully this bill with political culture wars;” nevertheless, she voted in favor. “While it doesn't address everything we asked for and consider important, including the full ability of parents to make their own decisions about healthcare for their children, it marks a rare moment of productive bipartisan agreement on what is arguably the most crucial legislation we take up as a body each year,” Houlahan said. The bill’s provision does not forbid service members’ children from receiving transgender therapy. It forbids the military’s health insurance provider, TRICARE, from covering treatments on minors that “may result in sterilization.” Reps. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, and Terri Sewell, D-Ala., also voted in favor of the bill despite their displeasure at the ban. “The NDAA is a hugely important bill. We had to pass it, which is why I voted yes,” Landsman posted on X Friday. “However, the anti-trans language that was attached to it was mean and awful and should never have been included.” “I have serious concerns about some remaining provisions that were placed in the bill for political purposes,” Sewell said Wednesday. “Still, the responsibility to support our service members and provide for our national security is one that I do not take lightly, which is why I ultimately chose to support the bill.” Besides the importance of annual military funding, another reason some House Democrats assented to the legislation is because they were successful in axing other House Republican amendments, such as a plan to eliminate reimbursements for service members who travel to obtain abortions. The Senate is expected to pass the bill within the next few days, after which President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law.

3 injured in 5-vehicle pile-up on Delhi-Asr national highwaySPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “ Cruel Intentions ,” both the 1999 film and the entire first season of the new Prime Video series.” Twenty-five years later, “Cruel Intentions” will still make you blush. The 1999 film about high-society stepsiblings Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) and Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) curing their privileged boredom by corrupting the last shreds of innocence in their peers feels both ahead of its time and like a movie that could never be made today. Littered with culturally insensitive language and driven by unbridled, often taboo sexuality, it was a cultural shock to the system in the waning days of the last millennium. Replicating even a shred of that ethos was one of the many challenges facing this new version of the story. But perhaps the tallest order for “Cruel Intentions” was making a timeless tale of striving for power through sex feel relevant and revolutionary in the era of Gen Z, a currently college-aged generation that has been vocal about their lack of interest in sex in film and on television . In the series, now streaming on Prime Video, viewers are once again introduced to a concerningly close pair of stepsiblings — sex-positive playboy Lucien (Zac Burgess) and control-hungry sorority president Caroline (Sarah Catherine Hook) — who rule the Greek life microcosm at Manchester University. Just like the film, they are wealthy and entitled to the point of wanting nothing, so they crave what they can’t have. In Lucien’s case, it is his stepsister. In Caroline’s case, it’s the thrill of having her stepbrother in the palm of her hand. So to make it interesting, they make a bet: If he can sleep with Annie Grover (Savannah Lee Smith), the vice president’s daughter who also happens to be the most notoriously virginal student in school and Caroline’s white-whale sorority pledge, then he can have his stepsister in all the ways he dreams. If she wins, she gets his vintage car and the satisfaction of his failure. To sustain that story for potential future seasons, though, co-showrunners Sara Goodman and Phoebe Fisher had to go beyond the film’s foundations. First, they fleshed out characters that orbit the gruesome twosome at the center of “Cruel Intentions.” Cece (Sara Silva), a character originally played by Selma Blair in the film, now serves as Caroline’s ambitious but naive right hand in their sorority. Blaze (John Harlan Kim), inspired by a queer character originally played by Joshua Jackson, is now a leader in Lucien’s fraternity alongside their new president and his lover, Scott (Khobe Clarke). Sean Patrick Thomas plays Professor Chadwick, a good-natured educator who succumbs to his attraction to his teaching assistant, Cece. (Fans of the film will know Thomas originally played a similar role in the character of Ronald, a young music teacher who falls in love with Blair’s Cecile.) But the biggest change necessary to keep “Cruel Intentions” alive beyond its big-screen predecessor was a new ending. In the film, Sebastian succeeds in his quest to sleep with Annette (Reese Witherspoon), the headmaster’s daughter. But despite the original reasons for his pursuit, he’s fallen in love with Annette, and tells Kathryn the bet is off. He has seemingly turned over a new leaf when he is killed in a car accident trying to save Annette. After his memorial service, Sebastian’s diary of conquests is published by Annette and Cece, exposing his and Kathryn’s cruelty to the world. In the series, though, Lucien lives to deceive another day. After he and Annie sleep together, he confesses his duplicitous plan and ends their relationship out of some combination of guilt and fear. He also forfeits the bet with Caroline by lying and saying he failed, and then calling out all of her insecurities. But unlike Sebastian’s journal, Lucien’s conquests have been documented in the proverbial cloud as self-filmed sex tapes, which he periodically shares with Caroline for her, um, viewing pleasure. So to get back at him, Caroline releases his tapes to the entire university, unleashing her own brand of revenge porn. But Lucien has one last move to play against his stepsister. In the season’s final moments, he sleeps with her mother and his stepmother (Claire Forlani), a cold-blooded woman who cuts her daughter down to size as frequently as she inappropriately flirts with her stepson. We don’t yet know what daddy dearest will have to say about this indiscretion, but something tells us Lucien’s heretofore-unseen parent knows a thing or two about this kind of sexual warfare. As his final revenge before the season cuts to black, Lucien seemingly sends Caroline a video of his dirty deed with her mother –– her reaction to which is teased only by a call that he sends straight to voicemail as he smugly drives off in victory. Following the season of backstabbing, Goodman and Fisher talked to Variety about honoring the horny reputation of “Cruel Intentions,” pushing back on network notes to curb the language that was so present in the movie — and teased who might show up should the show get a second season. Sara Goodman: The biggest challenge was that, first of all, we are giant fans of the movie. We don’t want to alienate fans of the movie, but we also don’t want to do a remake of the movie. We want to do a show. So just like “Cruel Intentions” the movie was a version of “Dangerous Liaisons,” we are a version of the movie that has new characters, and a new setting in the Greek world that is just as privileged and exclusive and funny and sexy. But to make an ongoing series, you need to be able to create characters that have interior conflicts and exterior conflicts, and lots of dynamics between them. So we took all the things we loved in terms of the tone, and made a show with it that could stand on your own. Phoebe Fisher: Sure, I mean we can talk about the ending, which differs from the ending of the movie pretty significantly. But it is just a function of being an ongoing story. We aren’t quite done with Lucien yet, that’s all I can say. Goodman: I loved “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” but I think that what everyone wanted from that was very different tonally from what the movie was. And I think we felt very, very strongly, as did Amazon and Sony, that we wanted this series to be much more in line with the movie. While you can’t sustain an ongoing series based on the story of a movie, you can use all of that delicious, despicable, sexy humor and make sure that it stays true to the original material. I feel very proud of what we did here, in terms of making sure that even if people are upset that it is a different story or different characters, well at least we are true to the “Cruel Intentions” pantheon. Goodman: It is an interesting question, because it is one of the fine lines we had to walk. We actually had that particular f-word earlier in the series. Rourke said it to Blaze in the premiere. Instead of “fucker” [which the viewers hears], he originally said the other one. We were asked to take it out [by the network], and we objected to that because we felt he would use that language. That is how Rourke would talk to Blaze. But Scott, on the other hand, is someone who doesn’t use any f-words, period. He would never say a bad thing about any person, so for Scott it felt natural for him to say “f-slur” because that is the way he talks. Those were the choices that we really tried hard to make, choosing how the characters spoke to each other based on who they were and not based on what is culturally and socially acceptable because this is a world where things are said all the time that aren’t socially acceptable. And I think to pretend that they are not is wrong. People say such inappropriate things. This is “Cruel Intentions!” We want them to do that. But at the same time, Scott is not one of those characters. Fisher: He’s a good boy! Goodman: Exactly. I mean, we lost that one, as you hear in the show, but we won some other ones. It is an interesting thing to make a show in this day and age where you do have characters that speak like that, and you don’t want to take it away because it is speaking about the world we’re living in and how they see other people. Fisher: And I think, in coming up with the way that they all talk, there is kind of a shared language. It is almost like they all have almost the same accent. Or the same reference pool. Goodman: Listen, he is really just figuring it out in a real way! We had some push back on that too, that Scott honestly didn’t know [he liked men] and that he wasn’t defined and he wasn’t just in the closet. He really didn’t know this about himself, but that was so important to us to be able to let him figure it out in real time. To me, that is honest. We have such a soft spot for Scott. He is the heart of this show. And we love Khobe. Fisher: His character has such an amazing arc of discovery, and I think that continuing that arc into another season would be really fun. Fisher: It is a fine line making sure that where the sex was included, it felt driven by the story and it belonged in the story, and wasn’t excessive or for the sake of shock value. Goodman: I think the other thing is, these are characters that use everything in their arsenal to get power and gamesmanship, and sex is one of those things. So we aren’t showing sex because we think it is sexy. This is a game to them. This is a power play. You know, I don’t want to say that where there is actual love there is no sex in this story, but we use sex the way we use everything else in the show –– to get what we want. To not use it feels disingenuous. Goodman: Absolutely. I think we were very character specific, and Lucien uses sex as a numbing cream. I mean, I have an ice pack on my back right now, and sex for him is like that. Fisher: An emotional ice pack! Goodman: An emotional ice pack, yes, but also when he doesn’t want to feel things like when he is bored. Lucien uses sex in a different way. Caroline uses sex in a different way. When we show those things, we want them to inform the character and inform how they get power in the world. To show sex just for shock value, I think maybe that’s where Gen Z has a problem. Maybe they are saying it is boring when it is just for that. At least, I hope that’s what they are saying. Because if they are just saying sex is bad, then I’m not on board! Goodman: We did, and I think Sony and Amazon trusted us. We could back up why we were doing what we were doing, and sometimes that annoys you as a creator. But sometimes it also makes you have to think through why it is important to you. Like why saying the actual f-word is important to that character. And why fucking is important! Fisher: I don’t think so. For us, it was always about keeping that titillation alive but without being graphic for the sake of being graphic. And so I think we really preserved that and didn’t really have to compromise. Goodman: I think we got what we wanted. Fisher: We were so excited that Sean could be part of this iteration of the story, because I think that character, specifically, we really wanted to see more of and see an expansion of what that relationship really is between him and Cece. It is not the same character, obviously. It is our newer version of it, but I think that was a thing that attracted us to him. Goodman: But also, that was the end of his story in the film. He was a prop, he was used. But in Season 2, it would definitely not be the end of his story. It was very appealing to us to have whatever redemption or punishment or whatever is coming for him. And we gave him that ex-wife who used him as well. It was really important to us to build a real, full character for him who has that conflict. Goodman: I don’t know. What do you think she is going to say? Why do you think she’s calling? And Annie’s also calling, so what is she calling about? Maybe more importantly, where is Lucien going? Fisher: Is there really any way for him to come back from this? I don’t think so. Goodman: And what is his dad going to say when he finds out? And what is he really going back to at the fraternity house? They are raiding his room. You’ll have to see, but let’s just say that money can still buy you out of a lot of problems. Fisher: Money can buy you a new room, but can it buy you a new father? Goodman: Oh, yes. Fisher: We love a father figure. Goodman: I think if there is an organic way, sure. But they are so much their characters from the movie, much more than Sean was that character. There is so much iconography around those other characters that they would have to play those characters, and they would have to find an organic way into our world. If that can happen, I don’t think anything is off the table. Goodman: Yes! If you can take anything from our show, it is that sex is alive and well. This interview has been edited and condensed.

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Every week — sometimes every day—a new state-of-the-art AI model is born to the world. As we move into 2025, the pace at which new models are being released is dizzying, if not exhausting. The curve of the rollercoaster is continuing to grow exponentially, and fatigue and wonder have become constant companions. Each release highlights why this particular model is better than all others, with endless collections of benchmarks and bar charts filling our feeds as we scramble to keep up. Eighteen months ago, the vast majority of developers and businesses were using a single AI model . Today, the opposite is true. It is rare to find a business of significant scale that is confining itself to the capabilities of a single model. Companies are wary of vendor lock-in, particularly for a technology which has quickly become a core part of both long-term corporate strategy and short-term bottom-line revenue. It is increasingly risky for teams to put all their bets on a single large language model (LLM). But despite this fragmentation, many model providers still champion the view that AI will be a winner-takes-all market. They claim that the expertise and compute required to train best-in-class models is scarce, defensible and self-reinforcing. From their perspective, the hype bubble for building AI models will eventually collapse, leaving behind a single, giant artificial general intelligence (AGI) model that will be used for anything and everything. To exclusively own such a model would mean to be the most powerful company in the world. The size of this prize has kicked off an arms race for more and more GPUs, with a new zero added to the number of training parameters every few months. We believe this view is mistaken. There will be no single model that will rule the universe, neither next year nor next decade. Instead, the future of AI will be multi-model. Language models are fuzzy commodities The Oxford Dictionary of Economics defines a commodity as a “standardized good which is bought and sold at scale and whose units are interchangeable.” Language models are commodities in two important senses: But while language models are commoditizing, they are doing so unevenly. There is a large core of capabilities for which any model, from GPT-4 all the way down to Mistral Small, is perfectly suited to handle. At the same time, as we move towards the margins and edge cases, we see greater and greater differentiation, with some model providers explicitly specializing in code generation, reasoning, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) or math. This leads to endless handwringing, reddit-searching, evaluation and fine-tuning to find the right model for each job. And so while language models are commodities, they are more accurately described as fuzzy commodities . For many use cases, AI models will be nearly interchangeable, with metrics like price and latency determining which model to use. But at the edge of capabilities, the opposite will happen: Models will continue to specialize, becoming more and more differentiated. As an example, Deepseek-V2.5 is stronger than GPT-4o on coding in C#, despite being a fraction of the size and 50 times cheaper. Both of these dynamics — commoditization and specialization — uproot the thesis that a single model will be best-suited to handle every possible use case. Rather, they point towards a progressively fragmented landscape for AI. Multi-modal orchestration and routing There is an apt analogy for the market dynamics of language models: The human brain. The structure of our brains has remained unchanged for 100,000 years, and brains are far more similar than they are dissimilar. For the vast majority of our time on Earth, most people learned the same things and had similar capabilities. But then something changed. We developed the ability to communicate in language — first in speech, then in writing. Communication protocols facilitate networks, and as humans began to network with each other, we also began to specialize to greater and greater degrees. We became freed from the burden of needing to be generalists across all domains, to be self-sufficient islands. Paradoxically, the collective riches of specialization have also meant that the average human today is a far stronger generalist than any of our ancestors. On a sufficiently wide enough input space, the universe always tends towards specialization. This is true all the way from molecular chemistry, to biology, to human society. Given sufficient variety, distributed systems will always be more computationally efficient than monoliths. We believe the same will be true of AI. The more we can leverage the strengths of multiple models instead of relying on just one, the more those models can specialize, expanding the frontier for capabilities. An increasingly important pattern for leveraging the strengths of diverse models is routing — dynamically sending queries to the best-suited model, while also leveraging cheaper, faster models when doing so doesn’t degrade quality. Routing allows us to take advantage of all the benefits of specialization — higher accuracy with lower costs and latency — without giving up any of the robustness of generalization. A simple demonstration of the power of routing can be seen in the fact that most of the world’s top models are themselves routers: They are built using Mixture of Expert architectures that route each next-token generation to a few dozen expert sub-models. If it’s true that LLMs are exponentially proliferating fuzzy commodities, then routing must become an essential part of every AI stack. There is a view that LLMs will plateau as they reach human intelligence — that as we fully saturate capabilities, we will coalesce around a single general model in the same way that we have coalesced around AWS, or the iPhone. Neither of those platforms (or their competitors) have 10X’d their capabilities in the past couple years — so we might as well get comfortable in their ecosystems. We believe, however, that AI will not stop at human-level intelligence; it will carry on far past any limits we might even imagine. As it does so, it will become increasingly fragmented and specialized, just as any other natural system would. We cannot overstate how much AI model fragmentation is a very good thing. Fragmented markets are efficient markets: They give power to buyers, maximize innovation and minimize costs. And to the extent that we can leverage networks of smaller, more specialized models rather than send everything through the internals of a single giant model, we move towards a much safer, more interpretable and more steerable future for AI. The greatest inventions have no owners. Ben Franklin’s heirs do not own electricity. Turing’s estate does not own all computers. AI is undoubtedly one of humanity’s greatest inventions; we believe its future will be — and should be — multi-model. Zack Kass is the former head of go-to-market at OpenAI . Tomás Hernando Kofman is the co-Founder and CEO of Not Diamond . DataDecisionMakers Welcome to the VentureBeat community! DataDecisionMakers is where experts, including the technical people doing data work, can share data-related insights and innovation. If you want to read about cutting-edge ideas and up-to-date information, best practices, and the future of data and data tech, join us at DataDecisionMakers. You might even consider contributing an article of your own! Read More From DataDecisionMakersCroatia's President Zoran Milanovic will face conservative rival Dragan Primorac in an election run-off in two weeks' time after the incumbent narrowly missed out an outright victory on Sunday, official results showed. The results came after an exit poll, released immediately after the polling stations closed, showed that Milanovic, backed by the opposition left-wing Social Democrats, had scooped more than 50 percent of the first round vote and would thus avoid the January 12 run-off. Milanovic won 49.1 percent of the first round vote and Primorac, backed by the ruling conservative HDZ party, took 19.35 percent, according to results released by the state electoral commission from nearly all of the polling stations. On Sunday evening, Milanovic pledged to his supporters who gathered in Zagreb to "fight for Croatia with a clear stance, one that takes care of its interests". Such a strong lead for Milanovic, whom surveys labelled a favourite ahead of the vote, raises serious concerns for Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic's HDZ. Late on Sunday, Primorac labelled the big difference between him and Milanovic a "challenge". "In the first round there were... a lot of candidates, it was not easy to present the programme fully. Now it's a great opportunity that Milanovic and I be one on one... to see who represents what," Primorac told his supporters in Zagreb. The election came as the European Union and NATO member country of 3.8 million people struggles with biting inflation, widespread corruption and a labour shortage. Among the eight contenders, centre-right MP Marija Selak Raspudic and green-left MP Ivana Kekin followed the two main rivals, the exit poll showed. The two women each won around nine percent of the vote. The president commands the Balkan country's armed forces and has a say in foreign policy. But despite limited powers, many believe the office is key for the political balance of power in a country mainly governed by the HDZ since independence in 1991. "All the eggs should not be in one basket," Nenad Horvat, a salesman in his 40s, told AFP. He sees Milanovic, a former leftist prime minister, as the "last barrier to all levers of power falling into the hands of HDZ", echoing the view of many that was reflected in Sunday's vote results. The 58-year-old Milanovic has been one of Croatia's leading and most colourful political figures for nearly two decades. Sharp and eloquent, he won the presidency for the Social Democrats (SDP) in 2020 with pledges to advocate tolerance and liberalism. But he used the office to attack political opponents and EU officials, often with offensive and populist rhetoric. Milanovic, who condemned Russia's aggression against Ukraine, has nonetheless criticised the West's military aid to Kyiv. That prompted the prime minister to label him a pro-Russian who is "destroying Croatia's credibility in NATO and the EU". Milanovic countered that he wanted to protect Croatia from being "dragged into war". Milanovic regularly pans Plenkovic and his HDZ party over systemic corruption, calling the premier a "serious threat to Croatia's democracy". Speaking on Sunday, Milanovic said that in the current global situation, all political stakeholders in the country should be "on the same side as much as possible, at least when it comes to fundamental issues such as the national security or borders". For many, the election is a continuation of the longstanding feud between two powerful politicians. "This is still about the conflict between the prime minister and president," political analyst Zarko Puhovski told AFP. "All the rest are just incidental topics." Primorac, a 59-year-old physician and scientist returning to politics after 15 years, campaigned as a "unifier" promoting family values and patriotism. ljv/bc

A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied TikTok’s petition to overturn the law — which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January — and rebuffed the company’s challenge of the statute, which it argued had ran afoul of the First Amendment. “The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” said the court’s opinion, which was written by Judge Douglas Ginsburg. “Here the Government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.” TikTok and ByteDance — another plaintiff in the lawsuit — are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, though its unclear whether the court will take up the case. “The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting ans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people,” Hughes said. Unless stopped, he argued the statute “will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19th, 2025.” Though the case is squarely in the court system, it’s also possible the two companies might be thrown some sort of a lifeline by President-elect Donald Trump, who tried to ban TikTok during his first term but said during the presidential campaign that he is now . The law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, was the culmination of a over the short-form video-sharing app, which the government due to its connections to China. The U.S. has said it’s concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of user data, including , that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Officials have also warned the proprietary algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect. The European Union on Friday as it investigates intelligence that suggests Russia possibly abused the platform to influence the elections in Romania. TikTok, which sued the government over the law in May, has long denied it could be used by Beijing to spy on or manipulate Americans. Its attorneys have accurately pointed out that the U.S. hasn’t provided evidence to show that the company handed over user data to the Chinese government, or manipulated content for Beijing’s benefit in the U.S. They have also argued the law is predicated on future risks, which the Department of Justice has emphasized pointing in part to unspecified action it claims the two companies have taken in the past due to demands from the Chinese government. Friday’s ruling came after the appeals court panel, composed of two Republicans and one Democrat appointed judges, in September. In the hearing, which lasted more than two hours, the panel appeared to grapple with how TikTok’s foreign ownership affects its rights under the Constitution and how far the government could go to curtail potential influence from abroad on a foreign-owned platform. On Friday, all three denied TikTok’s petition. In the court’s ruling, Ginsburg, a Republican appointee, rejected TikTok’s main legal arguments against the law, including that the statute was an unlawful bill of attainder, or a taking of property in violation of the Fifth Amendment. He also said the law did not violate the First Amendment because the government is not looking to “suppress content or require a certain mix of content” on TikTok. “Content on the platform could in principle remain unchanged after divestiture, and people in the United States would remain free to read and share as much PRC propaganda (or any other content) as they desire on TikTok or any other platform of their choosing,” Ginsburg wrote, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China. Judge Sri Srinivasan, the chief judge on the court, issued a concurring opinion. TikTok’s lawsuit was consolidated with a second legal challenge brought by several content creators — for which the company is covering legal costs — as well as a third one filed on behalf of conservative creators who work with a nonprofit called BASED Politics Inc. Other organizations, including the Knight First Amendment Institute, had also filed amicus briefs supporting TikTok. “This is a deeply misguided ruling that reads important First Amendment precedents too narrowly and gives the government sweeping power to restrict Americans’ access to information, ideas, and media from abroad,” said Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of the organization. “We hope that the appeals court’s ruling won’t be the last word.” Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers who had pushed for the legislation celebrated the court’s ruling. “I am optimistic that President Trump will facilitate an American takeover of TikTok to allow its continued use in the United States and I look forward to welcoming the app in America under new ownership,” said Republican Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan, chairman of the House Select Committee on China. Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who co-authored the law, said “it’s time for ByteDance to accept” the law. To assuage concerns about the company’s owners, TikTok says it has invested more than $2 billion to bolster protections around U.S. user data. The company has also argued the government’s broader concerns could have been resolved in a the Biden administration more than two years ago during talks between the two sides. It has blamed the government for walking away from further negotiations on the agreement, which the Justice Department argues is insufficient. Attorneys for the two companies have claimed it’s impossible to divest the platform commercially and technologically. They also say any sale of TikTok without the coveted algorithm — the platform’s secret sauce that Chinese authorities would likely block under any divesture plan — would turn the U.S. version of TikTok into an island disconnected from other global content. Still, some investors, including and billionaire Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in purchasing the platform. Both men said earlier this year that they were launching a consortium to purchase TikTok’s U.S. business. This week, a spokesperson for McCourt’s Project Liberty initiative, which aims to protect online privacy, said unnamed participants in their bid have made informal commitments of more than $20 billion in capital.Bengaluru became a powerful site for the convergence of art and activism on Saturday, November 23, through Filmistin’s ‘No Pride in Genocide’. The event, organised by a coalition of civil society organisations called Bengaluru for Justice and Peace, brought people face-to-face with the lived realities of queer Palestinians, combining cinematic storytelling with critical discourse. With a focus on Israel’s pinkwashing—a tactic by which LGBTQIA+ rights are used to mask the systemic oppression of Palestinians—the event marked the Indian debut of a global series that has travelled across six countries. The evening began with three short films, each offering a unique perspective on queer Palestinian lives. The films— by Hadi Moussally, by Moaad Ghadir, and by Dean Spade—provided intimate glimpses into the lives of queer Palestinians, unveiling stories of exile, systemic violence, and resistance. Together, they underscored the ways in which pinkwashing not only erases these struggles but also perpetuates colonial narratives that fragment and marginalise Palestinian voices. The screening was followed by a deeply resonant discussion featuring Palestinian activist Haneen Maikey, alongside Indian voices such as Arvind Narrain, a Bengaluru-based lawyer and writer; Namita Avitri, curator of Bangalore Queer Film Festival; and Twisha Mehta from Collective Bangalore. The conversation, moderated by playwright and director Nisha Abdulla, moved beyond the films to address global patterns of oppression, the resonances between Palestine and India, and the urgent need for intersectional solidarity. Pinkwashing emerged as the central theme of the evening, with Haneen Maikey delivering a searing critique of the Israeli state’s use of LGBTQIA+ rights as a propaganda tool. Maikey described pinkwashing as “not just propaganda, but colonial violence.” She detailed how the tactic fragments queer Palestinian communities by spreading racist myths about Palestinian society and erasing the voices of indigenous queer movements. This erasure, she explained, makes it harder for queer Palestinians to fight not only state oppression but also the stigmas and biases within their own communities. “ felt like a warm echo of the early days of our movement,” Maikey remarked, reflecting on her decades of activism. “It reminded me of the joy, complexity, and a political language we used to articulate our struggle before finding our collective voice.” Her personal anecdotes about building a unified queer Palestinian movement highlighted the challenges of transcending the borders imposed by colonial powers, while emphasising the need for a deeply intersectional approach to activism. The discussion also drew significant parallels between Israel’s colonial policies and India’s right-wing authoritarianism. Panellists pointed out that both states employ similar tactics to divide and oppress marginalised communities. In India, queerphobia and Islamophobia are often weaponised to divide movements and communities, mirroring the divisions Israel enforces through its categorisation of Palestinians based on geography and legal status. These tactics, as panellists noted, are designed to undermine solidarity and prevent the formation of unified movements for justice. Twisha Mehta, an activist with Collective Bangalore, drew particular attention to the rise of “bulldozer politics” in India and how it mirrors the Israeli state’s demolition of Palestinian homes. In both contexts, militarised violence is used to target marginalised communities, stripping people of their homes and dignity under the guise of maintaining security or order. Mehta highlighted the dangerous logic of these practices, rooted in state violence and racialised oppression, and pointed out how they disproportionately affect Muslims, Dalits, and other vulnerable groups in both India and Palestine. The panellists also discussed the role of boycotts in challenging oppression. Namita Avitri emphasised the power of divestment and grassroots pressure as a tool for change, pointing to global successes such as Norway and Finland’s divestments from Israeli businesses and the closure of several international franchises under public pressure. “Our small actions matter,” she said, urging the audience to think critically about their roles as consumers, creators, and activists. Avitri also shared her experiences curating queer cultural spaces in India and the challenges of maintaining these spaces free from corporate complicity and oppressive state influences. Another critical aspect of the discussion was the role of technology in perpetuating oppression. Panellists noted the extensive use of surveillance tools, such as Pegasus spyware and AI-driven monitoring systems, in both Palestine and India. These tools are used to suppress dissent, track activists, and maintain state control. In the context of Palestine, these technologies are used to surveil and intimidate both the Palestinian population and international solidarity movements. Twisha Mehta made a direct connection between the use of such surveillance tools and the increasingly repressive political climate in India, where activists are similarly targeted by the state. The discussion stressed how these technologies work in tandem with militarised violence to silence resistance and sustain colonial power structures. Twisha also highlighted the ongoing challenges faced by activists in Karnataka under Congress rule. Organisers in the state, especially those involved in Palestinian solidarity, have faced harassment, surveillance, and detentions when attempting to hold events or protests. Twisha recalled several instances where police demanded lists of attendees at solidarity events, forcing organisers to cancel or shift the events online. “The tactics employed by the Congress government in the state paint them in the exact same way as the fascist government,” she said, underscoring the need for continued vigilance and pressure on all political entities, regardless of their ideological leanings. Arvind Narrain framed the conversation within a broader historical and legal context, urging the audience to understand queer liberation as intrinsically tied to broader struggles against colonialism and authoritarianism. Narrain argued that resistance to oppression must go beyond the queer community to include all marginalised groups. He pointed to the global history of anti-apartheid activism, drawing parallels to the ongoing fight for Palestinian liberation. He emphasised that art, like the films showcased, plays an essential role in challenging dominant narratives and creating spaces for resistance, helping to bridge the gaps between different movements and struggles. Narrain also spoke on the importance of having a broader imagination and inclusive understanding of ‘victimhood’. Referencing Hannah Arendt’s , he highlighted Arendt’s argument that instead of “crimes against the Jewish people,” the statute should say “crimes against humanity” committed on the bodies of Jews. “Her point is that it is a crime of such a high order that we can only call it a crime against humanity, not crimes against Jews. The problem with that is twofold. One, you’re making the case that Jewish people are forever victims, they can never be perpetrators. And Arendt saw this in the 1960s. The second point is that when you say ‘crimes against the Jewish people,’ you’re using the whole cast of what is only the Jewish people. We know it wasn’t just Jews—this was also the extermination of homosexual people, disabled people, the Roma community, as well as Slavic and Islamic peoples. So, all these communities were being eliminated, and to use only the Jewish people as the reference is problematic.” He further added, “The counter to that is to think in terms of crimes against humanity, not just crimes against the Jewish people. In justice, you have to think in terms of an international tribunal, not a tribunal for Jews. Because again, you’re downgrading the suffering of the Jewish people.” As the discussion drew to a close, the panellists explored what solidarity looks like in practice. Maikey argued that solidarity must go beyond surface-level gestures to actively engage with the lived realities of oppressed communities. “For Indian activists, this means recognising the interconnectedness of struggles against casteism, communalism, and capitalism with the fight for Palestinian liberation,” Narrain said. “Queer liberation necessitates Palestinian liberation,” Maikey said in her closing remarks. “And that liberation is incomplete without solidarity that bridges borders and movements.”

