777 fortune gems Article content MTL Shake, a family dance party planned for Sunday afternoon in Rosemont, was cancelled on Saturday after La Presse reported discounted tickets were being sold for Black, Indigenous and people of colour . Ticket price for a white adult had been set at $25.83, compared with $15.18 for BIPOC adults. Lawyer Julius Grey, an expert in human rights law, called the initiative an example of “flagrant discrimination,” the newspaper reported. Several politicians denounced the differential rate structure, among them Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. He posted on X: “What all Quebecers want, no matter their skin colour, is equal treatment without discrimination. That’s exactly the opposite of what this organization is doing.” MTL Shake, organized by a member of the La Cabane community organization, announced Saturday on social media the event would not take place. “We received SO much hate and misunderstanding about our BIPOC ticket pricing, that for the safety and security of all, we prefer to stay on the safe side with this one,” it said. “We really regret this situation and are so deeply disappointed.” It said the cost of tickets, including taxes and fees, would be refunded. La Cabane, which was renting its space to the MTL Shake organizer, said on social media it supported MTL Shake in its intention to “make this event as accessible as possible,” but after discussion, the event organizer agreed, going forward, it would use a sliding-scale fee structure based on revenue, as La Cabane has been doing since 2019.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s decision to go back on his word and issue a categorical pardon for his son, Hunter , just weeks before his scheduled sentencing on gun and tax convictions was a surprise that wasn't all that surprising. Not to those who had witnessed the president’s shared anguish over his two sons after the boys survived a car crash that killed Biden's first wife and a daughter more than a half-century ago. Or to those who heard the president regularly lament the death of his older son, Beau , from cancer or voice concerns — largely in private — about Hunter’s sobriety and health after years of deep addiction. But by choosing to put his family first, the 82-year-old president — who had pledged to restore a fractured public’s trust in the nation’s institutions and respect for the rule of law — has raised new questions about his already teetering legacy. “This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,” Colorado's Democratic Gov. Jared Polis wrote in a post on X. He added that while he could sympathize with Hunter Biden’s struggles, “no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.” Biden aides and allies had been resigned to the prospect of the president using his extraordinary power in the waning days of his presidency to ensure his son wouldn't see time behind bars, especially after Donald Trump ’s win. The president's supporters have long viewed Biden's commitment to his family as an asset overall, even if Hunter's personal conduct and tangled business dealings were seen as a persistent liability. But the pardon comes as Biden has become increasingly isolated since the loss to Trump by Vice President Kamala Harris , who jumped in to the race after the president’s catastrophic debate against Trump in June forced his exit from the election. He is still struggling to resolve thorny foreign policy issues in the Middle East and Europe. And he must reckon with his decision to seek reelection despite his advanced age, which helped return the Oval Office to Trump, a man he had warned time and again was a threat to democratic norms. Trump has gleefully planned to undo Biden’s signature achievements on climate change and reverse the Democrat's efforts to reinvigorate the country’s alliances, all while standing poised to take credit for a strengthening economy and billions in infrastructure investments that are in the pipeline for the coming years. And now, Biden has handed the Republican a pretext to carry through with sweeping plans to upend the Department of Justice as the Republican vows to seek retribution against supposed adversaries. “This pardon is just deflating for those of us who’ve been out there for a few years yelling about what a threat Trump is,” Republican Joe Walsh, a vocal Trump critic, said on MSNBC. “‘Nobody’s above the law,’ we’ve been screaming. Well, Joe Biden just made clear his son Hunter is above the law.” Jean-Pierre said Monday from Air Force One that the president wrestled with the decision but ultimately felt his son’s case had been tainted by politics, though she tried to thread the needle — insisting he had faith in the Justice Department. “He believes in the justice system, but he also believes that politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice,” she said. But Trump has already made very clear his intent to disrupt federal law enforcement with his initial nomination of outspoken critics like former Rep. Matt Gaetz to be attorney general and Kash Patel to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray , who nominally still has more than two years left in his term. (Gaetz ended up quickly withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations.) Reacting to the pardon, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement: “That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people." In a social media post, the president-elect himself called the pardon “such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice.” “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” Trump asked. He was referring to those convicted in the violent Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters aiming to overturn the 2020 presidential election result. Biden and his spokespeople had repeatedly and flatly ruled out the president granting his son a pardon. In June, Biden told reporters as his son faced trial in the Delaware gun case, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.” In July, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: “It's still a no. It will be a no. It is a no. And I don’t have anything else to add. Will he pardon his son? No." In November, days after Trump's victory, Jean-Pierre reiterated that message: “Our answer stands, which is no." Neither Biden nor the White House explained the shift in the president's thinking, and it was his broken promise as much as his act of clemency that was a lightning rod. He is hardly the first president to pardon a family member or friend entangled in political dealings. Bill Clinton pardoned his brother Roger for drug charges after he had served his sentence roughly a decade earlier. In his final weeks in office, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner , the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner, as well as multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Yet Biden held himself up as placing his respect for the American judicial system and rule of law over his own personal concerns — trying to draw a deliberate contrast with Trump, who tested the bounds of his authority like few predecessors. Inside the White House, the timing of the pardon was surprising to some who believed Biden would put it off as long as possible, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. It came just after Biden spent extended time over the past week with Hunter and other family members on Nantucket in Massachusetts, a family tradition for Thanksgiving. “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further,” Biden said in a statement announcing the pardon. Some in the administration have privately expressed anguish that the substance of Biden’s statement, including his claim of an unfair politically-tinged prosecution of his son resembled complaints Trump — who faced now-abandoned indictments over his role in trying to subvert the 2020 election — has been making for years about the Justice Department. Biden said the charges in his son's cases "came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.” Many legal experts agreed that the charges against the younger Biden were somewhat unusual, but the facts of the offenses were hardly in dispute, as Hunter wrote about his gun purchase while addicted to illegal drugs in his memoir and ultimately pleaded guilty to the tax charges. The pardon too was unusual, coming before Hunter Biden was even sentences and covering not just the gun and tax offenses against his son, but also anything else he might have done going back to the start of 2014. It's a move that could limit the ability of the Trump Justice Department to investigate the younger Biden's unsavory foreign business dealings, or to find new ground on which to bring criminal charges related to that time period. Biden, in his statement, asked for consideration: “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision." Associated Press Writer Aamer Madhani in Washington and Will Weissert aboard Air Force One contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!

