Adobe Stock The start of 2025 is the perfect time to breathe life into your home gym. Whether you’re just beginning your fitness journey or are a seasoned pro, a refresh can bring a wave of motivation that keeps your goals exciting. A well-designed workout space can turn exercise from a chore into a rewarding daily ritual. With a few key upgrades, you can create a home gym that’s tailored to your style, needs and fitness ambitions. Here are 11 essentials to upgrade your setup and kick off some focused, fulfilling workouts. 1. Kizik Slip On Shoes: Step Into the Zone Photo provided by Kizik When you’re gearing up for exercise, the last thing you want to do is waste time fiddling with laces. Kizik’s slip on shoes are the ultimate convenience item, letting you go from lounging around the house to jumping into your routine with no fuss. Simply step in and go! People are also reading... Slip ons are perfect for a wide range of movements, from warm-ups to cool-down stretches, and they let you get in and out of the zone smoothly. With a pair of versatile slip-on shoes, you'll always be ready to jump into a quick workout whenever the motivation hits. Kiziks also add a stylish touch to your setup, giving your place a more laid-back, welcoming vibe. These simple but smart additions to your footwear collection can become a staple of longer sessions or when you just want to squeeze in a few extra minutes of movement. Grab a pair of slip-on shoes from Kizik, and you’ll be set for the new year. 2. O Positiv Women’s Vitamins: Support Your Goals Photo provided by O Positiv Womanhood is a beautiful journey, and discomfort shouldn't hold you back. That’s where O Positiv’s women’s vitamins come into play. These supplements are designed to address a range of women’s health concerns, helping you seek relief from your most persistent symptoms. It’s no secret that mainstream medicine doesn’t take women’s health concerns seriously. O Positiv is here to change that. Whatever your experience, you shouldn’t have to feel embarrassed in a doctor’s office or like you’re forced to minimize your symptoms because they’re something that “everyone goes through.” When you add these vitamins to your daily ritual, you can work toward achieving real results, whether you’re curbing your PMS or managing the symptoms of menopause. While you may build and tone your muscles in the gym, O Positiv understands that a commitment to well-being should touch every point of your life — and that overall wellness will help you reach new personal bests. 3. Mood Delta 9 Gummies: Relax and Recover After a good session, recovery is where the magic happens. Resting after exercise is essential to muscle growth, flexibility and preventing injury. Mood’s Delta 9 gummies can be a great addition to your post-workout routine, adding a touch of relaxation that helps you physically and mentally unwind. Taking a few minutes to cool down and recover — whether with meditation, stretching or simply enjoying a moment of calm — can make a big difference in how you feel the next day. For many people, the recovery process can be just as important as the workout itself. Consider setting up a small corner in your space where you enjoy a bit of downtime, maybe with a mat for stretching or a chair for chilling with a good book. Adopting Mood can help make your place a wellness zone where taking care of yourself extends beyond the last rep. 4. Tumble Washable Rugs: Freshen Things Up Photo provided by Tumble An intense session often means a lot of sweat, and washable rugs from Tumble are an ideal solution for keeping your space clean and comfortable. No matter if you’re jumping into cardio, yoga or a stretching routine, a washable rug can provide a cushioned surface while protecting your floors from moisture and wear. When you need to freshen up your home gym, just toss the rug in the wash, and it’s as good as new. This hassle-free cleaning routine is especially helpful if your gear is located in a high-traffic area or shared by family members. Having a washable rug means you can focus on your workout without worrying about the mess. Tumble offers a variety of colors and designs, so you can pick a pattern and shade that speaks to you and create a space that feels as stylish as it is functional. 5. Samara Backyard Homes: Expand Your Workout Space Photo provided by Samara If you dream of a little more room to spread out when focusing on your fitness, why not take it outside? Samara’s backyard homes can serve as personal gyms, opening up all kinds of possibilities. Samara allows you to customize your place and bring in equipment that might not fit indoors. Whether you’re adding a bench for strength training, an open area for yoga or a quiet nook for stretching, they give you the freedom to shape a space that’s as dynamic as your goals. A backyard home gym also creates a dedicated location for exercise, separate from the distractions of daily life. You can design it with your favorite movements in mind, tailoring everything from the layout to the decor to make it your personal wellness retreat. With Samara, you can build something that feels truly your own. 6. Snif Scented Candles: Set the Mood Creating the right atmosphere can greatly impact the success of your workouts, and scented candles from Snif are a great way to set the tone. From a calming vibe for yoga to an invigorating scent for your morning cardio, the right candle can make things