Rico Carty, who won the 1970 NL batting title when he hit a major league-best .366 for the Atlanta Braves, has died. He was 85. Major League Baseball , the players’ association and the Braves paid tribute to Carty on social media on Sunday. A family friend told Listín Diario — a newspaper in Carty’s native Dominican Republic — that he died Saturday night in an Atlanta hospital. “Carty was one of the first groundbreaking Latino stars in the major leagues, and he established himself as a hero to millions in his native Dominican Republic, his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris, and the city of Atlanta, where he was a beloved fan favorite,” the players' association said in its statement . The Braves said Carty left an indelible mark on the organization. “While his on-field accomplishments will never be forgotten, his unforgettable smile and generous nature will be sorely missed,” the team said in its statement. Carty made his big league debut with the Braves in September 1963. He batted .330 with 22 homers and 88 RBIs in his first full season in 1964, finishing second to Dick Allen in voting for NL Rookie of the Year. The Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta after the 1965 season, and Carty got the franchise's first hit in its new home on April 12, 1966, against Pittsburgh. Carty had his best year in 1970, batting .366 with 25 homers and a career-best 101 RBIs. He started the All-Star Game after he was elected as a write-in candidate, joining Willie Mays and Hank Aaron in the NL outfield. Carty batted .299 with 204 homers and 890 RBIs over 15 years in the majors, also playing for Cleveland, Toronto, Oakland, Texas and the Chicago Cubs. He retired after the 1979 season. AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLBWhen COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev stepped to the podium at the closing meeting of the Baku climate summit on Sunday morning, hoping to clinch a hard-fought agreement on global climate finance, he carried with him two speeches. One was crafted around a hoped-for deal being struck, while the other for the possibility of a summit-collapsing impasse, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. One of the sources — a person in the COP29 presidency — told Reuters that they worked through challenging negotiations until the last minute to ensure what it called the Baku Breakthrough, but still prepared different versions of the final speech for different possible outcomes. In the end, Babayev managed to gavel through the $300 billion finance plan to help developing nations cope with the soaring costs of global warming over the next decade before critics had time to object, allowing him to read the more positive speech. He praised the agreement as a breakthrough and shamed the deal’s doubters as “wrong,” even as many of the climate deal’s intended recipients slammed it as woefully inadequate . Babayev’s preparation for different outcomes at the divisive summit in the Caspian Sea nation of Azerbaijan reflected what many in the audience had already known before it began: the Baku climate talks were never going to go smoothly. Expectations for a deal were depressed by worries of a looming U.S. withdrawal from global climate cooperation, geopolitical turmoil, and a rise of isolationist politics that had shunted climate change off much of the world’s top priorities list. Those obstacles loomed large in Baku and will continue to overshadow global climate efforts in the months ahead as Brazil prepares for next year’s much broader conference in the Amazon rainforest city of Belem — where the world will plot a years-long course for steeper emission cuts and building resilience in the fight against climate change. “Multilateralism as a whole is under threat,” said Eliot Whittington, chief systems change officer at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. “Indeed, the UNFCCC is probably the bright spot — proving that even in the face of incredibly hostile geopolitics and on fundamentally difficult questions, a deal can be made,” he said, referring to the U.N. body sponsoring the annual climate summit. But the slow pace of progress, with global emissions still rising, has raised tensions and calls for reform. “This is something that needs to be looked at, when just a handful of countries, based on their own economic interests, can almost wreck the entire process,” Sierra Leone Environment Minister Jiwoh Abdulai told Reuters. Trump effect Among the biggest factors clouding the negotiations in Baku was the looming return of climate skeptic Donald Trump as president of the United States, the world’s biggest economy, largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, and top producer of oil and gas. Trump, who takes office in January, has pledged to withdraw the United States from the global Paris Agreement on climate change, as he did during his first 2017-2021 term in the White House, and has called climate change a hoax. Negotiators at the Baku conference said that while the U.S. delegation had helped in coming up with the climate finance deal, the country was unable to take a high-profile leadership role like it has in past climate summits, and it could not provide assurances the next administration would honor its pledges. “With the United States, well, the voters have voted and that’s the way it is. What they’re going to do, we do not know,” South African Environment Minister Dion George said. U.S. officials at the COP29 conference sought to reassure global partners that market forces, existing federal subsidies, and state mandates would ensure continued renewable energy deployment even if Trump disengages from the global process. The war in Ukraine and rising conflict in the Middle East, meanwhile, have diverted global attention to security and energy availability, and led many governments to tighten their purse strings, experts said. That made getting a bigger climate finance number hard, observers to the talks said. “Even maintaining climate finance at current levels in the current political environment is a huge fight,” said Joe Thwaites, senior advocate on international climate finance at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. The agreement to provide $300 billion annually by 2035 would theoretically triple rich countries’ previous commitments to provide $100 billion by 2020. That earlier goal was reached in full only in 2022, and expires in 2025. The unwillingness of wealthy countries to offer more money and the pressure to conclude even a weak deal ahead of more political turbulence became a major source of frustration for the least developed countries and small island states, who told the Baku conference they felt sidelined in the negotiations. At one point in the summit’s final stretch, negotiating blocs representing both groups walked out of talks in protest, delaying a deal by hours. “We came in good faith, with the safety of our communities and the well-being of the world at heart,” Tina Stege, the climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, said at the closing plenary. “Yet, we have seen the very worst of political opportunism here at this COP, playing games with the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.” India’s envoy, Chandni Raina, used her time to roundly reject the climate finance deal gaveled through by Babayev. “We are disappointed in the outcome which clearly brings out the unwillingness of the developed country parties to fulfil their responsibilities,” she told the summit. Climate advocates said that, while the deal is better than an outright impasse, the rifts exposed by the conference as well as the loss of trust in the process among poorer countries will pose a problem for Brazil as it prepares for COP30. “I think this is a toxic chalice for Belem, and it’s going to be up to Brazil how they’re going to restore the trust,” said Oscar Sorria, director of the Common Initiative, a think tank focused on global financial reform.8k8 discount 。

