explorer slots game tricks Controversy Over Exclusion of Historical Holidays in Jammu and KashmirATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation's highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. "My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference," Carter once said. A president from Plains A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon's disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. "If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don't vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president," Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women's rights and America's global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter's electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 "White House Diary" that he could be "micromanaging" and "excessively autocratic," complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington's news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. "It didn't take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake," Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had "an inherent incompatibility" with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to "protect our nation's security and interests peacefully" and "enhance human rights here and abroad" — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. And then, the world Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. "I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia," Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. "I wanted a place where we could work." That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter's stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors. He went "where others are not treading," he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. "I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don't," Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton's White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America's approach to Israel with his 2006 book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center's many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee's 2002 Peace Prize cites his "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. "The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place," he said. "The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect." 'An epic American life' Carter's globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little "Jimmy Carters," so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington's National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners. He acknowledged America's historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. "I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore," Stuart Eizenstat, Carter's domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. "He was not a great president" but also not the "hapless and weak" caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was "good and productive" and "delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office." Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton's secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat's forward that Carter was "consequential and successful" and expressed hope that "perceptions will continue to evolve" about his presidency. "Our country was lucky to have him as our leader," said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for "an epic American life" spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. "He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history," Alter told The Associated Press. A small-town start James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter's political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery's tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian, would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it "inconceivable" not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. "My wife is much more political," Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn't long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist "Dixiecrats" as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as "Cufflinks Carl." Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. "I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over," he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. 'Jimmy Who?' His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader's home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats' national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: "Jimmy Who?" The Carters and a "Peanut Brigade" of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter's ability to navigate America's complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared "born-again Christian," Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he "had looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times." The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC's new "Saturday Night Live" show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter "Fritz" Mondale as his running mate on a "Grits and Fritz" ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady's office. Mondale's governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname "Jimmy" even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band's "Hail to the Chief." They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington's social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that "he hated politics," according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Accomplishments, and 'malaise' Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation's second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon's opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn't immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his "malaise" speech, although he didn't use that word. He declared the nation was suffering "a crisis of confidence." By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he'd "kick his ass," but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with "make America great again" appeals and asking voters whether they were "better off than you were four years ago." Reagan further capitalized on Carter's lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: "There you go again." Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages' freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. 'A wonderful life' At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with "no idea what I would do with the rest of my life." Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. "I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything," Carter told the AP in 2021. "But it's turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years." Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. "I'm perfectly at ease with whatever comes," he said in 2015. "I've had a wonderful life. I've had thousands of friends, I've had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence." ___ Former Associated Press journalist Alex Sanz contributed to this report.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder run their winning streak to 11 games with a 130-106 home victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. The loss snapped the Grizzlies' two-game winning streak and was just their fourth in 18 games. The Thunder had a season-high 35 assists, led by eight from Jalen Williams. Without Ja Morant, who sustained a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder in Friday's win over New Orleans, and several other key players, Memphis didn't have an answer for the Western Conference-leading Thunder. The Grizzlies also were without Zach Edey (concussion) and Brandon Clarke (right knee soreness). While Memphis was without plenty of production, Oklahoma City's Luguentz Dort and Cason Wallace returned after missing Saturday's win in Charlotte. Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, Oklahoma City missed its first five shots and had two turnovers in the first three minutes before Gilgeous-Alexander got going. After falling behind 9-0, Oklahoma City took over. Gilgeous-Alexander made his first six shots, extending into the second quarter, and the Thunder led by as much as 29 in the first half. Gilgeous-Alexander kept his foot on the pedal deep into the second half, even with the game well under control. In the final seconds of the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander jogged to halfcourt, crossing with about three seconds left. Then Gilgeous-Alexander blew past Luke Kennard to get to the bucket, finishing with a scooping layup as Grizzlies center Jaren Jackson Jr. stepped his direction too late to contest the shot. It was Gilgeous-Alexander's 17th game with at least 30 points this season. Gilgeous-Alexander finished 14 of 19 from the floor -- 13 of 14 inside the arc -- as Oklahoma City outscored Memphis in the paint 56-36 for the game. Oklahoma City scored 33 points off Memphis' 21 turnovers. The Grizzlies shot a season-low 38.1 percent from the floor, with starters Jaylen Wells and Jackson combining to shoot just 5 of 29. Desmond Bane led Memphis with 22 points. Six other Oklahoma City scorers joined Gilgeous-Alexander in double figures, including 17 points off the bench from Ajay Mitchell and 16 from Aaron Wiggins. This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.

