Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people

There are some Christmas traditions in the UK that might confuse people from the US . Every Christmas, families gather to watch pantomimes or meet their school friends at the pub. They also eat Yorkshire puddings, mince pies, Christmas pudding, and Christmas cake. Christmas in the United Kingdom differs slightly from celebrations in America and elsewhere around the world. People who celebrate Christmas in the UK have slightly different traditions than those who live in the US. From what is traditionally served at a Christmas Day feast to festive activities and childhood traditions, families across the pond have their own unique and quirky ways of celebrating the holidays. Here are 18 British Christmas traditions that might surprise you.

It wasn’t the ending Argentine football fans had in mind when the Monumental stadium was chosen as the venue for the final match of the 2024 Copa Libertadores. Despite high hopes for some local representatives, two Brazilian teams ended up in the final game of South America’s most important tournament. Nonetheless, Buenos Aires woke up dressed in black and white on Saturday, the traditional colors of Botafogo and Atlético Minerio as the two teams faced off to see who would emerge victorious. The crowning event of South American football was played in a stadium packed with Brazilian fans who saw Botafogo reach the pinnacle of its history by beating Atlético Mineiro 2-0 to claim its first ever Copa Libertadores. The day Buenos Aires dressed in black and white Many of the over 40,000 Brazilians who arrived in the city spent several days experiencing the Argentine capital before the match. In their saying, Buenos Aires gets high marks for its culture and sights. “It’s a city with a great architecture, very beautiful, and with a lot of personality,” Mineiro fan Mario S. told the Herald, adding that the people were very kind. He travelled from his native Belo Horizonte to Buenos Aires to witness his first ever Copa Libertadores final, having previously missed his team’s first appearance in 2013. The trip, however, was not all good news. Several of the Brazilian tourists complained about Buenos Aires’ prices in restaurants and cafés. On Thursday, a Botafogo fan shared his amazement over paying 114 reais (around US$20) for a quick snack of a coffee and a piece of cheesecake. Organizers Conmebol had the challenge of creating a Buenos Aires final with no Argentine representatives, making the host city stand out amid the colorful Brazilian footballing culture. Despite being held at one of the Argentine capital’s premiere footballing venues, the match failed to captivate the interest of local fans, with few neutrals in the stands. The opening ceremony paid tribute to Buenos Aires’ tango culture, with an accordion version of the Copa Libertadores anthem. The rest, however, focused on the regional and cultural differences between both sets of fans. Brazilian rapper Djonga fired up Mineiro fans, while host and humorist Marcelo Adnet did the same for the Botafogo crowd. Botafogo fans, who completed their section of the Monumental and even filled up their own Nilton Santos stadium back home with fans attending to watch the broadcast, showed up with an impressive tifo, a huge mosaic of the club’s flag done holding colored paper pieces. But it was the Mineiro fans who proved the noisier crowd early on, with deafening cheers when their team was introduced. A game of two halves Much of the game was marked by the minute-one sending off of Botafogo midfielder Gregore da Silva, who just 29 seconds in put his studs into Mineiro’s Fausto Vera. ¡¡ROJA EN BOTAFOGO AL MINUTO DE JUEGO!! 📺 Mirá la final de la CONMEBOL #Libertadores por #DisneyPlus Premium pic.twitter.com/L3cgyejwoI At a disadvantage so early on, Botafogo looked to defend deep and use the speed of its attackers to counter. Mineiro kept possession of the ball, but was unable to break down the defence. Despite being one man down, Botafogo managed to hit first. In the 35th minute, striker Luiz Henrique da Silva took advantage of a poor rejection from a shot to slot it in from inside the six yard box. ¡¡BOTAFOGO LO GANA CON UNO MENOS!! Almada conducción: definió Luiz Henrique en River para el 1-0 ante Atlético Mineiro. 📺 Mirá la final de la CONMEBOL #Libertadores por #DisneyPlus Premium pic.twitter.com/d000yjEhXc The goal seemed to shock Mineiro’s players, who allowed their rivals to take control of the game. Nine minutes after the first goal, goalkeeper Everson Pires went out to pick up a loose ball and ended up clipping attacker Luiz Henrique while defender Guilherme Arana was trying to fend him off. After a VAR review, referee Facundo Tello gave a penalty and defender Alex Telles secured the 2-0. Atlético Mineiro came out of half time determined to make its numbers advantage count, and quickly got one back. In the 46th minute, substitute striker Eduardo Vargas scored a header from a Hulk da Souza corner for 2-1. ¡¡TURBOMAN!! Edu Vargas ingresó y marcó el descuento de Atlético Mineiro, que cae 2-1 ante Botafogo. 📺 Mirá la final de la CONMEBOL #Libertadores por #DisneyPlus Premium pic.twitter.com/E2YkQyhAEI The goal fired up Mineiro, and its players started creating big chances. In the 63rd minute, Hulk received the ball on the right and darted left past his defender for a shot, forcing a great save by goalkeeper John Victor. Vargas went from hero to villain late in the second half. After scoring Mineiro’s first goal, he went on to miss two clear chances to tie the game. He sent a point blank chance over the bar in the 85th minute, then tried to chip John Victor two minutes later. In the final minute of added time, Botafogo landed the winning blow. ¡¡3-1 Y BOTAFOGO CAMPEÓN DE AMÉRICA!! 📺 Mirá la final de la CONMEBOL #Libertadores por #DisneyPlus Premium pic.twitter.com/PYkQHyb6a0 With Mineiro all in to tie the game, striker Júnior Santos dribbled past two defenders and then picked up the rebound from his cross to make it 3-1 and seal the deal. “Today was one of the biggest games in my life,” Qatar 2022-winner with the Argentina national team and Botafogo striker Thiago Almada said after the game. “We’ll celebrate with our family, our friends and our fans.” “I think we were the best team of the Libertadores. No rival bested us in the whole tournament, and I think we’re deserving winners. Today we were one man short and we played an intelligent game, showing our character.” Botafogo’s first Copa Libertadores is only the second international title the team has one after the 1993 Copa Conmebol. It became the last of Brazil’s big 12 teams to win the competition, and sealed its ticket to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