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Codexis, Inc. CDXS , a leading provider of enzymatic solutions for efficient and scalable therapeutics manufacturing, today announced the approval of equity grants to five new employees as approved by the Compensation Committee of Codexis' Board of Directors. The newly hired employees received equity awards consisting of an aggregate of (i) options to purchase 168,400 shares of Codexis common stock and (ii) 39,750 restricted stock units (RSUs) as inducement awards under the company's 2024 Inducement Plan. The stock options have an exercise price equal to the closing price per share of Codexis' common stock as reported by Nasdaq on the grant date, and vest over four years, with 25 percent of the shares vesting on the first anniversary of the vesting commencement date, and the remainder vesting ratably at the end of each subsequent month thereafter, subject to each employee's continued service with Codexis through the applicable vesting dates. The RSUs will vest in equal annual installments on each anniversary of the grant date, until the third anniversary of such date, subject to each employee's continued service with Codexis through the applicable vesting dates. Codexis is providing this information in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)4. About Codexis Codexis is a leading provider of enzymatic solutions for efficient and scalable therapeutics manufacturing that leverages its proprietary CodeEvolver ® technology platform to discover, develop and enhance novel, high-performance enzymes and other classes of proteins. Codexis enzymes solve for real-world challenges associated with small molecule pharmaceuticals manufacturing and nucleic acid synthesis. The Company is currently developing its proprietary ECO SynthesisTM manufacturing platform to enable the scaled manufacture of RNAi therapeutics through an enzymatic route. Codexis' unique enzymes can drive improvements such as higher yields, reduced energy usage and waste generation, improved efficiency in manufacturing and greater sensitivity in genomic and diagnostic applications. For more information, visit https://www.codexis.com . For More Information Investor Contact Carrie McKim (336) 608-9706 ir@codexis.com Media Contact Lauren Musto (650) 421-8205 media@codexis.com © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Rachel Christian | (TNS) Bankrate.com Just because retirement planning involves some guesswork doesn’t mean it has to be a total mystery. Whether you’ve been saving since your first job or you’re getting a late start, you can leverage expert-recommended strategies to gauge your progress on the road to retirement. And if you’re not quite on track, don’t sweat it — the experts we spoke to offered actionable tips to help you close the gap. You might have a general idea of how much money you need to save for retirement . A few quick calculations can give you an estimate, but to truly appreciate where you stand, you’ll need to dive into the numbers. Here’s how to get started. A good rule of thumb to estimate your retirement savings goal is the Rule of 25 . Simply multiply your desired annual retirement income by 25. The result is roughly how much you’ll need to save before hitting retirement. For example, if you plan to spend $50,000 a year, you’ll need about $1.25 million to make it a reality. The Rule of 25 is based on the idea that withdrawing 4% annually from your retirement savings should last you about 30 years. While it’s not an exact science by any means — health care costs and lifestyle changes can skew the numbers, for example — the Rule of 25 can be a good starting point to figure out how much you need to save. Fidelity Investments, a behemoth in the retirement planning space, offers savings guidelines to help you determine if you’re on track . —By age 30: Save 1x your annual salary —By age 40: Save 3x your annual salary —By age 50: Save 6x your annual salary —By age 60: Save 8x your annual salary —By age 67: Save 10x your annual salary For example, if you earn $60,000 annually, you should aim for $600,000 in savings by age 67. But like the Rule of 25, Fidelity’s guidelines offer a 10,000-foot look at retirement goals, and they’re not customized to your situation. Maybe you earned a low salary in your 20s, but you’re working hard in your 30s to make up for it. Use these estimates as a benchmark — but don’t get discouraged if you’re lagging behind. Now it’s time to zoom in a little. To get a clearer snapshot of your progress, use an online retirement calculator. These tools factor in your age, current savings, income and lifestyle goals to estimate whether you’re on track. You’ll get a more refined estimate without crunching the numbers yourself. Bankrate’s retirement calculator even lets you input different rates of return on your investments and accounts for estimated annual salary increases. Having a general savings goal is nice, but to avoid falling short in retirement, you’ll need more than a ballpark figure. Experts recommend creating a retirement budget to get an up-close-and-personal look at how much you’ll really need once you leave the workforce. First, estimate how much you’ll spend per month in retirement. While some costs will increase, like health care, others will likely decrease, like dining out and commuting. “Estimating expenses can be challenging for some people, so as a starting point, I often use your net take-home pay,” says Jeff DeLarme, a certified financial planner and president of DeLarme Wealth Management. For example, if you receive a direct deposit of $2,500 every two weeks from work, use $5,000 as your estimated monthly spending in retirement. “Assuming this was enough to pay the bills while working, we can use $5,000 a month as a starting budget to plan for,” says DeLarme. Next, map out your sources of income in retirement. Social Security is the largest income stream for most retirees, but don’t neglect other inflows, such as: —Workplace retirement accounts, like 401(k)s —Personal retirement accounts, like a traditional or Roth IRA —Pensions —Annuities —Selling your home or business —Rental income —Inheritance “If there’s a gap between your expected expenses and income, you’ll have a good idea of how much you need to save,” says Mike Hunsberger, a certified financial planner and owner of Next Mission Financial Planning. From there, you can adjust your savings and investment strategy accordingly. For something as important (and complex) as retirement planning, it pays to speak with a professional. Financial advisers can analyze your savings, investments and retirement goals to create a personalized plan. Advisers use special planning software that account for more variables than an online calculator, giving you a much more precise, granular look at your financial life in retirement. Many financial advisers can also help you optimize your tax strategy, which can potentially save you thousands of dollars over time. Make sure the adviser you hire is a fiduciary , meaning they’re legally obligated to prioritize your interests over their own. A fiduciary won’t push investments to earn a commission or recommend products that aren’t aligned with your needs. A certified financial planner is one of the most well-recognized designations for fiduciaries. You can use Bankrate’s adviser matching tool to find a certified financial planner in your area in minutes. Maybe you did the math and realized you’re not quite where you need to be. Don’t panic if you’re behind schedule. Here are five strategies experts recommend to help you catch up on your retirement savings . Cutting expenses now frees up more cash to invest in your retirement accounts. Evaluate your budget and identify areas where you can cut costs, like dining out, streaming subscriptions or shopping. Don’t rule out bigger lifestyle changes either, especially if retirement is rapidly approaching. Housing is the biggest monthly expense for most people. Getting creative here can help amplify the amount you can sock away, says Joseph Boughan, a certified financial planner and managing member at Parkmount Financial Partners. It can also reduce your expenses in retirement, so you may not need to save as much as before. “Downsizing can be a great way to cut expenses,” says Boughan. “This can even free up cash if you don’t end up needing all that money for a new home.” Moving somewhere with lower property taxes or income taxes can also help bring your retirement plan back in line. And if you’re a renter, making tough short-term decisions, like taking on a roommate or moving to a lower cost-of-living area, can free up hundreds of dollars a month for your retirement. “Everyone’s plan is unique, so exploring all the options is important,” Boughan says. Joe Conroy, a certified financial planner and owner of Harford Retirement Planners, recommends taking a “retirement test drive” as you near your target date. “Start to live on what income you think you can afford in retirement and stash all the extra income into savings and investments,” says Conroy. “If you can make it through each month, you’re ready for retirement. If you run short, then adjust your plan accordingly.” Working a little longer can be a game-changer for your retirement nest egg. Not only does it give you more time to save, it also gives your investments room to grow. “Working longer or even just part time for a few years early in retirement is one of the best ways to reduce the amount of money you need to save,” says Hunsberger. Postponing retirement can also boost your Social Security benefits . “You can claim as early as 62, but your benefits will be reduced significantly,” says Hunsberger. Meanwhile, each year you delay claiming Social Security benefits beyond your full retirement age , your monthly check will increase by 8%, though this benefit maxes out at age 70. So waiting can really pay off. It may seem obvious, but if you’re behind on retirement savings, you’ll need to boost your contributions as much as possible. Here are a few ways to make saving for retirement easier: —Increase your contribution rate: Allocate a larger portion of your paycheck to a workplace retirement plan. Even bumping up your contributions by 1% or 2% can make a huge difference down the road. —Take advantage of your employer match: Don’t leave free money on the table. Many employers will chip in between 3 and 5% depending on your plan, so make sure you’re contributing enough to take advantage of the benefit. —Use “unexpected” money to catch up: If you get a raise or bonus at work, funnel part of it directly into your 401(k). And if you get a refund at tax time, siphon some of it off to beef up your IRA. If you’ve been investing in low-risk, low-return investments, you may not be keeping up with inflation, let alone growing your nest egg. Reallocating part of your portfolio to stocks or low-cost growth exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is one way to get your money working harder. Higher-risk investments like stocks carry more volatility but also offer higher potential returns. Work with a financial adviser or use a robo-adviser to strike the right balance between growth and your personal risk tolerance. Contribution limits for 401(k) plans and IRAs are higher for people over 50. For 2025, employees aged 50 and up who participate in most 401(k) plans or the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan can save up to $31,000 annually, including a $7,500 catch-up contribution . But thanks to SECURE 2.0 , a sweeping retirement law, a new higher catch-up contribution limit of $11,250 applies for employees ages 60 to 63. So, if you’re in this age group, you can squirrel away a whopping $34,750 a year during the final stretch of your career. Of course, you’ll need a big salary (think six figures) in order to take full advantage of such massive contribution limits. But if you can afford it, these catch-up allowances can put your plan back on track, especially if you struggled to save much early in your career. There’s no GPS to gauge your progress on the road to retirement. If you’ve veered off course or aren’t sure where to start, begin by getting a quick estimate of how much you’ll need before mapping out a retirement budget. And if you’re behind, don’t panic — adjusting your spending, boosting your contributions and speaking with a financial adviser can help you catch up. ©2024 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.NoneThe “Bushwick Birkin” has landed in Soho. Telfar — a New York-based brand beloved by the likes of Beyoncé , Dua Lipa, Oprah and Bella Hadid — is opening its first-ever storefront downtown at Broadway and Canal Street on Saturday. Crowned a cult must-have by the fashion set for two decades, the brand will debut its 10,000-square-foot brick-and-mortar equipped with a Telfar TV studio and a fully stocked “bag bar,” with a floor-to-ceiling display of every tote Telfar has ever produced — plus a coveted limited-edition purse. The brand’s sporadic drops have caused pandemonium, but Clemens told The Post in an interview that opening the store is a “huge milestone.” “The store tells the whole story,” he said. “It’s not just bags — it’s a cultural phenomenon and it’s a total look — 20 years in the making.” With its embossed “T” logo, the faux leather bags were the hottest of 2023 , selling out within minutes of each highly anticipated drop online. But at the flagship, near which street vendors hawk fakes, customers can purchase the handbag, lovingly nicknamed the “Bushwick Birkin,” without the stress of their preferred color, size or style selling out before checkout. Plus, a new limited-edition bag — reportedly a style that consumers have been demanding in recent years — is slated to be unveiled at the opening on Saturday, which Telfar noted is the “eve of our 20th anniversary.” The brand’s “Rainbow” style debuted at a pop-up in 2022 and drew legions of eager fans, who spilled out onto the street, shutting down traffic , and exited the store with armfuls of “Shopping” totes. This time around, the fashion label urged prospective patrons not to storm the storefront on opening day, and those who can’t miss the event will be required to RSVP for a specific time slot in order to enter. As of Friday, many of the “extremely limited” tickets for general admission were sold out. “YOU DON’T HAVE TO COME TO THE OPENING,” Telfar posted on social media , where the label also warned that the wait just to get in will likely surpass two hours . “IT WILL BE OPEN FOREVER.” “That was crazy. It was beautiful but this is different,” he told The Post. “This is our Flagship Store in NYC — we want to spread that energy over the other 365 days of the year.” One moment that won’t be forever is a spectacle slated for Saturday. In the alley behind the store, Telfar will host a talent show of sorts, allowing fans an opportunity to put on a performance. Winners could cut the line and win a tote if liked by the throngs of people and the judges, composed of founder Telfar Clemens, his friends and undisclosed New York icons. “It’s going to be a show for real,” he told The Post. “A celebration and open mic — and we have some wild surprises in store. We wanted to mark the day.” At the bag bar — which creative director Babak Radboy described to Vogue Business as operating similarly to “how you get into a club” — every tote in every color will be available for purchase, regardless of online availability, and lucky shoppers will also be able to preview new launches before the bags debut online. During events, the bag bar can process up to 4,000 orders in a single day — bandwidth that seems necessary given Telfar’s track record. Devout loyalists of the brand — many of whom have taken to social media to express their excitement for the flagship — will likely want to be on line. However, the store opening will be livestreamed as a celebration on the label’s 24-hour channel, Telfar.TV . The element of community and collaboration is an intentional aspect of the interactive brick-and-mortar, which also features a space to hang out or shoot content and ‘fit checks, which can then be broadcast to the store’s LED displays. But the real reason for a permanent Telfar storefront is to experience apparel IRL, rather than URL. Despite the brand operating as an online retailer and selling products through a drop model, Clemens wants to showcase all the label has to offer from head to toe. When asked what has been the most exciting part, Telfar said it’s been doing the work. “To be honest it’s the stuff behind the scenes,” he told The Post. “We have been building an atelier for the last three years so we can return to full 360 collections on our own terms — and do it 100% independently. That’s why the store is so central — you are never going to understand TELFAR by walking into an existing store.” Produced in the brand’s 13,000-square-foot atelier, seasonal collections of garments and accessories will be available to shop as well. At the Soho flagship, customers can browse the label’s Wilsons Leather collaboration, the Telfar Denim collection, the Performance athletic wear capsule and its athleisure apparel. And though the brand has skyrocketed in fame thanks to the internet, Telfar hopes his store fosters connection IRL. “We are so excited to have that come together in one place,” he told The Post, “and have people put down their phones and feel something.”

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Mr Carter, a former peanut farmer, served one term in the White House between 1977 and 1981, taking over in the wake of the Watergate scandal and the end of the Vietnam War. After his defeat by Ronald Reagan, he spent his post-presidency years as a global humanitarian, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. His death on Sunday was announced by his family and came more than a year after he decided to enter hospice care. He was the longest-lived US president. His son, Chip Carter, said: “My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights and unselfish love. “My brothers, sister and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. “The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honouring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.” World leaders have paid tribute to Mr Carter, including US President Joe Biden, who was one of the first politicians to endorse Mr Carter for president in 1976 and said the world had “lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian”. He said: “Over six decades, we had the honour of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well. “With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. “He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe.” Irish President Michael D Higgins said Mr Carter was “a principled man who dedicated his life to seeking to advance the cause of peace across the world”. He added: “On behalf of the people of Ireland, may I express my sympathies to President Carter’s children and extended family, to President Joe Biden, to the people of the United States, and to his wide circle of colleagues and friends across the globe.” Mr Carter is expected to receive a state funeral featuring public observances in Atlanta and Washington DC before being buried in his home town of Plains, Georgia. A moderate democrat born in Plains in October 1924, Mr Carter’s political career took him from the Georgia state senate to the state governorship and finally, the White House, where he took office as the 39th president. His presidency saw economic disruption amid volatile oil prices, along with social tensions at home and challenges abroad including the Iranian revolution that sparked a 444-day hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran. But he also brokered the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, which led to a peace treaty between the two countries in 1979. After his defeat in the 1980 presidential election, he worked for more than four decades leading the Carter Centre, which he and his late wife Rosalynn co-founded in 1982 to “wage peace, fight disease, and build hope”. Under his leadership, the Carter Center managed to virtually eliminate Guinea Worm disease, which has gone from affecting 3.5 million people in Africa and Asia in 1986 to just 14 in 2023. Mrs Carter, who died last year aged 96, had played a more active role in her husband’s presidency than previous first ladies, with Mr Carter saying she had been “my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished”. Earlier this year, on his 100th birthday, Mr Carter received a private congratulatory message from the King, expressing admiration for his life of public service.

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HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Ashlon Jackson scored a career-high 30 points and No. 13 Duke defeated No. 9 Kansas State, 73-62 on Monday, in the semifinals of the Ball Dawgs Classic. The Blue Devils (6-1) overcame an early 11-point deficit behind Jackson’s shooting to advance to Wednesday’s championship game against No. 8 Oklahoma, an 85-62 winner against DePaul. Jackson, who has scored in double figures in all six of Duke’s games, shot 12 of 19 (63.1%) from the floor, including 6 of 9 (66.7%) from 3-point range. Reigan Richardson added 16 points for the Blue Devils. Kansas State (5-1) was led by Ayoka Lee, who had 16 points. Serena Sundell scored 15 and Kennedy Taylor came off the bench to add 11 for the Wildcats. Takeaways Kansas State: With her 16-point performance, Lee needs 48 points to pass Kendra Wecker (2001-05) for the Kansas State career scoring record. Wecker scored 2,333 points. Lee, the 2024-25 Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, is averaging 15.3 points. Duke: Jackson hit her season average of 13.3 points by the 3:54 mark of the second quarter when her pull-up jumper gave her 14. The junior guard was 8 of 11 from the floor, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and had 20 points by halftime. Key moment With the Blue Devils trailing by six midway through the second quarter, Jackson triggered a 15-0 run with 13 of the team’s points to help Duke take a lead they’d never relinquish. Up next Duke will face No. 8 Oklahoma on Wednesday in the championship game, while Kansas State will face DePaul in the consolation game. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: and

Martinez had gone eight matches since last finding the back of the net against Venezia on November 3 but after Alessandro Bastoni opened the scoring in the 54th minute, the Argentina international struck in Sardinia. The Inter captain took his tally against Cagliari to 10 goals in as many games after 71 minutes before Hakan Calhanoglu capped an excellent night for the visitors from the penalty spot a few moments later. This moment >>> #ForzaInter #CagliariInter pic.twitter.com/aZwbAZvRVI — Inter ⭐⭐ (@Inter_en) December 28, 2024 Inter’s fifth-successive league victory led to them temporarily leapfrogging Atalanta, who reclaimed top spot but saw their lead cut to a single point following a 1-1 draw at Lazio. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side were grateful for a point in the end after falling behind to Fisayo Dele-Bashiru’s first-half strike, only drawing level with two minutes remaining thanks to Marco Brescianini. Lautaro Valenti’s last-gasp strike condemned rock-bottom Monza to a 10th defeat in 18 matches as Parma edged a 2-1 victory, while Genoa defeated Empoli by the same scoreline.For the third straight football season, Cross High School has the last team standing from the Berkeley County School District. The Trojans won their ninth straight game Friday, Nov. 29, hanging on to edge visiting Hannah-Pamplico, 12-7, in the third round of the Class 1A playoffs. Cross improved to 11-2 on the season. The Red Raiders ended up 9-3. “I told the kids all week let’s just play for four quarters,” Cross coach Shaun Wright said. “I said don’t worry about the score. Don’t worry about the clock. You just keep playing play after play, and we did that. Our defense is as good as it comes in 1A.” Cross hosts Lake View (11-1) in the Lower State championship game Friday, Dec. 6, with the winner meeting either Abbeville (11-1) or Lewisville (12-1) for the Class A crown Thursday, Dec. 12, at South Carolina State in Orangeburg. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Wild Gators advanced with a 42-32 win over Bamberg-Ehrhardt in the third round. “We knew coming in it was probably going to be us and Lake View,” Wright said. For Cross’s Karmello Jones, it was a typical night beneath the lights against the Red Raiders. The junior linebacker returned a fumble 84 yards for a touchdown to start the scoring less than three minutes into the second half. Jones finished with 148 yards rushing on the other side of the ball, scoring on a 2-yard run a couple minutes after his huge defensive play to put the Trojans on top 12-0. “What more can you say about him,” Wright said. “He’s a great football player. We’re still waiting. It’s just a matter of time before he gets a scholarship offer.” The junior has 1,793 yards and 30 touchdowns on the ground going into the Lower State championship. He’s the Trojans’ third-leading tackler from the second level. Hannah-Pamplico didn’t just fade, though, despite Jones and Cross almost delivering the knockout blow later in the third period. The Red Raiders capitalized on a fumble recovery to go on an 88-yard scoring drive that rejuvenated the visiting side of A.E. Ravenell Stadium. Receiver Tylin Jenkins hauled in a 3-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Wade Poston on the first play of the fourth quarter and the extra point pulled the visitors within 12-7. After a holding call wiped out a 69-yard touchdown run by Jones on Cross’s ensuing possession, Hannah-Pamplico put together a drive to the Trojans 30 with under five minutes left. However, the Red Raiders couldn’t convert a fourth-and-6 and Cross picked up two first downs and ran off all but seven seconds on the clock. Backed up to their own 23, the Red Raiders had time for two plays and neither produced a miracle. “Hats off to our guys for continuing to fight,” Wright said. Cross quarterback Tyler Harris connected on 14-of-18 passes for 91 yards. Ramsey grabbed seven passes for 35 yards and Lavell Joyner caught five passes for 41 yards. Linebacker William Grant led the Cross defense with seven total stops, while Jones and Kerji Polite added six tackles apiece. David Wigfall chipped in five stops. In other Berkeley County games, Berkeley fell to visiting White Knoll, 23-3, in the Class 5A Div. II playoffs and Philip Simmons dropped a 34-21 game at Manning in the Class 2A playoffs.

