Jay Flanagan isn’t one to get wrapped up with personal achievements. In his 19th season at Rancocas Valley and 34th overall, the veteran boys basketball coach has been through the wars. He understands the X’s and O’s better than most and has been involved in his share of blowouts and close finishes - from both a winning and losing perspective. Stories by Kevin Minnick Who lit it up in ’24?: Final stat leaders in all five N.J. football conferences Who lit it up?: Final West Jersey Football League stat leaders for 2024 season Boys Basketball: Can’t-miss games for opening weekend of 2024-25 season Who lit it up? Final football stat leaders for 2024 seasonCM Mamata Banerjee In Sandeshkhali Today

European Union ambassadors have agreed on the 15th package of sanctions against Russia. The new measures include, among other things, restrictions against Russia's "shadow fleet" – that is, third-country vessels that help it circumvent Western sanctions. This was announced by the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union . They noted that, in general, the new sanctions package targets entities in Russia and third countries "that indirectly contribute to the military and technological strengthening of the Russian Federation by circumventing export restrictions." For her part, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said: "The EU and its G7 partners intend to continue to put pressure on the Kremlin. This probably means that further restrictive measures against Russia are expected to be expanded. "I welcome the agreement on our 15th package of sanctions. It is aimed, in particular, at Russia's shadow fleet," von der Leyen said. Earlier, Latvia and Lithuania blocked the adoption of the package "due to disagreements" on the issue of extending the period granted to European companies to withdraw investments from Russia. In particular, these countries opposed leaving "loopholes for abuse." "Initially, the controversial clause was intended to help companies that said they wanted to leave Russia but could not do so for various reasons. But over time, it became a loophole for abuse – giving companies too much political cover to stay in Russia," Politico explained. However, now, presumably, the representatives of the countries have managed to agree on this issue. At the same time, it should be noted that the approval of sanctions by the ambassadors of the EU member states does not mean the adoption of the package. To do this, it must go through a number of procedures, after which it must be finally supported by the Council of the European Union. As reported by OBOZ.UA, at the same time, the Russian economy began to burst at the seams. Inflation is 28%, the ruble has fallen. There is only one step left to large-scale problems and collapse – a decline in oil prices. If China's economy has problems or the United States or OPEC starts to increase oil production, it could cause large-scale problems in Russia. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber . Do not fall for fakes!Caoimhin Kelleher saves Kylian Mbappe penalty as Liverpool close in Champions League last-16 with win over Real Madrid

Tesla Is Analyst's Top 2025 Stock Pick: Elon Musk Political Involvement May 'Accelerate' EV Maker Beyond AutosGreen Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love almost got tricked into paying a massive tab for a total stranger at a bar

West Virginia knocks off No. 3 Gonzaga in overtime

is having an inconsistent season so far, with his team having a 9-4 record that's only good enough for third place on the very stacked . The 2023 version of got him a massive four-year, $220 million contract extension but so far he's been above average with 2,724 passing yards for 21 touchdowns for 11 interceptions and a quarterback rating of 64.4%. As any young person, takes advantage of his free time to have some fun at a bar but he didn't expect to be in the middle of a very peculiar request: a total stranger tried to make him pay for a massive tab out of the blue. And it wasn't just any stranger: it was actor and comedian He has accumulated millions of views on social media platforms for his edgy pranks which includes trying to make famous people pay for ridiculous tabs. His latest victim? On a video posted in , we see TravQue next to Jordan Love as the comedian starts asking for humongous quantities of drinks. "Hey yo, bartender, look: let me get five bottles of tequila, right? Six bottles of champagne and three bottles of vodka, and put it on his tab. You know who this is? This is from the and he holding us down so you know he got it!" said the comedian. A very surprised Love immediately reacts with shock and disbelief and then he proceeds to let the bartender know that he's not gonna pay for any of the actor's bottles. "You got it, right?" added TravQue. "Nah, nah, nah," replied the player. "How much you made last year, bro?" continued the comedian. "Don't worry about that. You watching my money? No, no, no." said a very impatient Love. Luckily for everyone, the comedian didn't go any further with his prank. Other notable celebrities that the actor has tried to prank include New York rapper and business mogul and better known in the music industry asNone

Ryan Reynolds' humour feud with Martha Stewart continuesNone

PITTSBURGH — The Steelers are expecting to play a regular season game in Ireland in 2025, their first international game in 12 years, according to team sources. Because the Steelers have nine home games in 2025, it is likely one of those games will be in Ireland. It would be the team's first international game since they lost to the Minnesota Vikings in London in Week 4 of the 2013 season. The NFL could make the announcement in the next couple weeks. This year, they announced the teams who would play international games — Chicago, Jacksonville, Minnesota and Carolina — on Jan. 11, 2024. The opponent and date would not be announced until the 2025 NFL schedule is released in the spring. The Steelers' association with Ireland goes beyond the global licensing agreement they have with the European country. The Rooney family has strong Irish ties, and Dan Rooney, the team's late owner/chairman, served as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland from 2009-2012. Ireland is one of three countries in which the Steelers have a Global Markets Program license, along with Mexico and Germany. The license allows the team to participate in corporate sponsorship and merchandise sales in those countries, in addition to conducting in-person activities such as fan and youth football activities. The Steelers' 2025 home schedule includes games against the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, in addition to the three AFC North opponents. They also will play the corresponding team in the division standings from the AFC South and NFC West. As of right now, that would be the second-place teams — Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks — but that could change depending what happens in the final week of the regular season. Because the Steelers could be designated as the home team, they would be required to arrive in Ireland early in the week. When they played the Vikings in 2013, the Steelers were considered the road team and did not arrive in London until early Friday morning. Several players complained of jet lag and tired legs after a 34-27 loss to the Vikings, saying their bodies didn't have enough time to adjust to the five-hour time difference. NFL rules require the designated home team for each international game to have their home stadium reserved for use in the event that a game cannot be played at the international site. Decembers to forget December has not been a good month recently for the Steelers, not since