234 twin flame
Four Bruins will play in NHL's 4 Nations Face-OffAn Ole Miss student exchanged messages with the man now on trial in his killing, police sayStronger cyber protections in health care targeted in new Senate bill
NoneTrump trolls Jill Biden as he hawks new perfume: ‘A fragrance your enemies can’t resist’Kyle Tucker trade: Cubs land All-Star outfielder from Astros in four-player deal
House rejects Democratic efforts to force release of Matt Gaetz ethics reportGiants release quarterback Daniel Jones just days after benching him EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The Daniel Jones era in New York is over. The Giants quarterback was granted his release by the team just days after the franchise said it was benching him in favor of third-stringer Tommy DeVito. New York president John Mara said Jones approached the team about releasing him and the club obliged. Mara added he was “disappointed” at the quick dissolution of a once-promising relationship between Jones and the team. Giants coach Brian Daboll benched Jones in favor of DeVito following a loss to the Panthers in Germany that dropped New York's record to 2-8. Conor McGregor must pay $250K to woman who says he raped her, civil jury rules LONDON (AP) — A civil jury in Ireland has awarded more than $250,000 to a woman who says she was raped by mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor in a Dublin hotel penthouse after a night of heavy partying. The jury on Friday awarded Nikita Hand in her lawsuit that claimed McGregor “brutally raped and battered” her in 2018. The lawsuit says the assault left her heavily bruised and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. McGregor testified that he never forced her to do anything and that Hand fabricated her allegations after the two had consensual sex. McGregor says he will appeal the verdict. Week 16 game between Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers flexed to Thursday night spot The Los Angeles Chargers have played their way into another prime time appearance. Justin Herbert and company have had their Dec. 22 game against the Denver Broncos flexed to Thursday night, Dec. 19. Friday’s announcement makes this the first time a game has been flexed to the Thursday night spot. The league amended its policy last season where Thursday night games in Weeks 13 through 17 could be flexed with at least 28 days notice prior to the game. The matchup of AFC West division rivals bumps the game between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals to Sunday afternoon. NBA memo to players urges increased vigilance regarding home security following break-ins MIAMI (AP) — The NBA is urging its players to take additional precautions to secure their homes following reports of recent high-profile burglaries of dwellings owned by Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis and Kansas City Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. In a memo sent to team officials, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, the NBA revealed that the FBI has connected some burglaries to “transnational South American Theft Groups” that are “reportedly well-organized, sophisticated rings that incorporate advanced techniques and technologies, including pre-surveillance, drones, and signal jamming devices.” Red Bull brings wrong rear wing to Las Vegas in mistake that could stall Verstappen's title chances LAS VEGAS (AP) — Max Verstappen is suddenly in jeopardy of being denied a fourth consecutive Formula 1 title Saturday night. Red Bull apparently brought the wrong rear wing to Las Vegas and GPS data showed its two cars to be significantly slower on the straights than both McLaren and Mercedes, which led both practice sessions. Red Bull says it doesn’t have a replacement rear wing in Las Vegas to fix the issue and little chance of getting two flown in from England ahead of the race. Caitlin Clark to join Cincinnati bid for 16th National Women's Soccer League team WNBA star Caitlin Clark has joined Cincinnati’s bid for an expansion National Women’s Soccer League team. Major League Soccer franchise FC Cincinnati is heading the group vying to bring a women’s pro team to the city. The club issued a statement confirming Clark had joined the bid group. NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman has said the league plans to announce the league’s 16th team by the end of the year. The league's 15th team will begin play in 2026 in Boston. Alyssa Nakken, first full-time female coach in MLB history, leaving Giants to join Guardians CLEVELAND (AP) — Alyssa Nakken, the first woman to coach in an MLB game, is leaving the San Francisco Giants to join the Cleveland Guardians. Nakken made history in 2022 when she took over as first-base coach following an ejection. A former college softball star at Sacramento State, Nakken joined the Giants in 2014 and was promoted to a spot on manager Gabe Kapler’s staff in 2020, becoming the majors’ first full-time female coach. Nakken has been hired as an assistant director within player development for the Guardians, who won the AL Central last season under first-year manager Stephen Vogt. Nakken, 34, will work with former Giants coaches Craig Albernaz and Kai Correa. Aaron Judge won't be bothered if Juan Soto gets bigger contract from Yankees than his $360M deal NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge won’t be bothered if Juan Soto gets a bigger deal from the New York Yankees than the captain’s $360 million, nine-year contract. Speaking a day after he was a unanimous winner of his second MVP, Judge says “It ain’t my money” and adds "that’s never been something on my mind about who gets paid the most.” Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. Soto batted .288 with 41 homers, 109 RBIs and 129 walks in his first season with the Yankees, then became a free agent at age 26. In a 'Final Four-type weekend,' two top-6 clashes put women's college basketball focus on West Coast LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two games featuring four powerhouse teams has put the focus in women's college basketball on the West Coast this weekend. JuJu Watkins and No. 3 Southern California host Hannah Hidalgo and No. 6 Notre Dame on Saturday. Top-ranked South Carolina visits Lauren Betts and fifth-ranked UCLA on Sunday. Both games are nationally televised and the arenas are expected to be packed. WNBA scouts will be on hand to check out some of the nation's top talent. Two teams will come away with their first losses of the season. USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb calls it “a Final Four-type weekend.” A documentary featuring Watkins will air on NBC ahead of USC's game, which leads into the Army-Notre Dame football game. Noodles and wine are the secret ingredients for a strange new twist in China's doping saga Blame it on the noodles. That's what one Chinese official suggested when anti-doping leaders were looking for answers for the doping scandal that cast a shadow over this year's Olympic swim meet. Earlier this year, reports that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for a banned heart medication emerged. None were sanctioned because Chinese authorities determined the swimmers were contaminated by traces of the drug spread about a hotel kitchen. In a strange twist, the leader of China's anti-doping agency suggested this case could have been similar to one in which criminals were responsible for tainting noodles that were later eaten by another Chinese athlete who also tested positive for the drug.