Diamond & Zebra Develops Prototype of Ignition Coil for Hydrogen fueled Engine AccomplishedIf President-elect Donald Trump cuts US military cooperation with Europe, its NATO allies there would lose a key capability needed to resist Russian aggression. Europe relies heavily on the US for the use of aircraft and weaponry to target air defense systems, known as suppression of enemy air defenses, or SEAD. If a military can't execute this critical mission, its aircraft are hindered and vulnerable, unable to strike or protect, leaving its ground forces much more exposed and less effective. "One of the most crucial things that Europe is lacking is SEAD," Tim Robinson, a military aviation specialist at the UK's Royal Aeronautical Society, told BI. He described SEAD as "a crucial role," but one Europe has let "wither the vine." Reliance on the US There are few dedicated SEAD platforms on the continent. Germany and Italy's Tornado aircraft carry the AGM-88 HARM munition for targeting radars and are equipped with the needed Emitter Location System, but those are set to be retired next year. Other NATO partners operate F-16s, which can have a SEAD role, but only US Air Force Fighting Falcons are equipped with the HARM Targeting System for better SEAD. US allies in Europe are increasingly looking to replace older aircraft with F-35s, but only a few are also acquiring AGM-88 missiles. (These missiles are highly capable for SEAD missions and were delivered to the Ukrainian air force for this purpose, but less so for the destruction of enemy air defenses, or DEAD, missions.) "The F-35 was designed specifically to be able to operate against modern SAM systems in both the penetrating strike and SEAD/DEAD roles," Justin Bronk, an air power expert at the Royal United Services Institute, wrote early last year. He highlighted the fifth-generation jet's advanced stealth, electronic warfare, and active and passive sensor suite for detecting enemy surface-to-air missile systems. "Despite these very impressive capabilities, simply fielding the F-35 is not sufficient as an answer to European NATO's SEAD/ DEAD problem in itself," he said. This situation has left Europe heavily dependent on the US, less than ideal amid questions about US reliability and as Russia's war in Ukraine has shown how important defeating enemy air-defense batteries is in modern conflict. In Ukraine, SEAD operations, and forcing ground units into grinding battles with heavy casualties. Mattias Eken, a missile defense expert at the RAND Corporation, said an important lesson from the Ukraine war has been that "air forces must be able to find, suppress, and destroy" mobile surface-to-air missiles to achieve air superiority "against even moderately equipped state opponents." Eken added that no other Western air force except the US has significant SEAD capabilities. All other NATO forces "have limited penetrating assets, munitions stocks, and experience in operating large, mixed strike packages." American SEAD might and a lack of European capability Retired US Army Maj. Gen. Gordon "Skip" Davis, who served as NATO's deputy assistant secretary-general for its defense-investment division, said "the vast majority of the SEAD aircraft, in the event of aggression, would be provided by the US." Davis told BI that the US has the stealth aircraft, including penetrating bombers, needed to locate and destroy Russian air defenses, and US aircraft have intelligence capabilities "that NATO would have great difficulty in replacing." He warned that without better SEAD capabilities or US support, NATO "would be hard-pressed to be effective in a large Russian aggression." Warfare experts at the US Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in April 2023 that "NATO is now wholly dependent on the United States for SEAD capabilities." A key example was the large-scale NATO air campaign over Libya in 2011, where the US provided almost all of the alliance's SEAD capabilities despite having planned to only play a supporting role in that situation. Looking ahead, Europe may not be able to count on the US. Trump has been a strong critic of NATO and, in his first term, if other nations didn't spend more on their defense. European countries have , and some now spend more on defense than the US as a percentage of GDP. (Warfare experts .) But Europe is acutely aware of Trump's threats, and military experts warn that the continent's increased expenditure is not enough to support Ukraine and prepare for Russia's threats alone. It still needs the US. Thinking about the Russian threat Russia has repeatedly threatened to attack elsewhere in Europe, and many countries have warned that it could happen in the next few years, especially if Moscow emerges victorious in Ukraine. It's unclear if the US would or even could withdraw its support, especially for allies who already spend a lot on defense. US forces are now so integrated in Europe that, if something happens soon, "they're automatically involved" unless the US makes a major policy shift to return forces to the US, Gordon said. Europe is nevertheless taking actions to address its deficiencies, like a pan-European defense company now developing a new SPEAR-EW missile. "I think the penny has dropped," said Robinson, but he added that not enough was happening. "It's taking time, I think, for European capitals and maybe multinational organizations to get the momentum going." Michael Bohnert, a warfare expert at the RAND Corporation, said that it could take years to reconstitute a supply chain for necessary missiles. That means "there really aren't any good options" to cover a deficit in the short term if the US pulls back, he told BI. Robinson said Europe has an advanced industrial base, but "the difficulty is it's all fragmented." Some cooperation has taken place, including four European nations . Jan Kallberg, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and a fellow at the Army Cyber Institute at West Point, said "acquisition, cooperation, and collaboration are essential." He said countries should buy assets together and "operate jointly as a multinational force," especially given how large Europe is and how much land may need to be defended. Fixing Europe's SEAD deficits will take time, during which it will be more vulnerable to attacks. But Russia has demonstrated an inability to effectively use its own assets — a flaw that could ultimately aid Europe. "Europe will lack enough SEAD capabilities for the next 10 to 15 years," said Kallberg, but "the Russian air force and air defenses can't get their intelligence, command, and control to act together, and lack resources for broad modernization." "If there is a war," he said, "it is not Europe's abilities that save the day. It is the Russian inability." Read the original article on

APIIT Sri Lanka celebrates 2024 Graduation CeremonyOne person died in Ecuador and ports closed across Peru as massive waves up to four meters (13 feet) high pummeled the region, officials said Saturday. Many beaches along the central and northern stretches of the Peruvian coastline were closed to prevent risk to human life, local authorities said. Waves there submerged jetties and public squares, sending residents fleeing to higher ground, according to images on local media. In neighboring Ecuador, the National Secretariat for Risk Management said a body was recovered in the coastal city of Manta. "The Manta Fire Department reported that, at 6:00 am, the body of a missing person was found lifeless in the Barbasquillo sector," the agency announced on social media. Peru closed 91 of its 121 ports until January 1, the National Emergency Operations Center said on its X social media account. The municipality of Callao, close to the capital Lima and the location of the country's main port, closed several beaches and barred tourist and fishing boats from venturing out. "These waves are being generated thousands of kilometers away from Peru, off the coast of the United States," navy Captain Enrique Varea told Channel N television. "They are waves generated by a persistent wind on the surface of the ocean that is approaching our coasts," he said. Dozens of small fishing boats and businesses near the sea were affected, according to images broadcast on television and social networks. axl/rmb/nro/acb

The 54-year-old TV presenter revealed in 2021 that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and later underwent a mastectomy during which her breast plus two lymph glands were removed before reconstruction took place. Bradbury has since stopped drinking alcohol and has changed the priorities in her life, but revealed she has received some pushback on social media from sharing her approach. She told The Times Weekend magazine: “I wasn’t close to death, but death looked me in the eyes. So I am more focused on my health than I ever have been. “I don’t drink, I eat a healthy diet and exercise every day. “When I came home from my mastectomy, I promised I would spend time outside every day, and that is my mantra, however poor it might be in this shitty winter.” Bradbury, who has since been given the all-clear, said a doctor recently helped her reframe how she utilises her energy. She recalled: “He said, ‘This drive that you have – you’re running on a credit card. You can push through all sorts of things. But is that the best thing for you?’. “I realised you don’t have to win every race. You don’t have to overcome everything. I don’t want to max out the credit card.” The presenter previously discussed her experience in an ITV documentary, Julia Bradbury: Breast Cancer And Me, which followed her as she came to terms with her diagnosis and prepared to undergo her single mastectomy. She also regularly shares her wellness and fitness tips with her more than 270,000 Instagram followers. However, she revealed she has had pushback from people saying, “I was healthy, I go to the gym, I got cancer, and now its metastasised and I’ve got secondary cancer. So are you blaming me for my illness?”. A post shared by JULIA BRADBURY (@juliabradbury) Responding to the accusations, she added: “No. All I’m saying is, this is what I went through. It was a wake-up call, and it made me look at life differently. “It made me prioritise my sleep, emotional health, and give more time to my loved ones. “If I drink more than four units of alcohol a week, my risk of reoccurrence goes up by 28%. But people find me giving up drinking infuriating.” Bradbury, who has a 13-year-old son Zephyr, and nine-year-old twins Xanthe and Zena, said having children later in life has caused her to not be as “patient” as she feels she should be at times after becoming more set in her own ways. “People think that after you’ve got a cancer diagnosis, you become this beautiful angel with a halo, and a super mum and do everything right”, she added. “But no, you make the same mistakes. I lose my temper, and I can hear myself saying things that I can’t believe I’m saying. “None of us know what we’re doing, really. We’re just doing our best. I know they do have lots of love. They are told that they’re loved every day.”TechTarget, Inc. ( NASDAQ:TTGT – Get Free Report ) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $18.26 and last traded at $18.42, with a volume of 4000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.46. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TTGT. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of TechTarget from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of TechTarget in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on TechTarget from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on TechTarget in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, TechTarget has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.17. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on TechTarget TechTarget Stock Performance TechTarget ( NASDAQ:TTGT – Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The information services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.05. TechTarget had a positive return on equity of 5.44% and a negative net margin of 5.34%. The company had revenue of $58.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. TechTarget’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that TechTarget, Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in TechTarget by 4.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,993 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of TechTarget by 4.3% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,379 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of TechTarget by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 611,513 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,955,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of TechTarget by 5.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in TechTarget by 10.0% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 24,884 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock. TechTarget Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) TechTarget, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides marketing and sales services that deliver business impact for business-to-business technology companies in North America and internationally. The company's service enables technology vendors to identify, reach, and influence corporate information technology (IT) decision-makers actively researching specific IT purchases; and customized marketing programs that integrate demand generation, brand advertising techniques, and content curation and creation. See Also Receive News & Ratings for TechTarget Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for TechTarget and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

As we near the end of November, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The time is ticking and if you haven’t started your Christmas shopping list, we are here to help you. While have rounded up some of the best beauty advent calendars you can get right now to surprise someone with a daily treat in the lead up to December 25, for your fitness fanatic friend (or yourself), luxe activewear and self-care items are the ultimate gift. Whether it’s a pair of leggings to help them kickstart - or continue - their love affair with the gym or a wellness journal to help keep their mind clear, or a massage gun as an investment buy, there’s always a fit for every budget. From gifts that are perfect stocking fillers to dream pressies, we have rounded up just a few fitness and wellness gifts your other half, best friend, mum, dad will love - especially with a myriad of Black Friday deals in our midst. READ MORE: From Taylor Swift to sparkling crystals - three last minute advent calendars you can still snap up today READ MORE: Shoppers hail £24 serum for 'keeping my face smooth' after 20% discount Coming from two people passionate about health and fitness, we have tried and tested a number of these items and know full well that they're pretty epic pressie. With that in mind, take a peek at our festive fitness and wellbeing recommendations this Christmas. Lululemon Align High-Rise Pant 28” , £88 - it’s a classic and a bestseller and there’s a reason why - the buttery soft Nuu fabric is so weightless that it doesn’t roll down the waist and the clever stitching at the gusset avoids the embarrassing ‘camel-toe’ situation. It’s designed for yoga but many have also worn it as a base layer for extra cold weather, the leggings don’t bulk up and there’s no way that people can tell you’re wearing two pants. Some might complain about they have "way too much fabric gathered at the bottom" but the Align leggings are available in other lengths - 23”, 25”, 28” and 31”. Other than the classics, their Christmas collection includes a cosy, snuggly Wunder Puff Cropped Jacket (£228) in cream-coloured textured fleece that is a dream outerwear for wintry weather. The cinchable hem and close-fitting interior cuffs trap the heat and block out the cold while the 550-fill-power goose down insulates for high-warmth for all occasions. There's no need to wear thick sweater and a thin top like the Swiftly Tech Long-Sleeve Shirt , £68, will do because the jacket is described by shoppers as "it's like wearing a cloud". For gents, a trustworthy mid layer like the Smooth Space Quarter Zip , £118, is smart enough to wear as an easy Friday office uniform or an casual weekend look. Both Nomad Beige and Black are great colours for this season. The material is soft and kind to skin and even if you sweat a bit, the modal-blend fabric dries any patches quickly. Theragun Massage guns are helpful in relaxing tensions in muscles whether you are to wind down from a workout or to de-stress and reduce soreness from daily chores. Therabody's Theragun caters to beginners as well as professional athletes. If you are not how active your giftee is, the Theragun Relief would be the best option as it's made for everyday massage for everybody. With Black Friday discounts, the Theragun Relief is now reduced from £125 to £99 . The distinctive triangle grip makes it easier to reach different parts of body compared to other brands and you can choose between three massage speeds with LED indicators. Writer Tiffany used it to soothe neck and shoulder tension and she said: "The wider Dampener attachment hits a broader area when I want a quick few-minutes treatment. The one-button control is easy to use: short press to change speeds and long press to turn on or off." For professionals, you can grab Theragun Pro at discount too, it's now down from ££499 to £399. The device has been fully redesigned with visually-guided, built-in routines and a quieter motors. Fabletics active wear Going to the gym and working up a sweat is a helluva lot easier when your outfit is both supportive and stylish. It'll leave you feeling fabulous and thus ready for a hefty workout - while looking cute. Even better if your active wear matches. And one set I'm simply obsessed with since getting is the Fabletics Oasis Twist Medium Impact Sports Bra , £59, and matching 7/8 length leggings, £64 in the colour Merlot (a deep burgundy red). With a fashion forward approach, you can count of Fabletics to deliver an active-wear set that is both functional and pretty. The medium support bra features a lovely twist detail at the front that makes it look bikini-esque at first glance. Offering ample support for small and larger chest-sizes, the bra is flattering and can handle most activities from pilates to spin. I will say, while the bra (which has removable cups) gently lifts, shapes and holds you in place gracefully, I wouldn't do a high energy HIIT workout because it personally didn't provide me with enough support (it is medium, so I'll give it that). Had I the ability to tighten the criss-cross straps at the back, maybe it could have. For that I'd probably reach for the Faye high impact sports bra. But on a whole this sports bra not only makes me feel confident but I know that I'm not going to have any embarrassing wardrobe mishaps mid-workout. The leggings, however, can handle anything. The Define PowerHold High-Waisted 7/8 Leggings have a thick waistband that smooths, flattens and hugs your waist and stomach in - super flattering. The material is thick so you can squat without fear of your knickers being on show and the material is buttery soft. Perhaps the most important detail is that they can withstand any activity with no rolling down in sight. Costing £64, they're ideal for runners, gym bunnies and Pilates queens and even athleisure-wear brunch enthusiasts who just love a good legging. If you want to stay cosy at home, their Oasis PureLuxe High-Waisted Pocketed Kick Flare Leggings are absolutely the most comfortable ones to wear for all-day lounging. The £84 a pair comes with external pockets, which are perfect for phone and earbuds. The V-neck sweatshirt , £84, is a dreamy top to compliment the leggings, the fleece lining with added sweat-wicking and anti-odour tech that you'll never want to take it off. The front is slightly cropped with a drape at the back, which gives more movement. BetterMe Pilates ring equipment When you feel like you've mastered the standard floor mat Pilates, your next challenge is incorporation toning equipment to test your fitness and core strength even further and one brand whose Pilates gear is not on top quality and pretty too is BetterMe. While you can get yourself a cute new pink mat for £54 here , fire up those biceps, triceps, glutes and core with a toning ring (£51). Coming in four different colours, this ring helps target and tone muscles as it can add resistance without the need for additional weights. If you want to challenge yourself further, add some weight to your Pilates flow with the brand's adjustable weight bands which have a weight of 1lb and can be attached to your wrists or ankles to spice up any workout. Easy to wear and travel friendly, they're great for if you're wanting to go a quick workout on the go, or simple tone up while sitting at your desk. Take a look at the brand's equipment here. Gymshark leggings It's always a good feeling wearing a new kit, not does it make you look stylish, it also improves your performance. As runners' favourite, Gymshark's compression leggings are known for quality at an affordable price. The Vital Seamless Leggings moulds your physique while 'decorative' yet actually breathable mesh dots pattern keep you cool, also not to mention the subtle shading contours that give off an illusion of a butt lift. Priced at £45, shoppers can choose from 11 colours including timeless classics and seasonal bright hues. For mens, their Apex Seamless Shirt , £38, is a distraction-free workout top that gives a second skin feel. As compression clothes raises temperature in a runner's muscles, it also helps with better blood flow and you are less likely to spasm and strain. Columbia hiking jacket Living in the UK, you'll know that one necessity - especially if you enjoy the odd hike every now and again - is a water proof jacket, such as this Inner Limits III Waterproof Jacket from Columbia , currently on sale for £80. A jacket that is described as being able to 'do it all', it can seemingly protect you from the rain and wind and is ideal for walks up a mountain or on a mental health walk around the block to release tension and stress. Fitted with Omni-technology to keep the water out, the coat - which comes in an array of colours, my our favourite is the 'Juicy, Spice' orange and burgundy - features an adjustable storm hood, interior security pocket - for all your precious belongings - zippered hand pockets, adjustable cuffs and a draw cord at the hem. For men, the new Landroamer Hooded Puffer Jacket, £210 , is a thick jacket in urban lifestyle but with zippered dual-entry hand pockets and also a handy D-ring to keep essentials close while on the move. It's available in three colours (white, black and khaki) and sizes between small and extra-extra large. TRINIDa Sleep Candles Getting a good night's sleep is one of the best things you can do for your mental wellbeing and energy levels. But switching off a busy brain at night doesn't always come easy. There are a handful of tools out there you can use to help create a safe and tranquil setting in which to drift off from sunset clocks and meditation apps to lotions. One which I received last year as a present that helped transform my night time routine wa s a set of candles filled with essential oils which you can light when you're getting ready for bed to promote a calm setting, reduce anxiety and help you get a good sleep. The TRINIDa Sleep Candles cost £11.99 on Amazon and have been 'professionally curated to help to relax and prepare for good night sleep and fresh awake'. Containing the likes of lavender, geranium and patchouli for one and lavendar, chamomile and ylang ylang for the other, the two candles - which focus on generating a good sleep and deep sleep - will help relax the mind and body and aid in creating a setting which can give you the best night's sleep you've had in a long while. Of course, it goes without saying that you must blow them out before you actually fall asleep, but the essential oils will remain lingering in the air as you slumber. Papier's wellness journal The wellness industry has boomed in the last few years, with journaling become more and more popular. And while some may see it as a trend, the power that writing your thoughts, worries, feelings, hopes, desires and more on paper for you to see, is stellar. Stationary brand Papier offers an array of different journals, tailored to what you may be needing. From gratitude to wellness to sleep, the pages inside this aesthetically pleasing (you can pick which colour you want it in and can even personalise it with your name) allow you to indulge in a big old brain dump, release you of tension, worries and more. As described on the website, the brand's Wellness Journal helps you 'Make time for yourself' and is to be used as follows: "Start and end each day with a fresh mindset, set intentions and take note of the things that make you feel good. Inside, there are 12-weeks of pages for reflecting on your mindful goals, habits, meals, water intake, sleep and the things you’re grateful for." As well as spaces for you to write, the journal includes useful articles written by wellness experts as well as a weekly and monthly check-in taking into consideration six wellness pillars Get yours here. New Balance Running trainers For the runners in your life, a new pair of trainers in which they can jog, sprint and embark on a marathon is always going to be a good pressie. And one brand that does comfortable trainers extremely well is New Balance , whose Fresh Foam x 860V14 shoes have been praised for being highly reliable as well as long lasting - as one happy runner shared: "Perfect Fit! I’ve worn the NB 860 model for the past 20+ years for 1/2 marathons and as nursing shoes . I’ve never been disappointed." They even commented: "Highly recommend for over-pronation." Alongside a lovely and bright orange and blue design, the Fresh Foam X 860v14 combines innovative, performance enhancing Stability Plane technology with underfoot cushioning for maximum comfort and support. Get them here. While they're a little bit more of an expensive gift at £140, they're an investment your giftee will be forever grateful for. Yogi Bare yoga mat and equipment If you practice yoga on a daily basis or want to get into the full body and soul experience, having a good quality (eco-friendly is a plus) yoga mat that lasts is always going to help you jump out of bed in the morning for a physical and mental stretch. And the brand Yogi Bare, whose products focus on helping you get the best out of your yoga practice, is an incredible place to stock up on the equipment needed. Its mats - many of which sell out rapidly - are designed with comfort, stability as well as aesthetic in mind (ie, they're both pretty and functional). Made from natural rubber, the surface has professional grade grip to ensure you don't slip and slide around, while the Ever Grip Paws mats have a thickness of 4mm for maximum comfort. Designed for 'practicality', the mats have an anti-sweat stain surface too, so the design (regardless of how maximalist or minimal it is) won't be ruined. As someone who has two of these mats (in a limited edition Teddy Mat pink cloud design and its tropical leaf iteration ), I can attest the quality is unreal. Regardless of how sweaty you get during your yoga, pilates or even HIIT workout on the mat, the grip is strong - the sweatier you get, the more grip you'll have. It's magic. I even take them on holiday with me as they're lightweight and easy to pack. While many of its mat designs can be found on Healf available for pre-order here (after selling out), the brand's Liverpool FC edition is available on Amazon for £89 here. You can push your flexibility and progress further with the brand's stunning cosmic Yoga Wheel here for £26.49 , or indulge in some acupuncture with the brand's acupressure pillow to alleviate stress, tension and discomfort. Get it here for £23.49. Take a look at Yogi Bare's yoga offerings here. Fitness watch Nobody's want a watch that simply tells the time these days - unless you've got a nice event to go to, of course. But with so many smart watches on the market at the moment, if you're a bit of a fitness fanatic, you'll want one which can - at least - help monitor your activity, steps, heart-rate, blood oxygen, stress, calories, sleep and even your menstrual cycle. Lucky for you, FITBIT's Versa 4 Smart Watch - Pink Sand & Copper Rose is currently on sale at Curry's for £129 from £179 and covers all those bases. Compatible with both iOS and Android, the battery life is six whole days (with an extra day added on within just twelve minutes). Plus, it's water resistant and can even track when you go swimming - how clever. It can also be used as a smart-watch, with the ability to receive calls and messages and even access your smart-wallet. One point of contention for some shoppers, however, was that the strap was a tad uncomfortable, with one shopper stating: "The strap it comes with is very uncomfortable. Had to buy a different strap." Another said it was: More of a fitness tracker than a smart watch. Spot on for what it can do. Has all the functions I require form a fitness watch." Get it here. If you want more of a smart-watch fitness-tracker hybrid, you can't go wrong with an Apple Watch - see the latest model here , or if you don't mind an older model, you can bag yourself the Apple Watch SE on Argos for £209. REEBOK While we are going head over heels with sweat-wicking tops and stretchy leggings, let's not forget the layer we wear closest to skin. Activewear brand Reebok's Suki Bonded Briefs , which comes in a pack of three for £26, are perfect to match with your buttery soft leggings. The seamless design provide ultimate comfort without showing the panty lines and the moisture-wicking technology keep you dry throughout the workout. You can also get the Amina Bonded Bralette , £24, to wear as a set. It's designed for everyday wear as well as low impact fitness - they are made from soft, stretchy materials that maintain their shape even after multiple washes. Mind Cards On the days you don't feel like to get your body moving, mind cards can be helpful with stress relief and boost emotional wellbeing. LSW London's mind cards collection, £14.99 for a set of 45 cards, include different themes like New Mum Edition and The Affirmations to cultivate a positive mindset. They are short phrases to encourage gratitude, self-care and reflection, which are a powerful tool for creating calm, balance, and positivity in everyday life. Whether you're seeking personal growth, relaxation, or emotional support, LSW Mind Cards make self-care easy and achievable.

slot game online singapore Karua denied Ugandan practising certificate to defend Besigye,LutaleJonathan Knowles My last update on ImmunityBio, Inc. ( NASDAQ: IBRX ) followed the FDA-approval of Anktiva (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept) for the treatment of BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). I conducted a discounted cash flow analysis that valued Anktiva at $2.3 billion (net present value) based on a 50% market share Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. This article is intended to provide informational content and should not be viewed as an exhaustive analysis of the featured company. It should not be interpreted as personalized investment advice with regard to "Buy/Sell/Hold/Short/Long" recommendations. The predictions and opinions presented are based on the author's analysis and reflect a probabilistic approach, not absolute certainty. Efforts have been made to ensure the information's accuracy, but inadvertent errors may occur. Readers are advised to independently verify the information and conduct their own research. Investing in stocks involves inherent volatility, risk, and speculative elements. Before making any investment decisions, it is crucial for readers to conduct thorough research and assess their financial circumstances. The author is not liable for any financial losses incurred as a result of using or relying on the content of this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