feel inviting and focused. Lighting a candle can also help you mentally transition from everyday demands to fitness mode, allowing you to engage in each session to your fullest. Certain scents can even help you sustain your focus and manage your stress, setting the stage for workouts where you’re fully present and energized. Snif’s scented candles are more than just a way to make things smell good — they create an ambiance that can maintain your motivation, help you manage your stress or simply make your experience more enjoyable. When you need extra help getting into the right headspace, something from Snif can set the mood. 7. Fatty15 C15 Supplement: Maintain Your Cells Dedicating yourself to exercise means dedicating yourself to full-body well-being. To completely revamp your workouts, you have to start from the inside out. Fatty15’s C15 supplement can help keep you feeling your best while you’re throwing weights around — and in everyday life. When it comes to fatty acid supplements, you may be familiar with C15’s cousin, omega-3. But did you know omega-3 and C15 are essential for your health, and C15 plays a role in protecting your cells from the effects of aging? It can promote a healthy and energized feeling and help prevent some of the long-term deterioration that occurs to your cells as you get older. Working out is a process that can also lead to long-term well-being, and C15 can assist. As you look to create an environment that is safe, effective and pushes you forward, make Fatty15 another piece of your routine. With these steps in place, you’ll look fit and feel fit, too, capable of tackling anything life throws your way. 8. LUSA Lighting: Brighten The Vibes High-quality lighting is necessary in every part of your house, but especially for the ones where you work out. Premium designer-grade lighting from LUSA can make your home gym bright and dynamic, helping you stay focused on your form and keep your energy up. A well-lit space can transform a dark or cramped area into a vibrant zone that’s inspiring to step into every day. Lighting doesn’t just impact how you see — it can also impact how you feel. LUSA’s flicker-free, low-glare lights feature a warm-dimming feature that removes blue light as lights are dimmed, making it adjustable for cool-downs, warm-ups and intense HIIT sessions alike. With LUSA, you can customize the ambiance to suit any training style, ensuring your place is always fresh, inviting and inspiring. 9. Pepper Home Custom Curtains: Achieve Some Privacy If you could use extra privacy or just a little extra flair, custom curtains from Pepper Home might be the perfect addition. Curtains can help define any area and give it a cozy, welcoming feel. At the same time, they can create a more secluded environment where you can focus on exercise. If your area is shared or open, curtains can add a layer of separation that helps you tune out distractions and stay in the zone. Additionally, they can help control the amount of natural light, maintaining a balance between a bright place and a calming atmosphere. Custom curtains can bring a unique flair to your design, complementing the colors and style you’ve chosen for the room. You also have the freedom to choose fabrics, lengths and trims that match your aesthetic, giving everything a polished, customized look. It’s an easy method of making your revamp a true reflection of your personality. 10. REP Fitness Kettlebell Set: Upgrade Your Training A kettlebell set from REP Fitness can be a game-changer in the new year. These compact weights are perfect for various movements that work both strength and stability, allowing you to mix things up and target different muscle groups. From swinging and squatting to pressing, kettlebells can add a dynamic element to your rituals that keeps things challenging. Incorporating kettlebells into your home gym can help you sustain your strength training with options for various experience levels and goals. Plus, a REP Fitness set is compact and easy to store, making it ideal even for smaller spaces. With these handy weights at your disposal, you can try out new exercises, support your strength and add a functional edge to your setup. 11. Everlast Punching Bag: Channel Your Inner Boxer If you’re looking for a way to blow off steam, a punching bag from Everlast may be just what you’re looking for. Boxing is a powerful cardio workout that also builds strength, agility and coordination. Adding a punching bag to your setup is a fun and intense way to elevate your training, and it’s perfect for days when you need an extra push or want to release some stress. A punching bag can also be a motivator, encouraging high-energy movements that are exciting and different from your traditional routine. With Everlast, you can incorporate boxing into your day, working on your endurance and technique while enjoying a unique and empowering workout. Ready, Set, Revamp! Your home gym should inspire you, support your goals and make every session enjoyable. With a few carefully chosen upgrades, you can create an area that feels functional and personal in equal measure. These simple additions can change how you approach your fitness rituals. Remember, a setup tailored to you can help you stay consistent and genuinely enjoy yourself. Start the new year with fresh energy and a revamp that’s truly your own — you’re going to crush it! Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!