Acquitted subway vigilante Daniel Penny said he had not choice but to subdue a deranged Jordan Neely after the vagrant threatened to kill straphangers aboard a Manhattan subway train last year. The 26-year-old Marine vet, who was found not guilty of negligent homicide charges in Neely’s death this week, told Fox “The Five” host Jeanine Pirro that he took the threats seriously enough to jump into action. “The guilt I would’ve felt if someone did get hurt, if he did do what he was threatening to do, I would never be able to live with myself,” Penny said during the exclusive interview due to air in its entirety Wednesday. “I’ll take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me just to keep one of those people from getting hurt or killed,” he said. Penny also said he felt “vulnerable” and felt he was also in danger when he grabbed Neely and put him in a chokehold aboard a crowded Manhattan F train on May 1, 2023. “He’s just threatening to kill people, he’s threatening to go to jail forever, go to jail for the rest of his life,” he told Pirro. “And now I’m on the ground with him, I’m on my back in a very vulnerable position. “If I let him go I’m on my back now. He can just turn around and doing what he said to me. Killing, hurting. “I’m not a confrontational person,” he added. “I really don’t extend myself. This type of thing is very uncomfortable. All this attention and lime light is very uncomfortable. I would prefer without it. I didn’t want any type of attention or praise, and I still don’t.” A teaser clip from the Fox interview aired Tuesday, one day after Penny was acquitted in the polarizing case after Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg charged him with manslaughter last year. On Friday, with the jury deadlocked, prosecutors asked the judge to toss the manslaughter charge and have the panel continue deliberation on the lesser homicide charged — which led to Mondays acquittal. Bragg has come under fire since the verdict from critics who claim Penny is a hero, not a villain, who protected subway riders from a violent and potentially dangerous vagrant. Without singling anyone out by name, Penny complained to Pirro about “self-serving” officials who have used his fatal encounter with Neely as part of “a political game.” “These are their policies,” he said. “And I don’t mean to get political, I really don’t’ want to make any enemies, really — although I guess I have already. “But these are their policies that have clearly not worked, that the people, the general population, are not in support,” Penny added. “Yet, their goes are too big to agree that they’re wrong.”
AI will continue to evolve in 2025
Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen returns to a tournament after a dispute over jeans is resolved
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Sunday that the is a “fundamental act of justice” after decades of repression, but it was “a moment of risk and uncertainty” for the Middle East. Biden spoke at the White House hours after rebel groups completed a takeover of the country following more than a dozen years of violent civil war and decades of leadership by . Biden said the United States was monitoring reports of the whereabouts of Assad, with Russian state media saying he had fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally. The outgoing Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump were working to make sense of new threats and opportunities across the Middle East. Biden credited action by the U.S. and its allies for weakening Syria’s backers — Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. He said “for the first time” that they could no longer defend Assad’s grip on power. “Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East,” Biden said, after a meeting with his national security team. Trump said Sunday that Assad had fled because close ally the Russian president, “was not interested in protecting him any longer.” Those comments on Trump’s social media platform came a day after he used another post to in Syria to aid the rebels, declaring, “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT.” The Biden administration said it had no intention of intervening. The U.S has about 900 troops in Syria, including forces working with Kurdish allies in the opposition-held northeast to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State group. Biden said he intended for those troops to remain, adding that U.S. forces on Sunday conducted “precision air strikes” on IS camps and operations in Syria. U.S. Central Command said the operation hit more than 75 targets. “We’re clear-eyed about the fact that ISIS will try and take advantage of any vacuum to reestablish its credibility, and create a safe haven,” Biden said, using a different acronym for the group. “We will not let that happen.” The Syrian opposition that brought down Assad is led by , which the U.S. says is a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaida, although the group says it has since broken ties with al-Qaida. “We will remain vigilant,” Biden said. “Make no mistake, some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human rights abuses.” He added that the groups are “saying the right things now.” “But as they take on greater responsibility, we will assess not just their words, but their actions,” Biden said. A senior Biden administration official, when asked about contact with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leaders after Assad’s departure, said Washington was in contact with Syrian groups of all kinds. The official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity, also said the U.S. has focused over the past several days on chemical weapons that had been controlled by the Assad government, aiming to ensure they were secured. Still, Assad’s adds to an already tense situation throughout much of region on many fronts — including Israel’s and its fragile in Lebanon. Like Biden, Trump, who takes office in five-plus weeks, made a connection between the upheaval in Syria and , noting that Assad’s allies in Moscow, as well as in Iran, the main sponsor of Hamas and Hezbollah, “are in a weakened state right now.” Vice President-elect , a veteran of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, wrote