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What keeps Rutaremara awake at night: The other side of the veteran politicianEvery year at every NRL club, several people - players and staff alike - lose their job. The intensely results-driven nature of the business creates a pressure cooker environment that not everyone can handle. Watch every ball of Australia v India LIVE & ad-break free during play in 4K on Kayo | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer > For every premier, there are 16 clubs who fall short each season but even at the best clubs, Penrith and Melbourne, there are people under pressure heading into 2025. The highs are high but the lows are low, and with the game under a constant microscope, rugby league isn’t always fun at the highest level. Latrell Mitchell needs to put a disappointing couple of seasons behind him and repay the Rabbitohs’ huge investment in his services. Selwyn Cobbo is playing for his future and needs to convince Michael Maguire he is in the Broncos’ long-term plans. And Nicho Hynes needs to live up to his pay packet after being overshadowed by his halves partner Braydon Trindall last season. Here foxsports.com.au looks at the person at each club under the most pressure heading into the 2025 NRL season. MORE NRL NEWS HONOUR ROLL: Extraordinary honour roll of Australian Schoolboys representatives 25 FOR ’25 BOLD PREDICTIONS: Broncos surge snares Dally M; wooden spoon shock EVERY CLUB’S CHRISTMAS WISH: Manly’s desperate Turbo bid; Roosters’ new era BRONCOS Selwyn Cobbo There aren’t too many 22-year-old State of Origin players who clubs allow to hit the open market, but Selwyn Cobbo has been a 2026 free agent for months now. The talented outside back has played six games for Queensland since debuting in 2022 just a few days after his 20th birthday, while he has also played one Test for the Kangaroos. But several off-field controversies have seen Cobbo fall out of favour at the Broncos and it’s doubtful he’ll earn a new deal when his current one expires at the end of next season, especially given that the Broncos are trying to keep fellow big-money centre Kotoni Staggs. With 43 tries in 68 NRL games, Cobbo has the potential to be a superstar in the NRL at either fullback or centre, but he needs a big year to convince Michael Maguire he is in the Broncos’ long-term plans. RAIDERS Ricky Stuart Canberra’s longest-serving coach has been given several years to rebuild since their premiership window closed in 2020 and it’s time to deliver. The Raiders have one of the youngest squads in the NRL and they looked the goods at the back end of the season, notching up three straight wins to just miss the top eight. So if they regress in 2025, it will be time for the club to seriously ask itself if their prodigal son is still capable of delivering a drought-breaking premiership. 2025 will be Stuart’s 12th year in charge of the Raiders and after 260 wins from 516 NRL games, it is time to start contending for a first title since his rookie year with the Roosters back in 2002. SHARKS Nicho Hynes Cronulla’s No.7 is their highest-paid player, but Hynes was outclassed by his unassuming halves partner, Braydon Trindall in 2024. Hynes was picked for NSW, yet for the second straight season axed after the Blues lost Game I and his club form suffered. Hynes played a reduced role in the Sharks’ drought-breaking finals win but he’ll need to play to his $1 million price tag next year if they’re going to be genuine contenders. Turning 29 in 2025, Hynes now has 23 tries in 100 NRL games and the time has come for him to take ownership of the team and lead them to a first premiership since 2016. DOLPHINS Kristian Woolf There’s no sugar-coating it: rookie coach Kristian Woolf will be feeling the heat to do something that hasn’t been done in decades. Wayne Bennett has been replaced at NRL clubs six times and it’s 30 years since any of his successors tasted sustained success; and that was Tim Sheens at the Raiders. Dolphins officials believe Woolf will end the curse because he’s the product of a succession plan years in the making, but try telling that to Jason Demetriou, who did the same thing at Souths and lasted just 58 games. The loss of retired skipper Jesse Bromwich can’t be understated and Woolf needs to get his leadership team in place to set the standards going forward if the Dolphins are to make a maiden finals appearance in 2025. RABBITOHS Latrell Mitchell The most polarising player in the NRL will start the 2025 season suspended over his white substance scandal, unless he is allowed to count the All Stars game towards it. Mitchell has reportedly quit drinking alcohol and dropped around 5kg since the scandal and now it’s time to deliver on his enormous potential. The 27-year-old is back playing for his favourite coach, Wayne Bennett, but he’ll need to justify his $1 million pay cheque. With 106 tries and 1,165 points in 171 NRL games, there is no doubting Mitchell’s class, but he needs to show more consistency on both sides of the ball as a fullback and lead Souths to a drought-breaking title. DRAGONS Kyle Flanagan The son of Dragons coach Shane Flanagan was impressive at different stages of last season, but now he’s got to deliver without Ben Hunt. Kangaroos and Maroons star Hunt joined the Broncos and left Flanagan as the chief playmaker in Wollongong, while he has also signed a two-year extension. As we’ve seen with father-son duos at the Eels and Broncos, if the losses start mounting up then the criticism will come thick and fast for both Flanagans. No longer a youngster, Flanagan turns 27 in 2025 and will play his 100th game in Round 1 after he was banned for biting late last season, so it is time to step up and deliver, especially with Lachlan Ilias and Daniel Atkinson joining the club over the next two seasons. ROOSTERS Brandon Smith The Roosters thought they could harness Smith’s enormous personality when they won a six-club race for his signature, but it hasn’t worked out. The club won’t be extending his deal that runs until the end of next season, which means Smith will be playing for his next contract in 2025 when he returns from injury. Considering Smith will be 30 in the first year of his next deal, it will likely be his last for significant money, so the Kiwi international will want to get paid and to do that, he’ll need to rediscover the form that made him a rep star. With 27 tries in 148 NRL games and 13 Tests for the Kiwis to his name, Smith has had a solid career, but is yet to realise his potential as a starting No.9 in the NRL. TIGERS Benji Marshall Nobody thought it would work out when the Tigers announced Benji Marshall as their next coach - and so far it hasn’t. The Tigers collected a third-straight wooden spoon in Marshall’s first season at the helm last year and some pundits believe they’ll win a fourth in 2025. Almost no coach survives back-to-back wooden spoons, let alone if it also means a fourth straight, even if you are a club legend; so the pressure will be on Marshall to not only avoid last place, but also push to end the longest finals drought in the NRL, stretching back to 2011. With just six wins from 24 games last season, Marshall has a much better team on paper in 2025, but his forward stocks still look a little light to make a big climb up the ladder next season. WARRIORS Andrew Webster The previously unknown Webster went from 2023 Dally M Coach of the Year to pulling his hair out and missing finals the very next season. The Warriors finished a disappointing 13th this year and if Webster can’t correct the course with star recruit James Fisher-Harris on his books, he’ll be on the chopping block. The third-year coach should look to Cowboys’ Todd Payten, who also suffered second-year syndrome before guiding his side back to the finals this year. Not many teams lose their halfback and get better, so after Shaun Johnson’s retirement, Webster needs to unearth a new No.7 to have any hope of getting back to the finals in 2025. BULLDOGS Matt Burton Turning 25 in 2025, Matt Burton’s place in the Bulldogs side is safe, but the pressure is on him to take ownership of the team and take them to greater heights next season. The club have invested in him to be their main man and chief playmaker, and he is now in the sweet spot of his career for NRL halves and needs to deliver more consistency. With 39 tries in 102 NRL games, Burton has the experience to up his game next season and start creating more try-scoring opportunities for both himself and more importantly his teammates, if the Bulldogs are to push for a deeper finals run. The Bulldogs’ spine is solid without being spectacular, so they desperately need Burton to take his game to another level to match the elite teams in the competition. TITANS AJ Brimson Apart from skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (2033), AJ Brimson owns the longest current contract at the Titans, which expires in 2030, yet he doesn’t have a set position in the side. At his best, Brimson is a walk up start at fullback or five-eighth, but injuries have opened the door for Keano Kini and Jayden Campbell to rise above him in the spine pecking order. With 43 tries in 112 games, the 26-year-old is now in the sweet spot of his career, but after a failed switch to the centres, Des Hasler needs to work out where is best to play Brimson. Kini deserves first shot at fullback, so Brimson will be fighting with Campbell and former Wallaby Carter Gordon for the five-eighth role alongside Kieran Foran, or he may have to have another crack at making the centre position his own. The Titans have plenty of options at fullback and five-eighth, but it is up to Brimson and the other contenders to stand up and take ownership of the roles and deliver more consistency to cement a spot in the side and get the Titans back to the finals. SEA EAGLES Tolu Koula In 2023, Tolu Koula was one of the most exciting prospects in the NRL as a potential fullback and winger with blinding speed, but after converting to a full-time centre his career has stalled. Koula has been solid with 21 tries in 60 NRL games, but the 22-year-old has yet to realise his immense potential as a centre. Having lost his Tonga fullback spot to club teammate Lehi Hopoate, Koula is now behind him and Tom Trbojevic in the Manly No.1 pecking order and needs to show more consistency as a centre. Hopoate and Tommy Talau are keeping the pressure on Koula’s spot in the backline and while he will get first crack at partnering Reuben Garrick, Hopoate will be pushing hard for a permanent starting spot in 2025, so the competition for spots will be fierce. STORM Ryan Papenhuyzen A premiership winner and Clive Churchill Medallist with 62 tries in 92 NRL games, Ryan Papenhuyzen’s spot in the side shouldn’t be in question, except for who is waiting in the wings. Sualauvi Fa’alogo is considered one of the hottest prospects in the NRL and will be pushing for more game time in 2025. Papenhuyzen recently signed a one-year extension for 2027, but Fa’alogo is signed until 2028 and is the younger fullback prospect with more long-term potential. Papenhuyzen needs to put his injury troubles behind him and show more consistency in the fullback role, or the Storm may need to look at putting Fa’alogo in the No.1 jersey to avoid him leaving the club to get more opportunities elsewhere. KNIGHTS Jack Cogger By all reports, Jack Cogger is likely to shift from five-eighth to the halfback role ahead of Phoenix Crossland and Jackson Hastings in 2025, but he is a long way from cementing a starting spot at this stage. The fact the club went hard for Storm halfback Jonah Pezet means the Knights are not sold on their halfback options in Cogger, Crossland and Hastings. Crossland is the incumbent Kiwis No.9 and could finish up at hooker if Jayden Brailey leaves the club, but he finished last season at halfback and may play there again in 2025, if Cogger doesn’t cement the chief playmaker role. With Will Pryce and Tyson Gamble also vying for a spot in the halves, it is up to Cogger and all the playmaker contenders to step up and help Kalyn Ponga or the club will go to market again to find the right halves. COWBOYS Jake Clifford Jake Clifford returned to the Cowboys last season and usurped Chad Townsend as the club’s halfback in their run to the finals playing eight games. Turning 27 in 2025, Clifford has 12 tries in 75 NRL games and five tries in 26 games for Hull FC in the Super League, so he has the experience behind him to be a consistent playmaker. However, Cowboys skipper Tom Dearden could be in line to shift to the halfback role in the future to take more ownership of the team, after spending most of his juniors in the position. The Cowboys also have Tom Duffy as a promising halfback option, so the pressure will be on Clifford in a contract year to cement the No.7 jersey by showing more consistency and creating try-scoring opportunities for his teammates. EELS Dylan Brown The owner of the longest contract at the Eels through until 2031, albeit with player options to leave in 2026, the time has come for Dylan Brown to live up to the club’s immense investment in their playmaker. Turning 25 in 2025 and with 32 tries in 123 NRL games, Brown is no longer the promising youngster and needs to step up and take ownership of the team with Mitchell Moses. Clint Gutherson’s departure has left a massive leadership void and it is up to Brown to help fill it and take the club forward into a new era under Jason Ryles. With a rookie fullback in Isaiah Iongi and a lack of an elite hooker, the Eels need Brown to have his best season yet and consistently create more try-scoring opportunities for himself and the team in 2025. PANTHERS Blaize Talagi There is arguably no bigger shoes to fill in the NRL than replacing four time premiership winning five-eighth and Origin star Jarome Luai at the Panthers. Blaize Talagi is still just 19 and scored the bulk of his 11 tries in 20 games for the Eels at fullback and in the outside backs. His switch to the Panthers will see him vie for Luai’s old No.6 jersey with Jack Cole and Brad Schneider for the right to partner Nathan Cleary in the Penrith halves. Talagi has all the talent to make a splash as an NRL playmaker and having Cleary beside him will make things a lot easier, but at such a young age it will take time for him to make the position his own and develop a combination as the club hunts a fifth straight title.

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Ian Jackson scored a season-high 26 points, RJ Davis added 23 points, including five 3-pointers, and North Carolina beat Campbell 97-81 Sunday night in the Tar Heels' final nonconference game of the season. Elliot Cadeau added 12 points and a career-high 12 assists, Drake Powell also scored 12 points and Jalen Washington added 10 for North Carolina (8-5). Cadeau made a jumper to spark a 15-3 run, Davis followed with a 3-pointer that gave UNC the lead for good with 16:09 left in the first half and Cadeau capped the spurt with a layup that made it 22-12 with 12:41 to go until halftime. Colby Duggan responded with back-to-back 3-pointers for the Fighting Camels to make it 22-18 less than a minute later and Nolan Dorsey's tip-in again trimmed the deficit to four points with 7:51 left in the first half. North Carolina scored 12 of the final 17 points to take a 40-29 lead into the intermission and Campbell got no closer than nine from there. Duggan hit a jumper to open the scoring in the second half, but Washington threw down a dunk with 18:53 to play and the Tar Heels led by double figures the rest of the way. Duggan led Campbell (5-8) with a career-high 32 points on 11-of-18 shooting, 5 of 9 from 3-point range. The rest of the Camels combined to make 17 of 45 from the field (37.8%). Jasin Sinani scored 15 and Cam Gregory 14 for Campbell. Seth Trimble (upper-body injury), who is averaging 14.8 points per game this season, did not play for North Carolina. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Vladislov Goldin and Nimari Burnett scored 17 points apiece and Tre Donaldson and Danny Wolf posted double-doubles to lead Michigan to a 112-64 romp over Western Kentucky on Sunday night, snapping a six-game win streak for the Hilltoppers. Goldin made 7 of 8 shots with two 3-pointers and 1 of 2 free throws for the Wolverines (10-3), whose three losses this season have been by a combined five points. Burnett did most of his damage on 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range. Donaldson totaled 12 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, while Wolf finished with 12 points and 10 boards for his sixth of the season. Sam Walters scored 13 off the bench for Michigan and Roddy Gayle Jr. pitched in with 11 points and four assists. Don McHenry sank three 3-pointers and scored 18 to lead Western Kentucky (9-4). Julius Thedford scored 11 on 3-for-16 shooting. Enoch Kalambay added 10 points. Gayle and Goldin both had 11 points to guide Michigan to a 59-31 advantage at halftime. The Wolverines shot 57.6% from the floor and made 11 of 21 from 3-point range in posting their highest scoring half of the season. The Wolverines topped the century mark on 3-pointer by Danny Wolf with 6:05 remaining for a 102-52 lead. It was the first time the two teams squared off in 17 years. Michigan has won 4 of 6 all time against the Hilltoppers. Michigan travels to play Southern California on Saturday in a Big Ten Conference matchup. Western Kentucky travels to play Liberty on Thursday in a Conference USA opener. ____ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-toWp-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball Read more NCAA basketball at thestar.comStormont minister Maurice Morrow told an official he would not raise the issue with the Northern Ireland Executive. A DUP minister rebuffed a suggestion that there could be an extension of pub opening hours in Northern Ireland to celebrate the golden jubilee of the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, declassified files show. Stormont minister Maurice Morrow told an official he would not raise the issue with the Northern Ireland Executive, despite similar measures being considered in England and Wales. A file on planning arrangements for the jubilee celebrations reveals a series of civil service correspondences on how Northern Ireland would mark the occasion. It includes a letter sent on January 11 2001 from an official in the Office of the First Minister/Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) to the Department of Social Development, advising that a committee had been set up in London to consider a programme of celebrations. The correspondence says: “One of the issues the committee is currently considering is the possibility of deregulating liquor licensing laws during the golden jubilee celebrations on the same lines as the arrangements made for the millennium. “It is felt that the golden jubilee bank holiday on Monday 3 June 2002 is likely to be an occasion on which many public houses and similar licensed premises would wish to stay open beyond normal closing time.” The letter said a paper had been prepared on the issue of extending opening hours. It adds: “You will note that paragraph seven of the paper indicates that the devolved administrations ‘would need to consider deregulation separately within their own jurisdictions’. “I thought that you would wish to be aware that this issue is receiving active consideration for England and Wales and to consider whether anything needs to be done for Northern Ireland.” Some months later a “progress report” was sent between officials in OFMDFM, which again raised the issue of licensing laws. It says: “I spoke to Gordon Gibson, DSD, about Terry Smith’s letter of 12 January 2001 about licensing laws: the matter was put to their minister Maurice Morrow (DUP) who indicated that he would not be asking the NIE (Northern Ireland Executive) to approve any change to current licensing laws in NI to allow for either 24 hour opening (as at the millennium) nor a blanket approval for extended opening hours as is being considered in GB. “In both cases, primary legislation would be required here and would necessitate consultation and the minister has ruled out any consultation process.” The correspondence says individual licensees could still apply for an extension to opening hours on an ad hoc basis, adding “there the matter rests”. It goes on: “DSD await further pronouncements from the Home Office and Gibson and I have agreed to notify each other of any developments we become aware of and he will copy me to any (existing) relevant papers. “Ministers may well come under pressure in due course for a relaxation and/or parity with GB.” The document concludes “That’s it so far...making haste slowly?” Emails sent between officials in the department the same month said that lord lieutenants in Northern Ireland had been approached about local events to mark the jubilee. One message says: “Lord lieutenants have not shown any enthusiasm for encouraging GJ celebrations at a local level. “Lady Carswell in particular believes that it would be difficult for LLs to encourage such activities without appearing political.”

In a message to the American people, the King expressed “great sadness” at the news of Mr Carter’s death, describing him as “a committed public servant” who “devoted his life to promoting peace and human rights”. He added: “His dedication and humility served as an inspiration to many, and I remember with great fondness his visit to the United Kingdom in 1977. “My thoughts and prayers are with President Carter’s family and the American people at this time.” Mr Carter, a former peanut farmer, served one term in the White House between 1977 and 1981 and spent his post-presidency years as a global humanitarian, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Carter had “lived his values in the service of others to the very end” through “decades of selfless public service”. Praising a “lifelong dedication to peace” that saw him win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Sir Keir added: “Motivated by his strong faith and values, President Carter redefined the post-presidency with a remarkable commitment to social justice and human rights at home and abroad.” Tributes to Mr Carter followed the announcement of his death by his family on Sunday, more than a year after he decided to enter hospice care. His son, Chip Carter, said: “My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love.” Very sorry to hear of President Carter’s passing. I pay tribute to his decades of selfless public service. My thoughts are with his family and friends at this time. pic.twitter.com/IaKmZcteb1 — Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) December 29, 2024 US President Joe Biden, one of the first elected politicians to endorse Mr Carter’s bid for the presidency in 1976, said the world had “lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian”. He said: “Over six decades, we had the honour of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well. “With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us.” Vice President Kamala Harris said Mr Carter “reminded our nation and the world that there is strength in decency and compassion”. “His life and legacy continue to inspire me — and will inspire generations to come,” she said. “Our world is a better place because of President Carter.” Other UK politicians also paid tribute to Mr Carter. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said he was “an inspiration” who “led a truly remarkable life dedicated to public service with a genuine care for people”. Scottish First Minister John Swinney described the former president as “a good, decent, honest man who strove for peace in all that he did”, while Welsh First Minister said he was “a remarkable man” and “a humanitarian and scholar”. Former prime minister Sir Tony Blair said Mr Carter’s “life was a testament to public service”. He added: “I always had the greatest respect for him, his spirit and his dedication. He fundamentally cared and consistently toiled to help those in need.” Gordon Brown, another former prime minister, said it was a “privilege” to have known Mr Carter, who “will be mourned, not just in America, but in every continent where human rights are valued”. Mr Carter is expected to receive a state funeral featuring public observances in Atlanta, Georgia, and Washington DC before being buried in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. A moderate democrat born in Plains in October 1924, Mr Carter’s political career took him from the Georgia state senate to the state governorship and, finally, the White House, where he took office as 39th president in the wake of the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War. His presidency saw economic disruption amid volatile oil prices, along with social tensions at home and challenges abroad including the Iranian revolution that sparked a 444-day hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran. But he also brokered the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, which led to a peace treaty between the two countries in 1979. After his defeat in the 1980 presidential election, he worked more than four decades leading The Carter Centre, which he and his late wife Rosalynn co-founded in 1982 to “wage peace, fight disease, and build hope”. Under his leadership, the Carter Center virtually eliminated Guinea Worm disease, which has gone from affecting 3.5 million people in Africa and Asia in 1986 to just 14 in 2023. Mrs Carter, who died last year aged 96, had played a more active role in her husband’s presidency than previous first ladies, with Mr Carter saying she had been “my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished”. Earlier this year, on his 100th birthday, Mr Carter received a private congratulatory message from the King, expressing admiration for his life of public service

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Sebi (ANI photo) MUMBAI: Markets regulator Sebi plans to allow retail investors access to algo-based trading. Currently, only institutional investors are allowed to put in computer or algorithm-based trading, popularly called algo trading. According to market players, this could provide a level-playing field for institutional and non-institutional investors in the trading space. On Friday, Sebi floated a draft circular to allow retail investors to algo trade. It has proposed several checks & balances for the brokers through whom investors would be allowed to place algo-based orders. It also suggested having a system at the exchange level that would allow the bourses to cancel algo orders that do not adhere to rules, without disrupting the overall market. A recent Sebi study on derivatives trading showed that in FY24, around 97% of foreign funds' profits and 96% of proprietary traders' profits were generated from algo trading, Ajay Garg, director & CEO at SMC Global Securities, said. "The proposed refined framework of algo trading will build the trust of retail investors and help them generate higher profits, given that it benefited FPIs and institutional investors in the past." Sebi is now proposing additional safeguards to the existing regulatory framework to extend algo trading to retail investors too. "The evolving nature of algo trading - particularly with the increasing demand for algo trading by retail investors - has necessitated a further review and refinement of the regulatory framework so that retail investors are also able to participate in algo trading with proper checks and balances," the markets regulator said. Sebi also proposes to spell out the rights and responsibilities of the investors, stock brokers, algo providers/vendors and market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) so that the retail investors in the space have adequate safeguards. It put forth that retail investors will get access to the approved algos only from the registered brokers. This presents better opportunities for stockbrokers to expand their customer base in a regulated environment, Garg said. In its draft circular, Sebi said that a stock broker would be allowed to provide an algo trading facility only after it obtains permission from stock exchanges for each algo. Also, all algo orders will be tagged with a unique identifier provided by the stock exchange so that an audit trail is established.Well, the holidays are here and the time of giving is upon us. Since giving is such an important part of the season, I started writing an annual gifting column in December to remind you of some of the things to be aware of. I know that it isn’t going to affect all of you, but I still think that is a good idea to remind everyone of the rules. When discussing gifting with clients, the first thing that always comes up is the annual limit. A lot of my clients believe that there is a set limit on the amount of gifts a person can give each year to any one individual. If you take one thing away from this week’s column, let it be this: there is no limit on the amount of gifts a person can make each year. What a lot of people think of as a limit is a triggering amount. Each of us can make gifts of up to $18,000.00 to any individual before any reporting is required. If you give any one individual a total of $18,000.00 in gifts in 2024, you don’t have to report anything. If you gift $18,001.00 to any one individual, you must file a federal gift tax return. Also, each of us can gift $18,000.00 so that a husband and wife could gift $36,000.00 to a favorite child without any reporting. I checked and next year, the gift tax exclusion increases to $19,000.00. Remember that the $18,000.00 gift tax exclusion is a total for the year. There is no Christmas or birthday exception. If you give $18,000.00 at Christmas, it is in addition to all the other gifts made that year. $18,000.00 means $18,000.00. Also, make sure that any gift you make is completed before the end of the year. If you write a sizeable check to a loved one, make sure that they negotiate the check prior to the end of the year. If your son sits on the check until January, it may not be a completed gift for the year that it was intended. Remember that if you make gifts that aren’t cash, make sure that you understand tax basis. When making gifts other than cash, the recipient takes your tax basis in the asset. For example, if you gift $18,000.00 in stock to a son, he takes your tax basis in the stock, not the value at the time of the gift. The stock may be worth $18,000.00, but the tax basis could be considerably less resulting in a capital gain when the stock is sold. Also, if gifting securities, remember that it may take time for the transaction to be completed. Don’t decide to gift stock on December 21, and expect it to be completed this year. Finally, if you make a gift in excess of the gift exclusion, tax will be assessed but you probably won’t have to pay it. Each of us has a lifetime unified credit that can be used to pay any assessed tax. If you owe $1,000.00 in gift tax, you can use $1,000.00 of your unified credit to avoid paying tax. It will reduce your unified credit at the time of your death by that amount but most of us will still be okay. Gifting can be complicated so if you intend to make sizeable gifts before the end of the year, contact your attorney or accountant to discuss the potential pitfalls. Although it’s unlikely that you will have to pay any tax, it’s best to report the gift when required to do so.

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump said he can't guarantee his promised tariffs on key U.S. foreign trade partners won't raise prices for American consumers and suggested once more that some political rivals and federal officials who pursued legal cases against him should be imprisoned. The president-elect, in a wide-ranging interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired Sunday, also touched on monetary policy, immigration, abortion and health care, and U.S. involvement in Ukraine, Israel and elsewhere. Trump often mixed declarative statements with caveats, at one point cautioning "things do change." Here's a look at some of the issues covered: President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage before he speaks at the FOX Nation Patriot Awards, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Greenvale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa) Trump hems on whether trade penalties could raise prices Trump threatened broad trade penalties, but said he didn't believe economists' predictions that added costs on those imported goods for American companies would lead to higher domestic prices for consumers. He stopped short of a pledge that U.S. an households won't be paying more as they shop. "I can't guarantee anything. I can't guarantee tomorrow," Trump said, seeming to open the door to accepting the reality of how import levies typically work as goods reach the retail market. That's a different approach from Trump's typical speeches throughout the 2024 campaign, when he framed his election as a sure way to curb inflation. In the interview, Trump defended tariffs generally, saying that tariffs are "going to make us rich." He has pledged that, on his first day in office in January, he would impose 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico and Canada unless those countries satisfactorily stop illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs such as fentanyl into the United States. He also has threatened tariffs on China to help force that country to crack down on fentanyl production. "All I want to do is I want to have a level, fast, but fair playing field," Trump said. Trump suggests retribution for his opponents while claiming no interest in vengeance He offered conflicting statements on how he would approach the justice system after winning election despite being convicted of 34 felonies in a New York state court and being indicted in other cases for his handling of national security secrets and efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden. "Honestly, they should go to jail," Trump said of members of Congress who investigated the Capitol riot by his supporters who wanted him to remain in power. The president-elect underscored his contention that he can use the justice system against others, including special prosecutor Jack Smith, who led the case on Trump's role in the siege on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump confirmed his plan to pardon supporters who were convicted for their roles in the riot, saying he would take that action on his first day in office. As for the idea of revenge driving potential prosecutions, Trump said: "I have the absolute right. I'm the chief law enforcement officer, you do know that. I'm the president. But I'm not interested in that." At the same time, Trump singled out lawmakers on a special House committee who investigated the insurrection, citing Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. "Cheney was behind it ... so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee," Trump said. Asked specifically whether he would direct his administration to pursue cases, he said, "No," and suggested he did not expect the FBI to quickly undertake investigations into his political enemies. At another point, Trump said he would leave the matter up to Pam Bondi, his pick as attorney general. "I want her to do what she wants to do," he said. Such threats, regardless of Trump's inconsistencies, have been taken seriously enough by many top Democrats that Biden is considering issuing blanket, preemptive pardons to protect key members of his outgoing administration. Trump did seemingly back off his campaign rhetoric calling for Biden to be investigated, saying, "I'm not looking to go back into the past." Swift action on immigration is coming Trump repeatedly mentioned his promises to seal the U.S.-Mexico border and deport millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally through a mass deportation program. "I think you have to do it," he said. He suggested he would try to use executive action to end "birthright" citizenship under which people born in the U.S. are considered citizens — though such protections are spelled out in the Constitution. Asked specifically about the future for people who were brought into the country illegally as children and were shielded from deportation in recent years, Trump said, "I want to work something out," indicating he might seek a solution with Congress. But Trump also said he does not "want to be breaking up families" of mixed legal status, "so the only way you don't break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back." President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Notre Dame Cathedral as France's iconic cathedral is formally reopening its doors for the first time since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark in 2019, Saturday Dec.7, 2024 in Paris ( Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP) Trump commits to NATO, with conditions, and waffles on Putin and Ukraine Long a critic of NATO members for not spending more on their own defense, Trump said he "absolutely" would remain in the alliance "if they pay their bills." Pressed on whether he would withdraw if he were dissatisfied with allies' commitments, Trump said he wants the U.S. treated "fairly" on trade and defense. He waffled on a NATO priority of containing Russia and President Vladimir Putin. Trump suggested Ukraine should prepare for less U.S. aid in its defense against Putin's invasion. "Possibly. Yeah, probably. Sure," Trump said of reducing Ukraine assistance from Washington. Separately, Trump called for an immediate cease-fire. Asked about Putin, Trump said initially that he has not talked to the Russian leader since Election Day last month, but then hedged. "I haven't spoken to him recently," Trump said when pressed, adding that he did not want to "impede the negotiation." Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) Trump says Powell is safe at the Fed, but not Wray at the FBI The president-elect said he has no intention, at least for now, of asking Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to step down before Powell's term ends in 2028. Trump said during the campaign that presidents should have more say in Fed policy, including interest rates. Trump did not offer any job assurances for FBI Director Christopher Wray, whose term is to end in 2027. Asked about Wray, Trump said: "Well, I mean, it would sort of seem pretty obvious" that if the Senate confirms Kash Patel as Trump's pick for FBI chief, then "he's going to be taking somebody's place, right? Somebody is the man that you're talking about." Trump is absolute about Social Security, not so much on abortion and health insurance Trump promised that the government efficiency effort led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will not threaten Social Security. "We're not touching Social Security, other than we make it more efficient," he said. He added that "we're not raising ages or any of that stuff." He was not so specific about abortion or his long-promised overhaul of the Affordable Care Act. On abortion, Trump continued his inconsistencies and said he would "probably" not move to restrict access to the abortion pills that now account for a majority of pregnancy terminations, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. But pressed on whether he would commit to that position, Trump replied, "Well, I commit. I mean, are — things do — things change. I think they change." Reprising a line from his Sept. 10 debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump again said he had "concepts" of a plan to substitute for the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which he called "lousy health care." He added a promise that any Trump version would maintain insurance protections for Americans with preexisting health conditions. He did not explain how such a design would be different from the status quo or how he could deliver on his desire for "better health care for less money." Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Kash Patel spent several years as a Justice Department prosecutor before catching the Trump administration’s attention as a staffer on Capitol Hill who helped investigate the Russia probe. Patel called for dramatically reducing the agency’s footprint, a perspective that sets him apart from earlier directors who sought additional resources for the bureau. Though the Justice Department in 2021 halted the practice of secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during leak investigations, Patel said he intends to aggressively hunt down government officials who leak information to reporters. Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation. “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The commission oversees U.S. securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Gensler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, announced last month that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated — Jan. 20, 2025. Atkins began his career as a lawyer and has a long history working in the financial markets sector, both in government and private practice. In the 1990s, he worked on the staffs of two former SEC chairmen, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Jared Isaacman, 41, is a tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk . He is the founder and CEO of a card-processing company and has collaborated closely with Musk ever since buying his first chartered SpaceX flight. He took contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to be ambassador to China, saying in a social media post that the former CEO “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and ran unsuccessfully in a primary against Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Perdue pushed Trump's debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for governor. A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. “In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice. “He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role.” Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as National Security Advisor to Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Rodney Scott led during Trump's first term, and is essentially responsible for protecting the country's borders while facilitating trade and travel. Scott comes to the job firmly from the Border Patrol side of the house. He became an agent in 1992 and spent much of his career in San Diego. When he was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump's policies. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump's hard-line immigration agenda. He appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He's also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Former Rep. Billy Long represented Missouri in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2023. Since leaving Congress, Trump said, Long “has worked as a Business and Tax advisor, helping Small Businesses navigate the complexities of complying with the IRS Rules and Regulations.” Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler was appointed in January 2020 by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and then lost a runoff election a year later. She started a conservative voter registration organization and dived into GOP fundraising, becoming one of the top individual donors and bundlers to Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign. Even before nominating her for agriculture secretary, the president-elect already had tapped Loeffler as co-chair of his inaugural committee. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. James Blair, deputy chief of staff Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health Trump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. He promoted the idea of herd immunity during the pandemic, arguing that people at low risk should live normally while building up immunity to COVID-19 through infection. The National Institutes of Health funds medical research through competitive grants to researchers at institutions throughout the nation. NIH also conducts its own research with thousands of scientists working at its labs in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug Administration Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. Makary also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Surgeon General Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor to Fox News. Dr. Dave Weldon, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Weldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed Weldon’s opponent. In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative state after cardiac arrest, should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed. Jamieson Greer, U.S. trade representative Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team. He announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy. Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.” Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. Respond: Write a letter to the editor | Write a guest opinion Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Throughout human history, we have seen the rise and fall of many empires which have shaped civilizations, cultures, and the course of global events. At the center of each empire is the desire to expand it as much as one could, only a few managed to do so. Because expansion of territories almost always involves conflicts, wars, and conquest. However, they unified diverse peoples under a single rule, leaving behind legacies that continue to influence the modern world. Let us look at the largest empires in history. Persian Empire Spanning from the sixth century B.C. to the 20th century A.D., the Persian Empire is one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Europe’s Balkan Peninsula in the West to India’s Indus Valley in the East. It was founded by Cyrus the Great around 550 BC. Cyrus united a collection of semi-nomadic tribes into a powerful empire. The empire was also sometimes called the Achaemenid Empire. It became the hub of art, religion, science, art, and technology for over a century. The empire was conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BC, ending its prosperous and stable period. Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) marked a crucial period in the history of China, reuniting the country after the civil war that followed the death of Qin Shihuangdi in 210 BCE. Lasting over 400 years, the Han dynasty established Confucianism as the official government orthodoxy, shaping the cultural and political framework of the empire. During this time, China expanded its influence into neighboring regions, including Vietnam and Korea, solidifying its position as a dominant power in East Asia. Umayyad Caliphate Considered among the largest empires, the Umayyad Caliphate was founded in 632 CE. The Umayyad Caliphate, the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after Muhammad's death, significantly expanded the Islamic state's territory. Their conquests brought the Caucasus, Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb, and much of the Iberian Peninsula into the Muslim world. Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, in 1206 CE. And it continued to spread throughout the 13th and 14th centuries CE. Originating from a group of nomadic tribes in Central Asia, it eventually expanded at its peak to span from Central Asia to Central Europe and the Sea of Japan. Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and longest-lasting empires in world history. At the peak of its success, i.e., the Islamic empire of Süleyman the Magnificent, the empire covered portions of three continents: Southeastern Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa.