An kama jigon NNPP a jihar BornoBLAINVILLE, Que. - Sam Oliver scored a hat trick to give him a league-leading 28 goals on the season and the Drummondville Voltigeurs kept rolling with a 6-2 win over the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League action Sunday. Ethan Gauthier, Adam Cavallin and Maxime Lambert all scored for Drummondville (22-5-3), who are 7-0-1 over their last eight games and lead the QMJHL with 47 points. Voltigeurs netminder Riley Mercer stopped 46 of 48 shots. Olivier Lemieux and Jonathan Fauchon scored for Blainville-Boisbriand (16-12-1). Armada goaltender Rémi Delafontaine kicked out 18 of 23 shots. —- ISLANDERS 4 HUSKIES 3 (SO) CHARLOTTETOWN — Alexis Michaud scored the shootout winner as the Islanders defeated Rouyn-Noranda. Egor Goriunov had two goals while Owen Conrad scored once for Charlottetown (11-15-3) in regulation. Islanders goaltender Nicolas Ruccia stopped 39 of 42 shots. Ty Higgins, Evan Courtois and Lars Steiner all scored for Rouyn-Noranda (16-6-7). Huskies goaltender Samuel Carreiras made 25 saves. —- WILDCATS 3 SEA DOGS 2 SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Gabe Smith scored the game-winning goal at 17:00 in the third period as Moncton edged the Sea Dogs. Juraj Pekarcik and Markus Vidicek also scored for Eastern Conference-leading Moncton (22-5-2). Wildcats netminder Rudy Guimond stopped 37 of 39 shots. Zachary Morin scored twice for Saint John (14-16-0), while Sea Dogs netminder Justin Robinson kicked out 36 of 39 shots. —- TITAN 2 MOOSEHEADS 1 (OT) BATHURST, N.B. — Dawson Sharkey scored in overtime period as the Acadie-Bathurst Titan edged Halifax. Liam Arsenault also scored for Acadie-Bathurst (18-11-0). Titan netminder Joshua Fleming stopped 35 of 36 shots. Lou Lévesque scored for Halifax (10-14-5). Mooseheads netminder Mathis Rousseau made 23 saves. —- EAGLES 5 FOREURS 3 SYDNEY, N.S. — Cam Squires scored three goals as the Cape Breton Eagles topped Val-D’Or. Émile Ricard and Luke Patterson also scored for Cape Breton (13-13-3). Eagles netminder Jakub Milota kicked out 28 of 31 shots. Noah Reinhart scored all three goals for Val-D’Or (9-17-3). Foreurs netminder Cédric Massé saved 29 of 34 shots, —- CATARACTES 3 OLYMPIQUES 1 GATINEAU — Mathys Fernandez made 32 saves and Kody Dupuis scored the game-winner as Shawinigan downed the Olympiques. Félix Lacerte and Matvei Gridin and Kody Dupuis also scored for Shawinigan (16-12-1). Julien Paillé scored once for Gatineau (6-18-6). Olympiques goaltender Nathan St-Pierre stopped 25 of 28 shots. This roundup was generated automatically with a CP-developed application. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2024.