Mike Tomlin uttered his ill-timed "going to unleash hell in December" remark in the 2009 season. After consecutive losses to the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs in an 11-day span, it marked the fourth time in the past six years the Steelers have lost three consecutive games in December. It is the fifth time in the past seven years they have lost three in a row after Thanksgiving. Those losing streaks caused them to miss the postseason in 2018 and 2019. If they don't beat the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend, it will be the first time since 1999 they ended the regular season with at least four consecutive losses. The Bengals have won four in a row since a 44-38 loss to the Steelers on Dec. 1 and still retain hope they can make the postseason. They are averaging 32.25 points in their past eight games. But the Steelers had their best offensive performance of the season in the first meeting. They had 520 yards offense, 28 first downs and their most points in six years. "The adversity can break you down," said quarterback Russell Wilson, who threw for 414 yards and three touchdowns in Cincinnati. "The adversity can challenge you in such a way that you start thinking negatively, start speaking negatively, start thinking, 'Woe is me.' Or the adversity can challenge you in such a way that there's growth, and then adversity can challenge you in such a way that you try to find the next moment." ©2024 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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BBC EastEnders' Christmas Day affair storyline 'mirrors' one of the soap's most iconic scandals

New data shows that the vast majority of Americans felt this year's general election was administered well, a stark contrast to perceptions in 2020 and a reflection of how Republican voters specifically have come around on election security in a year when their preferred presidential candidate won. Almost 9 in 10 U.S. voters felt the November election was run very well or somewhat well, according to data out Wednesday from the Pew Research Center , which surveyed people's opinions starting a week after voting ended. That number is more than 30 percentage points higher than it was at a similar point in 2020. The increase in voting confidence was driven exclusively by Republican voters. In November 2020, as then-President Donald Trump and his campaign advisers were spreading lies about voting and election workers, just a fifth of people who said they voted for Trump also said they felt the election was administered well. This year, 93% of people who voted for Trump approved of how the election was run. "It goes back to who had the microphone in 2020 and 2021," said Carly Koppes, a Republican county clerk in Weld County, Co. "When we have the candidate and the top people that are respected within the two parties not engaging and not amplifying [election lies], that's where we see the difference." This year, Trump spread baseless election cheating claims up until Election Day , but those stopped when the results became clear. Election workers like Koppes are quick to note the two presidential elections were actually very similar from an administration perspective. The 2020 election featured slightly more mail voting, as many states expanded access options in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about the safety of in-person voting, but neither election featured any widespread issues. The biggest change at the administrative level, Koppes said, was that election officials were more proactive this time around in communicating with the public and the media on security measures they had in place. "We just were able to really move from a defensive spot that we were kind of in, in 2020 and 2021, and then really started to be able to move into a more offensive spot," Koppes said. Speaking at his state's recent election certification, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, noted how different the perceptions of the two presidential races were, despite no major practical changes. "Given the fact that Arizona has essentially the same elections folks, running under the same elections rules, with the same elections systems, and we seem to have done a pretty doggone good job this time around ... I think the age of election denialism is, for all intents and purposes, dead," he said. The Pew research showed signs of skepticism under the surface, however. A narrow majority of Trump voters said they were not confident that ineligible voters were prevented from casting ballots this election, for instance. Still, Trump voters had even more confidence in this year's elections process than people who voted for Vice President Harris. That's not abnormal historically, as there has traditionally been what's known as a "winner's effect" in which voters whose candidate won have more confidence in the process. But considering Trump spent all year denigrating the nation's election security, the swing in confidence is notable. "The GOP numbers are almost irrational exuberance," Paul Gronke, an election administration expert at Reed College, wrote in an email. "The longer record of confidence has shown some winners / losers effect, but nothing like was evident in 2020. ... We simply never witnessed until 2020 a candidate and political organization so widely spreading mistrust. It took the 'loser['s] regret' effect and supercharged it." The near-universal confidence in this year's elections has also led to a quieter certification period than many voting officials were preparing for. But Koppes, in Colorado, noted that there has still been some conspiracy theorizing about the election among the fringe-left, and that for some on the right, election denial has become a career . So lies about voting almost certainly haven't disappeared completely. "It's just until the next election," Koppes said. "These are the new snake oil salesmen. They're going to take any opportunity, for any tiny mistake or big mistake that happens, and continue pounding this drum for as long as they continue to be able to line their pockets." Copyright 2024 NPR

Inside ancient city dubbed ‘Manhattan of the desert’ with skyscrapers made from MUD now facing risk of collapse

Around 3.2 million years ago, in what is now present-day Ethiopia, a tiny human made it to the fossil record. Despite much research there is uncertainty over what could have led to their death. Whatever the reason may have been, enough of the carcass was protected by sediments. This led to the bones being fossilized. Those remains, now known to the world as 'Lucy', were discovered fifty years ago, becoming one of the most significant fossil discoveries of all time. In an interesting and intriguing recent finding, research shows that Lucy's species - Australopithecus Afarensis, was not the only early human species roaming the Earth at the time. Australopithecus Afarensis inhabited East Africa for about a million years, and paleoanthropologists have discovered many fossils of this species from north central Ethiopia to northern Tanzania, which is 1,460 miles (2,350 kilometres) away. For decades following Lucy's discovery, paleoanthropologists believed that Australopithecus Afarensis was the sole hominid to inhabit this area throughout the middle Pliocene era (3 million to 4 million years ago). However, the image of human diversity drastically changed in 1995 when a fragmented jawbone was found in the Bahr el Ghazal region of Chad. Believed to be 3.5 million years old, this fossil is of a species named Australopithecus Bahrelghazali. It served as evidence that other hominins lived around Lucy's time, Live Science quoted a study published in the journal PNAS in 2016. Given that these