All eyes on Chelakkara: By-election verdict to be decisive for Kerala’s Left and Congress

slot games online no download Braxton Meah is 7-foot-1. But in the first month of his lone season at Nebraska, he needed to take baby steps. “It took a minute trying to understand everything,” Meah said. “There’s a lot coach (Fred) Hoiberg put into this system, so it just took me a little while to figure it out, but we’re getting there.” The senior transfer was one of the last Huskers to arrive on campus this summer, delayed by Washington’s late academic calendar after committing to NU in the spring. He missed Nebraska’s third game of the season with a sprained ankle and has dealt with foul trouble. But during the adjustment period are moments in which Meah flashes what he brings to the table for a team whose identity is rooted in grit and physicality. He bothered Ryan Kalkbrenner in the Huskers’ upset of Creighton. On Wednesday, he scored 12 points, taking advantage of a short South Dakota front line and teammates’ ability to find him for high-percentage shots. People are also reading... “When a team has to collapse in on him, that’s what’s gonna open up those uncontested 3s, and that’s what happens when you got a force back there at the rim,” Hoiberg said. “It was good to see our guys finally throw some lobs to him. We’ve missed him on a lot of occasions." Meah made all six of his shot attempts last Wednesday, when NU improved to 5-1. All were dunks. Three were alley-oops, products of him finding open space when Berke Buyuktuncel was double-teamed on the block, when the defense collapsed on Brice Williams and running the floor in transition. Nebraska didn’t have that kind of lob option a season ago. Nebraska's Braxton Meah (34) dunks the ball against South Dakota on Wednesday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Days earlier, he led an effort that stonewalled Kalkbrenner, who entered averaging more than 25 points per game but finished with four points on one shot. Four fouls limited Meah to 11 minutes, but nothing came easily for Kalkbrenner dealing with Meah in front of him and a second defender lurking on the other side. Meah intercepted a pass into Kalkbrenner in the first half, something few other players can do on a high-arcing entry to the 7-1 center. Meah still needs the right circumstances to perform offensively. He doesn’t have Buyuktuncel’s perimeter abilities or the nimble feet of Andrew Morgan in the post, but his presence under the basket can generate easy looks for himself and others. Especially on nights like Wednesday, when the Huskers have a major size advantage almost across the board and are finding him above the rim. Nebraska's offense is still figuring itself out, too, but Meah’s growth is a piece of that. And the last game was a step forward for him and the Huskers, who host North Florida at 3 p.m. Sunday. “We gotta get him easy baskets at the rim, and that’s gonna cause teams to crash in and smash down on him, and that’s what’s gonna create those open, uncontested 3-point shots,” Hoiberg said. “So it was good to see him going, and I think even a better sign for our guys to find him.” Scouting the Ospreys: Seward grad Nate Lliteras comes into Sunday's game averaging 14.3 points. The 6-6 senior guard is one of four players for North Florida (5-2) averaging double figure in scoring. Projected starters Nebraska (5-1) G - Rollie Worster 6-5 Sr. 9.7 G - Brice Williams 6-7 Jr. 18.7 F - Juwan Gary 6-6 Jr. 9,7 F - Berke Buyuktuncel 6-10 So. 9.5 C - Braxton Meah 7-1 Sr. 4.2 North Florida (5-2) G - Jaylen Smith 5-11 So. 10.9 G - Miles Jasai 6-6 So. 11.7 G - Oscar Berry 6-5 Sr. 1.9 G - Nate Lliteras 6-6 Sr. 14.3 F - Josh Harris 6-8 Fr. 15.4 Photos: Nebraska men’s basketball hosts South Dakota — Nov. 28 Nebraska's Connor Essegian (0) celebrates shooting a 3-pointer during the first half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Connor Essegian (0) celebrates shooting a 3-pointer during the first half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's assistant coach Nate Loenser speaks to the bench during the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Cale Jacobsen (right) defends against South Dakota's Jake Brack (21) during the second half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Gavin Griffiths (12) and South Dakota's Jake Brack (front) battle for a loose ball during the second half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Cale Jacobsen (right) defends against South Dakota's Jake Brack (21) during the second half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Braxton Meah (34) dunks during the second half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Brice Williams (3) dribbles down the court while defended by South Dakota's Shey Eberwein (2) during the first half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Connor Essegian (0) defends against South Dakota's Cameron Fens (54) during the first half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Juwan Gary (center) grimaces during the first half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Gary left the game after the play and did not return. Nebraska's Connor Essegian (0) shoots a 3-pointer during the first half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Berke Büyüktuncel (left) and South Dakota's Max Burchill (3) reach for the ball during the first half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Benjamin Becker of Lincoln, 11, jumps around while wearing a turkey hat as South Dakota's Isaac Bruns (12) shoots free throws during the second half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Brice Williams (3) dunks the ball off of a fast break during the first half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Sam Hoiberg (1) shoots a layup during the second half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Cale Jacobsen (31) dribbles down the court while defended by South Dakota's Shey Eberwein (2) during the second half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Connor Essegian (0) celebrates shooting a 3-pointer during the first half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Brice Williams (3) jumps to rebound the ball during the first half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska high-fives fans as they leave the court after the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska won 96-79. Nebraska's Connor Essegian (0) shoots a 3-pointer while defended by South Dakota's Dre Bullock (11) during the first half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Sam Hoiberg (1) shoots a layup during the first half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Connor Essegian (center) drives through South Dakota's Kaleb Stewart (1) and Jake Brack (21) during the first half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Andrew Morgan (23) and Nebraska's Gavin Griffiths (12) reach for a rebound during the first half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Benjamin Becker of Lincoln, 11, jumps around while wearing a turkey hat as South Dakota's Isaac Bruns (12) shoots free throws during the second half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Benjamin Becker of Lincoln, 11, waves his a turkey hat in the air as South Dakota's Chase Forte (9) shoots free throws during the second half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Braxton Meah (34) smiles after a dunk during the second half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Cale Jacobsen (31) shoots a 3-pointer while defended by South Dakota's Isaac Bruns (12) during the second half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Cale Jacobsen (center) dribbles the ball during the second half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Connor Essegian (0) shoots the ball while defended by South Dakota's Cameron Fens (54) on Wednesday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Juwan Gary (4) walks off the court holding a towel to his face during the first half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Braxton Meah (34) dunks the ball during the first half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Ahron Ulis (2) celebrates shooting a 3-pointer with .07 seconds left during the second half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Connor Essegian (0) celebrates shooting a 3-pointer during the first half game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Sam Hoiberg (right) drives down the court while defended by South Dakota's Paul Bruns (23) during the first half of the game on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Connor Essegian (0) shoots a 3-pointer during the first half game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Braxton Meah (34) dunks the ball against South Dakota on Wednesday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska's Ahron Ulis (2) celebrates shooting a 3-pointer with .07 seconds left during the second half of the game against South Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Subscribe for the best Husker news & commentary Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!1. An electric heated mattress pad you better believe will become their most-used item this winter — who wouldn't want to feel like a freshly toasted marshmallow??? It comes with a memory timer and 10 heat settings, ideal for when they doze off while in their cozy bubble, and it boasts dual settings so if they have a partner they can *each* set their side of the bed to the perfect temp. Promising review: "I like all the things about this bed warmer. I had one in the past and got rid of it because we could feel the wires as we laid on them. Not this one. It works well. Just need to figure out what number setting I want. I also really like the timer setting since I often freeze as I go to sleep and then boil half way through the night. But not anymore!! :)" — Fairmaiden Get it from Amazon for $55.96+ (available in twin–California king sizing). 2. A "Cup Cozy Pillow" — aka an absolute essential for achieving peak comfort goals in their living room. It features a spot to hold a remote, two mugs, and two additional beverages. They honestly may never want to leave their couch again. Cup Cozy Pillow is a small business that specializes in family-friendly snack and drink organizers. Check out a TikTok of the Cup Cozy Deluxe Pillow in action. Promising review: "This thing is great! I’m home on maternity leave with my new baby and spend most of my time on the couch under a sleeping baby. This product makes it easy for me to keep my drinks, remote, etc close by even with dogs running around . It’s a little more expensive than I would have liked but it works and I love it so money well spent!" — Amber Get it from Amazon for $34.99 (available in eight styles). 3. A "Through The Seasons" Reverse Coloring Book , which is a newer edition of the fan favorite Reverse Coloring Book — perfect for anyone who is tired of coloring *inside* the lines and needs more of a challenge — in this scenario they'll be the one to draw the lines around the colors on the page! Basically, instead of adding the color to these, you draw lines to create images within the colors. Fun! Pair it with these fabulous black fine point pens for $9.99 on Amazon to complete the gift. Promising review : "Kendra Norton’s beautiful art books, Reverse Coloring books, have changed my world! My whole life I thought I was not creative and therefore had zero artistic ability. Now this has become my favorite form of artistic expression. I turn on music and/or an audiobook and allow myself to go for an adventure outside of my mind, beyond my mind, if you will. T his has become my favorite way to process through difficult emotions and experiences I’m working through ." — K. DeWitt Get it from Amazon for $8.29 . 4. A "flaming" humidifier to impress anyone who cherishes nothing more than cozy cottagecore vibes, soothing aromatherapy, and sleeping amongst delightfully hydrated air. Promising review : "I like how this diffuser kind of looks like a mini fireplace and it’s perfect for winter. I also like how long the water of this diffuser lasts — I always add my favorite essential oil in it when I go to sleep every night without worrying it will run out of water. I used to have insomnia and it helped me to sleep through the night with my relaxing essential oil scent, and it also worked as a humidifier." — Benny Get it from Amazon for $23.99 (available in two colors). 5. A small lamp with the ability to rotate 180 degrees — it'll quickly become the *~light of their life~*. It has 16 color settings to choose from so they'll always be able to match the lighting to their mood and it has a remote control so they can mix it up without getting out of bed. Promising review : "I was really happy to find that the quality of this light exceeded my expectations. I’ve used it to create a calm ambience in my room with the orange setting, as well as, added fun lighting to a karaoke party with the blue setting. It has a weighty base and a reasonably long cord. You can also rotate and adjust the angle. Both lights run at the same time too." — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $14.99 (available in two colors). 6. A quilted chenille floor pillow for anyone who has always dreamt about having their very own reading nook — this will help bring their fantasy to life without having to renovate their entire home. Plus *how lovely* do they look when stacked like in the review photo above!? Gorgeous! Promising review: "This comes just as pictured and described. It is comfortable and looks luxurious. It's great for floor seating." — AKhan Get it from Amazon for $38.49+ (available in seven colors). 7. A teak bath caddy to give them one more reason to fill the tub to the brim and soak for hours while listening to LoFi beats. Promising review: "Well made, pretty tray that fits all the way across my tub. Has a support for book or iPad which is great." — Jolene Saiz Get it from Amazon for $39.99+ (available in two styles). 8. And a mod bath pillow , a must-have for anyone who desperately needs to soak the stress of their day away (ahem, me) before hittin' the hay. Promising review: "This has a lot of cushion for your back and neck. I had no issues with sticking it to the tub. The best part is the hook which allows it to dry out well. In this time of working at home, I need a nice tub to help relax." — Danielle Piacentini Get it from Amazon for $33.99 . 9. An attachable Stanley cup snack bowl that'll take their favorite drinking vessel to the next level — a drinking and snacking vessel! Fill it with cookies, chips, fruit, candy... whatever! Once they've stocked it up they won't have to leave their bedroom until morning. Psst — lots of reviewers say this fits their Stanley cup *and* the cheaper alternative versions of it, like this $29.99 Simple Modern tumbler . Promising review : "Was I influenced by TikTok? Yes... but was it worth it? Also, yes! It fits so well on my Stanley and is secure over the handle. It fits quite a bit and has been perfect for me as I work from home. It doesn’t make drinking difficult and has been great at helping me snack throughout the day." — emily Get it from Amazon for $15.99 (available in three colors). 10. A star string canopy that'll make every night feel like date night as they cuddle up with their loved one *underneath the stars* before heading off to sleep and by sleep I mean to watch too many episodes of Big Brother . Promising review: "This product is great. And beautiful! It was a nice touch to a surprise anniversary date ." — Juan Rodriguez Get it from Amazon for $16.98+ (available in six styles). 11. A foot heater for anyone with perpetually cold tootsies — fire this bad boy up, turn on The Great British Baking Show , and enjoy the warmth you’re guaranteed to feel from head-to-toe (literally). Promising review: "I love this product. It's well built, nice neutral colors to blend into my carpet, so it's not an eyesore wherever I have it sitting. The fuzziness lends a cozy feel to it, as well. It offers a heat or no-heat setting and two directions for the shiatsu-style massagers to work on your heels. The inside is roomy enough that you can even turn your feet on their side to get an extra massage there as well. It's a gentle yet deep massage, so it's great for days when you've been standing for hours or walking on your feet a lot. I would recommend to anyone looking for a nice foot massager." — Gardener Get it from Amazon for $45.99 (available in two colors). 12. A Pura 4 smart fragrance diffuser they can use to effortlessly infuse their house with a scent that *smells like home* and can be customized with an app on their phone. The strength and duration of the fragrance can be set (wow!) and it'll store two scents at a time for whenever they want to change up the vibes. Promising review: "I ended up giving this to a friend and she and her wife love it! I gave them a Christmas scent to go with it and now they have purchased some refills on their own!" — Penny E. Get it from Pura for $34.99 and shop all the fragrance options . 13. A cleverly designed rechargeable electric candle lighter with a flexible neck to light every candle in the house to create the *perfect* ambiance without the concern of run out of lighter fluid. Promising review: "I cook outside, and lighting a fire during wet and windy weather was a real pain. This lighter was a game changer! As long as the material is dry, this lighter will light regularly, consistently, and easily. Plus, it’s rechargeable! Love it!" — Sandra Get it from Amazon for $9.99+ (available in seven colors and as a two-pack). 14. And a "Comfort Zone" candle that smells of coffee, cedarwood and that perfect moment when you return home to your happy place after an extremely long day — any homebody will have this on their holiday wish list (and if they don't yet, they should!) Promising review: "I am a marketing guru and love clever ideas. The candles did not disappoint, they smell great and the packaging/shipping is beautiful. Such a fun idea for friend and colleague gifts. I will definitely order them again." — Anonymous Get it from Anecdote Candles for $14+ (available in three sizes) or on Amazon for $26 . 15. Or a floral-inspired dimmable candle-warmer lamp they can safely use to bring the scent of their favorite candle to their room (no flames necessary). An added bonus — the candle will last waaaaay longer since it's not actually burning down! Promising review: "I bought this on a whim, and I’m hooked. I love the timer and dimmer features. So far, the lamp works great. It doesn’t put out a lot of heat and I love that you can adjust the light. This is now going to be my go-to gift. " — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $29.98 (available in 10 styles). 16. Or a set of remote-controlled flameless candles so they can set up the cozy corner of their dreams without worrying about starting a not-so-cozy fire. 😅 Each candle requires 3 AAA batteries . Promising review: "I bought one set and loved them so much I bought two more sets. They're the most realistic looking fake candles I've bought so far. The 'flame' up close obviously doesn't look real but from afar with the flicker setting on, you almost can't tell these aren't real. They also put out a decent amount of light for being fake. Gives my living room a very cozy feel which is what I wanted. Remote works great as well. " — suckerforcats Get a set of three from Amazon for $25.99 (available in five styles). 17. A homebody sticker for my fellow '90s girlies who have *never* felt more at home than squatting in that all-too-memorable yellow playhouse with the pink door and light green shutters. IYKYK, my friends. SpunkeeMonkeeStudio is a small business! This sticker is waterproof so it can happily live on your water bottle! Promising review: "I had one of these!! 111/10 nostalgia core." — aria isnt here anymore Get it from SpunkeeMonkeeStudio on Etsy for $4.25 . 18. Murdle, Volume 1 , a compilation of murder mystery–themed logic puzzles that are reminiscent of the ever-popular Wordle game. This version will encourage your pal to use powers of deduction and a variety of clues to solve the mysteries throughout the book. Sherlock Holmes, who? There are 100 puzzles total, and four different levels of difficulty to tackle —each puzzle features a logic grid to help you solve it! Promising review: "The puzzles are a lot of fun, but the characters, storylines and other details take the Murdle experience to another level. I have no idea how the author came up with all of this creativeness! You can Murdle solo or with friends. I look forward to future volumes but this one will keep me busy for a while!" — Liz Gately Get it from Amazon for $12.99 . If you want to keep the fun going you can *also* snag Murdle: Volume 2 and Murdle: Volume 3 for more puzzling. 19. A " Grievance Journal ," aka a "burn book for the discerning misanthrope" that your friend with the darkest humor will find especially cathartic thanks to 52 prompts to express irritations over what's bothering them the most. Promising review : "Bought this intending to gift it to a friend but ended up getting really into the prompts and decided to keep it for myself. WOW, what an awesome way to vent and articulate the negativity you're feeling by actually forcing yourself to form coherent thoughts around your emotions. Cheaper and more effective than therapy, buying several more for friends and fam. " — Alex Get it from Amazon for $27.99 . If your recipient wants something a little less grim, check out this Burn After Writing book with a similar but lighter sentiment. 20. A chunky knit chenille blanket to bury themselves under because it's simply that time of year — it comes in so many colors you'll absolutely be able to snag one that matches their room's vibe. It's also hypoallergenic *and* machine washable! Samiah Luxe is a small business! Promising review: "Love this look. Makes the room look & feel cozy. But then the blanket ACTUALLY is cozy! Super soft. Heavy. Warm. Worth the money." — Tracy W. Get it from Amazon for $49.99+ (available in three sizes and eight colors). 21. Or a wearable blanket for anyone who typically wraps their throw blanket around their shoulders and wanders the house like a ghost. They can skip that entire step and slip this version right over their head then proceed with their meandering. Promising review: "I bought this to live in when in my college dorm and now I never want to leave my college dorm. But that means it's GOOD!! I totally slept in it last night and it's perfect for rolling out of bed when it's 40 degrees outside, which makes the floors cold. My feet may be cold, but the rest of me sure isn't! 😀👍" — Eden Get it from Amazon for $29.99 (available in kids and adults sizes and 28 styles). 22. A Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas cross stitch kit so they can *~live like Jack and Sally if you want~* or at the very least add them into their home decor. This beginner's kit comes with thread, printed fabric, needle, step-by-step instructions, and a 3-inch plastic hoop, Get it from Amazon for $6.99 . 23. A new cookbook from Prue Leith (yes, the famed The Great British Bake Off judge!) filled with a variety of exciting recipes — perfect for someone who enjoys unwinding by cooking (and even better for their roommate who gets to eat all the stress-fueled cooking). Get it from Amazon for $32.45 . 24. A heated eye massager complete with five different massage modes and Bluetooth music so you can fully indulge and relax while relieving pain from eye strain and headaches. Promising review : "I saw this product on one of Amazon’s must-have TikTok videos and I knew I had to get it. It was so worth it — even though price may seem higher compared to other sellers, this is for sure a good investment piece. The quality is top notch, the strap that goes around your head is comfortable, and most importantly, the duration of each mode is long enough that it doesn’t interrupt your rest. I work a 12-hour night shift as a nurse and this technology has helped me get through the night easily. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽" — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $69.99 (available in four colors). 25. A mason jar cold brew maker, a must-have for your homebody-BFF who'll really appreciate not having to wait in line at a crowded coffee shop. Reviewers absolutely love this version and also use it to brew their favorite iced teas. Cheers! County Line Kitchen is a small business specializing in mason jar–style cold brew makers, pitchers, and accessories. Promising review: "This has been a hit in my house. Makes the most delicious cold brew and is of great quality. Has saved a ton of money on going out and on pods I used to buy. I try to let it sit for 48 hours so I can dilute it with a little water to get it to last longer, and throw it in my dishwasher in between uses. Perfect!" — Jo Get it from Amazon for $27.99+ (available in two sizes and colors). 26. A subscription to Book of the Month for any bibliophile who hates having to actually speak to someone in a store about what they should read next and would much rather have their next fave novel delivered to their door. I was gifted a BOTM subscription many years ago and I've stayed loyal since! It's the only subscription service I've kept up with and gifted to different people. Each month your gift recipient will be permitted to choose from a selection of books (and more recently, audiobooks!), all of which are different genres. Then the book they select will be delivered to their door. Half of my beautifully color coordinated bookcase is filled with books from BOTM and I couldn't be happier! Get three months from Book of the Month for $59.99 . 27. A bookmark book tracker that'll motivate them to actually settle down and read the novel their book club decided on for this month. After they finish a book they can add the title into the spine on the bookmark and color it in — adorable. Britishbookart is a small business based in the UK that sells paintings of literary characters, like Belle from Beauty and the Beast (my personal fave) and Arya from Game of Thrones , as well as reading trackers and bookmarks. I bought two for my cousins during the holidays and the both were so excited to get started reading/coloring! Get it from britishbookart on Etsy for $3.42 . 28. And a genius amber reading light to attach directly to their novel, so even if their partner wants to hit the hay they can stay up as late as they want without disturbing them as they dive deeper and deeper into The New York Times bestseller their friends have all been raving about. Promising review: "This is a fantastic light! I use it every evening to continue reading while my son sleeps, it does not wake him or impede my sleep after I’m ready to go to bed. Great product." — Brian Masters Get it from Amazon for $12.99 . 29. A pack of six aromatherapy shower steamers they can add into their morning rinse for the days they'd love to indulge in a lavish bubble bath but, sadly, have to head right out the door (and fast!) Promising review : "These are the best shower steamers I've ever tried. Usually, they aren't strong enough, or they melt too quickly to even enjoy. They are also bigger than what you can buy at the store. One lasted my entire shower and still smelled amazing even after I was done. These are the best shower steamers, hands down. I would definitely buy these again." — Krista Get it from Amazon for $16.99 . 30. An "Awakened Artifacts" puzzle from the TikTok-famous Magic Puzzle Company for your happiest-at-home friend, perfect for helping them unwind after a day filled with unpleasantries. There are over 50 hidden Easter eggs in this journey of an activity (including a hidden twist at the end!) that'll delight and amaze anyone who works on it. Promising review: "Bought this as soon as I got the email that it dropped on Amazon! Love this series and will continue to purchase them. Was it the most challenging puzzle? No, but that didn't take away from the fun of putting it together. Great artwork, wacky pieces, two posters, you just can't go wrong with a magic puzzle!" — Jennifer Lawton Get it from Amazon for $22.99 . This is one of 14 puzzles from the Magic Puzzle Company , so there's lots of other ~puzzling~ possibilities once this one's finished! 31. Espresso Martini Instant Cocktail Tea Bags that can be used to take *~tini time~* to the next level with minimal effort (and for wayyyy cheaper than a bar that's filled to the brim with humans...no thanks). All they'll need to do is steep the bag in cold water and a spirit of their choice (vodka is recommended, but it can also be made as mocktails) until the majority of the bag dissolves. Cheers to that and to being able to drink at home in their pajamas! SAYSO is a small business! Promising review: "Initially thought these would need to steep in hot water, but they work in cold water. I like to let them steep around 10 minutes. Quick and delicious cocktails! I’ve tried all flavors but Old Fashioned and that’s next. These are fantastic for cocktail lovers that camp. No heavy mixers to carry." — AnneF Get it from Amazon for $14.99 (available in six other cocktails and in a variety pack). 32. Fuzzy slippers with a lil' coquette vibe to 'em that'll make your pal feel feel oh-so pretty while they kick back, relax, and let the world know they're taking a much-needed break. Promising review: "Love them. My cousin had them so I had to have them. Super cozy and super cute." — lauren Get it from Amazon for $17.98 (available in women's sizes 5.5–10 and six styles). 33. Cadbury Drinking Chocolate for anyone who knows the best way to commemorate the return of winter weather is by toasting it with a mug of full-body-warming cocoa. Promising review: "We drink this almost nightly and we do it year-round. When I die, cremate me and put me in a Cadbury Drinking Chocolate tin." — Majombaszo Get it from Amazon for $12 . 34. Or a holiday gift set from Blue Bottle Coffee complete with their winter blend and a mug that just screams "I'm happy and cozy at home with my caffeine." The coffee blend includes 10 oz of whole bean coffee featuring tasting notes of dark chocolate, molasses, and blackberry. The mug is simple, sturdy, holds 12oz and was beautifully crafted in Japan. My husband purchased this set for himself (wish he would've told me for the holidays, but I digress) so I can confirm the mug really is quite lovely. Perfect for someone who appreciates the simpler, but finer, things in life. Get it from Blue Bottle Coffee for $54 . 35. And a mug warmer because when it's cold outside there is nothing better than being able to wrap your hands around a hot bev — this lil' gadget won't take up much room at all and will ensure that their drink remains the perfect temperature. Promising review: "It's so nice to work on the computer and reach for the coffee ☕️ and it's still hot or warm, your choice. Great buy." — Chip Wood Get it from Amazon for $19.98 . 36. A flexible universal tablet stand , in case they have roommates and simply don't feel like hanging out with them to watch TV every night. This handy dandy gadget will ensure they can continue to watch episodes of The Bear hands-free and human-free. Tablift is a small business created by Scott Blevins after he had trouble finding a tablet stand for his bed. This is compatible with Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, and most other tablets (but you may have to remove the case in some cases). Promising review : "I wondered how the flexible legs might be. The problem I envisioned was that the legs would deflect as I used the support — nope! Not at all! It's flexible AND stable in just the right way. The legs twist in a wide variety of positions and the STAY where I put them. I use it for reading in bed at night mostly but have also used it's on the couch while watching TV. Ideal in each instance. Great job!" — R. Steven Cooper Get it from Amazon for $49.95 . 37. Microwaveable hugging sloths filled with soothing lavender — who better to spend a cold wintry night with?! The pair breaks apart so they can share the love with their roommate when they're having a rough day. 🥹 My sister bought my son a Golden Retriever Warmies plush before he was born and it's recently become a staple in his collection of "crib friends." It smells incredible and is so soothing for bedtime. I love that they're weighted but not *too* heavy that I'd be worried to let him snuggle with it overnight. Promising review: "I have a sloth obsession so I'm adding these to my collection! Perfect size and absolutely adorable! Not sure I'll use them for warming, but I have other Warmies for that purpose!!" — Heather W. Get it from Warmies for $29.99 or Amazon for $26.95 . 38. And a subscription to Hallmark+ you might want to go ahead and send over to them right now — a 10/10 gift for your pal who would be over the moon to have an excuse to hunker down and indulge in a marathon of lovey-dovey holiday movies. One of my all time greatest guilty pleasures is watching a concerning number of Hallmark Christmas movies from the moment the clock strikes 12 on November 1st through the end of the winter (if I'm being honest). As someone who got rid of cable years ago, I used to have to jump through hoops to get my fix. Now that Hallmark+ exists I was able to get a lovely little subscription (they range from three months to a year) and enjoy my favorite seasonal treat, hassle-free. Get a 3-month subscription from Hallmark+ for $23.97 . Some reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Jerry Raydenbow

Leveraged ETFs In Focus: Benzinga Hosts Virtual Boot Camp On Trading StrategiesThe President's announcement reflects Turkey's continued dedication to promoting stability and security in the region, as well as its ongoing efforts to address the humanitarian challenges stemming from the Syrian conflict. Turkey's proactive approach towards supporting Syria's reconstruction and facilitating the return of refugees demonstrates its commitment to playing a constructive role in the region's recovery and development.

Celtics injury report: Kristaps Porzingis downgraded for Pacers gameAI-generated deepfake videos are a rapidly growing security concern, with recent reports showing 75 percent of organisations have experienced at least one deepfake-related incident within the last 12 months. Digital PR Agency , which represents the types of sectors that might be affected, has provided some advice to Digital Journal on how to spot deepfake videos. Verify the source and context Fake news spread more rapidly than true news on X (previously Twitter), a concerning trend given that nearly 30 percent of Americans rely on social media as a regular news source. Always examine the credibility of the sources behind the content you consume. Is this information coming from a reputable news outlet or a verified official account? If the source is unfamiliar or looks dubious, cross-check the content’s authenticity using reliable news organisations or fact-checking platforms like Google Fact Check Tools. Misinformation often plays on emotional triggers like fear, anger, or outrage to cloud your judgement. When you encounter content that provokes strong emotions, pause and re-assess to ensure you are not being used as a pawn in someone’s game. Observe facial expressions and movements Deepfakes often falter when trying to replicate the intricate details of facial expressions and natural movements. Key areas to scrutinise include microexpressions around the eyes and mouth. Look out for unnatural blinking patterns, disjointed eye movements, or jerky head motions, and check whether the facial expressions align with the conveyed emotions. Details like the uniformity of teeth, hair texture, and facial structure can also reveal deepfakes. A key giveaway is the shape of the face and ears – deepfakes often have slightly off measurements in these areas, with ears being particularly difficult to replicate. Pausing the video and examining the facial features can help you spot these irregularities. Use reverse image and video search tools Leverage reverse image and video search tools to trace the origins of visual content. Uploading an image to Google Reverse Image Search can help identify if it’s AI-generated, manipulated, or being used out of context. For videos, tools like InVID can dissect footage and check for any modifications or previous appearances. These searches allow you to find other copies of the image online, helping you verify its authenticity and uncover potential misuses. Look for digital artefacts and inconsistencies Deepfakes often reveal themselves through subtle digital flaws like blurriness or unnatural pixelation, especially around the edges of faces or objects. Pay attention to inconsistencies in lighting, shadows, reflections, or even an extra finger, that might indicate manipulation. Check for audio-visual synchronisation Spotting a deepfake often comes down to watching the lips closely. Our mouths form specific shapes when pronouncing certain letters, and these movements are tricky for AI to replicate accurately – nearly a third of deepfake videos struggle to match sounds like M, B and P. Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news.Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

Gun found in Harris County Jail inmate's wheelchair after anonymous tip, HCSO saysFurthermore, the recent announcement of favorable policies aimed at boosting certain industries has had a notable impact on investor sentiment. With government support for key sectors such as technology, healthcare, and renewable energy, investors are increasingly optimistic about the growth potential of these industries. As a result, stocks in these sectors have experienced a surge in demand, driving up overall market performance.

As the football world watches with bated breath, all eyes are on Manchester City and their enigmatic manager. Will they defy the odds and stage a miraculous comeback against Juventus? Or will this be the end of the road for Guardiola and his European dreams? Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain: the outcome of this clash will reverberate throughout the footballing landscape for years to come. Manchester City's fate hangs in the balance, and the world waits with bated breath to see how it all unfolds.

One of the key drivers behind today's upward movement is the release of encouraging economic indicators. Reports of strong economic growth, stable inflation rates, and increasing consumer spending have instilled confidence in investors, leading to a renewed interest in the stock market. Additionally, government initiatives to support economic recovery and stimulate growth have contributed to the overall positive sentiment in the market.Throughout the evening, Jack's emotions continued to ebb and flow with the tide of his intoxication, veering between laughter and tears as he regaled Lily with exaggerated tales of his youth and exaggerated warnings about the dangers of love and marriage. Lily, for her part, remained by her father's side, offering a listening ear and a reassuring presence that brought a glimmer of solace to his troubled heart.

La Salle defeats Temple 83-755 Reasons to Use a Stateless Firewall (+3 Key Downsides)

Known for his impeccable sense of style and adventurous spirit, White Delegation is the perfect choice for Salomon's latest brand ambassador. With his youthful charm and effortless coolness, he embodies the brand's ethos of embracing the great outdoors with a touch of urban sophistication. As a rising star in the entertainment industry, White Delegation brings a fresh and dynamic energy to Salomon's marketing efforts, appealing to a younger and more fashion-conscious audience.The situation has also had a significant impact on the local economy, as farmers and small businesses struggle to transport goods to market due to the poor road conditions. The lack of accessibility has impeded economic growth and development in the village, limiting opportunities for residents to improve their livelihoods.The tragic death of Liu Dameili serves as a cautionary tale for both influencers and cosmetic surgery patients alike. The pursuit of perfection and beauty should never come at the cost of one's health and safety. Authorities are now investigating the circumstances surrounding her death and considering further regulatory measures to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

And so, the former prisoner ran on, his heart full of gratitude for the second chance that life had bestowed upon him. The road ahead was uncertain, the future unknown. But one thing was certain – he would never take his freedom for granted again.AP News Summary at 3:43 p.m. EST

Renowned Expert in Reproductive Medicine, Liu Yusheng, Investigated for Suspected Serious Violations of Discipline and Law

Conor McGregor dropped by whiskey company as disgraced superstar reveals appeal plansIt all started when Xiaohua expressed her concerns about her waning popularity and the impact it was having on her career. Feeling overwhelmed and unsure of how to navigate this new phase in her professional life, she confided in Xiang Zao, who has always been a pillar of support for her. In a surprising turn of events, Xiang Zao, who is known for his skills as a hairdresser in addition to his acting abilities, offered to give Xiaohua a haircut to help boost her confidence and morale.

Shares of Hanesbrands ($HBI) were up 5.6% as of 1:08 p.m. ET following a rating upgrade by UBS, but retail sentiment stayed neutral. UBS upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ raising the price target to $11 from $9. It based the upgrade on expectations of a positive shift in the company’s fundamentals, which in turn could lead to a growth in earnings per share (EPS), TheFly.com reported, citing a UBS analyst who reportedly called it a “turnaround stock.” The analyst expects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 24% in EPS after the current fiscal. That growth rate could lead to upward revisions to EPS forecasts, said the report. Earlier in the month, Barclays analyst Paul Kearney raised the firm's price target to $7 from $6 and kept an ‘Equal Weight’ rating following its Q3 report. “Stabilization and a refocus of the core innerwear business” along with paying down debt into next year were cited as considerations, TheFly reported citing the analyst. Hanesbrands has a consensus price target of $7.2 based on the ratings of 10 analysts. Retail sentiment on the stock has been ‘neutral’ over the past day. Message volume was also tepid in the ‘normal’ zone. For the most recent quarter, the apparel company's operating profit increased 27% to $103 million and the operating margin increased 255 basis points to 11.0% as compared to the prior year. Its EPS and revenues for the quarter beat consensus estimates, coming in at $937.1 million and $0.15 respectively. Hanesbrands, based in Winston-Salem, NC, employs 65,300 people internationally. Its stock has more than doubled year-to-date and has outperformed the broader indices. For updates and corrections email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]comWhat began as a promising opportunity towards a better life turned into a harrowing ordeal for Junaeid Hossain Parbez Ariyan, 25, of Narsingdi's Belabo. He fell prey to an international human trafficking syndicate and was forced to work for an online scam gang operating in Myanmar's Karen State. Ariyan was among approximately 300 individuals, including women, held captive in at least 10 confinement centres near the Thai-Myanmar border. Thirteen of these victims are Bangladeshis. The captives are subjected to work under inhumane conditions and tortures. On October 18, Ariyan managed to flee from one of those confinement centres, which are guarded by armed members of Karen insurgent groups and criminal gangs. He jumped into a river, surviving an arduous trek through hills and forests. He returned home on November 14 and shared his harrowing experiences with this newspaper recently. DREAM TURNS INTO NIGHTMARE Ariyan had previously been working in Dubai's hospitality sector. In August, he was enticed by the promise of a lucrative computer operator job in Thailand, offering a salary of US $1,200–$1,500 -- twice his salary in Dubai. Convinced by a broker, Noman, a Dubai expatriate from Feni, and recruited after an online interview with a Chinese recruiter, Ariyan and four of his Bangladeshi roommates left for Thailand on August 12, hoping for a better life. Upon arriving in Bangkok, they were taken to Mae Sot, a Thai town near the Myanmar border. The six-hour drive ended abruptly when they were transferred into pickup vans, escorted by armed men, and driven through hilly roads and dense forests. "For the first time we realised we have made a grave mistake," Ariyan said. Then the group was made to cross the Moei River on a boat, and they reached Karen, a region plagued with insurgency. The victims were taken to a compound operated by Chinese syndicates. Their mobile phones were confiscated, and they were coerced at gunpoint to sign contracts obligating them to generate US $200,000 each through online scams within 18 months, or face prolonged servitude. The captives were forced to work 17 hours per day. Their task was to create fake social media IDs using cellphone numbers of different countries and befriend targets worldwide, posing as attractive women, to scam them. Afterwards, they would lure targets into investing in fake e-commerce platforms, embezzling significant sums of money. Ariyan said he alone generated US $25,000 before his escape. Each of the captives is given a target to befriend 80 targets a day. Failing to meet quotas resulted in brutal punishments. "We were beaten, subjected to electric shocks, and burnt with hot frying pans. Some women endured additional horrific treatment, such as being forced to stand for hours with heavy water drums on their shoulders," Ariyan said. He said at one point he gained the confidence of a Chinese boss and got his mobile phone back and secretly informed their terrible conditions to families and relatives. They sought the government's help but to no avail. "Seeing no light at the end of the tunnel, I got frustrated and attempted to commit suicide several times," Ariyan said in tears. A DARING ESCAPE On October 18, while escorting a Pakistani victim to a clinic near the Moei River, he saw an opportunity to escape. He jumped into the river despite being fired at by armed guards. After swimming for over 45 minutes, he reached the Thai side of the river. As the gang members started searching for him, he trekked through hills and forests to escape them, before reaching a road after over eight hours. "My legs were bleeding from cuts I sustained while running through forest. I was so thirsty that I had to drink water from a maize field," he said. Weak and dehydrated, he stumbled upon a Buddhist monk who helped him contact local authorities. Ariyan spent weeks in a Thai shelter for trafficking survivors before being sent home with the assistance of the Thai government, NGOs, and the Bangladesh Embassy. He urged the government to take action to rescue other Bangladeshi victims still trapped in those centres. OTHER VICTIMS SEEK GOVT INTERVENTION Another victim, Mehedi Hasan Shanto, managed to call his sister around a month ago from one of those centres and requested to contact the government to rescue him. Sonia Akhter Kona, his sister, said they contacted foreign and expatriate welfare ministries requesting to rescue Shanto and others. Meanwhile, amid the increasing number of such incidents, the expatriates' welfare ministry has issued warnings against travelling to Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The circular highlighted how individuals and organisations lure Bangladeshis with false promises of high-paying jobs, only to trap them in scam centres.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden pardons for officials and allies who the White House fears could be unjustly administration, a preemptive move that would be a novel and risky use of the president’s extraordinary constitutional power. The deliberations so far are largely at the level of White House lawyers. But Biden himself has discussed the topic with some senior aides, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday to discuss the sensitive subject. No decisions have been made, the people said, and it is possible Biden opts to do nothing at all. Pardons are historically afforded to those accused of specific crimes – and usually those who have already been convicted of an offense — but Biden’s team is considering issuing them for those who have not even been investigated, let alone charged. They fear that Trump and his allies, who have boasted of enemies lists and exacting “retribution,” could launch investigations that would be reputationally and financially costly for their targets even if they don’t result in prosecutions. While the president’s pardon power is absolute, Biden’s use in this fashion would mark a significant expansion of how they are deployed, and some Biden aides fear it could lay the groundwork for an even more drastic usage by Trump. They also worry that issuing pardons would feed into claims by Trump and his allies that the individuals committed acts that necessitated immunity. Recipients could include infectious-disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was instrumental in combating the coronavirus pandemic and who has become a pariah to conservatives angry about mask mandates and vaccines. Others include witnesses in Trump’s criminal or civil trials and Biden administration officials who have drawn the ire of the incoming president and his allies. Some fearful former officials have reached out to the Biden White House preemptively seeking some sort of protection from the future Trump administration, one of the people said. It follows Biden’s decision to — not just for his convictions on federal gun and tax violations, but for any potential federal offense committed over an 11-year period, as the president feared that Trump allies would seek to prosecute his son for other offenses. That could serve as a model for other pardons Biden might issue to those who could find themselves in legal jeopardy under Trump. Biden is not the first to consider such pardons — Trump aides considered them for him and his supporters involved in his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election that culminated in a violent riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But he could be the first to issue them since Trump’s pardons never materialized before he left office nearly four years ago. Gerald Ford granted a “full, free, and absolute pardon” in 1974 to his predecessor, Richard Nixon, over the Watergate scandal. He believed a potential trial would “cause prolonged and divisive debate over the propriety of exposing to further punishment and degradation a man who has already paid the unprecedented penalty of relinquishing the highest elective office of the United States," as written in the pardon proclamation. Politico was first to report that Biden was studying the use of preemptive pardons. On the campaign trail, Trump made no secret of his desire to seek revenge on those who prosecuted him or crossed him. Trump has talked about and circulated social media posts that call for the jailing of Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Vice President Mike Pence and Sens. Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer. He also a conservative Republican who campaigned for Harris and helped investigate Jan. 6, and he promoted a social media post that suggested he wanted military tribunals for supposed treason. as his nominee to be director of the FBI, has listed dozens of former government officials he wanted to “come after.” Richard Painter, a Trump critic who served as the top White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, said he was reluctantly in support of having Biden issue sweeping pardons to people who could be targeted by Trump's administration. He said he hoped that would “clean the slate” for the incoming president and encourage him to focus on governing, not on punishing his political allies. “It’s not an ideal situation at all,” Painter said. “We have a whole lot of bad options confronting us at this point.” While the from prosecution for what could be considered official acts, his aides and allies enjoy no such shield. Some fear that Trump could use the promise of a blanket pardon to encourage his allies to take actions they might otherwise resist for fear of running afoul of the law. “There could be blatant illegal conduct over the next four years, and he can go out and pardon his people before he leaves office,” Painter said. "But if he’s going to do that, he’s going to do that anyway regardless of what Biden does." More conventional pardons from Biden, such as those for sentencing disparities for people convicted of federal crimes, are expected before the end of the year, the White House said.In conclusion, while the growth rate of exports may have slowed in November, the achievement of a new high in monthly export volume is a positive sign for the resilience of our export sector. By addressing the challenges and seizing opportunities in the global market, we can continue to strengthen our position as a competitive player in international trade.Furthermore, the recent announcement of favorable policies aimed at boosting certain industries has had a notable impact on investor sentiment. With government support for key sectors such as technology, healthcare, and renewable energy, investors are increasingly optimistic about the growth potential of these industries. As a result, stocks in these sectors have experienced a surge in demand, driving up overall market performance.Durham community network secures £1m funding to address rural challenges

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The United States saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country, federal officials said Friday. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said federally required tallies taken across the country in January found more than 770,000 people were counted as homeless — a number that misses some people and does not include those staying with friends or family because they don't have a place of their own. That increase comes on top of a 12% increase in 2023, which HUD blamed on soaring rents and the end of COVID-19 pandemic assistance. The 2023 increase also was driven by people experiencing homelessness for the first time. The numbers overall represent 23 of every 10,000 people in the U.S., with Black people being overrepresented among the homeless population. A man walks past a homeless encampment Oct. 25, 2023, in downtown Los Angeles. "No American should face homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring every family has access to the affordable, safe, and quality housing they deserve," HUD Agency Head Adrianne Todman said in a statement, adding that the focus should remain on "evidence-based efforts to prevent and end homelessness." Among the most concerning trends was a nearly 40% rise in family homelessness — one of the areas that was most affected by the arrival of migrants in big cities. Family homelessness more than doubled in 13 communities impacted by migrants including Denver, Chicago and New York City, according to HUD, while it rose less than 8% in the remaining 373 communities. Almost 150,000 children experienced homelessness on a single night in 2024, reflecting a 33% jump from last year. Disasters also played a part in the rise in the count, especially last year's catastrophic Maui wildfire, the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. More than 5,200 people were in emergency shelters in Hawaii on the night of the count. Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries agents assist state police as they order people living in a homeless encampment to move to a different designated location during a sweep ahead of a Taylor Swift concert in New Orleans. "Increased homelessness is the tragic, yet predictable, consequence of underinvesting in the resources and protections that help people find and maintain safe, affordable housing," Renee Willis, incoming interim CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said in a statement. "As advocates, researchers, and people with lived experience have warned, the number of people experiencing homelessness continues to increase as more people struggle to afford sky-high housing costs." Robert Marbut Jr., the former executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness from 2019 to 2021, called the nearly 33% increase in homelessness over the past four years "disgraceful" and said the federal government needs to abandon efforts to prioritize permanent housing. "We need to focus on treatment of substance use and mental illness, and bring back program requirements, like job training," Marbut said in an email. The numbers also come as increasing numbers of communities are taking a hard line against homelessness. People living in a homeless encampment pick up belongings Oct. 23 after Louisiana State Police ordered them to move to a different designated location during a sweep ahead of a Taylor Swift concert in New Orleans. Angered by often dangerous and dirty tent camps, communities — especially in Western states — have enforced bans on camping. That follows a 6-3 ruling this summer by the Supreme Court that found outdoor sleeping bans don’t violate the Eighth Amendment. Homeless advocates argued that punishing people who need a place to sleep would criminalize homelessness. There was some positive news in the count, as homelessness among veterans continued to trend downward. Homelessness among veterans dropped 8% to 32,882 in 2024. It was an even larger decrease for unsheltered veterans, declining 11% to 13,851 in 2024. "The reduction in veteran homelessness offers us a clear roadmap for addressing homelessness on a larger scale," Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said in a statement. "With bipartisan support, adequate funding, and smart policy solutions, we can replicate this success and reduce homelessness nationwide. Federal investments are critical in tackling the country's housing affordability crisis and ensuring that every American has access to safe, stable housing." Several large cities had success bringing down their homeless numbers. Dallas, which worked to overhaul its homeless system, saw a 16% drop in its numbers between 2022 to 2024. Los Angeles, which increased housing for the homeless, saw a drop of 5% in unsheltered homelessness since 2023. A rat sniffs the hand of a sleeping man experiencing homelessness Dec. 18 in downtown Los Angeles. California, the most populous state in the U.S., continued to have the nation's largest homeless population, followed by New York, Washington, Florida and Massachusetts. The sharp increase in the homeless population over the past two years contrasts with success the U.S. had for more than a decade. Going back to the first 2007 survey, the U.S. made steady progress for about a decade in reducing the homeless population as the government focused particularly on increasing investments to get veterans into housing. The number of homeless people dropped from about 637,000 in 2010 to about 554,000 in 2017. The numbers ticked up to about 580,000 in the 2020 count and held relatively steady over the next two years as Congress responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with emergency rental assistance, stimulus payments, aid to states and local governments and a temporary eviction moratorium. Homelessness is intertwined with the cost of living, and the high cost of living is hitting older adults fairly hard. A Westat survey for the Department of Health and Human Services found that older adults are the fastest-growing cohort of the homeless population. Emergency housing for seniors can keep that number from climbing higher. Caring.com details how to access it. The number of homeless seniors isn't based solely on people remaining homeless as they age; it also includes those whose first experience with homelessness came after they turned 50. In 2023, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported that 1 in 5 homeless people were over the age of 55. For seniors and other older adults, fixed incomes make it hard to battle the ever-increasing cost of expenses. Endhomelessness.org cites that 2.35 million older adults are paying over half of their limited income to rent. Based on Caring.com's July 2024 survey of seniors in the workforce , that's exactly why 1 in 15 retired seniors worry about losing their homes. Shelter use in homeless people older than 51 has gone up over 10% from 2007 to 2017, according to the HUD. But luckily, so has the number of shelters. Between 2022 and 2023, the HUD reports that emergency shelters added 28,760 more beds in emergency shelters, though this is a reduction in the amount of beds available during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emergency homeless assistance, or emergency housing, is a temporary solution. It's designed to provide shelter while those facing housing instability figure out their next step. Emergency housing for homeless seniors gives someone the immediate ability to remain housed and safely sheltered. Local nonprofits are often involved in placing people experiencing homelessness or housing instability into emergency shelters. Low-income seniors, seniors who are low on funds and might not make rent, or seniors who need to leave their homes for other reasons can use emergency housing. Many cities have their own emergency housing programs. There are also nationwide programs that provide emergency housing for seniors. The internet is the fastest tool for locating local emergency housing. Libraries have free internet access, for those who might not have a computer or Wi-Fi to begin their search. The list below leads to websites that include phone numbers for emergency homeless assistance. Seniors in need of immediate assistance and resources should call 2-1-1 or contact the United Way online . The 2-1-1 crisis hotline partners with United Way, which is committed to helping homeless seniors find local shelters or access transitional housing. The service can also connect seniors with other resources, including food, mental health support, or funding for health care expenses. Calling 2-1-1 is often required as a prerequisite before trying to get into a shelter or obtaining other assistance. Because 2-1-1 is for people in crisis, there are no eligibility requirements. However, some programs seniors may access through 2-1-1 do have eligibility requirements. Seniors can simply dial 2-1-1 from nearly anywhere in the U.S. to be put in touch with the programs and resources they need. Designed specifically for seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income families, the Housing Choice Voucher Program is a federal program offering low-income housing options and rent assistance. These vouchers are available through your local public housing agency (PHA). This program enables and encourages participants to choose their own housing. Housing options don't need to be a part of subsidized housing projects, but there are limits on unit size. Typically, participants must pay 30% of their monthly adjusted income towards their rent, and the voucher program pays the remainder. Applicant income and family size help the PHA determine eligibility. Citizenship and eligible immigration status also play a factor. The family's income cannot exceed 50% of the median income for the county or metropolitan area where they're applying to live. Of the vouchers, 75% must go to people whose income is at or less than 30% of their area's median income. Contact your local public housing agency . The Section 202 program helps expand the supply of affordable housing with supportive services for seniors. This program gives low-income seniors options that allow them to live independently, with support for cooking, cleaning, transportation, etc. This program is open to any very low-income household that has at least one person 62 years old or older. Applicants must submit an application in response to a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) posted on Grants.gov . The HUD-VASH program was created as emergency homeless assistance for veterans. Its goal is to give homeless veterans access to permanent housing through public housing authorities. Veterans receive rental assistance through the HUD Housing Choice Voucher program and additional case management services through the VA. By December 2023, the HUD had allocated nearly 112,000 vouchers to help house veterans nationwide. To help veterans achieve stability and remain housed, VA case managers may connect veterans with support services such as health care, mental health treatment, and substance use counseling. If you or your loved one is a low-income senior with eligible military service, you may apply. Your local VA can tell you if your service qualifies you for HUD-VASH. Senior veterans may apply online or call (877) 424-3838. Click here to learn more about the emergency housing options for seniors available in your state. Low-income seniors who aren't in assisted living or independent living communities might find themselves facing housing instability. Emergency housing for seniors can help you or your loved one seek shelter. Crisis hotlines and public housing agencies can offer support. Finding emergency housing for seniors depends heavily on your area. The first step is to call the Crisis Hotline at 2-1-1. Finding a shelter takes less time than applying and getting approved for low-income housing voucher programs. The 2-1-1 hotline can direct you to local resources and locators. Yes and no. The duration depends on the type of housing. Shelters have limits that vary. Some shelters allow people to stay for up to six months, though that can vary based on demand. Seniors can remain in Section 202 supportive housing as long as they meet age and income requirements. Yes. Many counties have financial emergency programs that help seniors handle home repairs or short-term financial crises like utility shutoff. These programs allow the senior to focus their funds on their rent or mortgage. This story was produced by Caring.com and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.None