Japanese singer and actor Yamashita Tomohisa, commonly known as Yamapi, recently caused a stir on social media when he shared a photo of himself with Taiwanese pop superstar Jay Chou. The two talented artists were pictured together backstage at a concert, smiling brightly and looking like old friends. Fans of both Yamapi and Jay Chou were thrilled to see the two Asian music icons together, and speculation about a possible collaboration between them quickly spread like wildfire.

Sabalenka Crowned WTA Player of the Year while Zheng Qinhui Misses Out

Under Armour Offers 40% Off Almost Everything This Black Friday And Cyber MondayAccording to experts, one of the key drivers of the potential for infighting is the lack of a unified command structure among the various armed groups. While some factions may share a common goal of overthrowing the government, they often have divergent ideologies, interests, and strategies. This lack of cohesion makes coordination and cooperation difficult, increasing the likelihood of misunderstandings, disputes, and clashes.

Applied Industrial Technologies VP sells $1.13 million in stock

AP Sports SummaryBrief at 5:24 p.m. EST

Title: Guardiola's Brother: "I Joke with My Brother that If He Ever Gets Bored, He Can Come and Coach Girona"Rockfire Resources plc ( LON:ROCK – Get Free Report )’s share price traded down 8.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as GBX 0.16 ($0.00) and last traded at GBX 0.16 ($0.00). 40,381,969 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 91% from the average session volume of 21,155,254 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 0.18 ($0.00). Rockfire Resources Price Performance The company has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 0.13 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 0.15. The stock has a market cap of £5.07 million, a P/E ratio of -2.20 and a beta of 0.38. About Rockfire Resources ( Get Free Report ) Rockfire Resources plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mineral exploration in Australia. The company explores for gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, and molybdenum deposits. It holds five exploration permits for minerals in Queensland; and an exploration and exploitation license in Greece. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Rockfire Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rockfire Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .ExxonMobil ( XOM -0.01% ) and the rest of the energy sector are down big in the past month as oil prices hover around their lowest levels in a year. But the company has plans to drive shareholder returns even at mediocre oil prices. Here's why ExxonMobil is well-positioned to substantially grow its earnings and cash flow in the coming years and why it stands out as a compelling dividend stock to buy in 2025. A clear outline for future growth On Dec. 11, ExxonMobil updated its corporate plan and extended its targets from 2027 out to 2030. Between 2019 and the third quarter of 2024, ExxonMobil achieved $11 billion in structural cost savings, grew earnings and cash flow, lowered its greenhouse gas emissions, and returned $140 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends. By 2030, the company expects to achieve an additional $7 billion in structural cost savings, bringing the total to $18 billion versus 2019. In addition to oil and gas, ExxonMobil is investing heavily in low-carbon technologies like carbon capture and storage and hydrogen. The company believes that carbon capture can help it deliver lower emissions power for data centers with projects that are fully detached from the grid. By 2030, ExxonMobil expects to grow annual cash flows by $30 billion compared to 2024 or by $50 billion since 2019, and earnings by $20 billion versus 2024 or $35 billion since 2019. These forecasts are based on $65 per barrel Brent crude oil prices and $3 per MMBtu Henry Hub natural gas prices. For context, Brent crude oil prices averaged $81.13 per barrel from January through November 2024, and Henry Hub gas prices averaged $2.12 per MMBtu during that period. Aside from 2020, 2024 has seen the lowest gas prices since 1998. Between 