Christopher Nolan’s next film is based on ‘The Odyssey’ANN ARBOR, Michigan (AP) — Michigan defensive lineman Kenneth Grant is skipping his final college season to enter the NFL draft. Grant, a key part of the Wolverines' 2023 national championship team, announced his decision Thursday on X, formerly known as Twitter. Fellow Michigan interior lineman Mason Graham had already declared for the draft. Both are projected as likely first-round picks. The 6-foot-3, 339-pound Grant was a third-team Associated Press All-American. He had 32 tackles, 6 1/2 tackles for loss and a pair of fumble recoveries. Grant helped Michigan upset Ohio State in the Big Ten regular-season finale, making four tackles. Cornerback Will Johnson and tight end Colston Loveland have also declared for the draft leading up to Michigan's game against No. 11 Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballPLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter's in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Carter's path, a mix of happenstance and calculation , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That's a very narrow way of assessing them," Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn't suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he'd be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter's tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter's lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the Georgians and their inner circle as “country come to town.” Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. Born Oct. 1, 1924 , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor's race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama's segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival's endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King's daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters' early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to “move to a very liberal program,” lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan's presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan's Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on family property alongside Rosalynn . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as public pilgrimages to Plains became advantageous again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.
By ROB GILLIES, Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Donald Trump that Americans would also suffer if the president-elect follows through on a plan to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products , a Canadian minister who attended their recent dinner said Monday. Trump threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if they don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders with the United States. He said on social media last week that he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders. Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security, attended a dinner with Trump and Trudeau at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club on Friday. Trudeau requested the meeting in a bid to avoid the tariffs by convincing Trump that the northern border is nothing like the U.S. southern border with Mexico . “The prime minister of course spoke about the importance of protecting the Canadian economy and Canadian workers from tariffs, but we also discussed with our American friends the negative impact that those tariffs could have on their economy, on affordability in the United States as well,” LeBlanc said in Parliament. If Trump makes good on his threat to slap 25% tariffs on everything imported from Mexico and Canada, the price increases that could follow will collide with his campaign promise to give American families a break from inflation. Economists say companies would have little choice but to pass along the added costs, dramatically raising prices for food, clothing, automobiles, alcohol and other goods. The Produce Distributors Association, a Washington trade group, said last week that tariffs will raise prices for fresh fruit and vegetables and hurt U.S. farmers when the countries retaliate. Canada is already examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the U.S. should Trump follow through on the threat. After his dinner with Trump, Trudeau returned home without assurances the president-elect will back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner. Trump called the talks “productive” but signaled no retreat from a pledge that Canada says unfairly lumps it in with Mexico over the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States. “The idea that we came back empty handed is completely false,” LeBlanc said. “We had a very productive discussion with Mr. Trump and his future Cabinet secretaries. ... The commitment from Mr. Trump to continue to work with us was far from empty handed.” Joining Trump and Trudeau at dinner were Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, and Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice to be his national security adviser. Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, told The Associated Press on Sunday that “the message that our border is so vastly different than the Mexican border was really understood.” Hillman, who sat at an adjacent table to Trudeau and Trump, said Canada is not the problem when it comes to drugs and migrants. On Monday, Mexico’s president rejected those comments. “Mexico must be respected, especially by its trading partners,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said. She said Canada had its own problems with fentanyl consumption and “could only wish they had the cultural riches Mexico has.” Related Articles National Politics | Young men swung to the right for Trump after a campaign dominated by masculine appeals National Politics | In final month of the session, Congress looks to clean up loose ends, prepare for Trump National Politics | Democrats still don’t agree on the seriousness of their political problem after election defeat National Politics | Recess appointments could put Trump at odds with conservatives on the Supreme Court National Politics | Under Trump, many states might pursue Medicaid work requirements Flows of migrants and seizures of drugs at the two countries’ border are vastly different. 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. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports as well. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing for national security.After opening the week with a perfectly clean injury report, Los Angeles Rams offensive tackle Rob Havenstein is dealing with a shoulder injury that occurred in practice, putting his status up in the air in advance of Saturday's home game against the Arizona Cardinals. The Rams (9-6), who are on a four-game winning streak that moved them into the lead in the NFC West, have rebounded from a 1-4 start. That poor early stretch was due, in part, to injuries on the offensive line. Havenstein missed the season opener against the Detroit Lions with an ankle injury, then missed a three-game stretch in November with more ankle issues. Havenstein did not practice Thursday because of the shoulder injury, although he typically does not participate in the final practice of the week for rest purposes. The 32-year-old is in his 10th NFL season, all with the Rams going back to the team's 2015 season in St. Louis. Joe Noteboom would likely start if Havenstein is not available Saturday. The Rams can clinch the NFC West this weekend with a victory over the Cardinals (7-8), combined with a loss or tie by the Seattle Seahawks (8-7) against the Chicago Bears (4-11). --Field Level Media
CORVALLIS, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 26, 2024-- NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE: SMR), the industry-leading provider of proprietary and innovative advanced nuclear small modular reactor (SMR) technology, today announced the results of its previously announced redemption of all of its outstanding warrants (the Warrants) to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.00001 per share (the Common Stock). As of December 19, 2024 (the Redemption Date), approximately 97% of the Company’s outstanding Warrants were exercised by the holders thereof to purchase fully paid and non-assessable shares of Class A Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, which includes Warrants that were exercised prior to the announcement of the redemption. As a result, holders of the Warrants received an aggregate of 19,800,548 shares of the Company’s Common Stock in exchange for $227.7 million in cash proceeds to the Company. All unexercised and outstanding Warrants as of 5:00 p.m. EST on the Redemption Date were redeemed at a price of $0.01 per Warrant and, as a result, no Warrants currently remain outstanding and the Warrants have ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange. About NuScale Power Founded in 2007, NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE: SMR) is the industry-leading provider of proprietary and innovative advanced small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology, with a mission to help power the global energy transition by delivering safe, scalable, and reliable carbon-free energy. The Company’s groundbreaking SMR technology is powered by the NuScale Power ModuleTM, a small, safe, pressurized water reactor that can each generate 77 megawatts of electricity (MWe) or 250 megawatts thermal (gross), and can be scaled to meet customer needs through an array of flexible configurations up to 924 MWe (12 modules) of output. As the first and only SMR to have its design certified by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NuScale is well-positioned to serve diverse customers across the world by supplying nuclear energy for electrical generation, data centers, district heating, desalination, commercial-scale hydrogen production, and other process heat applications. To learn more, visit NuScale Power’s website or follow us on LinkedIn , Facebook , Instagram , X and YouTube . No Offer or Solicitation This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any offer of any of the Company’s securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241216748078/en/ CONTACT: Investor contactScott Kozak Director, Investor Relations ir@nuscalepower.comMedia contactChuck Goodnight Vice President, Business Development media@nuscalepower.com KEYWORD: OREGON UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: NUCLEAR ENERGY SOURCE: NuScale Power Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/26/2024 04:15 PM/DISC: 12/26/2024 04:15 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241216748078/en