NoneGlobal 3D Viewing Software Market Size, Share and Forecast By Key Players-Image Information Systems, Zirkonzahn, Hermes Medical Solutions, Materialise, Esaote 11-26-2024 08:58 PM CET | Advertising, Media Consulting, Marketing Research Press release from: Market Research Intellect 3D Viewing Software Market USA, New Jersey- According to the Market Research Intellect, the global 3D Viewing Software market is projected to grow at a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.87% from 2024 to 2031. Starting with a valuation of 5.74 Billion in 2024, the market is expected to reach approximately 14.63 Billion by 2031, driven by factors such as 3D Viewing Software and 3D Viewing Software. This significant growth underscores the expanding demand for 3D Viewing Software across various sectors. The 3D viewing software market is experiencing strong growth, fueled by advancements in technology and the increasing demand for immersive visual experiences across various industries. As sectors such as gaming, architecture, healthcare, automotive, and entertainment increasingly adopt 3D visualization tools, the need for high-quality, intuitive 3D viewing software is rising. These solutions enable users to interact with complex designs, models, and environments in a more dynamic and realistic way. The growing trend of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications has also contributed to the expansion of the market, providing new opportunities for interactive 3D viewing. Additionally, the rise in e-commerce platforms and online product showcases has further driven the adoption of 3D viewing tools, enhancing customer engagement and product visualization. With continuous technological innovations and expanding use cases, the 3D viewing software market is set for sustained growth. The dynamics of the 3D viewing software market are shaped by technological advancements, increasing adoption of AR and VR, and the expanding applications of 3D visualization across multiple industries. The rise in demand for interactive and immersive experiences in gaming, automotive design, architecture, and healthcare is driving market growth. Innovations such as cloud-based solutions, real-time rendering, and AI integration are improving the efficiency and accessibility of 3D viewing software. Furthermore, the growing trend of online product visualization and virtual experiences in retail and e-commerce is accelerating adoption. As industries seek to enhance customer engagement and improve design processes, the demand for advanced 3D viewing software continues to grow. These factors, combined with the increasing popularity of digital twin technologies and simulation-based applications, are fueling the ongoing expansion and evolution of the market. Request PDF Sample Copy of Report: (Including Full TOC, List of Tables & Figures, Chart) @ https://www.marketresearchintellect.com/download-sample/?rid=5746330&utm_source=OpenPr&utm_medium=049 Key Drivers: The growth of the 3D Viewing Software market is driven by several key factors. Technological advancements in 3D Viewing Software have enabled greater efficiency and enhanced capabilities, spurring adoption across industries. Additionally, the rising demand for sustainable and eco-friendly solutions is pushing companies to innovate and adopt greener practices. Expanding applications in sectors like 3D Viewing Software and 3D Viewing Software are further contributing to market demand, as these industries seek advanced solutions to streamline operations and enhance product quality. Favorable government policies and incentives in regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific support investment and growth. Moreover, an increasing focus on 3D Viewing Software for improving operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness is encouraging businesses to embrace new technologies, fostering sustained market expansion. Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) play a pivotal role in the 3D Viewing Software market, as companies look to expand their capabilities, access new technologies, and strengthen market presence. Leading players engage in strategic acquisitions to consolidate their position and gain a competitive edge. These transactions often facilitate the integration of advanced 3D Viewing Software solutions, helping firms broaden their product portfolios and meet growing customer demands. Additionally, M&A activities support companies in achieving economies of scale and penetrating new regional markets, particularly in high-growth areas like Asia-Pacific. Through such strategic alliances, businesses aim to accelerate innovation, enhance operational efficiency, and address evolving market challenges, ultimately driving the overall growth of the 3D Viewing Software market. Get a Discount On The Purchase Of This Report @ https://www.marketresearchintellect.com/ask-for-discount/?rid=5746330&utm_source=OpenPr&utm_medium=049 The following Key Segments Are Covered in Our Report By Type 3D Medical Imaging Software 3D Animation Software 3D Graphics Software By Application Government Sector Defense Sector Education and Academia Sectors BFSI Sector IT Sector Major companies in 3D Viewing Software Market are: Image Information Systems, Zirkonzahn, Hermes Medical Solutions, Materialise, Esaote, Motion View Software, Anatomage, Trifoil Imaging, AGE Solutions, Carestream Dental, 3Diemme Global 3D Viewing Software Market -Regional Analysis North America: North America is expected to hold a significant share of the 3D Viewing Software market due to advanced technological infrastructure and the presence of major market players. High demand across sectors like 3D Viewing Software and 3D Viewing Software is driving growth, with the U.S. being a key contributor. Additionally, ongoing investments in R&D and innovation reinforce the region's strong market position. Europe: Europe is projected to experience steady growth, driven by stringent regulatory standards and a rising focus on sustainability in 3D Viewing Software practices. Countries like Germany, France, and the UK are leading due to their advanced industrial base and supportive government policies. The demand for eco-friendly and efficient 3D Viewing Software solutions is expected to continue fostering market expansion. Asia-Pacific: Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest-growing region, fueled by rapid industrialization and urbanization. Countries such as China, India, and Japan are driving demand due to expanding consumer bases and increasing investments in infrastructure. The region's robust manufacturing sector and favorable economic policies further enhance growth opportunities in the 3D Viewing Software market. Latin America: Latin America and the Middle East & Africa are expected to show moderate growth in the 3D Viewing Software market. In Latin America, growth is supported by rising industrial activities in countries like Brazil and Mexico. Meanwhile, in the Middle East & Africa, infrastructure development and an increasing focus on innovation in sectors like 3D Viewing Software are key drivers of market expansion. Middle East and Africa: The Middle East and Africa represent emerging markets in the global 3D Viewing Software market, with countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Nigeria showing promising growth potential. Economic diversification efforts, urbanization, and a young population are driving demand for 3D Viewing Software products and services in the region. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 1. What is the current size of the 3D Viewing Software market? Answer: The 3D Viewing Software market was valued at approximately 5.74 Billion in 2024, with projections suggesting it will reach 14.63 Billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 16.87%. 2. What factors are driving the growth of the 3D Viewing Software market? Answer: The market's expansion is attributed to several factors, including increased demand for 3D Viewing Software, advancements in 3D Viewing Software technology, and the adoption of 3D Viewing Software across various sectors. 3. Which regions are expected to dominate the 3D Viewing Software market? Answer: Regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific are anticipated to lead due to the presence of major industry players and growing investments in 3D Viewing Software. 4. Who are the key players in the 3D Viewing Software market? Answer: Prominent companies in the 3D Viewing Software market include 3D Viewing Software, 3D Viewing Software, and 3D Viewing Software, each contributing to market growth through innovations and strategic partnerships. 5. What challenges does the 3D Viewing Software market face? Answer: The market faces challenges such as 3D Viewing Software, regulatory compliance, and competition from alternative solutions. However, ongoing advancements aim to address these issues. 6. What are the future trends in the 3D Viewing Software market? Emerging trends include the integration of 3D Viewing Software technology, sustainability practices, and digital transformation in processes, all expected to shape the market's future. 7. How can businesses benefit from the 3D Viewing Software market? Answer: Businesses can leverage growth opportunities in the 3D Viewing Software market by adopting new solutions, enhancing operational efficiency, and expanding their offerings to meet evolving consumer demands. 8. Why invest in a 3D Viewing Software market report from MRI? Answer: MRI's report provides in-depth analysis, future projections, and key insights to support strategic decision-making, enabling businesses to stay competitive and capitalize on growth trends in the 3D Viewing Software market. 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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and for the first time, the major social platforms are running big, even full-screen promotions for their own subscription offerings and products within their apps. Which, in some ways, makes perfect sense, maximizing their reach capacity to boost their business. But in others, it feels a little intrusive, and in some cases, even a little desperate. First off, X has started running full-screen pop-up promos for X Premium, which are difficult to even get rid of on screen, due to the “x” in the top left being obscured by the coloring. Yes, X is still super keen to get people to pay to use the app. Despite the app losing users , and despite less than 1% of its audience actually paying for X Premium thus far. Subscriptions had been a key pillar of Elon Musk’s initial growth plan for X , with Musk projecting that X Premium subscriptions (which, at that stage, was called “Twitter Blue”) would rise to 9 million users by this stage of his reformat of the app, bringing in millions of dollars in supplemental revenue. Thus far, around 1.3 million profiles are estimated to have signed up for the program. Musk also projected that X Premium would reach 104 million subscribers by 2028, thereby diluting X’s reliance on ad revenue. And if it still wants to reach those goals, it’s going to need to enact more pushes like this full-screen takeover to maximize awareness. Like, also, X Premium gifting : Look, I don’t think anything is going to get millions more people signing up for X Premium, which is just not that enticing an offering for most at this stage. But X is still keen to make Premium happen, and it’s using whatever means it can in the app to maximize take-up. Meta is also using its valuable ad space to promote its VR headsets, which are the key to its future metaverse ambitions. As you’ve no doubt seen for yourself, right now, Meta is running top-of-feed promotions for Meta Quest, on both Facebook and IG, as it seeks to get more people into its VR experiences. Though similar to X Premium, the hard sell for Meta is that there aren’t that many good reasons to buy a VR headset as yet, as the available experiences just aren’t that compelling. The technology is amazing, and more and more games and features are being rolled out, which will no doubt attract more interest over time. But at this stage, it’s not a must-have tech gadget, with the available VR apps still fairly limited. But either way, exposing ads to billions of users can’t hurt. Finally, Snapchat is also pumping out promotions for Snapchat+, directly into user inboxes. That feels a little intrusive, and all of these promos are a little overbearing, making these apps feel more like shopping tools than social platforms. But they’re also pretty easy to ignore. And in the modern age, we’ve all gotten much better at ignoring the influx of promotions being pumped into our feeds. But it is an interesting shift either way, with the apps becoming more direct commercial entities, and transforming into large-scale advertisers in their own right. And they have access to the most attention-grabbing promo options in their own tools. Which is probably not a great trend, but as social apps look to further commodify their experiences, this may be the new norm.Conservative Texas lawmakers and power brokers in recent years have criticized university professors for being “woke” activists who indoctrinate college students with far-left teachings and ideas. Now, as state lawmakers head back to the Capitol for the 2025 legislative session, they could limit the influence faculty have over campus culture and curriculum. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants lawmakers to recommend potential changes to the roles of faculty senates, which traditionally take the lead on developing curriculum — and ensuring professors have the academic freedom to teach and research their subject areas without fear of political interference. But conservatives say university curriculum has been infused with ideologies that have helped take higher education in Texas in an overly liberal direction. “If we’re going to refocus our universities on their mission of open inquiry and freedom of speech, we’ve got to take a look at the curriculum and who’s controlling it,” Sherry Sylvester, a fellow at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, told state senators in November. Some Texas professors, though, fear the Republican-controlled Legislature could undermine a long-standing balance of power at universities that’s meant to protect higher education from politicization. Their concerns are that without a proper voice on campus, and a guarantee that faculty have control over their teaching and research, faculty might leave Texas or be less likely to take a job at a Texas university, research would be imperiled, and there would be no checks and balances on university leadership. “There’s very clearly an ideological based attack against higher education and more specifically against faculty,” said Michael Harris, a professor of higher education at Southern Methodist University, a private institution in Dallas. “A place where faculty are most noticeable is a faculty senate.” Here’s a look at faculty senates in Texas and the role they play in higher education. Faculty senates are made up of professors from across a university. The body approves academic policies, curriculum design, faculty hiring and evaluation, and other issues that impact the academic mission. They also relay university-wide news and plans back to their colleagues.. The senates often meet monthly and invite guests from the administration to speak directly to faculty on university issues. “They provide a critical advisory voice on so many things we do on campus,” Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh recently told reporters. “The faculty senate does work that is fundamentally important to what we do as a university.” Faculty at many Texas universities elect a professor in their specific college to serve as a representative on the senate. Faculty will typically elect a chair or co-chairs for a one or two year term. Other faculty members can serve on specific committees that provide recommendations to leadership on specific issues, such as budget, research or facility planning. Faculty say that it’s vital that they have a voice in the decision making processes and that university boards of regents listen to those on the ground when making decisions that impact their work. “At a Fortune 500 company, you wouldn’t want the CEO to make every single decision,” said Harris, the SMU professor. “They don’t have time. People close to the product line or business aspect are best able to do that. The same thing is true here. You want your faculty who teach undergrads to make policy (about undergrads). They know the issues there better.” Bill Carroll served as president of the University of Texas at Arlington’s faculty senate four years ago. He said administrators often haven’t taught in a classroom in years and rely on current faculty to share their experiences that can help shape decision-making. “The faculty senate can provide that input and that information to administration so they can understand how the faculty are perceiving things and understand what faculty needs to do their job in an effective way,” he said. Public universities and university systems are overseen by boards of regents, who are appointed by the governor. Those boards hire university presidents, who serve as a CEO of the institution. While there is nothing in state law that specifies how faculty senates should be organized or function, many universities have adopted rules based on the American Association of University Professors’ guidance that faculty have academic freedom in the classroom and in research. They also rely on the 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities to guide how boards, presidents and faculty senates interact to operate the university. This statement was developed by national organizations that represent faculty, university presidents and governing boards. The statement spells out who should handle each sector of university operations. “It’s not something that was just drawn up by faculty saying, ‘Here is our best practice, deal with it,’” said Joey Velasco, president of the Texas Council of Faculty Senates who also teaches at Sul Ross State University in Far West Texas. “It really was a joint effort.” Faculty should be responsible for curriculum, methods of instruction and research, the statement reads. If the governing board or university president ultimately makes a decision that goes against the faculty’s wishes, that statement urges the board or president to communicate those reasons with the faculty. “It’s through open dialogue and mutual respect and a shared vision that faculty, administrators and governing boards can ensure their institutions continue to thrive,” Velasco said. Faculty senates found themselves in Patrick’s crosshairs three years ago when he boldly declared he wanted to end tenure for new faculty hires at Texas’ public universities. It was a radical legislative priority condemned by faculty groups across the country. At the time, Patrick was honest about his motivations: he was angry at The Faculty Council at the University of Texas at Austin. The elected group of faculty had passed a nonbinding resolution reaffirming their right to teach critical race theory in the college classroom after the state banned its teaching in K-12 schools. In the statement, faculty at UT-Austin said they will “stand firm against any and all encroachment on faculty authority including by the legislature or the Board of Regents.” Patrick called the professors “Loony Marxists” on social media and accused them of poisoning the minds of college students with such teaching. Ending tenure would make it easier to terminate or punish faculty who were teaching these ideas. Patrick ultimately was unable to outright ban tenure at Texas’ public universities. But Harris said it’s clear that the Faculty Council “poked the bear.” “I do wonder, were it not for that, would it have been as much on the radar,” Harris said, though he feels like the wave of similar actions at universities in other states, such as Florida , would’ve led Texas to take similar routes. Faculty senates largely garner the most attention outside the university when they issue a vote of no confidence in a school leader. These votes are non binding, but are meant as a way for faculty to express their discontent with the direction a president is taking the school. Sometimes, they can lead to the resignation of a university leader. Other times, they’re completely ignored. Last year, most faculty members at West Texas A&M University in Canyon said they lost confidence in the president for a variety of issues, including his decision to cancel a student drag show on campus. Nothing happened after the vote and Walter Wendler remained president. At Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, faculty took a vote of no confidence in the leadership of former President Scott Gordon after he accepted an $85,000 pay bump amid a COVID-19 budget shortfall. In that case, the board of regents stood behind Gordon despite the no confidence vote. Still, he stepped down six months later. Nationally, a Chronicle of Higher Education analysis found that a president ends up leaving office within a year of a no-confidence vote about half of the time. This spring, more than 600 faculty at UT-Austin signed a letter stating they had no confidence in President Jay Hartzell’s leadership after police arrested a swath of pro-Palestinian demonstrators protesting the war in Gaza. However, that letter came from the UT-Austin chapter of the American Association of University Professors, not the Faculty Council. Across the country, other states have sought to curtail the power and freedoms of faculty. The Arizona Legislature passed a law that would reduce the power of faculty senates. The bill eliminated language in the state that says the faculty “shall participate in” or “share responsibility” for academic and personnel decisions. Instead, professors could only “consult with” university leaders on decisions. Arizona’s Democratic governor vetoed the bill. When Florida passed a higher education bill that banned diversity, equity and inclusion programs at public institutions last year, it also included language that said public university presidents and administrators are not bound by faculty recommendations or opinions in hiring decisions. In Texas, at a November state Senate Higher Education Subcommittee meeting, Sylvestor, with the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, suggested that the Legislature require all faculty senate votes to be public, all meetings be open to the public and live streamed, and all curriculum changes made public. Many faculty senates at Texas universities already livestream their meetings and post agendas and minutes online. Velasco with the Texas Council for Faculty Senates said many votes are taken publicly, too. But there are instances when private voting is better, he said, such as when faculty vote whether to award tenure. This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Keaston Willis scored 15 points off of the bench to help lead Tulsa over Detroit Mercy 63-44 on Tuesday. Willis finished 3 of 9 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 from the line for the Golden Hurricane (4-3). Isaiah Barnes scored 12 points while shooting 4 for 9, including 4 for 6 from beyond the arc and added seven rebounds. Dwon Odom had 11 points and went 5 of 8 from the field. Jared Lary led the way for the Titans (3-4) with 12 points and two steals. Tulsa led 36-27 at halftime, with Willis racking up nine points. Tulsa extended its lead to 54-35 during the second half, fueled by a 9-2 scoring run. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

TORONTO (AP) — Two Canadian Cabinet ministers met with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary at Mar-a-Lago on Friday as Canada tries to avoid sweeping tariffs when Trump takes office. Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly met with Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, as well as North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department. Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian products if Canada does not stem what he calls a flow of migrants and fentanyl into the United States — even though far fewer of each cross into the U.S. from Canada than from Mexico, which Trump has also threatened. “Minister LeBlanc and Minister Joly had a positive, productive meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Howard Lutnick and Doug Burgum, as a follow-up to the dinner between the Prime Minister and President Trump last month,” said Jean-Sébastien Comeau, a spokesman for LeBlanc. Comeau said both ministers outlined the measures in Canada’s billion-dollar plan to increase security at the border and reiterated “the shared commitment to strengthen border security as well as combat the harm caused by fentanyl to save Canadian and American lives.” RELATED COVERAGE Judge signals that contempt hearing for Rudy Giuliani over his assets might not go well for him Trump asks Supreme Court to delay TikTok ban so he can weigh in after he takes office Janet Yellen tells Congress US could hit debt limit in mid-January Comeau said Lutnick and Burgum agreed to relay the information to Trump. The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Further discussions are expected in the coming weeks. Joly will also have dinner with U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham on Friday. Trump has been trolling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on social media in recent weeks by calling him the Governor of the 51st state. Flows of migrants and seizures of drugs are vastly different at the U.S.’s two land borders. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border during the last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. Most of the fentanyl reaching the U.S. — where it causes about 70,000 overdose deaths annually — is made by Mexican drug cartels using precursor chemicals smuggled from Asia. On immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol reported 1.53 million encounters with migrants at the southwest border with Mexico between October 2023 and September 2024. That compares to 23,721 encounters at the Canadian border during that time. Trump has also made an issue of the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, erroneously calling it a subsidy. Canada’s ambassador to Washington, Kirsten Hillman, has said the U.S. had a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last year. But she noted a third of what Canada sells into the U.S. are energy exports and said there is a deficit when oil prices are high. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports and 85% of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada. Alberta alone sends 4.3 million barrel s of oil per day to the U.S which tends to consume about 20 million barrels a day. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian dollars ($2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Trudeau has told Trump that Americans would also suffer if the president-elect follows through on a plan to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products .

I’m A Celebrity viewers furious as star deliberately winds up Tulisa after breaking rule

Ask Lisi: Wild, distasteful stories on social media a reason to log off Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what’s true online, which is a good reason to take a break and/or restrict what you might come across Lisi Tesher Dec 28, 2024 7:00 AM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Advice columnist Lisi Tesher Listen to this article 00:03:41 Dear Lisi: I know social media is garbage, often misleading, false news, made up stories, but some of it is so mind-boggling, I can’t stop thinking about it. Recently there was a “journalistic” piece, a snippet from a talk show, where a woman was bragging that for her birthday, she gave herself the present of having sex with 40 men – in one day! And that afterwards, she and her husband went out for a celebratory birthday dinner. What?!? How can that be true? And whether it is or isn’t, why is it being shown across social media sites? Why is this woman bragging about this behaviour? And what sort of husband would think this was a good gift? I’m sickened thinking about it, but it’s like a traffic accident I can’t stop ogling. What has technology done to our sense of decency? Beyond If you’re talking about the episode of ITV’s This Morning with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that aired two years ago, I saw that and also found it shocking, disturbing and repulsive. Is it true? Who knows? And how will we ever know unless it was filmed, and I’d rather not know the answer to that. Why this woman thought that sleeping with 40 men in one day was a good idea, I could not begin to unpack. But it’s her life. I suggest taking a break from social media. When you return, do so thoughtfully. Perhaps even put restrictions on your phone like you would for your children. Dear Lisi: My girlfriend and I are both restless sleepers and are both going through a phase in our lives where we wake up hot. Her answer to this is to reach over and get intimate. At first, I thought it was hot and responded in kind. But now I find I’m just too hot and the sweatiness isn’t all that sexy. How do I tell her that middle-of-the-night sweaty sex isn’t worth waking up for? Too hot to be hot Your description of waking up hot sounds as though you two are in a perimenopausal stage, which is the transition period leading up to menopause. It can last a year, or even a decade, and it can start as early as your 30s, but for most women, it’s in the mid to late 40s. Some symptoms of perimenopause are trouble with sleep (check), night sweats (check) and changes in sexual desire (check). But knowing the reasons for these changes doesn’t change how you feel in the middle of the night. Talk to your girlfriend about that. It’s not about how much you love her or want to be intimate. It’s the combination of timing, hormonal changes and desire. Work through this phase TOGETHER. There will be more changes coming and dealing with them as a team will do wonders for your relationship. FEEDBACK Regarding the 35-year-old who lives at home (Nov. 4): Reader – “I don’t know all the circumstances of why you’re living with them at 35 — and there could well be good reasons, such as caring for them, or the economy or cultural considerations. But I’ll put this out there: A dear friend of mine lived with his mother through to the end of her life, and over time, the dynamic shifted to him taking care of her. Throughout that entire time, he still had a fully active social and personal life, including plenty of opportunities to host gatherings and partners at his home. “The big secret? He would treat his mom to a night out with a friend. Gift certificates for dinner and a movie or a show. If you want some alone time at the house, you can buy it!” Lisi Tesher is an advice columnist based in Toronto. Email questions to [email protected] . See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message More Life Your Good Health: The use of DMSO isn’t recommended based on potential harm Dec 28, 2024 6:30 AM December 28: Your Daily Horoscope Dec 28, 2024 12:00 AM John Ducker: Drivers should adjust to everyday challenges Dec 27, 2024 7:30 AM Featured FlyerFuelCell Energy Inc. stock rises Friday, outperforms marketslot online jackpot 。

To recover investments and protect margins, private telcos resorted to tariff hikes in mid-year but that move backfired. New Delhi: The country's private telecom operators face twin challenges on investment recovery in the New Year – customers leaving their network after tariff hikes and satellite players mainly Elon Musk's Starlink eyeing a chunk of their bread and butter data business. Private operators have invested around Rs 70,000 crore in telecom infrastructure and radiowave assets this year to expand the coverage of next-generation 5G services which is one of the main highlights of 2024 for the sector. To recover investments and protect margins, private telcos resorted to tariff hikes in mid-year but that move backfired. Around 2 crore subscribers dropped their connections. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea jointly lost 2.6 crore customers due to a 10-26 per cent price hike. Around 68 customers switched to state-run player BSNL which refrained from price hike. The loss-making PSU still offers generation-old 3G service and is on the path of rolling out 4G network across the country. Despite subscriber loss, private players need to recover investment and invest more in 5G to offer new-age services to drive future growth. According to EY India Markets and Telecom leader Prashant Singhal, the cumulative investment of Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea was around Rs 70,200 crore in 2024. Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) Director General Manoj Kumar Singh says the telecom infrastructure sector looks at a cumulative investment of Rs 92,100 crore to Rs 1.41 lakh crore in 2022-2027 to support the 5G ecosystem. Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia also backed telecom operators on the tariff hike issue citing investments made by companies in the network. The rollout of 5G services in 2024 has paved the way for the adoption of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence which offers huge growth potential. "5G deployment has been a game-changer. We've witnessed a significant surge in 5G base transceiver stations, rising from 412,214 in December 2023 to 462,854 by November 2024,” says DIPA, whose members include Indus Towers and American Tower Corporation. Impending huge investments in 5G and maintaining healthy margins in the face of subscriber loss are not the only challenges for private telecom players. A new threat from satellite broadband service providers is staring at private telcos in the New Year. The satellite broadband sector has seen intense lobbying on the spectrum allocation issue in 2024. Private telecom operators led by Mukesh Ambani-promoted Jio have been for strongly protesting against the administrative allocation of spectrum to satellite broadband service providers like Elon Musk's Starlink. Telcos fear that allocation of radiowaves to satellite broadband providers without auction will come at a low price and make a dent in their data subscriber market share. The government's decision to allocate satcom spectrum without auction also saw political mud-slinging with opposition members equating the move with 2G spectrum case. As per the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), 2G spectrum allocation caused a notional loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the national exchequer. Scindia said the country cannot forget the "2G scam" -- a blot on the country's history. "A scam that not just led to a colossal loss of Rs 1,76,645 crore to the exchequer, but also gave government-corporate collaboration its worst name, a.K.A crony capitalism," he said on X. The minister reiterated that even administrative allocation of spectrum to satcom players will be done at a price recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Indian Space Association (ISpA) Director General AK Bhatt has batted for expeditious allocation of satcom spectrum, saying it would help satcom players start their services in India as soon as possible and bring the unconnected areas under the coverage. According to analysts, satcom players' entry may delay mobile services tariff hikes by telcos and new entrants may trigger another round of price war which may push the sector into another round of financial stress as well as lower investments in the network. Private players like Vodafone Idea are already ridden under huge debt. It has awarded a Rs 30,000 crore contract to Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung for the supply of 4G and 5G network equipment for three years. GX Group CEO Paritosh Prajapati says that the investment in the Indian telecom sector will continue as operators are looking to improve their network. EY India Markets and Telecom leader Prashant Singhal cautions that it is crucial for the telecom industry to find a balance between tariff rationalisation to recover their investments without compromising on subscribers' experience. "Telecom companies should not ignore low paying customers and it is very much required to include them in the data-led digital economy as per government mission of inclusive development. Operators also need to invest in building infrastructure on which the entire digital economy including start-ups, e-commerce are thriving," says Singhal. According to a joint report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, India's internet economy alone is expected to register a six-fold growth and touch about Rs 80 lakh crore by 2030. The report estimated that India's internet economy was in the range of Rs 12.86 lakh crore to Rs 14.5 lakh crore in 2022. Singhal said that internet companies or the new age businesses are generating high margins and their corporate social responsibility funds can be used for building rural and remote networks where returns are low for telecom operators. Telecom industry body COAI has been pushing for revenue sharing with foreign big tech companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, WhatsApp etc as videos, images and other content on these platforms are estimated to consume 80 per cent bandwidth. "The massive traffic created by LTGs (large traffic generators)has significantly strained telecom networks, compelling TSPs to invest an additional Rs 10,000 crore in infrastructure in 2023, according to our study. “While TSPs bear these costs, LTGs, without contributing, amass multiple incomes through subscriptions, ads and data-driven marketing, with revenues largely outside India's tax ambit," COAI Director General SP Kochhar said. He said that telcos also faced the blow of equipment theft as well during the year. Telecom equipment theft has emerged as a major issue affecting Indian TSPs, incurring an estimated Rs 800 crore in losses already, causing major disruptions in 4G/5G expansions and impacting the quality of mobile services, Kochhar said. Also, the year 2024 ends with the unsolved menace of pesky and fraud calls with scamsters powered by high-speed 5G networks devising new strategies like digital arrest, misusing AI to extort money. Stay informed on all the latest news , real-time breaking news updates, and follow all the important headlines in india news and world News on Zee News.