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Did Bibi Get Away with it?With a successful test of Starship Flight 6, SpaceX has continued building on its many projects around Starbase. Repair work has begun around the launch site, with damage found in different areas of the tower from prior launches. A proposed Gigabay could be coming to the Starbase production site shortly, and Ship 26 has finally been scrapped. The groundwork is also beginning to be laid for brand-new projects around Starbase and even Kennedy Space Center. Flight 6 Aftermath After Booster 13’s 33 Raptor engines ripped past the pad on the sixth flight test of Starship, there has been plenty of repair work at the launch site for SpaceX’s workers to check over and fix. The chopsticks were the first piece of hardware to be inspected, which happened only hours after the launch of Flight 6. Without the booster landing, the chopsticks took much less loading than flight 5, making the checkups mostly related to the power of the 33 Raptor engines. The launch mount was inspected heavily, as expected after every flight test. Only a day after the launch, scaffolding was installed around the top. Later that day, the dancefloor, SpaceX’s movable platform, was fitted to inspect the bottom of the launch mount and engines when a booster was on the pad. Scorched launch mount and tower after Booster 13 launches Flight 6. (Credit: BocaChicaGal/Mary for NSF/L2) This rapid pace of checkups on the systems that go into launching Starship is a common occurrence after every launch, and it only gets faster after every launch. With the scaffolding and dancefloor in place, these routine inspections and minor fixes can be completed, preparing the launch mount for its next flight. The booster quick disconnect received inspections after being scorched by Booster 13 and later was repaired to prepare it for Flight 7. SpaceX performed operating tests on Nov. 27 to confirm that the system survived the launch and is up to operating standards. Heading up the tower, the ship quick disconnect arm also obtained some damage from the Raptor engines on Flight 6. The umbilicals used to fuel the ship before launch were burnt and will need repairs. The door that closes on the connection to protect the ship quick disconnect from the engines has noticeable charing marks. At the top of the tower, the weather and communications antenna were bent due to the forces behind the launch. This bending is the first time this has happened on a flight, which could have been why the tower was not in its correct configuration to catch the booster. This lean has already been corrected, and if this part of the tower does have vital systems to land the booster, it will likely receive more reinforcements to keep it in place, or a redundant system will be found. Bent weather and communications tower. (Credit: BocaChicaGal/Mary for NSF/L2) Launch Pad Upgrades See Also SpaceX Starship Program L2 SpaceX Section NSF Store Click here to Join L2 The second launch pad at Starbase continues to be worked on, and it is being equipped to come online in 2025. A Buckner LR 11000 crane has arrived to help raise the new chopsticks and carriage system as well as the ship quick disconnect arm into place onto the tower. The crane arrived in many parts and was completed on the morning of Nov. 27. The chopsticks, carriage system, and ship quick disconnect still reside at the Sanchez site but have received many small changes in preparing them for lift onto the tower. The tower should be ready to acquire the new chopsticks any day now, with the cables that move the whole system up and down being added on Nov. 21 and the drawworks machine that raises and lowers the cables put into place before that. Also, the second launch mount is being welded at the Sanchez site to make it one unit. Not all the pieces have arrived, but the middle section, which bears the hold-down clamps, has been connected. This launch mount is a different design from the original launch mount and will come with a flame trench at Pad B and Tower 2. Launch mount for Pad B being welded together. (Credit: BocaChicaGal/Mary for NSF/L2) A new tank has been installed at the tank farm, further expanding the already massive supply of propellants. The expected dedicated subcoolers for Pad B have also received some work preparing them to be connected to the entire system. LC-39A has come back alive with a few cranes checking out the area around the Starship launch site. What these cranes are doing has yet to be discovered, but seeing activity around the site is a good sign for the program’s future in Florida. Looks like another much larger crane has joined the action at Launch Complex 39A where SpaceX has seemingly resumed work on the Starship launchpad. This new one is near the liquid oxygen tank for Starship's tank farm. https://t.co/bWDuxt1M5U pic.twitter.com/uure1POuZ1 — Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera (Alex) (@Alexphysics13) November 26, 2024 Production Site At the production site, there are rumors of a new Gigabay that could be built in place of where the Highbay and Stargate building is now. It has yet to be discovered how immense this Gigabay could be. It will likely be more expansive and have to be taller than the current Megabay’s due to the Block 2 boosters’ size extension coming in the future. A SpaceX listing was sent out looking to hire a new construction engineer to develop and lead the production of this building. A drilling rig was also spotted having started near the parking garage. This could line up with the expected dimensions of the building, if not just a red herring. If this is the case, this Gigabay could begin the building process in the near future. SpaceX has opened a job listing for the next vertical integration facility for Starship Construction at Starbase, TX. This could be a possible "GigaBay" (as SpaceX called it in the listing before editing out that word) to replace the High Bay or possibly all of SpaceX's vertical... pic.twitter.com/YGzHlr1pNI — Chris Bergin – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) November 26, 2024 There have been many changes around the production site, with Ship 26’s scrapping being prominent. This pathfinder ship helped confirm many systems that have been used on the vehicles that have already launched. Ship 26 resided at the rocket garden for many months until, on Nov. 20, it was moved into the highbay, was broken up ring section by ring section, and was taken out to the scrap yard. Boosters 15 and 16 have gained many upgrades, preparing them for Flights 8 and 9. Booster 15 has received its carbon dioxide tanks and could roll to Massey’s for its cryogenic proof test to validate its tanks before engine installation. Booster 16 has now completed its liquid oxygen tank. This