Southern baseball coach Chris Crenshaw Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save The Southern baseball team will kick off the 2025 season at the Cactus Jack Classic in Houston against Texas Southern on Feb. 14 and will start a new conference schedule format beginning March 14. Instead of home-and-home SWAC divisional series each weekend, each team will play all five divisional opponents and five of six from the opposite division. Southern will play every other Southwestern Athletic Conference team except Florida A&M. The teams will be then be seeded 1-8 by record for a double-elimination tournament starting May 21. Five of Southern’s first seven SWAC series will be played in Baton Rouge. The Jaguars will open their home schedule against Dillard on Feb. 25, the first of six consecutive home games. Saint Peter comes in for a three-game series at Lee-Hines Field from Feb. 28-March-2 and Southern wraps up the homestand against Xavier on March 4. The Jaguars will play at LSU at 2 p.m. Feb. 18. Conference play begins March 14 at home with a three-game series against Alabama State. 2025 Southern baseball schedule Cactus Jack Classic, Houston Feb. 14 vs. Texas Southern, 7 p.m. Feb. 15 vs. Grambling, 3 p.m. Feb. 16 vs. Prairie View, 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at LSU, 2 p.m. Andre Dawson Classic, Vero Beach, Fla. Feb. 21 vs. Jackson St., 11 a.m. Feb. 22 vs. Florida A&M, 6 p.m. Feb. 23 vs. Missouri, 8 a.m. Feb. 25 Dillard, 6 p.m. Feb. 28 Saint Peter, 6 p.m. Mar. 1 Saint Peter, 3 p.m. Mar. 2 Saint Peter, 1 p.m. Mar. 4 Xavier, 6 p.m. Mar. 7 at Mercer, 5 p.m. Mar. 8 at Mercer, 1 p.m. Mar. 9 at Mercer, noon Mar. 11 at UL, 6 p.m. Mar. 14 Alabama State, 6 p.m. Mar. 15 Alabama State, 3 p.m. Mar. 16 Alabama State, 1 p.m. Mar. 19 Incarnate Word, 6 p.m. Mar. 21 at Prairie View, 3 p.m. Mar. 22 at Prairie View, 2 p.m. Mar. 23 at Prairie View, 1 p.m. Mar. 23 at McNeese St., 6 p.m. Mar. 25 at Bethune-Cookman, 6 p.m. Mar. 26 at Bethune-Cookman, 5 p.m. Mar. 27 at Bethune-Cookman, noon Apr. 1 at UNO, 6:30 p.m. Apr. 4 Grambling, 6 p.m. Apr. 5 Grambling, 3 p.m. Apr. 6 Grambling, 1 p.m. Apr. 9 UNO, 6 p.m. Apr. 11 Alcorn St., 6 p.m. Apr. 12 Alcorn St., 3 p.m. Apr. 13 Alcorn St., 1 p.m. Apr. 15 at Mississippi State, 6 p.m. Apr. 18 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, TBA Apr. 19 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, TBA Apr. 20 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, TBA Apr. 22 Nicholls State, 6 p.m. Apr. 25 Mississippi Valley St., 6 p.m. Apr. 26 Mississippi Valley St., 3 p.m. Apr. 27 Mississippi Valley St., 1 p.m. May 2 at Texas Southern, TBA May 3 at Texas Southern, TBA May 4 at Texas Southern, TBA May 6 McNeese St., 6 p.m. May 9 at Alabama A&M, 2 p.m. May 10 at Alabama A&M, 2 p.m. May 11 at Alabama A&M, 1 p.m. May 16 at Jackson St., TBA May 17 at Jackson St., TBA May 18 at Jackson St., TBA May 21-25 SWAC tournament May 30 NCAA regional