Australopithecines were almost 1,500 miles (more than 2,400 kilometres) apart, it is possible that Lucy's type did not come into contact with them. However, Haile-Selassie and colleagues discovered Australopithecus Afarensis fossils at the Woranso-Mille site, which is only 30 miles (48 km) north of the site in Ethiopia, where Lucy was discovered. They also discovered additional, anatomically different fossils from the same time period. The bones belonged to Australopithecus Deyiremeda, a new species of Australopithecine that was thought to have existed between 3.5 and 3.3 million years ago. Although paleoanthropologists are still divided on whether Australopithecus Deyiremeda is a distinct species from Lucy, the fact that its teeth differed significantly from Lucy's suggests that their diets were different. As the collection of fossils from different hominin species expands, an important question arises whether these species ever interacted or even mated with each other. Australopithecus Farensis was as social as other primates, evidenced by the preserved footprint path of three Australopithecines strolling together at the Laetoli site in Tanzania. But, there is little to no proof that Australopithecines ever interbred. Even with the enormous amount of Australopithecus Afarensis fossils found in the last 50 years, paleoanthropologists still have a lot of work ahead of them to really understand Lucy's world.Updated December 29, 2024 at 17:44 PM ET Few presidents have come as far as fast in national politics as Jimmy Carter . In 1974, he was nearing the end of his single term as governor of Georgia when he told the world he wanted to be president. Two years later, he was the president-elect. Although his name recognition nationally was only 2% at the time of his announcement, Carter believed he could meet enough people personally to make a strong showing in the early presidential caucuses and primaries. He embarked on a 37-state tour, making more than 200 speeches before any of the other major candidates had announced. When voting began in Iowa and New Hampshire in the winter of 1976, Carter emerged the winner in both states. He rode that momentum all the way to the presidential nomination and held on to win a close contest in the general election. His career as a highly active former president lasted four full decades and ended only with his death Sunday in his hometown of Plains, Ga. He was 100 and had lived longer than any other U.S. president, battling cancer in both his brain and liver in his 90s. A life that bridged political eras James Earl Carter Jr. was the 39th U.S. president, elected as a Democrat displacing the incumbent Republican, Gerald Ford, in 1976. Carter would serve a single tumultuous term in the White House, beset by inflation, energy shortages, intraparty challenges and foreign crises. But he managed to win the nomination for a second term. He lost his bid for reelection to Republican Ronald Reagan in a landslide in 1980. Thereafter, he worked with Habitat for Humanity and traveled the globe as an indefatigable advocate for peace and human rights. He was given the U.N. Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1998 and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Carter was the first president from the Deep South elected since the Civil War. He entered politics at a time when Democrats still dominated in his home state and region. He had begun his career as a naval officer in the submarine corps, but in 1953 he left the service to take over the family peanut business when his father died. He later served four years in Georgia's state legislature before making his first bid for governor in 1966. In that contest, he finished behind another Democrat, Lester Maddox, a populist figure known for brandishing a pickax handle to confront civil rights protesters outside his Atlanta restaurant. Carter shared much of the traditional white Southern cultural identity. But he was also noted for his support for integration and the Civil Rights Movement led by fellow Georgian Martin Luther King Jr. Four years after losing to Maddox, Carter was elected his successor and declared in his inaugural speech that "the time for racial discrimination is over." Time magazine would feature him on its cover four months later, making him a symbol of the "New South." And as his term as governor ended, he was all in on a presidential bid. But he did not burst onto the national stage so much as he crept up onto it, appearing before small groups in farming communities and elsewhere far from the big media centers. A meteoric rise to the White House Beyond his earnest image and rhetoric, Carter also had a savvy game plan based on the new presidential nominating rules that the Democratic Party had adopted in the early 1970s. Carter's team, led by campaign manager Hamilton Jordan, mastered this new road map, with Carter climbing from a strong showing in the still-new Iowa caucuses to a clean win in New Hampshire's primary. So though in January 1976 he was the first choice of only 4% of Democrats nationally, he won the first two events and leveraged that attention to capture the imagination of voters in other regions. Carter shut out segregationist champion George Wallace in the Southern primaries and also dominated in the industrial states of the North and Midwest. Democrats held 48 primaries or caucuses around the United States that year, and Carter won 30, with no other candidate winning more than five. Wherever he went, he was able to connect with rural voters and evangelicals wherever they were to be found — doing well in big cities but also in the sparsely populated parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania. While Carter's juggernaut lost momentum in the summer and fall, with Republican President Gerald Ford nearly closing the polling gap by Election Day, the Georgian held on to win 50% of the popular vote in November. By winning in his home state and everywhere else in the South (save only Virginia) while holding on to enough of the key population centers in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions, Carter was able to cobble together nearly 300 Electoral College votes without winning California, Illinois or Michigan. Troubles in office The surprisingly modest margin of Carter's victory over Ford augured more difficulties ahead. And as well as the Carter persona may have suited the national mood in 1976, it did not fit well in the Washington he found in 1977. All presidential candidates who "run against Washington" find it necessary to adjust their tactics if and when they are elected. But the former peanut farmer and his campaign staff known as the "Georgia mafia" never seemed to lose faith in the leverage they thought they had as outsiders. Almost immediately upon taking office, Carter encountered difficulties with various power centers in Congress. He and his tight circle of aides brought along from Georgia and the campaign were not attuned to congressional customs or prerogatives, and a variety of their agenda priorities ran afoul of their own party's preferences. A case in point was a "hit list" of Western water projects that the Carterites regarded as needless pork barrel spending. For a raft of Democratic senators and representatives facing reelection in thirsty states and districts, the list came as a declaration of war. Although Congress fought Carter to a draw on the projects, many of these Western seats would be lost to Republican challengers in 1978 and 1980. Carter did have signal successes in brokering a historic peace deal between Israel and Egypt and in securing Senate ratification of his treaties ceding the Panama Canal to Panama. He also managed to achieve significant reforms in regulations — especially