on social media Sunday to express skepticism about the insurgents. “Many of ‘the rebels’ are a literal offshoot of ISIS. One can hope they’ve moderated. Time will tell,” he said. Trump has suggested that Assad’s ouster can advance the prospects for an end to fighting in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022. The president-elect wrote that Putin’s government “lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine” and Trump called for an immediate ceasefire, a day after meeting . The Syrian rebels face the daunting task of healing bitter divisions in a country ravaged by war and split among armed factions. Turkey-backed opposition fighters are battling U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in the north, and the Islamic State group is still active in remote areas. As they pushed toward the Syrian capital of Damascus, the opposition forces freed political detainees from government prisons. The family of missing U.S. journalist renewed calls to find him. Tice disappeared in 2012 outside Damascus as the civil war was intensifying.60 Brilliant Things on Amazon That Are Actually Bargains
World of Warcraft 's newest large-group adventure will stand on the shoulders of 20 years of raids that came before—and break new ground. Literally. The Liberation of Undermine, the latest eight-boss underground raid that will launch as part of the 11.1 Undermine(d) update to The War Within expansion early next year, will contain new twists on old mechanics and some entirely new features that players haven't yet seen, game director Ion Hazzikostas told PC Gamer in an interview. WoW recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, and its raids have changed dramatically over the past 20 years. So have the tools that players use to beat them, ranging from guides and tier lists (for both class/specializations and gear) posted online, to sophisticated add-ons and WeakAuras that interpret the game's code and make some mechanics easier. "Player sophistication has grown," Hazzikostas said, especially compared to the experience people had when they stepped into WoW's first raid 20 years ago. "When I first went into Molten Core, none of us knew what we were doing. That first pull of two molten giants may as well have been a raid boss as far as we were concerned. Many groups that went into Molten Core for the first time did not kill those two mobs, and if they did, the fire lord right behind them spawned a million fire spawns and that was the end of your run. "Now those things would seem simple in a dungeon, let alone a raid." The upcoming Liberation of Undermine raid will include many more-complex mechanics, including those that turn the environment around bosses into part of the fight—a trend that has developed in WoW's raids over time. "There are certainly new encounters built upon lessons learned and things tested in old ones, but part of the encounter team's job is to evolve those experiences," Hazzikostas said. "They put a fresh coat of paint on old mechanics, but also come up with some genuinely new mechanics that no one's ever seen before, sometimes delivered by new tech—like slippy, slippy floors." The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. (WoW raids' slip-n-slide floors mechanic first appeared in the Sennarth spider boss encounter in Vault of the Incarnates, the first raid in the previous Dragonflight expansion.) The Liberation of Undermine will include more new environments-as-mechanics. "We go into the Grand Casino in Undermine, and we're making our way to face off against Gallywix," the former leader of the goblins and end boss of the Liberation of Undermine raid, Hazzikostas said. "The environmental framing of that is going to be part of what makes it a unique experience. It's something we've really been trying to lean into over the last 10 years in a way we didn't originally." An exhibition event at an early BlizzCon fan convention pitted the top North American guild against multiple random bosses from raids, which were spawned into an arena together and had to be defeated. Now "there's something quaint about the idea that you could spawn in a Molten Core boss in any old room and it would still work," said Hazzikostas. So the fights have gotten more complicated, even as 20 years of experience has made many of those players savvy veterans. And the tools at their fingertips—game changing mods and add-ons—have become powerful and robust. The result has been something of an arms race. Players invent different displays and handling of raid boss mechanics using mods that can trivialize some encounters. Blizzard developers respond by making those fights even more complicated to keep them interesting, which then causes players to complain that the bosses are a bullet hell that can't be beaten without using the mods, and around it goes. Blizzard experimented with making some mechanics unreadable by mods, with varying success. Players responded by creating add-ons that perform complex actions when players push hotkeys to indicate that the "invisible" mechanics are happening. In other cases, the mods add tracking and player positioning for fights where characters must respond to triggers incredibly quickly. It's not a great experience for either the designers or the players, since those mods are frequently finicky, requiring everyone to be running them precisely in sync. For example, in the current Nerub-ar Palace raid, the Broodtwister Ovi'nax fight pits players against a giant worm, with clusters of eggs that hatch and release adds, which must be defeated. On Mythic difficulty, players randomly assigned a debuff must overlap a modest circle around their feet on specific clusters. We can't be ignorant to the fact that many of our players are using add-ons, and it will shape the feedback we get about how engaging an encounter feels. It's complicated, because two players must stand on each cluster, in a very limited amount of time. If more than two characters stack on a cluster, there won't be enough to cover one of the other clusters needed around the boss. If players performed the mechanic without the assistance of mods, accidental overstacking is highly likely, even with competent groups. So instead, a complex WeakAura assigns two of the players to each