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BY MELISSA GOLDIN Social media users are misrepresenting a Vermont Supreme Court ruling , claiming that it gives schools permission to vaccinate children even if their parents do not consent. The ruling addressed a lawsuit filed by Dario and Shujen Politella against Windham Southeast School District and state officials over the mistaken vaccination of their child against COVID-19 in 2021, when he was 6 years old. A lower court had dismissed the original complaint, as well as an amended version. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was filed on Nov. 19. But the ruling by Vermont’s high court is not as far-reaching as some online have claimed. In reality, it concluded that anyone protected under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, or PREP, Act is immune to state lawsuits. Here’s a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that schools can vaccinate children against their parents’ wishes. THE FACTS: The claim stems from a July 26 ruling by the Vermont Supreme Court, which found that anyone protected by the PREP Act is immune to state lawsuits, including the officials named in the Politella’s suit. The ruling does not authorize schools to vaccinate children at their discretion. According to the lawsuit, the Politella’s son — referred to as L.P. — was given one dose of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic held at Academy School in Brattleboro even though his father, Dario, told the school’s assistant principal a few days before that his son was not to receive a vaccination. In what officials described as a mistake, L.P. was removed from class and had a “handwritten label” put on his shirt with the name and date of birth of another student, L.K., who had already been vaccinated that day. L.P. was then vaccinated. Ultimately, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that officials involved in the case could not be sued. “We conclude that the PREP Act immunizes every defendant in this case and this fact alone is enough to dismiss the case,” the Vermont Supreme Court’s ruling reads. “We conclude that when the federal PREP Act immunizes a defendant, the PREP Act bars all state-law claims against that defendant as a matter of law.” The PREP Act , enacted by Congress in 2005, authorizes the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to issue a declaration in the event of a public health emergency providing immunity from liability for activities related to medical countermeasures, such as the administration of a vaccine, except in cases of “willful misconduct” that result in “death or serious physical injury.” A declaration against COVID-19 was issued on March 17, 2020. It is set to expire on Dec. 31. Federals suits claiming willful misconduct are filed in Washington. Social media users described the Vermont Supreme Court’s ruling as having consequences beyond what it actually says. “The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that schools can force-vaccinate children for Covid against the wishes of their parents,” reads one X post that had been liked and shared approximately 16,600 times as of Tuesday. “The high court ruled on a case involving a 6-year-old boy who was forced to take a Covid mRNA injection by his school. However, his family had explicitly stated that they didn’t want their child to receive the ‘vaccines.’” Other users alleged that the ruling gives schools permission to give students any vaccine without parental consent, not just ones for COVID-19. Rod Smolla, president of the Vermont Law and Graduate School and an expert on constitutional law, told The Associated Press that the ruling “merely holds that the federal statute at issue, the PREP Act, preempts state lawsuits in cases in which officials mistakenly administer a vaccination without consent.” “Nothing in the Vermont Supreme Court opinion states that school officials can vaccinate a child against the instructions of the parent,” he wrote in an email. Related Articles National News | Judge weighs whether to order Fani Willis to comply with lawmakers’ subpoenas over Trump case National News | Are you a former SmileDirectClub customer? You might be eligible for a refund National News | Justice Department announces sweeping reforms to curb suicides in federal prisons and jails National News | Defense makes closing argument in murder trial of Cash App founder Bob Lee National News | A judge has once again rejected Musk’s multi-billion-dollar Tesla pay package. Now what? Asked whether the claims spreading online have any merit, Ronald Ferrara, an attorney representing the Politellas, told the AP that although the ruling doesn’t say schools can vaccinate students regardless of parental consent, officials could interpret it to mean that they could get away with doing so under the PREP Act, at least when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines. He explained that the U.S. Supreme Court appeal seeks to clarify whether the Vermont Supreme Court interpreted the PREP Act beyond what Congress intended. “The Politella’s fundamental liberty interest to decide whether their son should receive elective medical treatment was denied by agents of the State and School,” he wrote in an email to the AP. “The Vermont Court misconstrues the scope of PREP Act immunity (which is conditioned upon informed consent for medical treatments unapproved by FDA), to cover this denial of rights and its underlying battery.” Ferrara added that he was not aware of the claims spreading online, but that he “can understand how lay people may conflate the court’s mistaken grant of immunity for misconduct as tantamount to blessing such misconduct.”KINGSTON, Jamaica- C&W Business has returned as a partner for the 2024 staging of Tech Beach Retreat (TBR), scheduled to begin on Wednesday. The three-day summit will welcome scores of founders, global executives, and investors in technology at the Secrets Resort in Montego Bay. This marks C&W Business’ 4th year as a partner. Senior Director for C&W Business, Delroy McLean, notes that a key pillar of C&W Business participation in the conference will be its cybersecurity suite of products being offered in partnership with Fortinet. In a press release on Tuesday, C&W said during TBR, both entities will leverage real world examples on the fundamental role online safety plays in the successful expansion of the digital landscape. “Preparing our clients for a secure and productive digital future is at the core of what we offer at C&W Business, as this creates stronger economies, a more productive workforce, and operational efficiency. During the conference we look forward to sharing our innovations and key developments in our offering with the cadre of movers, shakers, and decision-makers in the regional technology space,” said McLean. McLean in lauding the efforts of the TBR founders and organisers, said “this conference has again significantly highlighted the Caribbean’s rapidly increasing potential as a nexus for technological innovation. We are incredibly happy to be able to continue our support again and look forward to ground-breaking advancements that will undoubtedly emerge from this vibrant community.” “Partnerships and collaboration are key to driving the future of technology in the Caribbean and Tech Beach provides a great platform for us to share our expertise and insight with people who have the ability to impact change,” McLean added. Co-founder of TBR, Kirk Anthony-Hamilton, described “C&W Business as an ‘invaluable partner’ in driving Tech Beach Retreat’s mission to empower the next wave of tech leaders and innovators.

Stranded tourists find shelter in Gund mosque amid snowfall Srinagar: In a heartwarming display of Kashmiri hospitality, locals in Gund, on the Srinagar-Sonamarg highway, opened the doors of a mosque to shelter a group of travellers stranded due to heavy snowfall. A dozen tourists from Punjab found themselves caught in the snowfall on Friday while returning from the Sonamarg area, officials said Their vehicles became stuck in the snow and with no nearby hotels and local houses too small to accommodate the group, Gund residents opened the doors of the Jamia Masjid, allowing the tourists to stay there for the night, officials added. “It was the best possible solution as the mosque has a hamaam, which stays warm throughout the night,” said Bashir Ahmad, a local resident. The Jamia Masjid at Gund is located less than 10 kilometers from the site of a terrorist attack in Gagangir, where six people — five non-local labourers and a local doctor — were killed in October this year. A video of the tourists spending the night inside the mosque has since gone viral. The tourists expressed their gratitude to the locals for their help. “We were stuck in the snow, and you came to our rescue. We are extremely thankful to all of you,” one of them said. Another tourist added, “Everyone should visit Kashmir to experience its hospitality. Everyone here is kind and it is safe to visit. Please come to this paradise on earth.” Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq praised the gesture and said it was heartening to see Kashmiris open their mosques and homes to stranded tourists amidst heavy snowfall. “This gesture of warmth and humanity reflects our longstanding tradition of hospitality and helping others in times of need,” he said on X. PDP leader Iltija Mufti also took to social media to praise the “humane” gestures extended by locals to stranded tourists. “Stranded tourists in Ganderbal found an unexpected yet warm refuge at a mosque last night. Kashmiris aren’t only human, but humane too. I wish the media would stop perpetuating stereotypes that grab eyeballs and instead highlight how hospitable Kashmiris truly are,” Mufti posted on X. PDP leader Khursheed Alam also commended the people for their generosity in assisting stranded tourists during the ongoing snowfall, which has disrupted daily life across the region. “It is heartening to witness that Kashmir’s long-standing tradition of hospitality is alive and thriving. Despite the challenges posed by snowfall, including water and electricity shortages, the people of Kashmir have shown remarkable generosity, making the region proud once again,” he said in a statement. Another video circulating on social media shows several tourist families comprising of men, women and children being hosted by a local family in the Kangan area of Ganderbal district after they were stranded due to snowfall. The tourists were full of praise for their hosts, saying, “They helped us in this difficult time. They are like gods to us.” Elsewhere, heavy snowfall also left many tourists stranded along the Srinagar-Jammu highway and at tourist destinations like Doodhpathri. However, not all the stranded tourists were complaining. “The car ignition isn’t working due to the cold, and we have to push it. But it’s fine; we’re enjoying it,” said a tourist from Haryana as he waited for clearance at Qazigund to head home. Police and civil administration have begun reaching out to stranded tourists, providing hot drinks and other necessities to keep them warm.

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The Philadelphia Eagles ruled wide receiver DeVonta Smith out for Sunday night's game at the Los Angeles Rams due to a hamstring injury. Smith did not practice all week and will miss his second game of the season and just the third of his four-year NFL career. He was inactive in a Week 4 loss at Tampa Bay due to a concussion. Smith, 26, leads the Eagles with 41 receptions and four touchdown catches ands ranks second with 516 receiving yards in nine starts this season. The former Heisman Trophy winner has 281 catches for 3,694 yards and 23 scores in 59 games (58 starts) since the Eagles drafted him with the 10th overall pick in 2021. NFC East-leading Philadelphia (8-2) takes a six-game winning streak to Los Angeles (5-5), which has won four of its last five games. --Field Level Media

Tony Khan: I’ve learned ‘so much’ about marketing from the Costco GuysReview: Colin Firth stars as Dr. Jim Swire in ‘Lockerbie: A Search for Truth’ on PeacockEmbiid scores 31 in triumphant NBA return for 76ersAtletico Madrid conceded three goals in a Spanish league game for the first time this season but still managed to beat Sevilla 4-3, with Antoine Griezmann's double helping make it nine wins in a row for Diego Simeone's in-form side. Third-placed Madrid restored their three-point lead over fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao, who beat Villarreal earlier on Sunday (Monday AEDT). Rodrigo De Paul gave Atletico the perfect start when he lashed home a stunning opener in the 10th minute. However, goals from Dodi Lukebakio, Isaac Romero and Juanlu Sanchez put Sevilla 3-1 up early in the second half and Atletico, without the vocal support of some home fans in a dispute over tickets, seemed lost in an unusually quiet Metropolitano Stadium. Simeone's side, though, is known for its resilience and it was not long before the fightback began. Griezmann reduced the deficit in the 62nd minute, and 17 minutes later, after Simeone made five substitutions in a quarter of an hour, Samuel Lino got the equaliser with a low shot from 30 yards. Griezmann got the winner in stoppage time to consolidate Atletico's third place. The Madrid club now has 35 points, one behind city rivals Real and three behind league leaders Barcelona. "We struggled to get into the game," Griezmann said. "We missed the support of the fans behind the goal, but in the end we managed to come back." Athletic Bilbao consolidated fourth place with a comfortable 2-0 win over Villarreal, the team immediately below them in the table and one of their closest rivals for a Champions League spot. Aitor Paredes put Athletic ahead when he glanced home a corner kick in 14 minutes, and Inaki Williams made it 2-0 midway through the second half. It was the fourth consecutive league win for Athletic, but the victory was marred by a silent protest from an organised fan group. The group refused to sing or chant in response to a rift between it and the club president, who reported threats to police last week. Several Athletic players expressed solidarity with the president, and the team did not salute the fans behind the goal after the match. "It's a very sad win and a time for everyone to pull together," club captain Oscar De Marcos said in comments reported by newspaper Marca. "The silence was notable during the game but we need to keep doing our job." Earlier on Sunday, Real Sociedad won for the fourth time in a row, beating Leganes 3-0 at the Butarque stadium near Madrid. Three days after his extra-time goal gave Sociedad a 1-0 win at fourth-tier Conquense in the Copa del Rey, Brais Mendez scored again to give the visitors an early lead. Substitute Ander Barrenetxea's first goal of the league season doubled their lead 10 minutes from time, then Mikel Oyarzabal added a third in stoppage time. It was only the fourth time in 16 matches that Sociedad have scored twice in a league game, and the win lifted them into sixth, above Osasuna, who drew 2-2 with Alaves. It only took 37 seconds for Kike Garcia to put Alaves ahead with a diving header. However, Ante Budimir and Ruben Garcia scored early in the second half to put Osasuna in front, before Kike Garcia got his second to tie the scores at 2-2. The point was the first for new Alaves coach Eduardo Coudet, but leaves the side in 15th place without a win in five games.

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Achilles tendinitis robbed San Francisco 49ers star Christian McCaffrey of the first eight games of the 2024 NFL season. A knee injury knocked the running back out of Sunday night's Week 13 matchup with the Buffalo Bills , and now it might keep the Pro Bowler sidelined for the rest of the year. Coach Kyle Shanahan announced Monday that McCaffrey will be placed on injured reserve with a PCL injury that will sideline him at least six weeks. That timeline means the 49ers, who sit at 5-9 and in last place in the NFC West, would have to reach the playoffs to see McCaffrey potentially back on the field again. Taking a second-quarter pitch from quarterback Brock Purdy , McCaffrey barely moved with the ball before slowing to a limp against the Bills, then sliding into the snow coating Highmark Stadium, avoiding contact and summoning immediate medical attention. He was explosive earlier in the game, gaining 53 yards on just seven carries, but walked gingerly to the medical tent after the slide. McCaffrey then walked under his own power to the locker room for additional evaluation, leaving third-year backup Jordan Mason to take over the backfield. It appeared McCaffrey suffered the injury on his previous run for 18 yards in which Bills safety Taylor Rapp was able to trip him up around his right ankle. McCaffrey came down hard on his right knee and departed for two plays. Named Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 while eclipsing 2,000 scrimmage yards for the NFC champion 49ers, McCaffrey was only playing in his fourth game of the 2024 campaign Sunday night. He also missed extensive time due to injury in 2020-2021, while he still played for the Carolina Panthers .

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B.C. ombudsman to investigate delay in sending social assistance cheques amid post strikeKyKy Tandy scored a season-high 21 points that included a key 3-pointer in a late second-half surge as Florida Atlantic roared back to beat Oklahoma State 86-78 on Thursday in the opening round of the Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C. Florida Atlantic (4-2) advances to play Drake in the semifinal round on Friday while the Cowboys square off against Miami in the consolation semifinal contest, also Friday. Oklahoma State led by as many as 10 points in the first half before securing a five-point advantage at halftime. The Owls surged back and moved in front with four and a half minutes to play. It was part of an 11-1 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Tandy that made it 75-68 with 2:41 remaining. Ken Evans added 14 points for Florida Atlantic, with Leland Walker hitting for 13 and Tre Carroll scoring 11. The Owls went 35-of-49 from the free throw line as the teams combined for 56 fouls in the game, 33 by Oklahoma State. Khalil Brantley led Oklahoma State (3-1) with 16 points while Robert Jennings added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Cowboys, who hit one field goal over a 10-minute stretch of the second half while having three players foul out. The Owls were up by as many as seven points in the early minutes and by 13-10 after a layup by Carroll at the 11:32 mark of the first half. Oklahoma State leapfrogged to the front on Abou Ousmane's layup off a Brantley steal, fell behind again on a 3-pointer by Evans and then responded on a 3-pointer by Jennings to take a 17-16 lead. From there, the Cowboys stoked their advantage to double digits when Jamyron Keller canned a shot from beyond the arc with five minutes to play in the half. Florida Atlantic got a layup and a monster dunk from Matas Vokietaitis and a pair of free throws from Walker in a 6-2 run to end the half to pull within 39-34 at the break. Jennings and Ousmane tallied seven points apiece for Oklahoma State over the first 20 minutes, as the Cowboys led despite shooting just 33.3 percent from the floor in the half. Carroll and Vokietaitis scored seven points apiece to pace the Owls, who committed 11 turnovers that translated to seven points for Oklahoma State before halftime. --Field Level Media

Wanda Harris was on her way to work about 8:30 Friday morning on Tucson's south side, and wondered why traffic was stopped even though there wasn't a red light. Then she saw. "There was an emu out there. It was blocking traffic" on the corner of Nogales Highway and Aerospace Boulevard, near Flight Safety International, where Harris works, and near Raytheon. When the emu started looking into a car window, as if to say "'Who are you? Can you help me?'," Harris decided to snap some photos. When she got up next to the big bird herself, she "talked" to it but it just looked up, down at the ground, all around, "so I said, OK, I'm going around you." Once she got to work, Harris announced, "Hey, there's an emu out there, directing traffic." "It was cute to see it," she says, chuckling. "It's got to be a big pet. I'm hoping it got picked up, safe." A work colleague posted Harris' pics in the Facebook group "Weird stuff you'll only see in/near Tucson." and they soon heard it is indeed a pet and that someone is looking for it. That someone is a guy named Tattoo Tattoo ("I had it legally changed to that in 1996," he says), who owns a ranch with exotic animals on South Nogales Highway. "His name is Liberty," as in the TV emu that pitches Liberty Mutual insurance, Tattoo says, singing the "Liberty, Liberty" jingle. His daughter picked the name to be funny, after Tattoo acquired the flightless bird — then in egg form — four years ago in trade from "a gentleman I did a tattoo on." Liberty gained his, uh, freedom sometime overnight Thursday. Tattoo, getting up about 4 a.m. for his morning run, saw the cage door was bent. "He must have slipped through." Tattoo said he was on his second tank of gas by Friday afternoon after driving all around the region looking for his emu. When he learned photos had been posted on social media of Liberty near Raytheon, "I hauled butt up there," to no avail. Then he heard an "ostrich" had been spotted in the yard at a neighborhood school, Elvira, but it was gone by the time he arrived. "There's an APB out" on social media for Liberty, its owner says: Emu, 4 years old, 7 feet tall, goes about 30 mph, "looks like a raptor." "I'm extremely worried," Tattoo said shortly before 4 p.m. Friday. "I don't want him to get hit. If you see him, keep a visual on him and call me" — 520-561-3736 — "and I'll be right there." Watch an emu race through the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago, Illinois. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.

AUSTIN PEAY 62, GEORGIA STATE 50

Georgia ’s interior ministry has said that 107 people were arrested during Friday’s protests in the capital Tbilisi sparked by the government’s decision to delay the former Soviet country’s bid to join the European Union . The Black Sea nation has been rocked by demonstrations since Thursday, when the ruling Georgian Dream party – which claimed victory in last month’s election that observers said was fraudulent – announced it would suspend accession talks with the EU until 2028. “Throughout the night, (protesters) confronted police verbally and physically,” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday. “Activists... threw various objects, stones, pyrotechnics, glass bottles and iron objects in the direction of law enforcement officers,” it said, adding that 10 ministry employees had been injured. Video taken by Reuters showed thousands of people taking to the streets, waving Georgian and EU flags as they marched. Demonstrators were heard chanting “Russian slaves” at police officers guarding the parliament building. Police fired water cannons and tear gas at protesters, while men wearing balaclavas were seen running into the crowds and beating individuals. Salome Zourabichvili, the country’s pro-Western president whose powers are mostly ceremonial, claimed that the police “targeted journalists and political leaders.” “It is Europe and the European ideal that these Russian proxies are deliberately and savagely crushing on the Tbilisi streets. Wake up Europe!” she wrote on X Saturday. She also posted videos of the rallies, claiming that twice the number of protesters were demonstrating on Friday night than Thursday. “It’s evident in every way - no one is willing to accept a Russified Georgia, a Georgia deprived of its constitution, or a Georgia under an illegitimate government and parliament,” Zourabichvili wrote on X Friday. “That’s why so many of you are out here today - I see you.” Georgian public broadcaster First Channel reported on Friday protesters had set fire to wiring on the country’s parliament building and thrown objects at police officers. It also reported that police were firing water cannons at protesters, though said the demonstrators regrouped each time a water cannon was fired. Zourabichvili condemned what she called “brutal and disproportionate attacks on the Georgian people and media, reminiscent of Russian-style repression” at the protests. “These actions will not be forgiven! Those responsible for the use of force should be held responsible,” she said. Election fallout The protests are part of the ongoing fallout from the country’s October 26 parliamentary election, which was seen as a referendum on alignment with Russia or the West. After years of moving closer towards Europe – and securing EU candidate status late last year – Georgian Dream has taken a sharp authoritarian turn. In May, it forced through a Kremlin-style “foreign agent” law, which critics say aims to shut down watchdogs who call the government to account. Georgian Dream claimed victory in the parliamentary election with 54% of the vote, but opposition parties claimed the election was rigged. Zourabichvili also appealed the results to the country’s Constitutional Court. Earlier Thursday, the European Parliament rejected the outcome of the election and called for a re-run to be held within a year. It said the vote was “neither free nor fair” and was another instance of democratic backsliding in Georgia, “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible.” Hours later, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said his government would remove EU talks from its agenda and refuse the bloc’s budgetary grants until 2028, accusing some of the bloc’s politicians of “blackmail and manipulation.” During the election campaign, Georgian Dream repeatedly assured voters it was committed to pursuing EU membership, which polls show more than 80% of Georgians support. After the vote, Nicoloz Samkharadze, a Georgian Dream politician and chair of the country’s foreign relations committee, told CNN: “We are a political party that is committed to Georgia’s European Union membership. In the next four years, we will continue bringing Georgia closer to the European Union.” CNN has asked Samkharadze what accounts for the change in policy but did not immediately receive a response. Protesters in Tbilisi said that, while many doubted the sincerity of Georgian Dream’s commitment to joining the EU, they were shocked that it changed its course so soon after the disputed election. Ketevan Chachava, a non-resident fellow with the Democratic Resilience Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), said she was surprised the mask had dropped so quickly. “This is a red flag. It shows the government is ready to go much further with this,” Chachava told CNN. She said she fears Georgia is “becoming a state that is non-democratic, unfree, where liberties are not respected.” Tsotne Jafaridze, a winemaker who lives in Tbilisi, said the police response to Thursday night’s protests was exceptionally brutal. “I’ve seen a lot of protests in Georgia: during this government, the previous government – I also remember some from Soviet times. But such aggression – towards old people, towards the really young guys, towards the women – was unbelievable,” he told CNN. Salome Khvaratskelia, a nurse, said the police had used new equipment to disperse the crowds. Shortly before the election, Georgia’s interior minister announced the government had purchased several new water cannons to bolster the riot police. Khvaratskelia, who was hit with a water cannon, said she believed the water had been mixed with chemicals that made it feel like pepper spray. After she was hit, “for the next 15 minutes, I could barely breathe and couldn’t open my eyes,” she told CNN. Tbilisi has been regularly gripped by protests in recent years in response to moves by Georgian Dream, particularly over the “foreign agent” law, which critics say was a copy of legislation passed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite this, the initial response to the disputed election was uncharacteristically muted, in part because Georgia’s fractious opposition had been caught flat-footed. Politicians in the United National Movement, the main opposition party, told CNN they were shocked by the result, after polls had suggested Georgian Dream would fall short of a majority. But the government’s halting of the country’s EU membership bid appears to have breathed life into the protest movement. CNN’s Hanna Ziady contributed reporting. This story has been updated with additional developments.NoneNEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks pulled Wall Street to another record amid mixed trading. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% Monday after closing November at an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. Super Micro Computer, a stock that’s been on an AI-driven roller coaster, soared after saying an investigation found no evidence of misconduct by its management or the company’s board. Retailers were mixed coming off Black Friday and heading into what’s expected to be the best Cyber Monday on record. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks are pulling Wall Street toward another record amid mixed trading on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% in afternoon trading after closing its best month of the year at an all-time high . The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 86 points, or 0.2%, with a little more than an hour remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% higher. Super Micro Computer, a stock that’s been on an AI-driven roller coaster, soared 31.1% to lead the market. Following accusations of misconduct and the resignation of its public auditor , the maker of servers used in artificial-intelligence technology said an investigation found no evidence of misconduct by its management or by the company's board. It also said it doesn’t expect to restate its past financials and that it will find a new chief financial officer, appoint a general counsel and make other moves to strengthen its governance. Big Tech stocks also helped prop up the market. Gains of 1.8% for Microsoft and 2.9% for Meta Platforms were the two strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500. Intel was another propellant during the morning, but it lost an early gain to fall 1.1% after the chip company said CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired and stepped down from the board. Intel is looking for Gelsinger’s replacement, and its chair said it’s “committed to restoring investor confidence.” Intel recently lost its spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to Nvidia, which has skyrocketed in Wall Street's frenzy around AI. Stellantis, meanwhile, skidded following the announcement of its CEO’s departure . Carlos Tavares steps down after nearly four years in the top spot of the automaker, which owns car brands like Jeep, Citroën and Ram, amid an ongoing struggle with slumping sales and an inventory backlog at dealerships. The world’s fourth-largest automaker’s stock fell 6.3% in Milan. The majority of stocks in the S&P 500 likewise fell, including California utility PG&E. It dropped 3.7% after saying it would sell $2.4 billion of stock and preferred shares to raise cash. Retailers were mixed amid what’s expected to be the best Cyber Monday on record and coming off Black Friday . Target, which recently gave a forecast for the holiday season that left investors discouraged , fell 1.6%. Walmart , which gave a more optimistic forecast, rose 0.3%. Amazon, which looks to benefit from online sales from Cyber Monday, climbed 1.3%. The stock market largely took Donald Trump’s latest threat on tariffs in stride. The president-elect on Saturday threatened 100% tariffs against a group of developing economies if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar. Trump said he wants the group, headlined by Brazil, Russia, India and China, to promise it won’t create a new currency or otherwise try to undercut the U.S. dollar. The dollar has long been the currency of choice for global trade. Speculation has also been around a long time that other currencies could knock it off its mantle, but no contender has come close. The U.S. dollar’s value rose Monday against several other currencies, but one of its strongest moves likely had less to do with the tariff threats. The euro fell amid a political battle in Paris over the French government’s budget . The euro sank 0.7% against the U.S. dollar and broke below $1.05. In the bond market, Treasury yields gave up early gains to hold relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed above 4.23% during the morning before falling back to 4.19%. That was just above its level of 4.18% late Friday. A report in the morning showed the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted again last month, but not by as much as economists expected. This upcoming week will bring several big updates on the job market, including the October job openings report, weekly unemployment benefits data and the all-important November jobs report. They could steer the next moves for Federal Reserve, which recently began pulling interest rates lower to give support to the economy. Economists expect Friday's headliner report to show U.S. employers accelerated their hiring in November, coming off October's lackluster growth that was hampered by damaging hurricanes and strikes. “We now find ourselves in the middle of this Goldilocks zone, where economic health supports earnings growth while remaining weak enough to justify potential Fed rate cuts,” according to Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. In financial markets abroad, Chinese stocks led gains worldwide as monthly surveys showed improving conditions for manufacturing, partly driven by a surge in orders ahead of Trump’s inauguration next month. Both official and private sector surveys of factory managers showed strong new orders and export orders, possibly partly linked to efforts by importers in the U.S. to beat potential tariff hikes by Trump once he takes office. Indexes rose 0.7% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Shanghai. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.Gemini Daily Horoscope Today, December 07, 2024 predicts good returns from stock market - Hindustan Times