those affecting energy production and transportation — that would eventually lower consumer prices. Carter had taken office amid historically high inflation and energy prices that had persisted since the Arab oil embargo of 1973. Carter appointed a new chair of the Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker, whose tight money policies eventually tamed inflation but also triggered a recession and the highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression. Along the way, there was more grief on the oil front as Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979 caused not only a price spike but long lines at the pump — worse than in 1973. Carter and the Democrats paid a price, suffering more than the usual losses for the president's party in the 1978 midterm elections, which greatly reduced Democratic margins in both the House and the Senate. Yet the Iranian crisis had even worse consequences. The revolution saw the overthrow of the Shah, a longtime ally of the U.S., and the installation of a stern theocratic regime led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a fierce critic of the United States. When Carter agreed to grant the Shah a visa to receive cancer treatments in the U.S., young followers of the ayatollah overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran . Fifty-two Americans were taken hostage for 444 days. Carter's efforts to free them were unavailing. An airborne raid intended to free them ended in catastrophe in the Iranian desert, leaving eight U.S. service members dead after a collision of aircraft on the ground. Afghanistan becomes an issue Yet another blow was dealt to Carter's standing when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to prop up its client regime there. Opposing that aggression was popular, but Carter's decision to retaliate by having the U.S. boycott the 1980 Olympics in Moscow was less so. Carter was able to use the hostage crisis to his advantage in suppressing the challenge to his nomination mounted by Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Carter refused to debate Kennedy and made the primaries a kind of referendum on the Iranian situation. Enough Democrats rallied to his side that Kennedy's bid, a favorite cause of liberal activists and organized labor, fell far short. Still, it contributed to the weakness of Carter's standing in the general election. And what had worked against a challenger from the Democratic left did not work when Carter faced one from the Republican right. Ronald Reagan was a former two-term governor of California who had sought the nomination twice before, and he did not begin 1980 as the consensus choice of his party. But he wove a complex set of issues into a fabric with broad appeal. He proposed sweeping tax cuts as a tonic for the economy, more spending on defense, a more aggressive foreign policy and, just as important, a return to the traditional values of "faith, freedom, family, work and neighborhood." He also opposed abortion and busing for racial integration and favored school prayer — the three hottest buttons in social policy at the time. After a come-from-behind win in New Hampshire and a sweep of the Southern primaries, Reagan never looked back. His triumph at the Republican National Convention in Detroit set the tone for his campaign. The election looked close at Labor Day and even into October. But the single debate the two camps agreed to , held on Oct. 28, 1980, the week before the election, was a clear win for the challenger. Carter failed in his attempts to paint Reagan as an extremist. The Republican managed to be reassuring and upbeat even as he kept up his attacks on Carter's handling of the economy and on the rest of Carter's record. The polls broke sharply in the final days, and in November, Reagan captured nearly all the Southern states that Carter had carried four years earlier and won the 1980 presidential election with 489 Electoral College votes. Carter conceded before the polls had even closed on the West Coast. Reassessment in retrospect Historians have generally not rated Carter's presidency highly, and he left office with his Gallup poll approval rating in the low 30s. But there has been a steady upward trajectory in assessments of his presidency in recent years, and his Gallup approval rating has climbed back above 50% and has remained there among the public at large. This reflects the work of several Carter biographers and former aides and the natural comparison with the presidents who have followed him. In 2018, Stuart E. Eizenstat, Carter's chief domestic policy adviser, published President Carter: The White House Years , which historians have praised both as a primary source and as an assessment of Carter's term. In it, Eizenstat wrote that Carter "was not a great president, but he was a good and productive one. He delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office. He was a man of almost unyielding principle. Yet his greatest virtue was at once his most serious fault for a president in an American democracy of divided powers." As far back as 2000, historian Douglas Brinkley wrote that in the first 20 years after Carter lost the presidency, he had become "renowned the world over as the epitome of the caring, compassionate, best sort of American statesman ... an exemplar of behavior for all national leaders in retirement." A new life out of office But the greatest factor in Carter's rising reputation was his own performance in his post-presidential career. He worked with Habitat for Humanity to rehabilitate homes for low-income families. He taught at Emory University and established his own nonprofit, the Carter Center . And over the ensuing decades, he published more than two dozen books and became an international advocate for peace, democratic reforms and humanitarian causes. As former president, Carter did not shy from controversy, particularly when it came to the Middle East, the region that gave him his greatest foreign policy achievement and also his most damaging setback as president. Copyright 2024 NPRHybrid classes coming to Surrey high schools to combat overcrowdingOn the other side of the planet, Bret McCann, whose parents went missing and died in the 2010s, sat anxiously as the man convicted in their deaths pleaded for parole. “I wasn’t sure which way it was going to go, but I think they did the right thing,” he told CTV News during a videocall from Australia, where he lives. A parole board has denied Travis Vader day parole on Thursday, noting that his “community supervision history is very poor” and that his “risk to the public would be undue” at this point in his sentence. In 2017, Vader was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to life in prison for the deaths of Lyle and Marie McCann. The couple, who were in their 70s, disappeared in 2010 after leaving their St. Albert, Alta., home, a small community near Edmonton. Their burned-out motorhome and vehicle they were towing were found days later, west of the city, but their bodies were never found. It’s not known how the couple was killed. Following a lengthy and high-profile legal process, Vader was initially charged with first-degree murder, but a mistrial was declared, and the murder charges were stayed. Vader has never admitted to killing the McCanns and maintained his innocence during the hearing. The board also took that into consideration in its decision. “Vader has never acknowledged his guilt and as a part of that he’s never revealed what happened and what happened to my parents and what happened to their remains. And so that was the kind of message I was trying to get across,” said McCann. “’No body, no parole’ laws have been introduced in Australia as a way of trying to bring closure to the families of murder victims. The U.K. is considering such action as well,” he said in a statement released by the family to the parole board. “In our opinion, such a law should be implemented in Canada.” In 2019, Sturgeon River-Parkland MP Dane Lloyd introduced a private member’s bill called “McCann’s law” to lengthen sentences or block parole for convicted killers who don’t reveal what happened to their victims. It did not pass. “It’s a bill that I’m continuing to advocate for,” said Lloyd. “I’m running on it in the next election, and I have the support of my Conservative colleagues to pass this legislation when we hopefully form government after the next election.” Bret says he is hopeful the bill will pass. But for now, he will continue to attend future parole hearings. “At least we're now more familiar with the process and we can participate and have our say in the future.” Correction In an earlier version of this file, Bret McCann was erroneously reported as the victims’ grandson. He is their son. 