2025 and 2030, ExxonMobil expects to generate $165 billion in surplus cash above its existing dividend, leaving plenty of room for sizable dividend raises and buybacks. The cash surplus is basically the margin of error ExxonMobil has compared to its target oil and gas prices. If prices hit a downturn, ExxonMobil can still afford to raise its dividend but may buy back less stock. ExxonMobil said that at $55 per barrel Brent, it would expect to earn $110 billion in cash surplus. By comparison, if Brent prices average $85 during the forecast period, the surplus would be around $280 billion. ExxonMobil expects it can still fund its capital projects and its dividend even if Brent prices were just $35 through 2027 and $30 per barrel by 2030 -- illustrating how far the company has come in optimizing its production portfolio. The dividend is an integral part of the investment thesis for ExxonMobil. Despite ebbs and flows in the oil and gas industry, ExxonMobil has raised its dividend for 42 consecutive years. No matter what oil prices are doing, investors have been able to rely on ExxonMobil for a steady stream of passive income. ExxonMobil yields 3.7%, which is sizable compared to the S&P 500 yield of 1.2%. XOM data by YCharts Avoiding dependence on debt ExxonMobil's corporate plan sets clear expectations for investors to hold the company accountable over the next five years. Most importantly, the plan is based on generating positive cash flow and doesn't rely on debt. ExxonMobil's balance sheet is in its best condition in a decade. XOM Financial Debt to Equity (Quarterly) data by YCharts As you can see in the chart, ExxonMobil has very little net debt on its balance sheet for a company of its size. Its financial debt-to-equity and debt-to-capital ratios are very low, indicating it isn't relying on debt to run its business. ExxonMobil used excess profits in recent years to help pay down debt. Granted, it has ramped capital spending, but has emphasized investments that can contribute to high cash-flow generation. Projects that have a low cost of supply and higher returns, which ExxonMobil calls "advantaged assets," refer to the Permian Basin, Guyana, and its liquefied natural gas (LNG) portfolio. LNG is natural gas that is cooled and condensed into a liquid to export to buyers overseas. ExxonMobil completed the acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources earlier this year, which gave it significantly more Permian production. ExxonMobil now generates more than 50% of its production from advantaged assets, and expects to reach 60% for 2030 -- helping to drive down its cost of production. By focusing on advantaged assets, ExxonMobil can generate positive cash flow even at lower oil prices, which should help limit its leverage and maintain its financial health. ExxonMobil is a passive income powerhouse If ExxonMobil achieves its projected earnings growth, the company could be worth significantly more in the future than it is today. ExxonMobil is already an inexpensive stock -- with a 13.3 price-to-earnings ratio. And that's based on earnings during a period of fairly mediocre oil prices. Oil and gas companies tend to command discounted valuations compared to the broader market due to the industry's volatility and the uncertain future of oil and gas in a low-carbon world. But ExxonMobil's corporate plan shows that the company doesn't need oil and gas prices to go up to make substantially higher earnings and cash flows over the medium term. It can then use excess profits to invest in new technologies to remain an energy titan even if global oil and gas consumption gradually declines over time. Add it all up, and ExxonMobil stands out as arguably the most well-rounded oil and gas company to buy in 2025.

The idea of Pep Guardiola taking charge of Girona may seem far-fetched given his illustrious coaching career at elite clubs. However, the notion of a high-profile manager dropping down to a lower division club is not unprecedented in football. In recent years, several renowned managers have taken on new challenges at smaller clubs, drawn by the allure of grassroots football and the opportunity to make a meaningful impact in a different context.