BUSTED: Airline Employee Worked As DEA Informant to Get Cut of Funds Seized Under Civil Asset Forfeiture

Byfield scores in 200th career game as Kings hold off Kraken for 2-1 winLOS ANGELES (AP) — After struggling to run the ball consistently all season, the Los Angeles Rams finally made some progress on the ground in New Orleans. Kyren Williams and rookie Blake Corum carried the Rams (6-6) to a 21-14 win that kept them squarely in the playoff race for another week. Los Angeles racked up a season-high 156 yards rushing against the Saints, with Williams going for 104 yards and a touchdown while Corum added 42 yards on a season high-tying eight carries. The game was the inverse of most afternoons this season for the Rams, who came into the week averaging fewer than 100 yards rushing per game. The running game was sturdy and productive, while Matthew Stafford and his receivers struggled to get into a rhythm at the Superdome. Coach Sean McVay always prefers to use his run game to set up the pass, and it finally worked for once this season. “I thought Kyren ran really well," McVay said. “I thought Corum ran really well. I thought our offensive line set the line of scrimmage in the run game. We really started slow in the pass game, but I thought Matthew was excellent in the second half. We were able to get some different things off of those run actions going, and that ended up being the difference in the game.” Not coincidentally, the Rams' running game worked well on the Sunday when the offensive line finally had a starting five uncompromised by injuries or suspension for the first time all season. Right tackle Rob Havenstein returned from an ankle injury, making the group whole around rookie center Beaux Limmer, who has beaten out high-priced free agent Jonah Jackson for a starting job. The Rams still had yet another slow start in a season full of them. They ran only three plays in the entire first quarter, and they were held scoreless in the first half when their other two drives resulted in a turnover on downs and a punt. But Los Angeles rebounded with an 11-play scoring drive to open the second half featuring seven runs by Williams. He eventually moved up to fifth in the NFL with 926 yards rushing despite averaging just 4.2 yards per carry — nearly a yard less than he had last season, and the lowest average among the league's top 10 rushers this season. The Rams have thrived without a strong rushing attack before: They averaged just 99.0 yards per game on the ground, ranking 25th in the NFL, during their Super Bowl championship season in 2021-22. But McVay prefers his first option to be a strong running attack, which he had during his first three seasons in charge with Todd Gurley in the backfield and Andrew Whitworth at left tackle. “Anytime the guys up front are moving them, and (Williams) is making great reads and moves on the second level, then that is a fun feeling for the offense," Stafford said. “It’s great when you can hand the ball off and get big creases. We converted when we needed to in short-yardage stuff. I thought our guys did a really great job up front, and Kyren ran it great.” What's working The Rams have struggled in the red zone all season, but they scored touchdowns on all three trips in New Orleans. They did it by committing to the run game up the middle, setting up TD passes on the outside to Demarcus Robinson and Puka Nacua. What needs help Alvin Kamara racked up 112 yards rushing in the latest strong game by an opposing running back. Los Angeles is 28th in the league against the run, allowing 144.2 yards rushing per game — including 194 per game over the past three weeks. Stock up Rookie edge rusher Jared Verse had another outstanding game, racking up five tackles, three quarterback hits and numerous big plays that don't show up on stat sheets. He capped the performance by hitting Derek Carr from behind and forcing an incompletion from the Los Angeles 9 on New Orleans' final play. Stock down Cornerback Darious Williams gave up a touchdown pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling and the ensuing 2-point conversion pass to Dante Pettis early in the fourth quarter, capping a second straight rough week for the free-agent signee. Williams is the Rams' best cornerback, but they haven't had an above-average shutdown pass defender since trading Jalen Ramsey. Los Angeles added cornerback depth Monday, claiming 2023 first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes off waivers from Washington. Injuries Robinson injured his hand during the game, and Stafford incurred a lateral ankle sprain. McVay said he doesn't expect either injury to affect the veterans' preparations this week. Key number 17 — Cooper Kupp's yards receiving. That's his lowest total in a game in which he didn't get injured since Oct. 18, 2020. Kupp had only six targets, few downfield routes and curiously scant chances to make big plays. Next steps The Rams are home underdogs this week against powerhouse Buffalo, followed by a Thursday night game at San Francisco. Getting even one win out of these two matchups will be difficult, but probably necessary to keep pace with Seattle and Arizona in the NFC West. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL Greg Beacham, The Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Republican senators pushed back on Sunday against criticism from Democrats that Tulsi Gabbard , Donald Trump's pick to lead U.S. intelligence services , is “compromised” by her comments supportive of Russia and secret meetings , as a congresswoman, with Syria’s president, a close ally of the Kremlin and Iran. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, a veteran of combat missions in Iraq, said she had concerns about Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's choice to be director of national intelligence . “I think she’s compromised," Duckworth said on CNN’s “State of the Union," citing Gabbard's 2017 trip to Syria, where she held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Gabbard was a Democratic House member from Hawaii at the time. “The U.S. intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with America’s foes. And so my worry is that she couldn’t pass a background check,” Duckworth said. Gabbard, who said last month she is joining the Republican party, has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades. She was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait and, according to the Hawaii National Guard, received a Combat Medical Badge in 2005 for “participation in combat operations under enemy hostile fire in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III." Duckworth's comments drew immediate backlash from Republicans. “For her to say ridiculous and outright dangerous words like that is wrong," Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, said on CNN, challenging Duckworth to retract her words. “That’s the most dangerous thing she could say — is that a United States lieutenant colonel in the United States Army is compromised and is an asset of Russia.” In recent days, other Democrats have accused Gabbard without evidence of being a “Russian asset.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, has claimed, without offering details, that Gabbard is in Russian President Vladimir “Putin’s pocket.” Mullin and others say the criticism from Democrats is rooted in the fact that Gabbard left their party and has become a Trump ally. Democrats say they worry that Gabbard's selection as national intelligence chief endangers ties with allies and gives Russia a win. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat just elected to the Senate, said he would not describe Gabbard as a Russian asset, but said she had “very questionable judgment.” “The problem is if our foreign allies don’t trust the head of our intelligence agencies, they’ll stop sharing information with us,” Schiff said on NBC's “Meet the Press.” Gabbard in 2022 endorsed one of Russia’s justifications for invading Ukraine : the existence of dozens of U.S.-funded biolabs working on some of the world’s nastiest pathogens. The labs are part of an international effort to control outbreaks and stop bioweapons, but Moscow claimed Ukraine was using them to create deadly bioweapons. Gabbard said she just voiced concerns about protecting the labs. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, said he thought it was “totally ridiculous” that Gabbard was being cast as a Russian asset for having different political views. “It’s insulting. It’s a slur, quite frankly. There’s no evidence that she’s a asset of another country,” he said on NBC. Sen. James Lankford, another Oklahoma Republican, acknowledged having “lots of questions” for Gabbard as the Senate considers her nomination to lead the intelligence services. Lankford said on NBC that he wants to ask Gabbard about her meeting with Assad and some of her past comments about Russia. “We want to know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was. As a member of Congress, we want to get a chance to talk about past comments that she’s made and get them into full context,” Lankford said.AAP demands judicial probe into Sambhal violenceThe Cleveland Cavaliers have steamrolled through the first third of their schedule and now face one of their toughest stretches when they open a four-game road trip at the Denver Nuggets on Friday night. The Western Conference swing is the longest road trip of the season so far for Cleveland, which has won five in a row. The Cavaliers are coming off a close win against Utah without forwards Dean Wade (knee) and Isaac Okoro (shoulder). Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Stacker compiled a list of cities with the fastest growing home prices in the Savannah, GA metro using data from Zillow. Click for more. Cities with the fastest-growing home prices in the Savannah metro area

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors moved Monday to dismiss the criminal charges against President-elect Donald Trump that accused him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election and to abandon the classified documents case against him, citing longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. The decision by special counsel Jack Smith, who had fiercely sought to hold Trump criminally accountable for his efforts to subvert the 2020 election, represented the end of the federal effort against the former president following his election victory this month despite the election-related cases and multiple other unrelated criminal charges against him and is headed back to the White House. The decision, revealed in court filings, also amounts to a predictable but nonetheless stunning conclusion to criminal cases that had been seen as the most perilous of the multiple legal threats Trump has faced. It reflects the practical consequences of Trump’s victory, ensuring he enters office free from scrutiny over his hoarding of top secret documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Smith’s team emphasized that the move to abandon the prosecutions, in federal courts in Washington and Florida, was not a reflection of their view on the merits of the cases but rather a reflection of their commitment to longstanding department policy. “That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” the prosecutors wrote in Monday’s court filing in the election interference case. The decision was expected after Smith's team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The Justice Department believes Trump can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted. Trump has cast both cases as politically motivated, and had vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. The 2020 election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing the Republican as he vied to reclaim the White House. But it quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House. The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial. The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence they planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of using “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden., /PRNewswire/ -- 365 Retail Markets, the global leader in unattended retail technologies, today announced the appointment of Anton Rakushkin as Chief Technology Officer and as VP of Sales for . These strategic hires come as two long-time leaders, and , retire after years of dedicated service to the company. Rakushkin comes to 365 with twenty years of experience in retail technology including time with Streamware Corporation and Crane Connectivity Solutions. He holds impressive accomplishments in the areas of vending management, including the architecture of Vendmax, an extensively used VMS system across the industry. His achievements also include innovations around data exchange and tools for operator success such as industry-first pre-kit and dynamic scheduling features. Rakushkin has had notable success working closely with both customers and other solution providers to create widely adopted industry standards. "I am excited to bring my experience to the world-class team at 365 and look forward to elevating their impressive accomplishments across the industry as well as extending that success to more opportunities. By understanding customer needs and providing solutions that will drive the industry forward, we will accomplish great things," said Rakushkin. Reidy joins 365 Retail Markets with over thirty years of experience in sales leadership and executive management. Throughout his career, he has successfully developed and grown businesses across various verticals and industries. Reidy has cultivated a deep understanding of the SaaS industry by advancing through prominent firms, including well-known players in the automotive technology space, such as KPA, Netsertive, and DealerMatch. During his time at vAuto, he designed highly effective sales and operations management processes and built a renowned national sales team. When asked about his optimism around 365's growth potential, Reidy noted, "I'm fortunate to be joining a well-established team at 365 Retail Markets, and I believe that through coaching and establishing the right processes, we can expand our opportunities immensely. I am looking forward to elevating the reach and success of this organization through the help of a world-class sales team." , CEO at 365 Retail Markets, expressed his excitement about the leadership additions. "Bringing experts like Anton and Bill onto the team is essential to keep up with the intense growth we are seeing in our unattended retail business. We have heard for years that the market is tired of the lack of investment by the legacy VMS providers and the lack of consumer-focused features from the me-too payment terminal providers. Anton and Bill will be focused on being sure 365 remains the global leader for decades to come." retires after 10 years with 365. While currently serving as Chief Strategy Officer, he has previously served as Chief Financial Officer and an early advisor and Board Member helping define nearly every successful initiative in the company's history. Joe will be missed greatly by his industry colleagues and friends at 365 but will remain in an advisory role in his retirement. decade of service to 365 comes with many accomplishments in roles as Chief Operating Officer and later as President of International, spearheading international growth. His dedication to 365 has positioned the long-term success internationally and his relationships with many in the industry has gained him immense respect among his peers and colleagues. Hessling acknowledged their contributions, stating, "I would like to thank both Joe and John for helping me turn 365 into what it is today. Taking the leap to join over 10 years ago was a risk neither had to take and their impact on 365, me, and the industry has been something that most don't ever get the chance to do in their careers. I will miss working with them both but am happy for them in their next stage of life." Both retirements are effective and 365 Retail Markets thanks both individuals for their incredible dedication and commitment to the organization and industry. VP of Marketing & Communications, 365 Retail Markets 365 Retail Markets is the global leader in unattended retail technology. Founded in 2008, 365 provides a full suite of best-in-class, self-service technologies for food service operators including end-to-end integrated SaaS software, payment processing and point of-sale hardware. Today, the company's technology solutions autonomously power food retail spaces at corporate offices, manufacturing and distribution facilities, hospitality settings and more, in order to provide compelling foodservice options for consumers. 365's technology solutions include a growing suite of frictionless smart stores, micro markets, vending, catering, and dining point-of-sale options to meet the expanding needs of its customers. 365 continuously pioneers innovation in the industry with superior technology, strategic partnerships and ultimate flexibility in customization and branding. For more information about 365 Retail Markets, visit and connect on and View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE 365 Retail Markets, LLC Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Eastern Don't miss out on the headlines from Eastern. Followed categories will be added to My News. Top-division football awaits for the first time in almost two decades. Mitcham has been busily bolstering its list ahead of its top-flight return following back-to-back premierships in Division 1 , with four-time flag coach Neil Winterton confident the club’s latest additions can address key areas of need. Dual Bentleigh best and fairest winners Liam Hewish and Michael Rogers have crossed from the Southern league, with a connection to Tigers’ ruckman Danny Baglava helping land the duo. Hewish brings more than 150 games’ experience, while Rogers, a former Sandringham Dragon, was named captain of Bentleigh at just 20 years of age in 2019. “Both (Michael) and Liam are looking for a fresh start,” Winterton said. “We’re really excited about what they’re going to add – Michael will play probably across half-back, but has the ability to play through the midfield or on the wing. “Liam’s more a key defender, he’s also had a bit of trouble with his body as well so we’re hoping with a bit of a fresh start he can get that back where he’d like it. “He’s a big body so we think he might be able to add something because we do need to add to our key position stocks, particularly down back.” Rogers kicks clear for Bentleigh. Picture: Steve Tanner Meanwhile, brothers Emi and Ezi Aleixo have crossed from Division 2 club Croydon. Emi returns to the league’s Premier Division after a stint at Vermont where he played 16 senior games in 2022. He was also at Frankston VFL in 2023 before a knee injury put paid to his time in the state league. Ezi featured in two senior finals for Croydon in 2024. “Emi is an in-and-under mid with good speed ... Ezi is a small, pressure forward, which we’re always looking to add those sorts of players in. We think both of those can add to our team,” Winterton said. “They’ve both played juniors at Mitcham as well.” Medium-sized forward Jack Kritopoulos has also signed from Premier Division rival, Blackburn. The former Eastern Ranges talent played most of his footy in the reserves this season with a smattering of senior appearances, kicking 21 goals from 16 showings in the twos and 10 majors from four top-flight matches – including six goals against Norwood. “He was looking for a little bit more opportunity, which we feel we can give him in our forward line,” Winterton said. “I’ve watched some of his vision ... he looks like he’s got good speed, nice hands and can finish off.” Winterton said most of the list had re-signed – but 2023 premiership defender Daniel Houeix has departed for Division 1 outfit Boronia. The Tigers last contested the Eastern league’s premier grade – then known as Division 1 – in 2006, and the coach was confident the group was primed for the challenge. EFNL 2024: Mitcham's Jesse Uren. Picture: Leesa Clarkson “They’re in that right age bracket now – I think our average age is going to be 23 or 24, so they’re right in that wheelhouse of playing their best footy,” Winterton said. “The last two seasons we’ve been the hunted team, and now we’re hunting the Balwyns, East Ringwoods, Doncaster Easts and those sorts of teams. “We’ve been in Division 1 for four or five years now, and you get used to playing the same teams year after year ... a lot of them (our players) have probably never played Vermont or Balwyn or Noble Park. “It’s a really exciting challenge for us.” Mitcham opens its season at home to Vermont on April 13. Join the conversation Add your comment to this story To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout More related stories Eastern ‘Building the foundations’: Youth to spearhead Lions’ new era Eastern Division 3 club Fairpark has hit the pre-season with a swag of key signings as it embarks on a new era under incoming coach Josh Allison. Read more Eastern Revealed: The biggest and best Eastern league recruits There’s been no shortage of top-drawer recruits putting pen to paper at Eastern league clubs this off-season, from ex-AFL stars to state league talents and more. We’ve named the best. Read moreWASHINGTON: As a former and potentially future president, Donald Trump hailed what would become Project 2025 as a road map for “exactly what our movement will do” with another crack at the White House. As the blueprint for a hard-right turn in America became a liability during the 2024 campaign, Trump pulled an about-face. He denied knowing anything about the “ridiculous and abysmal” plans written in part by his first-term aides and allies. Now, after being elected the 47th president on Nov. 5, Trump is stocking his second administration with key players in the detailed effort he temporarily shunned. Most notably, Trump has tapped Russell Vought for an encore as director of the Office of Management and Budget; Tom Homan, his former immigration chief, as “border czar;” and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of policy. Those moves have accelerated criticisms from Democrats who warn that Trump’s election hands government reins to movement conservatives who spent years envisioning how to concentrate power in the West Wing and impose a starkly rightward shift across the US government and society. Trump and his aides maintain that he won a mandate to overhaul Washington. But they maintain the specifics are his alone. “President Trump never had anything to do with Project 2025,” said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in a statement. “All of President Trumps’ Cabinet nominees and appointments are whole-heartedly committed to President Trump’s agenda, not the agenda of outside groups.” Here is a look at what some of Trump’s choices portend for his second presidency. The Office of Management and Budget director, a role Vought held under Trump previously and requires Senate confirmation, prepares a president’s proposed budget and is generally responsible for implementing the administration’s agenda across agencies. The job is influential but Vought made clear as author of a Project 2025 chapter on presidential authority that he wants the post to wield more direct power. “The Director must view his job as the best, most comprehensive approximation of the President’s mind,” Vought wrote. The OMB, he wrote, “is a President’s air-traffic control system” and should be “involved in all aspects of the White House policy process,” becoming “powerful enough to override implementing agencies’ bureaucracies.” Trump did not go into such details when naming Vought but implicitly endorsed aggressive action. Vought, the president-elect said, “knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State” — Trump’s catch-all for federal bureaucracy — and would help “restore fiscal sanity.” In June, speaking on former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, Vought relished the potential tension: “We’re not going to save our country without a little confrontation.” Vought could help Musk and Trump remake government’s role and scope The strategy of further concentrating federal authority in the presidency permeates Project 2025’s and Trump’s campaign proposals. Vought’s vision is especially striking when paired with Trump’s proposals to dramatically expand the president’s control over federal workers and government purse strings — ideas intertwined with the president-elect tapping mega-billionaire Elon Musk and venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a “Department of Government Efficiency.” Trump in his first term sought to remake the federal civil service by reclassifying tens of thousands of federal civil service workers — who have job protection through changes in administration — as political appointees, making them easier to fire and replace with loyalists. Currently, only about 4,000 of the federal government’s roughly 2 million workers are political appointees. President Joe Biden rescinded Trump’s changes. Trump can now reinstate them. Meanwhile, Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s sweeping “efficiency” mandates from Trump could turn on an old, defunct constitutional theory that the president — not Congress — is the real gatekeeper of federal spending. In his “Agenda 47,” Trump endorsed so-called “impoundment,” which holds that when lawmakers pass appropriations bills, they simply set a spending ceiling, but not a floor. The president, the theory holds, can simply decide not to spend money on anything he deems unnecessary. Vought did not venture into impoundment in his Project 2025 chapter. But, he wrote, “The President should use every possible tool to propose and impose fiscal discipline on the federal government. Anything short of that would constitute abject failure.” Trump’s choice immediately sparked backlash. “Russ Vought is a far-right ideologue who has tried to break the law to give President Trump unilateral authority he does not possess to override the spending decisions of Congress (and) who has and will again fight to give Trump the ability to summarily fire tens of thousands of civil servants,” said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a Democrat and outgoing Senate Appropriations chairwoman. Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, leading Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said Vought wants to “dismantle the expert federal workforce” to the detriment of Americans who depend on everything from veterans’ health care to Social Security benefits. “Pain itself is the agenda,” they said. Trump’s protests about Project 2025 always glossed over overlaps in the two agendas. Both want to reimpose Trump-era immigration limits. Project 2025 includes a litany of detailed proposals for various US immigration statutes, executive branch rules and agreements with other countries — reducing the number of refugees, work visa recipients and asylum seekers, for example. Miller is one of Trump’s longest-serving advisers and architect of his immigration ideas, including his promise of the largest deportation force in US history. As deputy policy chief, which is not subject to Senate confirmation, Miller would remain in Trump’s West Wing inner circle. “America is for Americans and Americans only,” Miller said at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Oct. 27. “America First Legal,” Miller’s organization founded as an ideological counter to the American Civil Liberties Union, was listed as an advisory group to Project 2025 until Miller asked that the name be removed because of negative attention. Homan, a Project 2025 named contributor, was an acting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement director during Trump’s first presidency, playing a key role in what became known as Trump’s “family separation policy.” Previewing Trump 2.0 earlier this year, Homan said: “No one’s off the table. If you’re here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder.” Project 2025 contributors slated for CIA and Federal Communications chiefs John Ratcliffe, Trump’s pick to lead the CIA, was previously one of Trump’s directors of national intelligence. He is a Project 2025 contributor. The document’s chapter on US intelligence was written by Dustin Carmack, Ratcliffe’s chief of staff in the first Trump administration. Reflecting Ratcliffe’s and Trump’s approach, Carmack declared the intelligence establishment too cautious. Ratcliffe, like the chapter attributed to Carmack, is hawkish toward China. Throughout the Project 2025 document, Beijing is framed as a US adversary that cannot be trusted. Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, wrote Project 2025’s FCC chapter and is now Trump’s pick to chair the panel. Carr wrote that the FCC chairman “is empowered with significant authority that is not shared” with other FCC members. He called for the FCC to address “threats to individual liberty posed by corporations that are abusing dominant positions in the market,” specifically “Big Tech and its attempts to drive diverse political viewpoints from the digital town square.” He called for more stringent transparency rules for social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube and “empower consumers to choose their own content filters and fact checkers, if any.” Carr and Ratcliffe would require Senate confirmation for their posts.

Canadians respond to Trump's offer of huge tax cuts to become 51st state: 'Sounds good to us!' READ MORE: Donald Trump makes astonishing offer to people of Canada By JAMES REINL, SOCIAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Published: 20:12 GMT, 26 December 2024 | Updated: 20:23 GMT, 26 December 2024 e-mail View comments While left-leaning Canadians are balking at the idea of a Trump take-over, some say they'd jump at the chance to have the Donald in charge. The US president-elect this week made his strongest bid yet to take over Canada , offering its people a 60 percent tax cut if they agree to join the US and become the 51st US state. While Trump's offer was theoretical, many Canadians who are sick and tired of left-leaning Trudeau said they'd welcome him with open arms. They say they'd appreciate the tax break and other perks from joining the world's biggest economy. Maxime Bernier, founder and leader of the right-wing People's Party of Canada, told DailyMail.com that some Canadians look to Trump after a decade of ' woke ' liberal rule. Among the Canadians who have backed Trump's plan is Bruce McGonigal, who says it would herald an 'economic boom' for Canada. 'We would be able to keep emergency rooms open,' McGonigal posted on X. 'The dollars we earn would also have way more value than the weak Canadian dollar.' Self-styled 'Maple MAGA' TikToker Mario Zelaya says Trump's Canadian tax cut 'sounds pretty good' Alberta independence activist Terris Kolybaba says it would be easier to own guns in a Canada that follows US laws Mario Zelaya, who dubs himself a 'maple MAGA', posted that a 60 percent tax cut 'sounds pretty good.' Another Canadian conservative, Melissa Rogers, asked: 'Who can say no' to Trump's offer. Other Canadians seek fewer restrictions on gun ownership, lower immigration, and other policies aligned with the incoming Trump administration. Terris Kolybaba, from an Alberta independence group, said 'everything will be cheaper' if the US joins Canada. 'You'll have the rights to bear arms, which you should have: the right to protect yourself,' Kolybaba told CBC News. 'Across the border, it's no problem.' Despite their enthusiasm, a survey of 1,520 people by Leger found that 82 percent of Canadians were against becoming the 51st state, while 5 percent said they did not know. Support for a merger was higher among men, younger Canadians, and those living in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Given the low support for a policy that to many Canadians sounds unpatriotic, no major political party there has endorsed Trump's plan. Bernier, a renegade conservative who formed his offshoot party in 2018, says his party is firmly against seceding Canadian independence. But some of his countrymen looking to Trump after years of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 's liberal leadership, he told DailyMail.com. 'The people who are saying yes to that crazy idea coming from Trump, it's maybe because they are so upset about the Trudeau Government, all the wokeism,' he said. They're worried about 'open borders, the big deficit, huge taxes and inflation ,' he added. Still, Bernier said he did not believe support for a merger was growing in Canada. Trump has in recent days suggested a territorial expansion into Canada, Greenland and Panama, and has mocked prime minister Trudeau by calling him 'governor .' On Christmas Day, he escalated his campaigns against the governments of both Panama and Canada. 'Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China , who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal (where we lost 38,000 people in its building 110 years ago), always making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in 'repair' money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about 'anything,'' Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. 'Also, to Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose Citizens' Taxes are far too high, but if Canada was to become our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World. 'Likewise, to the people of Greenland, which is needed by the United States for National Security purposes and, who want the U.S. to be there, and we will!' Trump recently posted that 'Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State' and offered an image of himself superimposed on a mountaintop surveying surrounding territory next to a Canadian flag. Trudeau has suggested that Trump was joking about annexing his country, but the pair met recently at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to discuss Trump's threats to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who attended the Friday dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, said Trump's comments were in jest. 'The president was telling jokes. The president was teasing us. It was, of course, on that issue, in no way a serious comment,' LeBlanc told reporters in Ottawa. Trump made the stark declaration on Sunday night that he would like to purchase Greenland as he announced his pick for ambassador to Denmark, PayPal co-founder Ken Howery. 'For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,' he wrote on Truth Social. Trump recently posted that 'Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State' and offered an image of himself superimposed on a mountaintop surveying surrounding territory next to a Canadian flag The pair met recently at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to discuss Trump's threats to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods Trump expressed interest in buying Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, during his first presidential term. He was publicly rebuffed by Danish authorities - who reiterated the island was 'open for business, not for sale' - before any conversations could take place. The Danish Prime Minister's Office said in its own statement that the government is 'looking forward to welcoming the new American ambassador. And the Government is looking forward to working with the new administration.' 'In a complex security political situation as the one we currently experience, transatlantic cooperation is crucial,' the statement said. It noted that it had no comment on Greenland except for it 'not being for sale, but open for cooperation.' Trump again having designs on Greenland comes after the president-elect suggested over the weekend that the US could retake control of the Panama Canal if something isn't done to ease rising shipping costs required for using the waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Panama President José Raúl Mulino responded in a video that 'every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to ,' but Trump fired back on his social media site, 'We'll see about that!' Canada Share or comment on this article: Canadians respond to Trump's offer of huge tax cuts to become 51st state: 'Sounds good to us!' e-mail Add comment

When Nathan Hecht ran for the Texas Supreme Court in 1988, no Republican had ever been elected to the state’s highest civil court. His election foreshadowed a coming transformation of the court, civil legal procedure and Texas itself. Hecht is the longest tenured Supreme Court justice in Texas history. He won six reelections and led the court as chief justice for more than a decade. He heard more than 2,700 oral arguments, authored 7,000 pages of opinions, and retires now not because he’s had enough, but because state law requires him to. Late on a Friday afternoon, just two weeks before he hung up his robe, he was still in his office, his mind mired in the work that was left to be done. “This is always a really busy time for us, because the opinions are mounting up to be talked about,” he said. “It’ll be busy next week.” Hecht began as a dissenter on a divided court, his conservative positions on abortion, school finance and property rights putting him at odds with the Democratic majority and some moderate Republicans. But as Texas Republicans began dominating up and down the ballot, his minority voice became mainstream on one of the country’s most conservative high courts. In his administration of the court, Hecht has been a fierce advocate for the poor, pushing for more Legal Aid funding, bail reform and lowering the barriers to accessing the justice system. “If justice were food, too many would be starving,” Hecht told lawmakers in 2017. “If it were housing, too many would be homeless. If it were medicine, too many would be sick.” Hecht’s departure leaves a vacancy that Gov. Greg Abbott , a former justice himself, will get to fill. He may elevate a current justice or appoint someone new directly to the chief justice role. Whoever ends up in the top spot will have to run for reelection in 2026. In his typical understated manner, so at odds with the bombast of the other branches of government, Hecht told The Texas Tribune that serving on the court has been the honor of his life. “I have gotten to participate not only in a lot of decisions shaping the jurisprudence of the state, but also in trying to improve the administration of the court system so that it works better and fosters public trust and confidence,” he said. “So I feel good about the past,” he said. “And I feel good about the future.” Born in Clovis, New Mexico, Hecht studied philosophy at Yale before getting his law degree from Southern Methodist University. He clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and returned to Texas, where his reputation preceded him. As a young lawyer, Tom Phillips, a former chief justice and now a partner at Baker Botts, reached out to a Dallas law firm that had promised to hire him the next chance they got. “I called them a few months later and said, ‘So I assume you never got a vacancy,’” Phillips recalls. “And they said, ‘Well, we did, but we had a chance to hire Nathan Hecht, so you’ll understand why we went ahead and did that.’” Hecht was appointed to the district court in 1981 and quickly made a name for himself, pushing the court to modernize their stenography practices and taking the unusual step of writing opinions as a trial judge. He was elected to the court of appeals in 1986, and ran for Texas Supreme Court two years later. This race came at a low point for Texas’ judiciary, after a string of scandals, ethics investigations, eyebrow-raising rulings and national news coverage made several sitting Supreme Court justices household names — and not in a good way. Seeing an opportunity, Hecht challenged one of the incumbents, a Democrat who’d been called out in a damning 60 Minutes segment for friendly relationships with lawyers who both funded his campaigns and argued before the court. Hecht teamed up with Phillips and Eugene Cook, two Republicans who had recently been appointed to the court, and asked voters to “Clean the Slate in ’88,” separating themselves from the Democrats by promising to only accept small donations. “Party politics were changing in the state at the same time, but the broader issue on our court at the time was to ensure that judges were following the law,” Hecht said. “That was a driving issue.” Since Phillips and Cook were incumbents, Hecht was the only one who had to take on a sitting Supreme Court justice. And he won. “It really was a sea change in Texas political history,” Phillips said. “He was the first person ever to do that in a down ballot race, to defeat a Democrat as a Republican.” Republican dominance swept through the Supreme Court as swiftly as it did Texas writ large. The last Democrat would be elected to the court in 1994, just six years after the first Republican. But even among Bush-era Republicans filling the bench, Hecht’s conservatism stood out. In 2000, he wrote a dissent disagreeing with the majority ruling that allowed teens in Texas to get abortions with a judge’s approval if their parents wouldn’t consent, and a few years earlier, ruled in favor of wealthy school districts that wanted to use local taxes to supplement state funds. His pro-business bent stood out next to the court’s history of approving high dollar payouts for plaintiffs. Alex Winslow, the executive director of Texas Watch, a consumer advocacy group, told the New York Times in 2005 that Hecht was “the godfather of the conservative judicial movement in Texas.” “Extremist would be an appropriate description,” Winslow said. “He’s the philosophical leader of the right-wing fringe.” The only other justice who regularly staked out such a conservative position, according to the New York Times, was Priscilla Owen, who President George W. Bush appointed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2005. Hecht and Owen, who now goes by her maiden name, Richmond, wed in 2022 . Wallace Jefferson, Hecht’s predecessor as chief justice, said Hecht’s sharp intellect and philosophical approach to the law improved the court’s opinions, even when he ultimately didn’t side with the majority. “He was a formidable adversary,” said Jefferson, now a partner at Alexander Dubose & Jefferson. “You knew that you would have to bring your best approach and analysis to overcome Nathan’s approach and analysis ... You had to come prepared and Nathan set the standard for that.” Hecht briefly became a national figure in 2005 when he helped Bush’s efforts to confirm Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court. As her longtime friend, Hecht gave more than 120 interviews to bolster Miers’ conservative credentials, jokingly calling himself the “PR office for the White House,” Texas Monthly reported at the time . This advocacy work raised ethical questions that Hecht fought for years, starting with a reprimand from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Hecht got that overturned. The Texas Ethics Commission then fined him $29,000 for not reporting the discount he got on the legal fees he paid challenging the reprimand. He appealed that fine and the case stretched until 2016 , when he ultimately paid $1,000. Hecht has largely stayed out of the limelight in the decades since, letting his opinions speak for themselves and wading into the political fray mostly to advocate for court reforms. While Democrats have tried to pin unpopular COVID and abortion rulings on the justices in recent elections, Republicans continue to easily win these down-ballot races. Hecht is aware of the perception this one-party dominance creates, and has advocated for Texas to turn away from partisan judicial elections. In his 2023 state of the judiciary address , Hecht warned that growing political divisions were threatening the “judicial independence essential to the rule of law,” pointing to comments by both Democratic politicians and former President Donald Trump. But in an interview, Hecht stressed that most of the cases the Texas Supreme Court considers never make headlines, and are far from the politics that dominate Austin and Washington. “There’s no Republican side to an oil and gas case. There’s no Democrat side to a custody hearing,” he said. “That’s the bread and butter of what we do, and that’s not partisan.” Unlike its federal counterpart, the Texas Supreme Court is often a temporary port of call on a judge’s journey. Many, like Abbott, Sen. John Cornyn and U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett , leave for higher office. Others, like Owen and 5th Circuit Judge Don Willett, leave for higher courts. Most, like Phillips, leave for higher pay in private practice. But Hecht stayed. “I didn’t plan it like this,” Hecht said. “I just kept getting re-elected.” Hecht had been considering retirement in 2013, when Jefferson, the chief justice who replaced Phillips, announced he would be stepping down. “He wanted me to consider being his successor,” Hecht said. “So I did, and here I am. I didn’t say, ‘Let’s spend 43 years on the bench,’ but one thing led to another.” In 2013, Hecht was sworn in as chief justice by then-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, another great dissenter whose views later became the majority. While the Texas Supreme Court’s political makeup has changed largely without Hecht’s input, the inner workings of the court have been under his purview. And that, many court watchers say, is where his greatest legacy lies. Hecht ushered in an era of modernization, both to the technology and the rules that govern justice in Texas. He led a push to simplify the appellate rules, removing many of the trapdoors and procedural quirks that led to important cases being decided on technicalities. The court scaled back how long cases could drag on by limiting discovery, including how long a deposition can go. And he ensured every case was decided before the term ended, like the U.S. Supreme Court. “I think people generally don’t understand the impact the rules can have on the equitable resolution of disputes, but they’re enormous,” Jefferson said. “Nathan recognized that at an early juncture in his career.” Hecht pushed Texas to adopt e-filing before many other states, which proved prescient when COVID hit. Hecht, who was then president of the national Conference of Chief Justices, was able to help advise other states as they took their systems online. Hecht also dedicated himself to improving poor Texan’s access to the justice system, pushing the Legislature to appropriate more funding for Legal Aid and reducing the barriers to getting meaningful legal resolutions. He helped usher through a rule change that would allow paraprofessionals to handle some legal matters like estate planning, uncontested divorces and consumer debt cases, without a lawyer’s supervision. “Some people call it the justice gap. I call it the justice chasm,” Hecht said. “Because it’s just a huge gulf between the people that need legal help and the ability to provide it.” Hecht said he’s glad this has been taken up as a bipartisan issue, and he’s hopeful that the same attention will be paid even after he leaves the court. “No judge wants to give his life’s energy to a work that mocks the justice that he’s trying to provide,” he said. “For the judiciary, this is an important issue, because when the promise of equal justice under law is denied because you’re too poor, there’s no such thing as equal justice under the law.” Despite the sudden departure of their longtime leader, the Texas Supreme Court will return in January to finish out its term, which ends in April. Among the typical parsing of medical malpractice provisions, oil and gas leases, divorce settlements and sovereign immunity protections, the high court has a number of more attention-grabbing cases on its docket this year. Earlier this year, the court heard oral arguments about the Department of Family and Protective Services’ oversight of immigration detention facilities, and in mid-January, they’ll consider Attorney General Ken Paxton’s efforts to subpoena Annunciation House, an El Paso nonprofit that serves migrants. They’ll also hear arguments over Southern Methodist University’s efforts to cut ties with the regional governing body of the United Methodist Church. Other cases will be added to the schedule before April. Phillips, who has argued numerous cases before the Texas Supreme Court since leaving the bench, said Hecht’s loss will be felt, but he expects the court to continue apace. “It’s not a situation like it might have been at some point in the past where if one justice left, nobody would know what to do next,” he said. “It’s an extremely qualified court.” As for Hecht, he’s tried to put off thinking too much about what comes next for him. He still has opinions to write and work to finish. He knows he wants to stay active in efforts to improve court administration nationally and in Texas, and he’s threatened his colleagues with writing a tell-all book, just to keep them on their toes. But beyond that, he’s waiting for the reality of retirement to sink in before he decides on his next steps. “We’ve got 3,200 judges in Texas, plus adjuncts and associate judges and others,” he said. “I really think it’s such a strong bench, and I am proud to have been a part of it. I look forward to helping where I can.” This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.