cluster, which has been pre-marked by the raid's leaders. When my Cutting Edge guild (a guild that kills the last boss of the raid on Mythic difficulty before the tier ends) tackled Ovi'nax, it took nearly a full night of progression just to get the WeakAuras working properly—not exactly compelling gameplay. As a result, Hazzikostas said, players can expect Blizzard to remove more functionality from WeakAuras in raids in the future—and, hopefully, to add more in-game sources of information and more time to react, as a result. "We can't be ignorant to the fact that many of our players are using add-ons, and it will shape the feedback we get about how engaging an encounter feels," he said. The problem comes when mods can do the thinking for players when raid mechanics happen. If a fight has three or four mechanics, and a WeakAura consolidates all of them and only yells at them when they need to do something, players don't have to process much. "A player might say this was a boring encounter, because I was doing my DPS rotation for three minutes except for the one time my mod told me to do something," Hazzikostas said. "That may make us add a new mechanic, which in turn can make the encounter feel complex or overwhelming for someone who isn't using those add-ons." That's why future raids may have more limits on those mods, he said. "I think it's an area where we likely will want to start clawing back some functionality, as long as we can make sure that our baseline game experience is offering players the information they need to have an engaging, elegant time."BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc. (OTCMKTS:NCBDF) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest
By DEVNA BOSE and JOHN SEEWER “Wanted” posters with the names and faces of health care executives have been popping up on the streets of New York. Hit lists with images of bullets are circulating online with warnings that industry leaders should be afraid. Related Articles National News | How to protect your communications through encryption National News | Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge National News | Unidentified drones spotted flying at locations across NYC, including LaGuardia Airport National News | About 2.6 million Stanley cups recalled after malfunctions caused burns. Is your mug included? National News | Woman who falsely accused Duke lacrosse players of rape in 2006 publicly admits she lied The apparent targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the menacing threats that followed have sent a shudder through corporate America and the health care industry in particular, leading to increased security for executives and some workers. In the week since the brazen shooting , health insurers have removed information about their top executives from company websites, canceled in-person meetings with shareholders and advised all employees to work from home temporarily. An internal New York Police Department bulletin warned this week that the online vitriol that followed the shooting could signal an immediate “elevated threat.” Police fear that the Dec. 4 shooting could “inspire a variety of extremists and grievance-driven malicious actors to violence,” according to the bulletin, which was obtained by The Associated Press. “Wanted” posters pasted to parking meters and construction site fences in Manhattan included photos of health care executives and the words “Deny, defend, depose” — similar to a phrase scrawled on bullets found near Thompson’s body and echoing those used by insurance industry critics . Thompson’s wife, Paulette, told NBC News last week that he told her some people had been threatening him and suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage. Investigators believe the shooting suspect, Luigi Mangione , may have been motivated by hostility toward health insurers. They are studying his writings about a previous back injury, and his disdain for corporate America and the U.S. health care system. Mangione’s lawyer has cautioned against prejudging the case. Mangione, 26, has remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested Monday . Manhattan prosecutors are working to bring him to New York to face a murder charge. UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, said this week it was working with law enforcement to ensure a safe work environment and to reinforce security guidelines and building access policies, a spokesperson said. The company has taken down photos, names and biographies for its top executives from its websites, a spokesperson said. Other organizations, including CVS, the parent company for insurance giant Aetna, have taken similar actions. Government health insurance provider Centene Corp. has announced that its investor day will be held online, rather than in-person as originally planned. Medica, a Minnesota-based nonprofit health care firm, said last week it was temporarily closing its six offices for security reasons and would have its employees work from home. Heightened security measures likely will make health care companies and their leaders more inaccessible to their policyholders, said former Cigna executive Wendell Potter. “And understandably so, with this act of violence. There’s no assurance that this won’t happen again,” said Potter, who’s now an advocate for health care reform. Private security firms and consultants have been in high demand, fielding calls almost immediately after the shooting from companies across a range of industries, including manufacturing and finance. Companies have long faced security risks and grappled with how far to take precautions for high-profile executives. But these recent threats sparked by Thompson’s killing should not be ignored, said Dave Komendat, a former security chief for Boeing who now heads his own risk-management company. “The tone and tenor is different. The social reaction to this tragedy is different. And so I think that people need to take this seriously,” Komendat said. Just over a quarter of the companies in the Fortune 500 reported spending money to protect their CEOs and top executives. Of those, the median payment for personal security doubled over the last three years to just under $100,000. Hours after the shooting, Komendat was on a call with dozens of chief security officers from big corporations, and there have been many similar meetings since, hosted by security groups or law enforcement agencies assessing the threats, he said. “It just takes one person who is motivated by a poster — who may have experienced something in their life through one of these companies that was harmful,” Komendat said. Associated Press reporters Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York and Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco, contributed to this report.Pinion has 22 points as Arkansas State beats No. 16 Memphis 85-72