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These LEGO Kits Are On Sale And Ready To Gift Black Friday May Be Over, But You Can Still Take Advantage Of These Amazing Sales On Amazon Canada CTVNews.ca Top Stories Labour minister unveils steps to end Canada Post strike Canada Post workers began their strike four weeks ago, halting mail and package deliveries across the country. Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said he hopes work will resume as early as next week. Ottawa to remove 30% investment cap for Canadian pension funds Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the upcoming fall economic statement on Monday will remove the cap that currently restricts Canadian pension funds from owning more than 30 per cent of the voting shares of a Canadian entity. Canada's homicide rate down in most provinces, with 2 exceptions The homicide rate is declining in Canada, and the country’s three largest cities all saw double-digit percentage decreases in homicides per capita, according to data released this week. 'They believe in diplomacy, good luck': Doug Ford doubles down on energy threat as some premiers distance themselves Doug Ford is standing behind his threat to stop providing the U.S. with electricity in response to president-elect Donald Trump’s promised tariffs, even as several other premiers publicly distance themselves from the stance. Is a white Christmas in the cards? Looking back at Canada's Dec. 25 snow history With fewer than two weeks remaining until Christmas Day, weather forecasts and snowfall projections are starting to take shape but have yet to be finalized for cities across Canada. Top musician forced to cancel Toronto concert after Air Canada refused to give his priceless cello a seat on plane Famed British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who became a household name after performing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, has said he had to cancel a concert in Canada after the country’s largest airline denied his pre-booked seat for his cello. 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Vancouver Sneaky sketch artist to leave surprises in free libraries throughout Vancouver Sneaky by name, sneaky by nature - you probably wouldn’t recognize the face of Nishant Jain if it passed you on the street. B.C. police seek help finding man wanted on child pornography charges Port Moody police are appealing for the public’s help to locate a man wanted Canada-wide. 20-year-old pedestrian suffers life-threatening injuries in Abbotsford crash A 20-year-old pedestrian is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after being struck by a vehicle in Abbotsford Friday morning. Toronto 'They believe in diplomacy, good luck': Doug Ford doubles down on energy threat as some premiers distance themselves Doug Ford is standing behind his threat to stop providing the U.S. with electricity in response to president-elect Donald Trump’s promised tariffs, even as several other premiers publicly distance themselves from the stance. Top musician forced to cancel Toronto concert after Air Canada refused to give his priceless cello a seat on plane Famed British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who became a household name after performing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, has said he had to cancel a concert in Canada after the country’s largest airline denied his pre-booked seat for his cello. Transit woes continue into the weekend for GTA commuters Following the service disruptions on Monday and Wednesday, Line 1 (Yonge-University) will be closed between York Mills and St Clair stations though this weekend due to planned track work. Calgary Widow of pedestrian hit and killed on Elbow Drive supports crosswalk changes The wife of a Calgary man killed while crossing the road in a marked intersection is pushing for flashing lights to be installed. Alberta's new CTrain Green Line plan includes elevated downtown tracks, more stops The province has released a “reimagined” plan for the Green Line CTrain track that it says is longer and less expensive than what the City of Calgary had planned. Calgary's striking Canada Post workers disappointed in Ottawa's intervention The Canada Post workers strike that has halted mail and parcel delivery before the holidays could be coming to an end as the federal government looks to intervene. Ottawa Ontario Premier standing firm on retaliatory measures to Trump tariffs Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will use every tool at his disposal to manage the threat of tariffs from incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. More than 1,500 vehicles reported stolen in Ottawa in 2024: Here are the hotspots for thefts Statistics on the Ottawa Police Service's Crime Map show 1,559 vehicles have been reported stolen in Ottawa between Jan. 1 and Dec. 12. Vehicle thefts include joy rides, opportunistic thefts, and "single-use crimes," according to police. Eight people injured after horse-drawn wagon went out of control in eastern Ont. Eight people were injured after horses became out of control while a man was offering a horse-drawn wagon ride Thursday in eastern Ontario, according to the Brockville Police Service. Montreal Quebec, Ottawa announce $100-million deal to fight homelessness, add shelter spaces Ottawa and Quebec announced an agreement Friday to help unhoused Quebecers as homeless encampments continue to multiply in the province and frigid weather sets in. Two Montreal anesthesiologists suspended for questionable practices: College of Physicians Two anesthesiologists at Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital were brought before the Quebec College of Physicians disciplinary board for questionable practices and were suspended. Quarry fire in St-Lazare still burning five days later You won’t see flames, but there’s still smoke emanating from a burning pile of debris at the Chevrier et Fils Sand Quarry in Saint-Lazare from a fire that started Sunday. Edmonton Sentencing delayed in 'unprovoked' 3-day crime spree after man fires lawyer A man responsible for a series of violent crashes and carjackings in 2023 fired his lawyer during his sentencing hearing on Friday. Labour minister unveils steps to end Canada Post strike Canada Post workers began their strike four weeks ago, halting mail and package deliveries across the country. Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said he hopes work will resume as early as next week. Section of QEII highway northbound closed because of 'serious' crash: RCMP The QEII is closed northbound near Lacombe because of a serious crash as of 10:50 a.m. on Friday, RCMP say. Atlantic P.E.I. RCMP looking for man who reportedly jumped from Confederation Bridge Multiple police and search and rescue teams are looking for a man who reportedly jumped from the Confederation Bridge Friday morning. Nova Scotia non-profit groups trying to save huge Acadian church now facing lawsuit The Roman Catholic Church in southwestern Nova Scotia has filed a lawsuit against two non-profit groups trying to save a historic deconsecrated Acadian church. Man charged with manslaughter in death of missing Cape Breton man A man has been charged with manslaughter in connection with the disappearance and homicide of a man in Cape Breton this past summer. Winnipeg School holidays to be covered under $10-a-day program for child care: Manitoba government The Manitoba government is extending $10-a-day costs for daycare, so families are covered on school holidays. Saying goodbye to a Winnipeg restaurant owner with a legacy of kindness Shirley Eng, the charismatic, down-to-earth owner of the famous chicken finger restaurant Mitzi’s, unexpectedly passed away at the beginning of December at age 78, according to her family. Geminids meteor shower set to soar over Manitoba skies this weekend Manitobans can gaze their eyes to the sky this weekend to watch “the best meteor shower” of the year. Regina 'Lifeblood of this campus': University non-profits face uncertainty following students' union proposal The future of three non-profit organizations at the University of Regina (U of R) is uncertain following a proposal by the students’ union (URSU). Second suspect wanted in Sask. serious assaults investigation arrested The second suspect wanted in connection to serious assaults in Swift Current has been arrested. Sask. RCMP say woman's death in weekend crash now considered suspicious Saskatchewan RCMP say they are now investigating a fatal motor vehicle incident and woman’s death on Dec. 5 as suspicious. Kitchener School warns parents of possible scarlet fever case in Waterloo, Ont. There are new concerns surrounding a highly contagious infection after a suspected case of scarlet fever was reported at a school in Waterloo, Ont. This little piggy went to the Humane Society The Kitchener Waterloo and Stratford Perth Humane Society has an unusual animal up for adoption after it was found wandering the streets. Labour minister unveils steps to end Canada Post strike Canada Post workers began their strike four weeks ago, halting mail and package deliveries across the country. Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said he hopes work will resume as early as next week. Saskatoon 'Little girl deserves justice': Gallery erupts in anger as charges stayed against driver who killed child In a tense courtroom, a judge stayed the charge against a Saskatoon woman who hit and killed a nine-year-old girl. 'Gong show': Emergency patients overflow into ambulatory unit at St. Paul's Hospital The emergency department at St. Paul's Hospital is so full its turning to the ambulatory unit. Sask. RCMP say woman's death in weekend crash now considered suspicious Saskatchewan RCMP say they are now investigating a fatal motor vehicle incident and woman’s death on Dec. 5 as suspicious. Northern Ontario Northern Ont. bank employee taken to hospital with serious injuries after shooting An employee at Northern Credit Union in Wawa, Ont., was taken to hospital with serious injuries after a shooter entered the branch and opened fire Thursday morning, the financial institution said in a statement. One dead after single vehicle rollover in northern Ontario A 65-year-old man from northern Ontario has died after a single-vehicle rollover Thursday evening near Temiskaming Shores. Buckingham Palace maid arrested after drunken brawl at work Christmas party Buckingham Palace is investigating after a member of staff was arrested at the end of a rowdy Christmas party. London Lumber mill levelled by mid-morning blaze A lumber mill is in ruins following a fire east of Wingham, Ont. 'Where are we supposed to go?': Emotional reaction to Ford government’s hard line on encampments There was no shortage of reaction to Premier Doug Ford’s plan to take a hard line on homeless encampments and public drug use. A call for more people to volunteer at the Salvation Army Christmas Kettles Officials with the Salvation Army’s annual Christmas Kettle Campaign say they need more volunteers to reach their holiday goal. Barrie South Simcoe police mourn death of officer facing discreditable conduct charges The South Simcoe Police Service is mourning the passing of one of its officers. Student charged with explosives-related offence in Kawartha Lakes Provincial police in Kawartha Lakes charged a student following a report that someone brought an unknown substance into a school. What police want you to know about a new sophisticated scam It’s no longer just phone calls or emails — fraudsters could now show up at your front door. Windsor 11 dogs dead, 8 more under Animal Welfare care following canine parvovirus outbreak in Windsor Ontario's Animal Welfare Service is investigating a deadly outbreak of canine parvovirus after several dogs became ill earlier this month. Fentanyl and Psilocybin seized in Leamington Essex County OPP have charged two people with drug-related offences following the execution of a warrant in Leamington. CUPW Local 630 leader 'disappointed' by government’s plan amid strike Windsor-Essex union leaders for Canada Post workers aren’t happy with the latest plans from Canada’s labour minister about the ongoing strike. Vancouver Island B.C. Greens to support NDP on confidence votes, work together on shared priorities The B.C. New Democratic and Green parties have reached an "agreement in principle" on a "co-operation and responsible government accord" that will see the smaller party support the government on confidence matters. Nanaimo liquor store robbed at knifepoint, RCMP seek suspect Nanaimo RCMP have released a photograph of a suspect who allegedly robbed a liquor store in the city in an effort to garner new information from the public. B.C. girl inspired by Hollywood star to donate turkeys to local families in need When Maria-Clara Patrick first watched that video of Arnold Schwarzenegger, she assumed they had nothing in common. Kelowna Study of 2023 Okanagan wildfires recommends limiting development in high-risk areas A study into the devastating wildfires that struck British Columbia's Okanagan region in 2023 has recommended that government and industry limit development in high-fire-risk areas. Kelowna, B.C., to host the Memorial Cup in the spring of 2026 The Western Hockey League's Kelowna Rockets will host the Memorial Cup in the spring of 2026, the Canadian Hockey League said Wednesday. 545 vehicles impounded in 332 days: BC Highway Patrol pleads for drivers to slow down Mounties with the BC Highway Patrol in Kelowna say they've impounded more than 545 vehicles for excessive speed and aggressive driving so far this year. That works out to more than 1.6 per day. Lethbridge Lethbridge charities begin final push for Christmas Hope donations With Christmas a week and a half away, the final push for donations for Lethbridge’s Christmas Hope Campaign has begun. Lethbridge man wins lottery for a third time A Lethbridge man won big earlier this year, but now he's won even more. Eight people facing charges after crackdown on fentanyl dealers in Lethbridge Eight people are facing charges after a drug bust in Lethbridge targeting fentanyl dealers in the downtown core. Sault Ste. Marie 'A lot at stake': Fedeli says Canada needs to unite against Trump’s tariffs threat Returning from a trip to the U.S. capital, Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade says Canada must unite against looming tariff threats that could be imposed by President-elect Donald Trump. Elliot Lake fire crews continue to battle massive apartment fire Fire crews continue to battle an apartment building fire on Hirshhorn Avenue in Elliot Lake. Damage is extensive. First group of internationally trained family doctors already making a difference in northern Ontario With doctor shortages across the country, Ontario is tapping into the availability of internationally trained family physicians to solve part of the health care crisis. N.L. 'Breaking of gridlock' between Quebec, N.L. is the envy of former premiers Former Newfoundland and Labrador premiers say a draft energy agreement signed Thursday with Quebec marks a historic break in a long-standing political standoff. Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador announce energy deal worth billions Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador have signed a sweeping new deal to build new energy projects and throw out a decades-old contract that has long been a source of strife and bitterness for Canada's easternmost province. Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador expected to sign Churchill Falls energy deal Quebec Premier François Legault and Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey are scheduled to announce an energy agreement Thursday that could end decades of friction between the two provinces. Local Spotlight 140-pound dog strolls solo into Giant Tiger store in Stratford, Ont. A furry, four-legged shopper was spotted in the aisles of a Giant Tiger store in Stratford, Ont. on Sunday morning. North Pole post: N.S. firefighters collect letters to Santa, return them by hand during postal strike Fire departments across Nova Scotia are doing their part to ensure children’s letters to Santa make their way to the North Pole while Canada Post workers are on strike. 'Creatively incredible': Regina raised talent featured in 'Wicked' film A professional dancer from Saskatchewan was featured in the movie adaptation of Wicked, which has seen significant success at the box office. Montreal man retiring early after winning half of the $80 million Lotto-Max jackpot Factor worker Jean Lamontagne, 63, will retire earlier than planned after he won $40 million on Dec. 3 in the Lotto-Max draw. Man, 99, still at work 7 decades after opening eastern Ontario Christmas tree farm This weekend is one of the busiest of the year for Christmas tree farms all over the region as the holidays approach and people start looking for a fresh smell of pine in their homes. Saskatoon honours Bella Brave with birthday celebration It has been five months since Bella Thompson, widely known as Bella Brave to her millions of TikTok followers, passed away after a long battle with Hirschsprung’s disease and an auto-immune disorder. Major Manitoba fossil milestones highlight the potential for future discoveries in the province A trio of fossil finds through the years helped put Manitoba on the mosasaur map, and the milestone of those finds have all been marked in 2024. The 61st annual Christmas Daddies Telethon raises more than $559,000 for children in need The 61st annual Christmas Daddies Telethon continued its proud Maritime tradition, raising more than $559,000 for children in need on Saturday. Calgary company steps up to help grieving family with free furnace after fatal carbon monoxide poisoning A Calgary furnace company stepped up big time Friday to help a Calgary family grieving the loss of a loved one. Politics Trump's strategy is to create economic uncertainty in other countries: Freeland With Donald Trump as president, the U.S. has an open strategy of creating economic uncertainty in other countries to discourage investment "anywhere other than the United States," Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said. Federal government says 'not to confuse' premiers' differing opinions on Trump tariff retaliation, 'confident' in Canada's response As it continues to tout a 'Team Canada' approach, the federal government is downplaying differing opinions from premiers on how Canada should respond to a potential 25 per cent tariff from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. 'They believe in diplomacy, good luck': Doug Ford doubles down on energy threat as some premiers distance themselves Doug Ford is standing behind his threat to stop providing the U.S. with electricity in response to president-elect Donald Trump’s promised tariffs, even as several other premiers publicly distance themselves from the stance. Health School warns parents of possible scarlet fever case in Waterloo, Ont. There are new concerns surrounding a highly contagious infection after a suspected case of scarlet fever was reported at a school in Waterloo, Ont. U.S. study links Canadian wildfire smoke to doctor visit spike in Baltimore Raging Canadian wildfires that choked North America under clouds of smoke last year may have contributed to a spike in doctor visits for lung and heart problems thousands of kilometres away. Stanley cups recalled over 'burn hazard' A recall notice is in effect for a selection of Stanley travel mugs, warning consumers to 'immediately stop using' them. Sci-Tech OpenAI's legal battle with Elon Musk reveals internal turmoil over avoiding AI 'dictatorship' A 7-year-old rivalry between tech leaders Elon Musk and Sam Altman over who should run OpenAI and prevent an artificial intelligence "dictatorship" is now heading to a federal judge as Musk seeks to halt the ChatGPT maker's ongoing shift into a for-profit company. Oldest human DNA helps pinpoint when early humans interbred with Neanderthals Human DNA recovered from remains found in Europe is revealing our species' shared history with Neanderthals. The trove is the oldest Homo sapiens DNA ever documented, scientists say. Musk says U.S. is demanding he pay penalty over disclosures of his Twitter stock purchases Elon Musk says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wants him to pay a penalty or face charges involving what he disclosed -- or failed to disclose -- about his purchases of Twitter stock before he bought the social media platform in 2022. Entertainment Paula Abdul settles lawsuit that alleged sexual assault by 'American Idol' producer Nigel Lythgoe Paula Abdul and former 'American Idol' producer Nigel Lythgoe have agreed to settle a lawsuit in which she alleged he sexually assaulted her in the early 2000s when she was a judge on the show. Taylor Swift's 'Eras Tour' concerts cost Toronto Police about $1.9 million Remember Taylor Swift's police motorcades while she performed her six-show series in Toronto last month? Toronto police revealed on Thursday that the popstar's sold-out performances, including her motorcade, cost them about 1.9 million. 'Vanderpump Rules' star James Kennedy arrested on suspicion of domestic violence Reality TV star James Kennedy was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence, according to the Burbank Police Department. Business Hard to keep public support for striking Canada Post workers, experts say Public support has been key for Canada Post workers as they halted mail delivery across the country, but maintaining that support had been getting harder as the strike dragged on, experts say. Airline execs testify on baggage fees; say reforms needed to lower travel costs Canadian airline executives in the hot seat over carry-on bag fees say the federal government needs to reform this country's aviation system if it wants travel to become more affordable. Court approves The Body Shop Canada sale, about 100 to lose jobs as some stores close An Ontario court has given The Body Shop Canada the approval it needs to sell the majority of its business to a private equity firm. Lifestyle 'Signing Santa' brings Christmas magic to Deaf and hard-of-hearing community The holiday magic has arrived for Oklahoma's Deaf and hard-of-hearing community as Signing Santa made his way to the Shoppes at Northpark on Thursday to check his list twice and bring the Christmas spirit to all. Women's fiction among most-borrowed books at some Canadian libraries The year's most borrowed books at some of Canada's biggest libraries include "The Women" by Kristin Hannah and "Fourth Wing" by Rebecca Yarros. Her flight was delayed and she missed her train home for Christmas. Then she met her future husband on the platform When American twentysomething Jennea bumped into Dutchman Arthur on a London train station platform in 2013, their lives changed forever. Sports Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss says he's being treated for cancer in his bile duct Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss said Friday he is being treated for cancer in his bile duct between his pancreas and liver. Vancouver Whitecaps owners put Major League Soccer club up for sale The owners of the Vancouver Whitecaps are putting the Major League Soccer team up for sale. Lindsey Vonn to enter World Cup ski races next weekend in Switzerland in her comeback at age 40 Lindsey Vonn will return to World Cup ski racing next weekend for a pair of super-G events in St. Moritz, Switzerland, as she continues her comeback at 40 years old. Autos 'Baseball-sized hail': Toronto man owes car rental company $18K after hailstorm A Toronto man is on the hook for about $18,000 after a car he rented over the summer was pelted by baseball-sized hail. GM is pulling the plug on its robotaxi efforts General Motors is pulling the plug on its efforts to develop a fleet of driverless taxis and will focus on driver-assistance features that require a driver to be ready to take control of the car, the company said Tuesday. 80-year-old driver with expired licence accused of going nearly double the speed limit in eastern Ontario Ontario Provincial Police say a man caught stunt driving on Highway 37 near Tweed, Ont. Thursday was 80 years old, and his licence was expired. Stay Connected

GCC-4001 by Artiva Biotherapeutics for Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma: Likelihood of ApprovalPublished 5:42 pm Sunday, December 29, 2024 By Chris Lewis “The Story of Jimmy Carter is the Story of the South” by Jason Berggren David Potter once wrote that “historians need not justify the South in order to understand it, but that effective historical treatment is impossible without understanding, and that understanding can never be attained by denouncing southern society for being what its past has made it, as all societies are.” The same could be said about Jimmy Carter. His presidential views and actions need not be justified to understand him, but effective historical and political treatment of his presidency is impossible without understanding the southern burden he carried and was placed upon him by others. Carter was a “New South” governor and president, but there was a lot of the “Old South” in him as well. Rather than divesting himself, he made “no effort,” wrote novelist Reynolds Price, “to conceal his origins in and indebtedness to that tragic land, people, and knowledge called South .” When he spoke on the campaign trail in 1976, Time magazine went so far as to claim that “the hoofbeats of a defeated army,” the Confederate army, could be heard “in the cadences of Jimmy Carter.” Although it was his conviction that the South cannot live in the past, he did believe that southerners must not forget the past, showing due honor to the region’s heroes and the region as a place, as he had to his father and to Plains. Perhaps, Ronald Reagan summarized Carter’s life and the meaning of his presidency best. At the 1986 dedication ceremony of the Carter Presidential Library and Museum, which is built on “a wooded hillside near downtown Atlanta from which [Union] General William Tecumseh Sherman watched the burning of the city in the Civil War,” Reagan publicly acknowledged and highlighted Carter’s peculiar presidential burden. On the one hand, Reagan noted a region’s pride in Carter for winning the presidency and a region’s comeuppance from segregation and poverty on the other. Reagan explained, too, that the life and career of Jimmy Carter “is a powerful story of family and region.” Like the reborn region he was from, Carter’s life was a compelling combination of and testament to “the best regional traditions of pride and hospitality” and “a new sense of openness and opportunity.” In short, Reagan said, “the story of Jimmy Carter is the story of the South,” and that this dedication of his presidential library may be viewed not merely as a celebration of a favorite son, but “as a celebration of the South.” In a sense, Reagan spoke of the library as if it was a monument to Carter’s and a region’s burden. One Atlanta journalist at the time, at least, did not miss the ultimate significance of Carter’s presidency and his place in the region’s history. While “it is hard to imagine,” Frederick Allen of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution surmised, “anyone suggesting that the Kennedy Library tells a story of New England, or that the Ford Library somehow explains the psyche of the Midwesterner,” “it is precisely the unique stake that southerners held the presidency of Carter that makes him...such a wellspring of ambivalent emotions.” Whether fair or not, Carter carried “a region’s pride on one shoulder and its inferiority complex on the other.” “These,” Allen concluded, “were Carter’s burdens in the White House and, like leaden epaulets, he has worn them ever since.” Regardless of how his presidency is ultimately judged by history, the incredible fact that a “Jimmy Who?” from a small town in a small black-belt county in southwest Georgia became president at all was an immense, perhaps unprecedented, political achievement in itself. Carter’s win in 1976, remarked one presidential scholar, was “a practical political miracle,” and “he has to be given credit for that.” But even more impressively and importantly in the broader scope of American political history, and the history of the American South, was “the Carter effect” on the presidency. Unlike with John Kennedy, where not a single Roman Catholic would succeed him for the next sixty years until Joe Biden was elected in 2020, Carter’s impact was immediate. As he made it safe for future candidates to proudly proclaim being “born-again” evangelicals, Carter burst the doors to the presidency wide open for other candidates from the South to run, and to run in both major parties. By 1992, all three major presidential candidates, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot, were from the South, two were born there and one had moved there. In the 1990s, Democrats twice won with Clinton-Gore, a “double bubba,” all-South, all Baptist ticket. Carter believed that the bitterness of the Civil War had lasted too long and that his election was perhaps the final, yet necessary, step in the reconciliation process between North and South. With his election, he thought that most northerners at long last were ready to accept southerners as their fellow and equal countrymen, and that most southerners were at long last ready to join the mainstream, modernize, and send presidents to govern in Washington, rather than just a message to Washington. In the decades ahead, it did happen. All in all, he seemed pleased with his life’s work. At the unveiling of his statue on the grounds of Georgia State Capitol in 1994, Carter said, “I have had an opportunity as a Georgian, as a southerner, to do things that have made my life full.” For more stories about Jimmy Carter please go to www.americustimesrecorder.com/category/jimmy-carter/