United Airlines travelers with lost luggage have a new tool to track their bags. If the lost bag has an Apple AirTag in it, that information can now be passed directly to United, the airline announced Thursday. The new feature, called Share Item Location, allows travelers with an AirTag or other Find My network accessory to share the location with the airline’s customer service team to help locate their luggage in the event it’s misplaced. United says more than 99% of its customers pick up their luggage without a hitch. The feature is now available with iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 or macOS 15.2. “Apple’s new Share Item Location feature will help customers travel with even more confidence, knowing they have another way to access their bag’s precise location with AirTag or their Find My accessory of choice,” said David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer. Travelers on United whose bags do not arrive at their destination can file a delayed baggage report with United and share the link to the item’s location either through the United app or via text message. After the report has been submitted, customer service agents will be able to locate the item on an interactive map alongside a timestamp of a recent update. The shared location will be disabled after a customer has the bag, and customers can also stop sharing the location of the item at any time on their own. The location link will also automatically expire after seven days. Using AirTags or other tracking devices on luggage is increasingly popular among frequent travelers, with a significant boom following the 2022 Southwest Airlines holiday meltdown , which displaced thousands of travelers over Christmas and into 2023, alongside much of their belongings. United says lost bags are rare, with more than 99% of its customers arriving with their bags. It says the new technology will help those with lost bags to recover them more quickly because the airline will have more information about them. Apple previously announced the new service will also be integrated at other air carriers, including Delta Air Lines. Others include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Vueling. Stay up-to-date on what's happening

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Nigel Farage of “fakery” over Reform UK membership numbers, after his party claimed they had surpassed the Tories in signed-up members. Mrs Badenoch said Reform’s counter was “coded to tick up automatically”, but Mr Farage said he would “gladly invite” a firm to “audit our membership numbers” as long as the Conservatives do the same. The row comes after a digital counter on the Reform website showed a membership tally before lunchtime on Boxing Day ticking past the 131,680 figure declared by the Conservative Party during its leadership election earlier this year. Manipulating your own supporters at Xmas eh, Nigel?It’s not real. It’s a fake ⏰ coded to tick up automatically. We’ve been watching the back end for days and can also see they’ve just changed the code to link to a different site as people point this out. Farage doesn’t... https://t.co/2tAsszfHsG — Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) December 26, 2024 When the figure was announced, Mr Farage said it was an “historic moment”. However in a thread on X later on Thursday, Mrs Badenoch said it was “a fake” and used a clock emoji to say that it was “coded to tick up automatically”. She added that “we’ve been watching the back end” of the counter “for days” Mrs Badenoch added: “Farage doesn’t understand the digital age. This kind of fakery gets found out pretty quickly, although not before many are fooled.” There were 131,680 Conservative members eligible to vote during the party’s leadership election to replace Rishi Sunak in the autumn, but Mrs Badenoch claimed in her thread that “the Conservative Party has gained thousands of new members since the leadership election”. In response to the thread, Mr Farage said that the “Conservative brand is dying” under Mrs Badenoch’s leadership, and added: “We will gladly invite one of the Big 4 firms in to audit our membership numbers as long as you do the same.” The official Reform X account also posted an image that it said included a “screenshot of our internal membership numbers”, which appeared to show figures at more than 134,000. Hi Kemi, this is very embarrassing for you. Here is a screenshot of our internal membership numbers. Whether you like it or not, we have more members. We are the real opposition. https://t.co/mS8VbkAi8N pic.twitter.com/Rb47zrsZ04 — Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) December 26, 2024 In a post on X on Thursday evening, Mr Farage said that “over 5,000 people have joined Reform today”. A research briefing published by the House of Commons Library in 2022 said comparing party membership numbers can be “difficult”, saying there is not a uniformly recognised definition of membership, or an established method to monitor it. Over 5,000 people have joined Reform today, another record day. Click the link below to join the fastest growing movement in British politics. https://t.co/5g6BAtEkUb — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) December 26, 2024 Luke Tryl, director of the More in Common think tank, similarly told the PA news agency it is an “opaque” process. Speaking before Mrs Badenoch made her accusations, Mr Tryl said: “Parties are notoriously opaque about this sort of thing”. He described party membership as “very opaque and murky as a metric anyway”. On Reform, Mr Tryl said one of the challenges for the party will be whether membership converts to campaigners. He told PA: “There is no doubt Reform had a very good autumn. I think they capitalised off some of Labour’s early mistakes, but also the fact the Conservative brand is still struggling. They’ve clearly got momentum.” Discussing Reform’s membership, he said: “We know that lots of Reform’s most vocal supporters are very online. “Do those people who are very online and joined up, do they also go out and pound the streets, deliver leaflets, canvass, that sort of thing? “That remains an open question.” Reform was set up as a limited company and in September Mr Farage announced that he would change the ownership structure so that it would be owned by members. “I no longer need to control this party,” he said at the time. In a video posted on X, he said: “We will change the structure of the party from one limited by shares to a company limited by guarantee, and that means it’s the members of Reform that will own this party.”Philo delivers go-ahead TD run with 22 seconds remaining to lift Georgia Tech past N.C. State 30-29Fall is the best time to think about cooking soup. Here’s 5 recipes you’ll want to try