The US House and Senate are unlikely to pass federal legislation on the use of AI in business, so users should focus their attention on a new NIST framework in lieu of state-level law, according to Workday's veep for corporate affairs. Chandler Morse, a former chief of staff to Republican Senator Jeff Flake, told The Register that while the Republicans have won the House and the Senate, margins remained close in both, making the chances of passing federal legislation governing the use of AI during current presidential tenure unlikely. "In all honesty, I don't think anything's going to happen in the US, Congress or federal legislation, but what is happening is a tremendous amount of activity at the state level," the SaaS enterprise application vendor policy expert said. In September, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Bill 1047, arguing it failed to take the right approach to ensuring or requiring AI safety. But he left the door open for the US state's lawmakers to propose a better bill for governing AI safety. An alternative California bill addressing automated decision making (AB 2930) is also currently inactive. Although Workday initially supported the bill, it later challenged the details on accountability for how users introduced products and withdrew its support, Morse said. Nonetheless, California was likely to "take another run at it," as would New York, while Connecticut and Colorado were also proposing legislation and Texas was "in the game," he said. In the meantime, businesses would be wise to look at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology AI Risk Management Framework, which it released in July. NIST developed a voluntary framework to "better manage risks to individuals, organizations, and society associated with AI." Since the EU has already introduced its AI Act , the NIST framework offers another set of standards to guide businesses looking to implement AI while legislation is developed, Morse said. "Everyone looks at Congress and says, 'You should do something.' We don't think Congress is going to act, and there should be something against which the US can harmonize with Europe. The quickest way we thought that could happen was to ask the NIST to do a framework. They had completed the Cyber Framework and had just finished the privacy framework. We actually got Congress to ask them to do it, and they are now the most advanced component [in US AI policy], although it is voluntary," he said. "We're probably, like, halfway through the first period. It's early days. We know where we want to go, but it's also unlikely that it gets there without engagement. We are actively asking everyone to have an opinion, and get engaged. Where this all lands is going to direct the where AI goes," he said. In November, Joel Meyer, Domino Data Lab public sector president and former Homeland Security strategic initiatives deputy assistant secretary, told The Register that while president-elect Donald Trump was likely to ditch much of the work done by the outgoing Biden administration around AI when he comes into office, the AI Safety Institute housed within NIST might survive. Meyer said while any of Biden's executive actions could be fair game for the Trump administration to scrap in the name of political point scoring, such established offices are unlikely to vanish entirely. ®Gisèle Benoit still gets goosebumps when she remembers the first time she saw a family of eastern wolves emerge from the forests of the Mauricie National Park, under the backdrop of a rising moon. It was 1984 and Benoit, then in her early 20s, had been using a horn to try to call a bull moose when she instead heard a long howl, followed by an adult wolf stepping out to a rocky shore accompanied by a half-grown youth and four pups. “I will never forget that,” she said of the magical moment. “It’s anchored in my heart forever.” It was only later that Benoit, an artist and documentary filmmaker, learned that the wolves she saw weren’t grey wolves but rather rare eastern wolves. The species, whose population is estimated at fewer than 1,000 mature adults, could soon be further protected by new measures that are raising hopes among conservationists that attitudes toward a once-feared and maligned animal are shifting. In July, the federal government upgraded the eastern wolf’s threat level from “status of special concern” to “threatened,” based on a 2015 report by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. That report found the population count may be as low as 236 mature individuals in its central Ontario and southern Quebec habitat. The eastern wolf is described as medium-sized canid with reddish-tawny fur that lives in family groups of a breeding pair and their offspring. Also known as the Algonquin wolf, it is largely restricted to existing protected areas, including Algonquin Park in Ontario. The federal Environment Department said in an email that development of a recovery strategy is underway, adding it would be “written in collaboration with provincial governments, federal departments responsible for the federal lands where the eastern wolf is found as well as First Nations groups and Indigenous organizations.” The order triggers protection for the species on federal lands and forces Ottawa to prepare a recovery plan. However, the fight for protection could be an uphill battle in Quebec, which does not even recognize the eastern wolf as a distinct species. A spokesperson for Quebec’s Environment Department said Quebec considers the eastern wolf a “genetic group” rather than its own species. “Recent study shows that the eastern wolf is a distinct entity, even if it comes from several crosses between