vehicle looks similar to the last boosters, with only a few changes expected. Booster 13, Booster 15, and Booster 14 in Megabay One. (Credit: SpaceX) Flight 7 Updates SpaceX workers have already begun to prepare for the next flight. The alignment pins that help place the booster in position on the launch mount have already been installed. This allows the booster to be put on the launch mount as soon as it is ready for engine testing. The refilling of the tank farm has already started, with thousands of semi-trucks showing up at the launch site in the next few weeks to refill all of the tanks before the sixth flight. Booster 14 has resided in Megabay One and now has complete focus after Booster 13’s demise in the Gulf of Mexico. It was already cryogenically tested on Oct. 7, proving its tanks were structurally sound. It is now expected to have grid fins, with some spotted heading into Megabay One earlier in the week. Booster 14 will soon head out to the launch site for engine testing before being retrofitted with any lessons learned on Booster 13’s flight and brought back out for launch. Booster 13’s demise into the Gulf of Mexico after the catch attempt was scrubbed. (Credit: Starbase Live) Ship 33 will be the first Block Two ship to fly. It has received all six of its Raptor 2 engines and is currently being prepared for static fire at the Massey’s facility. This ship could be the last to land purposefully in the ocean. On the social media app X, Elon Musk mentioned that if the ship successfully lands again on Flight 7, Flight 8 will have the first ship catch attempt. Flight 7’s launch profile is similar to Flight 5 and 6’s, with the ship landing in the Indian Ocean near Australia around an hour after launch. NASA’s Gulfstream V is known to be planning to image this landing. If those documents stay correct, this launch is scheduled for no earlier than Jan. 11, although plans could change, and this launch could be pushed left or right in the timeline. This also means the seventh flight of Starship will be another suborbital flight and that no further Starship flights will be attempted this year. Link to the document and props to Gongora on the NSF forums for finding this: https://t.co/IAVk0cKyDy — Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera (Alex) (@Alexphysics13) November 25, 2024 SpaceX is expecting to have 25 launches available for Starship from Starbase in 2025. As long as the FAA’s two-month window for comment goes smoothly, SpaceX will receive a Finding Of No Significant Impact (FONSI) allowing these 25 launches, with three coming during the night. These night launches currently do not allow booster landings, but it is possible this could be changed with minor regulation updates. L2 includes full res full collection of all photos taken by NSF photographers.)

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — A Ukrainian girls’ hockey team is in Canada for a few days of peace and hockey in an arena that doesn’t have a missile-sized hole in its roof. After 56 hours of travel to Calgary, including a 24-hour bus ride from Dnipro to Warsaw, Poland, that required army escort for a portion of it, the Ukrainian Wings will join Wickfest, Hayley Wickenheiser’s annual girls’ hockey festival, on Thursday. The squad of players aged 11 to 13 was drawn from eight different cities in Ukraine, where sport facilities have been damaged or destroyed since Russia started its invasion in February 2022. “They all have a personal story of something awful happening,” said Wickenheiser. “We give them a week of peace and joy here, and I hope they can carry that with them. “We know full well they’re going back to difficult circumstances. It’s tough that way.” Nine players are from Kharkiv, where pictures show a large hole in the roof of the Saltovskiy Led arena where the girls’ team WHC Panthers once skated. “It was our home ice arena, and we played all our national team championships in this ice arena,” said Kateryna Seredenko, who oversees the Panthers program and is the Wings general manager. Ukraine’s Olympic Committee posted photos and wrote in a Facebook post Sept. 1 that Kharkiv’s Sport Palace, which was home to multiple hockey teams, was also destroyed in an attack on the city. Seredenko says the Wings’ arduous journey to Calgary was worth it because it gives the girls hope. “It’s not a good situation in Ukraine, but when they come here, they can believe that everything will be good, everything will be fine, of course we will win soon and we must play hockey. We can’t stop because we love these girls and we will do everything for them,” she said. “So many girls on this Ukrainian team are future players of the national team.” Wickenheiser, a Hockey Hall of Famer , is the assistant general manager of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs and a doctor who works emergency room shifts in the Toronto area. The six-time Olympian and four-time gold medalist organized her first Wickfest after the 2010 Winter Games. She’s had teams from India, Mexico and the Czech Republic attend over the last decade and a half, but never a team that ran the Ukrainians’ gauntlet of logistics. The Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health took on the task of arranging visas and paying for the team’s travel. “We care about women and children’s health. Sport is such a symbol. When you see a group of girls coming off the ice all sweaty and having worked hard on the ice, it’s a symbol of a healthy girl,” said chief executive officer Julia Anderson. “That’s a healthy kid that’s able to participate in sport. We really believe if we can get girls there, whether they’re in an active war zone, or here in Canada, those girls will change the world.” The Wings aren’t the first Ukrainians to seek a hockey haven in Canada since the war began. An under-25 men’s team played four games against university squads in early 2023 to prepare for that year’s world university games. Ukrainian teams have also twice played in the Quebec City International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. “It’s the first time in Ukrainian history where a girls’ team is coming to Canada to a very good tournament,” Seredenko said. “They can see how they can play in their future. And they can see how it is to play hockey in Canada.” AP sports: https://apnews.com/sportsPLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, 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.” Defying expectations Carter's path, , 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.” ‘Country come to town’ 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 as “country come to town.” A ‘leader of conscience’ on race and class Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. , 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 was Carter's closest advisor Rosalynn Carter, who 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. Reevaluating his legacy 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 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 . 