the grey wolf and the coyote,” Daniel Labonté wrote in an email. “However, scientific knowledge does not demonstrate that this genetic grouping constitutes a species in its own right.” Labonté added that this lack of recognition was not a barrier to protecting the animal, since the law also allows for protection of subspecies or wildlife populations. In October, Quebec launched a program to collect samples to improve knowledge on the distribution of large canines, including the eastern wolf. The government said it is currently “impossible to assert that there is an established population” in Quebec due to low numbers — amounting to three per cent of analyzed samples — and the “strong hybridization that exists among large canids.” Véronique Armstrong, co-founder of a Quebec wildlife protection association, says she’s feeling positive about both the Canadian and Quebec governments’ attitudes. While wolves were once “stigmatized, even persecuted,” she said, “we seem to be heading in the direction of more protection.” Her group, the Association québécoise pour la protection et l’observation de la faune, has submitted a proposal for a conservation area to protect southern Quebec wolves that has already received signs of support from three of the regional municipalities that would be covered, she said. While it’s far from settled, she’s hopeful that the battle to protect wolves might be easier than for some other species, such as caribou, because the wolves are adaptable and can tolerate some human activity, including forestry. John Theberge, a retired professor of ecology and conservation biology from the University of Waterloo and a wolf researcher, spent several years along with his wife studying and radio-collaring eastern wolves around Algonquin Park. Back in the 1990s and 2000s, they faced a “huge political battle” to try to expand wolf protection outside park boundaries after realizing that the far-ranging animals were being hunted and trapped in large numbers once they left the protected lands. Conservationists, he said, faced resistance from powerful hunter and trapper lobbies opposed to protecting the animals but in the end succeeded in permanently closing the zones outside the park to hunting and trapping in 2004. Theberge says people who want to save wolves today still face some of that same opposition — especially when governments including Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia kill wolves to protect endangered caribou. But he believes the public support for protecting wolves has increased from when his career began in the 1960s, when they were treated with fear and suspicion. “Nobody wore T-shirts with wolves on them back then,” he said. Over the years, there have been questions about whether the eastern wolf may be a grey wolf subspecies or a coyote-wolf hybrid. But in the order protecting the wolves, the federal government says genetic analyses have resolved that debate, showing that it is a “distinct species.” Benoit, Theberge and Armstrong all believe that while it’s important to protect the eastern wolf from a genetic diversity perspective, there is value in protecting all wolves, regardless of their DNA. Wolves, they say, are an umbrella species, meaning that protecting them helps protect a variety of other species. They kill off weak and sick animals, ensuring strong populations. They’re also “highly developed, sentient social species, with a division of labour, and strong family alliances,” Theberge said. Benoit agrees. After years spent watching wolves, she has developed great respect for how they live in close-knit families, with older offspring helping raise new pups. “It’s extraordinary to see how their way of life is a little like humans’,” she said. Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian PressHouse rejects Democratic efforts to force release of Matt Gaetz ethics report
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Ray'Sean Taylor had 27 points, Ring Malith scored 24 with 10 rebounds and SIU Edwardsville beat Ball State 82-69 on Sunday. Taylor went 9 of 22 from the field (7 for 15 from 3-point range) for the Cougars (6-4). Malith hit 7 of 13 shots and 9 of 10 at the free-throw line. Brian Taylor II shot 5 of 8 from the field and 2 for 4 from the line to finish with 13 points. Juan Sebastian Gorosito led the way for the Cardinals (3-6) with 17 points. Ball State also got 13 points and six rebounds from Ben Hendriks. Malith scored 10 points in the first half and SIU-Edwardsville went into the break trailing 41-39. Ray'Sean Taylor scored the last seven points for SIU-Edwardsville to finish off the 13-point victory. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Justice is supposed to be blind. But in the case of Luigi Mangione – the 26-year-old American who allegedly shot dead health insurance company CEO Brian Thompson in New York last week – it had its eyes wide open. Wide open and ogling: not long after Mangione’s arrest (in the appropriately American environs of a McDonald’s) the internet exploded with memes about how good-looking he is. The eyes have it: Images from Pennsylvania State Police showing Luigi Mangione at a McDonald’s in Altoona on December 9, where he was arrested and later charged with murder. Credit: AP It really is the (alleged) murder for the moment – executed on a midtown Manhattan street and instantly transformed into viral internet fodder, with the alleged perpetrator’s social media footprint mined to feed the relentless content beast. Mangione is an all-American princeling: Ivy League-educated, brawny and brainy. It was his distinctive full eyebrows that did him in – security camera footage of the suspect shows a pair of fine eyes and strong brows, framed by a COVID mask and a black hoodie. Days later, as he ate his hash brown in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, his eyes helped a member of the public to identify him and phone him in. On social media, Jonathan Ness from the Queer Eye for a Straight Guy TV show joked that their next season could be devoted to Mangione, for a straight-guy makeover. But, Ness said, don’t worry – “the brows, [I] would never touch”. Memes proliferated about his hotness, with “If he’s fit, you must acquit” being just one example of the kind of thing being posted. There were shirtless photos, verbal accounts from his friends (who say he is lovely) and reports that he had suffered from terrible back pain, for which he had endured a spinal operation in June. The bullets that killed Thompson on December 4 were inscribed with the words “Deny”, “Defend” and “Depose”. This seems to be a reference to the reported behind-doors strategy of US health insurers, who use these tactics to not pay out insurance claims to patients, thereby maximising their profits. The “manifesto” reportedly found in Mangione’s backpack was a soup of anti-capitalist vigilantism and motherhood-statement morality about corporate America. It is shocking that an alleged murderer should be celebrated in this way, but not at all surprising. Gun violence in America is quotidian. It is a country with a long history of vigilantism. It also has a history of public fascination with killers possessing (alleged) sex appeal, from Charles Manson to the more recent case of the Menendez brothers . The lawlessness and moral glibness of the internet is the flipside to the United States’ culture of individual freedom. In a perfectly American twist, the anti-capitalist crusader has been exploited for merchandising opportunities. T-shirts, hoodies, tote bags and mugs bearing Mangione’s image are available online. But we can’t blame the internet – we must look at why there is a market for Mangione merch, and why ordinary people, including those who presumably don’t have homicidal tendencies themselves, would cheer on a murderer. It doesn’t hurt that he’s beautiful. There is also the widespread rage many share over his cause. The US health insurance industry is a multibillion-dollar profit giant, funded by the sickness of the American people. Stories of its institutional cruelty are legion. Just this week it was reported that a different health insurer, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, had quietly announced it would impose time limits on anaesthesia during certain surgeries, in certain states . The company later backed down in the face of a public outcry. A paper by the Commonwealth Fund (an American research body dedicated to promoting “a high-performing, equitable healthcare system”) states that healthcare spending in the US, both per person and as a share of GDP, is “far higher” than other high-income countries. A poster depicting Mangione outside the Hilton Midtown Hotel in New York. Credit: AP But Americans are getting sicker. According to the Commonwealth Fund, “people in the United States experience the worst health outcomes overall of any high-income nation”. They are more likely to die younger, from avoidable causes, than people in peer countries. They have higher maternal and infant mortality rates, the highest rate of people with multiple chronic conditions among peer countries, and an obesity rate nearly twice the OECD average. Another Commonwealth Fund paper reported that “media investigations have found that insurers are becoming increasingly adept in using technology to deny payment of medical claims and pressure their company physicians to deny care during prior authorisation reviews”. It has been reported that UnitedHealthcare has the highest claim-denial rate (32 per cent) of all the private insurance companies. The Manhattan shooting can be read as a cautionary tale illustrating the far-reaching consequences of economic inequality (not to mention a moment to give quiet thanks for the taxpayer-funded universal healthcare we enjoy in Australia). But the tasteless cheering over the assassination – a defenceless man shot in the back with no warning – is something more than that. It is a nihilistic expression of the hopelessness of American politics as a remedy for anything, not even something so fundamental as access to healthcare. President-elect Donald Trump has at least named the problem of America’s bad-health epidemic. But his tonic is his nominee to head the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr – an anti-vaxxer who advocates cooking in beef tallow (a heart disease-inducing saturated fat) because he says the seed-oil industry is poisoning us. Trump told Time magazine this week that he and RFK Jr will discuss ending some child vaccination programs . Trump suggested vaccines might be responsible for autism, a dangerous myth that has been widely debunked. In the embittered, conspiracy-laced realm of online radicalisation, there are no crucial distinctions between left and right. Instead, there is bipartisan agreement that politicians won’t help, and that democracy is an inefficient vehicle for generating social solutions. In the face of such nihilism, it doesn’t matter that violence only breeds more violence, and that Luigi Mangione will soon be last month’s meme, just another pretty person to scroll past. Jacqueline Maley is a columnist.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Sam Darnold tossed aside his stoic demeanor for a moment after realizing he was on the videoboard, aggressively twirling a towel to further stoke the crowd's fire after the Minnesota Vikings had pulled away from Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons late in the game. “I just felt the buzz. That was pure passion, pure joy, man,” Darnold said. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, obituaries, sports, and more.NFL Week 14 grades: Hot Steelers earn 'A-' for beating up on Browns, Eagles get lower mark than Panthers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Reported sexual assaults at the U.S. military service academies dropped in 2024 for the second year in a row, according to new Pentagon data, marking a sharp turnaround from an alarming surge two years ago that triggered sweeping reviews and an overhaul in leadership . The decline in reports was mirrored by a similar decrease in the total number of students who said in an anonymous survey that they experienced some type of unwanted sexual contact during the school year that ended in the spring. Defense officials, however, warned on Thursday that the numbers are still high, and there is still a lot of work to be done. According to the survey, which is done every other year, about 13% of female students said they experienced unwanted sexual contact in the 2024 school year, compared with more than 21% in 2022. For men, the rate decreased from 4.4% to 3.6%. The reported assaults reflect familiar trends. Most of the alleged offenders are also academy students and are often known to the victim. They often happen after duty hours or on weekends and holidays. Drinking has long been a consistent factor. Beth Foster, executive director of the Pentagon’s force resiliency office, called the new numbers encouraging. But she added, “the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment is still far too high. What this data tells us is that this is a difficult problem for all, but it is not an impossible problem to solve.” A vast majority of students — 88% — responded to the survey. Defense officials said they are still concerned that, based on the survey, an estimated 783 students experienced unwanted sexual contact but just a small percentage reported it. The U.S. military and defense leaders have pushed improvements in programs, leadership training and staffing to encourage more victims to report so they can receive help and perpetrators can be punished. Defense officials released preliminary data much earlier than usual this year, and said the full report will go out in February. They said the early release was done to provide better information to school leaders who are implementing changes. However, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will leave in January when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and new leadership will take over the Pentagon. Trump and his pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth , have vowed to eliminate “woke” policies fostering diversity and equity, and it’s not clear how any of that may impact sexual assault prevention efforts. Hegseth himself has been accused of sexual assault , which he denies, although he acknowledges making a settlement payment to the woman. Foster and others said Austin’s pressure on academy leaders to confront the problem led to a number of changes in how the schools foster better leaders and focus more stridently on sexual assault prevention. Related Articles National News | Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds National News | How to protect your communications through encryption National News | Companies tighten security after a health care CEO’s killing leads to a surge of threats National News | Unidentified drones spotted flying at locations across NYC, including LaGuardia Airport National News | About 2.6 million Stanley cups recalled after malfunctions caused burns. Is your mug included? The total number of reported sexual assaults at the academies is divided in an often complex and confusing way. Academy and defense officials focus on the number of assaults reported by cadets and midshipmen during their school year. But students sometimes file reports after they leave the academies, describing incidents that happened when they were in school. The total is 106 for the 2024 school year, a sharp drop from 137 last year and 170 in 2022. The totals also decreased at each individual academy. Students at the U.S. Naval Academy reported 47 assaults, a slight dip from 49 the previous year. The other two saw significant decreases: Students at the Air Force Academy in Colorado reported 34, compared with 45 last year, and those at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York reported 25, compared with 43. In addition, eight students reported assaults last year that happened to them before they became students. The military services and the academies have struggled for years to combat sexual assault and harassment, with myriad prevention, education and treatment programs. But despite reams of research, and expanded programs, the numbers have grown. A renewed emphasis on it in the past several years has led to improvements and staff increases, although service members still complain that the videos and other programs are often outdated and don’t resonate as well with young troops. 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A police team, led by Narayanpur OC Nipon Gogoi, recovered the horn from the residence of a local man Neela Gogoi. The raid was conducted following reliable intelligence regarding illegal wildlife trade activities in the area. Neela was taken into custody and subsequently handed over to the forest department, along with the confiscated horn. He has been charged under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, which strictly prohibits poaching, trafficking and trading of rhino products. During interrogation, Neela revealed that three unknown individuals had approached him on Dec 3 with the rhino horn, offering to sell it for a hefty sum of Rs 5 lakh. “When I told them I didn’t have the money, they suggested I keep the horn and find a potential buyer in exchange for a handsome commission. They then left promising to return in a week to check on the progress,” Gogoi told police. Authorities are now investigating the identities of the individuals who tried to sell the horn to Gogoi. We also published the following articles recently 1 detained with 1.3kg rhino horn in Lakhimpur Police in Assam's Lakhimpur district detained Neela Gogoi after discovering a 1.3 kg rhino horn at his residence. Gogoi claimed three unidentified men left the horn with him, proposing he find a buyer for a commission. They offered the horn for Rs 5 lakh, promising to return later. Two nabbed for bid to sell whale ambergris & blackbuck horns Two men, Hemrao Mehta and Hrithik Lekurwale, were arrested in Pune for possessing and attempting to sell whale ambergris and blackbuck horns, valued at 1 lakh. Forest officials, acting on a tip-off, conducted an undercover operation, posing as buyers. In city of tehzeeb, no horn zones stop none from honking A Times of India investigation revealed alarming noise pollution levels outside Lucknow hospitals, exceeding permissible limits by over 33%. Readings ranged from 79-90 decibels, significantly higher than the recommended 50dB. Experts warn this excessive noise disrupts patient recovery and increases stress. Hospital officials urge stricter enforcement and public awareness campaigns to curb honking and promote quieter healing environments. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .