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. Pilgrimages to Plains The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as 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. Bill Barrow, The Associated PressEmi Martinez began the night by walking onto the field with his children and parading a pair of trophies for being the world’s best goalkeeper for the last two years. He finished it by producing an astonishing save that vindicated those awards. The Argentina international illuminated a 0-0 draw between his Aston Villa team and Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday by plucking the ball from behind him and scooping it off the goal line to deny Francisco Conceição what could have been the winner. Replays showed the ball was almost entirely over the line before Martinez hooked it clear, and the goalkeeper was quickly congratulated by his teammates. No save by Martinez will ever beat the one he pulled off for Argentina in the last seconds of extra time in the 2022 World Cup final , denying France striker Randal Kolo Muani and keeping teammate Lionel Messi’s dream alive of finally winning soccer’s biggest prize. He might just have run it close. It was fitting he produced his wonder save against Juve on the night he showed off the two Yashin Trophies he claimed at the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony in each of the past two years. The most recent one came last month. As for Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio, he finished the game relieved that what appeared to be a mistake in the final seconds of stoppage time didn't cost his team. Di Gregorio spilled a cross under pressure from Villa defender Diego Carlos and Morgan Rogers was there to poke the ball into the net. A goal was awarded by the on-field referee but after a two-minute check, it was ruled out for a foul on Di Gregorio by Carlos. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerDirexion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares ( NASDAQ:AAPD – Get Free Report ) saw a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 101,900 shares, a drop of 37.1% from the November 30th total of 162,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 277,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.4 days. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares during the third quarter worth about $540,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $295,000. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $197,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $280,000. Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares Trading Up 1.4 % Shares of NASDAQ AAPD opened at $14.96 on Friday. Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares has a twelve month low of $14.70 and a twelve month high of $23.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.93. Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares Dividend Announcement Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) The Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares ETF (AAPD) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the Apple Inc index. The fund provides inverse (-1x) exposure, less fees and expenses, to the daily price movement for shares of Apple stock. AAPD was launched on Aug 9, 2022 and is managed by Direxion. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

North Korea's Kim vows the toughest anti-US policy before Trump takes officeKohl’s ( NYSE:KSS – Free Report ) had its target price trimmed by TD Cowen from $20.00 to $16.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock. KSS has been the subject of several other research reports. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Kohl’s from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $11.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Kohl’s from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $19.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Kohl’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Kohl’s from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target on Kohl’s from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.22. Check Out Our Latest Report on Kohl’s Kohl’s Price Performance Kohl’s ( NYSE:KSS – Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.08). Kohl’s had a return on equity of 6.44% and a net margin of 1.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kohl’s will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Kohl’s Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.09%. Insider Transactions at Kohl’s In related news, EVP Feeney Siobhan Mc sold 16,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.27, for a total value of $315,392.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 136,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,116.73. This represents a 10.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website . Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kohl’s Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Kohl’s by 23.0% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,982 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Kohl’s by 231.8% in the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 7,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 5,513 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 97.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 948 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Kohl’s by 19.5% during the second quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 196,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,521,000 after buying an additional 32,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Kohl’s by 2.4% during the second quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 320,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,358,000 after buying an additional 7,419 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.04% of the company’s stock. About Kohl’s ( Get Free Report ) Kohl’s Corporation operates as an omnichannel retailer in the United States. It offers branded apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty, and home products through its stores and website. The company provides its products primarily under the brand names of Croft & Barrow, Jumping Beans, SO, Sonoma Goods for Life, and Tek Gear, as well as Food Network, LC Lauren Conrad, Nine West, and Simply Vera Vera Wang. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Kohl's Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kohl's and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .