betfred south africa The match begins at 3 p.m. Mountain Time Wednesday at the University of Arizona’s McKale Center and will be shown on the streaming platform ESPN+. Arkansas State (28-5) is a member of the Sun Belt Conference, and the Red Wolves will be the third opponent from the Sun Belt in three matches for UNC. Subscribe to continue reading this article. Already subscribed? To login in, click here.In these times of frenzied focus on economic resurgence, people may start wondering about productivity. Why are tropical-belt countries thought to be less productive, and why does there appear at least, to be a correlation between better economies and colder climates? But is the perceived advantage that colder countries have in terms of productivity and economic performance, diminishing due to the increasing use of air-conditioning in tropical climes? Singapore is now a First World economy that everyone wants to emulate, and of course the small country has never been known to be cold. But are the Singaporeans making economic decisions that are known to strategically demolish the competition, from their air-conditioned rooms? This may be a stretch. Countries that are cold have been reputed to perform better in terms of economy and productivity, but even with regard to this fact, there is very little hard scientific evidence. Let’s just say the scientific evidence is woefully inadequate. So much then for the assumption that tropical countries with hot climates may these days be performing better, because they have air-conditioning to beat the heat? Nobody has done any research on it, but it can be argued that scientific inquiry is not necessary due to the simple fact that it is obvious people perform better at their tasks when it is suitably cool. Heat saps energy, and office environments that are air-conditioned are far more conducive to productive work, a fact that can be taken to be axiomatic. If this line of reasoning is taken to its logical conclusion, it can be surmised that it serves a beneficial purpose for any country to encourage good air-conditioning technology. If we in Sri Lanka are on the cusp of a productivity revolution as the powers that be have promised, it would be good to ensure that we have greener buildings that are environmentally friendly and cooler. APPEALING But environmentally friendly may not necessarily mean cooler. On the one hand environmentally friendly may mean less energy consuming, and that may in turn mean less use of air-conditioning technology. So a surface perusal of bare facts at least posits that environmentally friendly buildings are less cooler. But if we are to take the air-conditioners out of the equation for a moment, it is seen that eco-friendly building architecture makes for cooler living spaces. There was a time that architects such as Bawa designed buildings in a way that they could be cooled through natural processes that use ingenious designs and give priority to local building materials. Such building technology made for so called self-cooling structures in these hot and humid climes, and apparently lessened the dependence on energy-intensive electrically powered air-conditioning units. Ever since these eco-friendly building designs started becoming fairly commonplace, new architectural motifs have begun to appear, that make use of more tropical materials and deploy more tropic-friendly designs such as large naturally ventilated spaces and so on. However, Bawa type designs have also become more fashionable and sometimes less environmentally friendly because they have been foisted on people from an over-stated, romanticized, standpoint of indigenizing architecture. Even the famed Bawa’s designs too, in the latter stages,seemed to acknowledge the need for functionality, while nodding to regional modernist motifs. The parliament building for example, is visually appealing, but doesn’t achieve much in terms of environmental friendliness. It is a Bawa design, and gives the allusion of symmetry, and exudes a Sydney Opera House type of vibe due to visible rooftops, and the surrounding body of water. TENDENCIES But utility also seems to have been on Bawa’s mind. There isn’t much by way of trying to make the living spaces naturally cool, and so there is extensive use of air-conditioning. Later work by imitator architects went far further down this road, and the result was regional architecture with indigenous themes, built in such a way that the result was extremely energy intensive. So it can be deduced that no matter how well-meaning the architecture in terms of making the buildings cooler, that air-conditioning technology remains a fact of life. In other words, if we are to make our economy more productive we need to create cooler living spaces, and for that we would need more energy intensive air-conditioning units which would of course entail a drain on productivity costs. However, is there a better brand of air-conditioning, hybrid A/C if you will, that could drastically reduce the dependence of air-conditioning technology on power provided from the national grid? Apparently, there are such technologies, but they are far from perfected, and are used rarely. Perhaps, it may be a good idea to make Sri Lanka the air-conditioning capital of the tropics. Though on the face of it that may sound a rather retrograde moniker (A/C capital), which also smacks of anti-global warming tendencies, it could be a great advertisement if we can develop a system in which we pioneer environmentally friendly air-conditioning for global use. Apparently, hybrid air-conditioners use water cooling as half of the cooling input, and is therefore a good alternative for large living units that need extensive air-conditioning. The problem seems to be that this technology is at a very incipient stage, because air-conditioners were designed as fuel guzzlers in the first place. PIONEER Cars too were designed and used in the U.S in the 50s for instance, as gas-guzzlers. It was thought that the economy would be helped if the large oil companies such as Exxon and Mobil were able to sell the large quantities of fuel that were needed to power the gas-guzzling large American cars of the era. Those who came up with ideas for electric cars were scoffed at and derided as unpatriotic, because they were against the burgeoning oil economy. Air-conditioning too, in general, has a bad rap as a gas-guzzler. Of course more recently, as is to be expected, there is the so-called Inverter type technology and other fuzzy-logic innovations that have made air-conditioning more energy efficient. But there is more that could be done in this regard, and we Sri Lankans could be the pioneers. The latest statistics have it that air-conditioners and fans account for a tenth of the global energy consumption. By 2050 it is estimated that air-conditioners alone would consume as much energy as India and China are emitting together today. But the amount of energy consumed by A/Cs could be drastically cut down if the air-conditioning technology improved, but there has been minimal global effort towards that end. Ancient Iranians used cone shaped structures to cool using evaporating air, the same process the body cools our bodies through sweating. Apparently these technologies were so efficient that withevaporative air-cooling — which doesn’t use harmful refrigerant gases such as Freon as air conditioners do — these ancient people used to be able to make ice rinks. We could certainty evolve cooling technology and the architecture of cool living spaces, if we tried, but the country is inclined to ape the West where gas guzzling air-conditioning technology is taken to be a fact of modern life. Now, with the focus on preventing global warming, there is a little more focus on making air conditioning more efficient, but yet, one expert says “air conditioning still flies under the radar.” Meaning that people want to make cars more energy efficient, but everybody forgets energy-consuming air conditioners in the process. We like the Iranians have the benefit of old technologies especially in building design, and if we could use our scientists to ‘indigenize’ air conditioning through more tropic-friendly methods, we could be a pioneer in this field. Already, Bawa’s buildings are famous for cooler regional modernist architectural methodology. We have a headstart in the field, and could make use of it as a platform to innovate.

Biden says he was ‘stupid’ not to put his name on pandemic relief checks like Trump didNEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump's lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution's suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea "absurd." The Manhattan district attorney's office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to "pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful," Trump's lawyers wrote in a 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump's lawyers filed paperwork this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won't include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn't sentenced and his appeal wasn't resolved because of presidential immunity. Former President Donald Trump appears May 30 at Manhattan criminal court during jury deliberations in his criminal hush money trial in New York. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney's office declined comment. It's unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump's request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution's suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump's parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution's suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the "ongoing threat" that he'll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. The prosecution's suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they contend. Attorney Todd Blanche listens May 30 as his client Donald Trump speaks at Manhattan criminal court during jury deliberations in his criminal hush money trial in New York. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump tapped for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution's novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to "fabricate" a solution "based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump" who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September "and a hypothetical dead defendant." Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what's already a unique case. "This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding," prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn't "precipitously discard" the "meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers." Prosecutors acknowledged that "presidential immunity requires accommodation" during Trump's impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury's verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Other world leaders don't enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation's wars in Lebanon and Gaza. President-elect Donald Trump attends a Dec. 7 meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Trump has fought for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. Trump's hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith ended his two federal cases, which pertained to Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in each case. Trump was scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November, but following Trump's Nov. 5 election win, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president's sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. FILE - Former Rep. Doug Collins speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Oct. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Kash Patel spent several years as a Justice Department prosecutor before catching the Trump administration’s attention as a staffer on Capitol Hill who helped investigate the Russia probe. Patel called for dramatically reducing the agency’s footprint, a perspective that sets him apart from earlier directors who sought additional resources for the bureau. Though the Justice Department in 2021 halted the practice of secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during leak investigations, Patel said he intends to aggressively hunt down government officials who leak information to reporters. Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation. “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The commission oversees U.S. securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Gensler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, announced last month that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated — Jan. 20, 2025. Atkins began his career as a lawyer and has a long history working in the financial markets sector, both in government and private practice. In the 1990s, he worked on the staffs of two former SEC chairmen, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Jared Isaacman, 41, is a tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk . He is the founder and CEO of a card-processing company and has collaborated closely with Musk ever since buying his first chartered SpaceX flight. He took contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to be ambassador to China, saying in a social media post that the former CEO “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and ran unsuccessfully in a primary against Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Perdue pushed Trump's debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for governor. A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. “In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice. “He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role.” Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Guilfoyle is a former California prosecutor and television news personality who led the fundraising for Trump's 2020 campaign and became engaged to Don Jr. in 2020. Trump called her “a close friend and ally” and praised her “sharp intellect make her supremely qualified.” Guilfoyle was on stage with the family on election night. “I am so proud of Kimberly. She loves America and she always has wanted to serve the country as an Ambassador. She will be an amazing leader for America First,” Don Jr. posted. The ambassador positions must be approved by the U.S. Senate. Guilfoyle said in a social media post that she was “honored to accept President Trump’s nomination to serve as the next Ambassador to Greece and I look forward to earning the support of the U.S. Senate.” Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as National Security Advisor to Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Rodney Scott led during Trump's first term, and is essentially responsible for protecting the country's borders while facilitating trade and travel. Scott comes to the job firmly from the Border Patrol side of the house. He became an agent in 1992 and spent much of his career in San Diego. When he was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump's policies. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump's hard-line immigration agenda. He appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He's also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Former Rep. Billy Long represented Missouri in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2023. Since leaving Congress, Trump said, Long “has worked as a Business and Tax advisor, helping Small Businesses navigate the complexities of complying with the IRS Rules and Regulations.” Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler was appointed in January 2020 by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and then lost a runoff election a year later. She started a conservative voter registration organization and dived into GOP fundraising, becoming one of the top individual donors and bundlers to Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign. Even before nominating her for agriculture secretary, the president-elect already had tapped Loeffler as co-chair of his inaugural committee. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Trump says he’s picking Kari Lake as director of Voice of America, installing a staunch loyalist who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor and a Senate seat to head the congressionally funded broadcaster that provides independent news reporting around the world. Lake endeared herself to Trump through her dogmatic commitment to the falsehood that both she and Trump were the victims of election fraud. She has never acknowledged losing the gubernatorial race and called herself the “lawful governor” in her 2023 book, “Unafraid: Just Getting Started.” Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. James Blair, deputy chief of staff Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health Trump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. He promoted the idea of herd immunity during the pandemic, arguing that people at low risk should live normally while building up immunity to COVID-19 through infection. The National Institutes of Health funds medical research through competitive grants to researchers at institutions throughout the nation. NIH also conducts its own research with thousands of scientists working at its labs in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug Administration Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. Makary also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Surgeon General Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor to Fox News. Dr. Dave Weldon, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Weldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed Weldon’s opponent. In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative state after cardiac arrest, should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed. Jamieson Greer, U.S. trade representative Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team. He announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy. Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.” Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. Ron Johnson, Ambassador to Mexico Johnson — not the Republican senator — served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump's first administration. His nomination comes as the president-elect has been threatening tariffs on Mexican imports and the mass deportation of migrants who have arrived to the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson is also a former U.S. Army veteran and was in the Central Intelligence Agency. Tom Barrack, Ambassador to Turkey Barrack, a wealthy financier, met Trump in the 1980s while helping negotiate Trump’s purchase of the renowned Plaza Hotel. He was charged with using his personal access to the former president to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates, but was acquitted of all counts at a federal trial in 2022. Trump called him a “well-respected and experienced voice of reason.” Andrew Ferguson, Federal Trade Commission Ferguson, who is already one of the FTC's five commissioners, will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars worth of corporate acquisitions and suing Amazon and Meta while alleging anticompetitive behavior. “Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “Andrew will be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country’s History.” Jacob Helberg, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment Dan Bishop, deputy director for budget at the Office of Budget and Management Leandro Rizzuto, Ambassador to the Washington-based Organization of American States Dan Newlin, Ambassador to Colombia Peter Lamelas, Ambassador to Argentina Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

Drexel defeats Howard 68-65None

Unique among ‘Person of the Year’ designees, Donald Trump gets a fact-check from Time magazineAt a town hall meeting with the bureau workforce, Mr Wray said he would be stepping down “after weeks of careful thought”. Mr Wray’s intended resignation is not unexpected considering that Mr Trump had picked Mr Patel for the role in his new administration. Mr Wray had previously been named by Mr Trump and began the 10-year term — a length meant to insulate the agency from the political influence of changing administrations — in 2017, after Mr Trump fired then-FBI director James Comey. Mr Trump had demonstrated his anger with Mr Wray on multiple occasions, including after Mr Wray’s congressional testimony in September. “My goal is to keep the focus on our mission — the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day,” Mr Wray told agency employees. “In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.” Mr Wray continued: “It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway — this is not easy for me. I love this place, I love our mission, and I love our people — but my focus is, and always has been, on us and doing what’s right for the FBI.” Mr Wray received a standing ovation following his remarks before a standing-room-only crowd at FBI headquarters and some in the audience cried, according to an FBI official who was not authorised to discuss the private gathering and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press. Mr Trump applauded the news on social media, calling it “a great day for America as it will end the weaponisation of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice” and saying that Mr Patel’s confirmation will begin “the process of Making the FBI Great Again”. If confirmed by the Senate, Mr Patel would herald a radical leadership transformation at the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency. He has advocated shutting down the FBI’s Washington headquarters and called for ridding the federal government of “conspirators”, raising alarm that he might seek to wield the FBI’s significant investigative powers as an instrument of retribution against Mr Trump’s perceived enemies. Mr Patel said in a statement Wednesday that he was looking forward to “a smooth transition. I will be ready to serve the American people on day one”.ASML Investors Have Opportunity to Lead ASML Holding N.V. Securities Fraud Lawsuit

The US Department of Defense on Wednesday stepped in to bust a theory about mysterious drone spottings in New Jersey. The Pentagon denied claims that an Iran 'mothership' was responsible for launching the drones. The statement came after Rep Jeff Van Drew said he has evidence to prove that an Iranian ship putting out the drones. Deputy Defense Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said that 'no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States. There is no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States'. The Pentagon further added that there was 'no evidence that these activities are coming from a foreign entity or the work of an adversary'. Read More: Donald Trump Is Time's 2024 'Person Of The Year', Will Celebrate At NYSE: Report Earlier in the day Congressman Van Drew, during a Fox News appearance, said: "Iran launched a mothership probably about a month ago, that contains these drones.... It's off the east coast of the United States of America. They've launched drones into everything that we can see or hear. And again, these are from high sources. I don't say this lightly." He further said that there was no 'glorified hobbyist' behind the drones, further adding that the federal government was not behind the sightings either. Read More: First Video Of Trump Tower In Jeddah Is Out - 47 Floors, 350 Apartments Planned "The third possibility was somebody, an adversarial country, doing this. Know that Iran made a deal with China to purchase drones, motherships and technology in order to go forward," said Van Drew. Earlier this week, several social media users speculated that the objects in the sky were actually UFOs. "A Ring doorbell camera captured a mysterious UFO in New Jersey on 12/8/2024. The footage shows something strange in the sky, leaving viewers puzzled. Could this be a UAP or just a trick of the light? " one person tweeted. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from US News, World and around the world.

A group of students and teachers at St. Mary-St. Cecilia Catholic School in Morrisburg, Ont., has claimed first place in a national competition with a project that could help shape the future of sustainable energy. The team of seven students, who were in Grade 6 when the project began, developed a compact hydrogen-powered generator, designed to produce energy on demand. Its potential use could be to power homes, schools, or greenhouses. The innovative device uses water and an electrified metal plate to generate hydrogen gas. "It could be used up in the north where it's colder or they might not have a lot of sunlight for solar panels," says Tessa Laurin, one of the students who helped build the generator. "It only uses a little bit of electricity, and the generator is clean because it doesn't release fossil fuels into the environment." The project took five months to complete, with students working before and after school. Along the way, they faced challenges, including material malfunctions, but ultimately succeeded under the guidance of teachers Blair Fitzsimons and Laura Ferguson. "There was a lot of determination and resilience involved," says Ferguson. "It was this team of seven who really banded together and aloud for the creativity to flow and the leadership to come through." Their project won the Samsung Canada: Solve for Tomorrow contest, a nationwide STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) competition for students in grades 6 to 12. The first-place win earned the school $50,000 to support future learning. "It really means that every student can become an innovator," says Fitzsimons. "That was really one of the hopes with this project is how to empower kids to transform the world and change the world. This now gives us the opportunity to buy technologies that will allow every student to create and to solve problems that really matter to the world." Plans are already underway to use some of the prize money to purchase a laser cutter for future projects. Students, like Liam Quesnel, see their work as more than a contest. "We had an awesome team, and I know we could do it," he says. "And in the future, other kids coming to the school, they can have an opportunity like this to learn and benefit from, like we did." The Samsung Canada: Solve for Tomorrow contest recognizes bold ideas to address environmental challenges and showcase innovations and problem-solving that could have lasting community impact. Shopping Trends The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us. 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These LEGO Kits Are On Sale And Ready To Gift Black Friday May Be Over, But You Can Still Take Advantage Of These Amazing Sales On Amazon Canada Ottawa Top Stories Kettle Island bridge not a priority for Ottawa: Mayor Firefighters rescue man trapped inside Major's Hill Park washroom These were the most popular books at Ottawa libraries this year Arnprior traffic stop leads to seizure of fentanyl, meth Ottawa elementary school students treated to early Christmas dinner Morrisburg, Ont. students win national contest with hydrogen generator project Temperatures could reach minus 20 overnight this week Have a look inside Ottawa's new Trillium Line CTVNews.ca Top Stories Fall sitting bookended by Liberal byelection losses, ending in tumult for Trudeau government The House of Commons is slated to adjourn on Tuesday, bringing an end to an unstable fall sitting that has been bookended by Liberal byelection losses. The conclusion of the fall sitting comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority government is in turmoil. Suspect in Gilgo Beach serial killings is charged in the death of a seventh woman The New York architect facing murder charges in a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach killings was charged on Tuesday in the death of a seventh woman. W5 Investigates | How a convicted con artist may have exploited Airbnb's ID checks in rental scams In part two of a W5 investigation into landlord scams, correspondent Jon Woodward looks at how hosts on Airbnb may be kept in the dark about their guests' true identities – a situation that a prolific Canadian con artist appears to have taken advantage of. Number of family doctors in Canada now growing at a slower pace: report Canada is facing a growing crisis in its health-care system as the rate at which family doctors are growing has slowed, according to a recent report. 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Sex-ed group deemed 'inappropriate' by Tory government returns to N.B. schools A sexual-education group whose presentations were deemed "clearly inappropriate" by the previous New Brunswick Progressive Conservative government has been cleared to return to the province's schools. Three people seriously injured in Cape Breton crash Three people are in hospital with serious injuries after a vehicle left the road in Cape Breton Monday night. Toronto Two men charged in death of Markham real estate agent as search continues for murder suspect Two people have been charged in connection with the disappearance and death of a Markham real estate agent whose remains were found in Parry Sound over the summer. 'Gun seizure every 36 hours': Peel police collect record 205 illegal guns in 2024 Peel Regional Police say they seized 205 illegal guns in 2024, the highest total in a single year to date. Several youths face charges after allegedly using bear spray against each other Hamilton schools Several youths are facing charges following a series of incidents in which bear spray was used on school properties across Hamilton. Montreal Quebec physicians ready to strike, if necessary, in early 2025 The Quebec resident physicians federation says it is ready to strike if necessary, given the impasse in its negotiations with Quebec to renew its collective agreement. Culture of silence at Montreal youth detention facility at centre of sex scandal A new report says a culture of silence reigned over a Montreal detention centre where female employees are accused of sexually abusing detainees, with at least one worker becoming pregnant. Boil water advisory issued for Ile Perrot The City of Île-Perrot said it has issued a boil water advisory for the entire territory after a water main break on 9th Avenue on Tuesday. Northern Ontario Compliance checks in North Bay, Ont., find half of people on bail violated release conditions In what police are calling proof the system needs "repairs," almost half of the people North Bay police checked on recently were violating their bail conditions. W5 Investigates | How a convicted con artist may have exploited Airbnb's ID checks in rental scams In part two of a W5 investigation into landlord scams, correspondent Jon Woodward looks at how hosts on Airbnb may be kept in the dark about their guests' true identities – a situation that a prolific Canadian con artist appears to have taken advantage of. 'She will not be missed': Trump on Freeland's departure from cabinet As Canadians watched a day of considerable political turmoil for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government given the sudden departure of Chrystia Freeland on Monday, it appears that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump was also watching it unfold. 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Man injured in Moose Jaw motel fire dies from injuries, police say The Moose Jaw Police Service says the man involved in a fire at a downtown motel Friday night has died from his injuries. SaskPower's Great Plains Power Station now online near Moose Jaw SaskPower's newest generating facility – the Great Plains Power Station – is now officially online. Saskatoon First Nation leaders push to close 'loophole' laws after judge stays fatal THC-impaired driving charge The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) wants to change the Criminal Code of Canada to prioritize victims that are children. 'Diddly': Less than rave reviews for the GST holiday from some Saskatchewan shoppers The federal government’s temporary GST break started this past weekend, and it doesn't appear to be getting rave reviews from businesses or consumers. 'Unbelievable': Family, supporters of Baeleigh Maurice call for justice after court decision A judge's decision to stay the charge against a driver who hit and killed a child is causing some online uproar. Many of the victim's supporters took to social media to call for justice in the death the nine-year-old girl. Vancouver B.C. teacher disciplined for refusing to let student use bathroom A teacher who refused to let a student use the bathroom in a B.C. school has been disciplined by the province's professional regulator. B.C. photographer awarded gold at International Pet Photography Awards Most dog owners have hundreds – if not thousands – of pictures of their pup on their phones. One Chilliwack dog lover and photographer has turned her favourite hobby of pooch-picture-taking into a new career. Wind, snow, rain to pummel parts of B.C. again as search goes on for missing person Another storm is rolling off the Pacific, bringing heavy rain and strong winds to British Columbia's coast and a blanket of snow to the Interior. Vancouver Island Tofino Harbour Authority closed due to standoff with 'squatter,' agency says The Tofino Harbour Authority says it has temporarily shuttered its office in the coastal Vancouver Island community due to an escalating standoff with the operator of a so-called "squatter" vessel. Boy, 8, seriously injured after being struck by car on Nanaimo school grounds An 8-year-old boy is in hospital after being hit by a car in a school parking lot in Nanaimo, B.C. Poilievre hails B.C. byelection win for Conservatives as Liberal vote collapses Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is hailing a decisive British Columbia byelection victory in Cloverdale-Langley City, where Tamara Jansen has won with about two-thirds of the vote. Kelowna B.C. man sentenced for 'execution-style' murder of bystander in drug trade conflict A B.C. man convicted of the "intentional and ruthless killing of a bystander" while acting as an enforcer in the drug trade has been sentenced for a second time in the slaying. Paramedic threatened at knifepoint inside Kelowna ambulance station, union says The union representing ambulance paramedics in B.C. is calling on the province to beef up security after they say a knife-wielding woman attacked a worker. Car stolen, fleeing suspect found hiding in basement in Kelowna, B.C. Mounties have arrested a suspect who allegedly stole a car in Kelowna, B.C., before fleeing on foot and hiding from police in the basement of a home. Stay ConnectedAt a town hall meeting with the bureau workforce, Mr Wray said he would be stepping down “after weeks of careful thought”. Mr Wray’s intended resignation is not unexpected considering that Mr Trump had picked Mr Patel for the role in his new administration. Mr Wray had previously been named by Mr Trump and began the 10-year term — a length meant to insulate the agency from the political influence of changing administrations — in 2017, after Mr Trump fired then-FBI director James Comey. Mr Trump had demonstrated his anger with Mr Wray on multiple occasions, including after Mr Wray’s congressional testimony in September. “My goal is to keep the focus on our mission — the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day,” Mr Wray told agency employees. “In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.” Mr Wray continued: “It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway — this is not easy for me. I love this place, I love our mission, and I love our people — but my focus is, and always has been, on us and doing what’s right for the FBI.” Mr Wray received a standing ovation following his remarks before a standing-room-only crowd at FBI headquarters and some in the audience cried, according to an FBI official who was not authorised to discuss the private gathering and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press. Mr Trump applauded the news on social media, calling it “a great day for America as it will end the weaponisation of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice” and saying that Mr Patel’s confirmation will begin “the process of Making the FBI Great Again”. If confirmed by the Senate, Mr Patel would herald a radical leadership transformation at the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency. He has advocated shutting down the FBI’s Washington headquarters and called for ridding the federal government of “conspirators”, raising alarm that he might seek to wield the FBI’s significant investigative powers as an instrument of retribution against Mr Trump’s perceived enemies. Mr Patel said in a statement Wednesday that he was looking forward to “a smooth transition. I will be ready to serve the American people on day one”.Mystery Drone Sightings at Military Bases is an International Problem

Making a $1B investment in the US? Trump pledges expedited permits — but there are hurdlesThe RCMP will create a new aerial intelligence task force to provide round-the-clock surveillance of Canada’s border using helicopters, drones and surveillance towers. The move is part of the federal government’s $1.3-billion upgrade to border security and monitoring to appease concerns of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump about the flow of migrants and illegal drugs. Trump has threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican exports to the U.S. as soon as he is inaugurated next month unless both countries move to improve border security. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he has discussed parts of the plan with American officials and that he is optimistic about its reception. Canada will also propose to the United States to create a North American “joint strike force” to target organized crime groups that work across borders. The government also intends to provide new technology, tools and resources to the Canada Border Services Agency to seek out fentanyl using chemical detection, artificial intelligence and canine teams. The union representing rank-and-file Mounties is welcoming the federal plan unveiled in the fall economic update Monday. Money, to be spread over six fiscal years, is earmarked for the RCMP, Public Safety Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency and the cyberspies at the Communications Security Establishment. RCMP members enforce laws between official points of entry and investigate criminal activities related to the border. National Police Federation president Brian Sauvé says members have been protecting the border with limited resources, and the new money will allow them to continue delivering on their mandate. Aaron McCrorie, the border services agency’s vice-president of intelligence and enforcement, said in a recent interview that irregular migration and smuggling of drugs such as fentanyl are common concerns for Canada and the United States. “These aren’t concerns that are unique to the United States. We share those same concerns,” he said. “In that sense, it really speaks to the need for us to work collaboratively.” McCrorie said the Canadian border agency is working closely with U.S. counterparts including Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security, as well as with agencies in Britain, Australia and New Zealand. “Criminal enterprises, organized crime, they don’t respect international boundaries. They collaborate, they exploit weaknesses in the system,” McCrorie said. “And so the best way to confront them is to is to collaborate on our side, fill those gaps, support each other’s efforts.” He said Canada’s border agency has two targeting officers embedded with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the American agency plans to soon send a targeting officer to Canada.

Papers: Wilcox steps into Ashworth's Man Utd role ahead of Jan window

Online manifesto appearing to be penned by Luigi Mangione is fakeElon Musk calls Trudeau an ‘insufferable tool’ on his social media platform

Lawmakers Tell Apple and Google to Prepare for TikTok Ban

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NoneArticle content Looking back over 2024, there’s good and bad news on the crime scene, statistically, for Edmonton. Year-end numbers show domestic violence was up in 2024, but homicides were down in Edmonton. Overall, the crime rate was down, but mid-year numbers showed violent crimes were up — at least in part due to repeat offenders. As of Dec. 29, homicides were down to the lowest rate in five years in the Alberta capital. There were 41 confirmed homicides in 2023 and 40 this time last year (Dec. 15, 2023). That number rises to 45 if you factor in officer-involved shooting deaths. For 2024, there are 30 confirmed homicides as of Dec. 15, 2024, a number that rises to 34 if you factor in officer-involved shooting deaths. Of these, 21 homicides are cleared, and nine remain under investigation, said Cheryl Voordenhout of the Edmonton Police Service’s public information office. Over the past four years, homicides have averaged 40 per year, according to EPS numbers. In 2018 and 2019, numbers were lower — with 29 homicides and 27 homicides, respectively. Officer-involved shooting fatalities were the same in 2023 and 2024 so far, with four deaths each year. However, the total number of officer-involved shootings was up from seven in 2023 to nine in 2024. There were fewer shooting homicides, EPS Chief Dale McFee told Postmedia in a year-end interview . McFee noted that rates go up or down depending on incidents throughout the year, but random attack numbers are stable. “What I’m looking for is a lot of that ‘stranger’ stuff. You know, those random attacks. And you know what? It doesn’t seem like there’s a real increase in relation to that,” he said. Domestic and interpersonal violence has replaced catalytic converter theft as the highest call for service, McFee said. “It could be anything from an argument to a bad beating to homicide,” he said. “So that area, going forward, in 2025 is going to need a little bit of a change in relation to how we approach that, and we’ve asked for that plan to come forward,” McFee said. On the positive side, resolving homicide cases has been going well, he said. “Our homicides, you know, got a significant clearance this year,” he said. Crime rate decreases: Statistics Canada Statistics trail calendar dates, and final numbers on the year’s crime indicators are expected in early-to-mid 2025. But according to mid-year results released in 2024 from Statistics Canada’s National Crime Data, Edmonton’s crime rate decreased by 11 per cent in 2023 from 2022, while nationally, the overall police-reported crime rate increased by three per cent from the previous year. “This marks one of the largest decrease(s in) crime rates among Canadian metropolitan cities in 2023,” said an EPS release, which attributed the improvement to targeted initiatives. “Safer public spaces, targeting social disorder and victimization, had an impact in Edmonton’s Downtown core and surrounding communities,” said Ron Anderson, chief innovation and technology officer for EPS, attributing improvements in the first two quarters of 2024 to the provincial government’s new navigation centre and dedicated LRT deployments. However, data from the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics showed Edmonton’s violent crime severity index (CSI) increased by four per cent in 2023, “a trend in which repeat offenders continue to play a significant role,” the July 2024 release said. The City of Edmonton’s overall CSI remained stable (0.6 per cent increase) between 2022 and 2023, and it decreased by 13 per cent between 2018 and 2023. “Make no mistake, violent crime continues to be a major concern in our city,” Anderson said. “While we still need to keep our foot on the crime-fighting pedal, we’re beginning to see some tangible traction with some of our targeted initiatives. EPS will continue to rely on evidence and data to deploy resources effectively while working collaboratively with our partners.” Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) had the 11th highest police-reported total crime rate, a drop from its place as the 10th highest in 2022, among the nation’s 41 CMAs in 2023. The City of Edmonton’s total crime rate decreased by 11 per cent between 2022 and 2023, the report found. The Edmonton CMA violent crime rate was 18th highest among CMAs, up slightly from 19th in 2022. The City of Edmonton’s violent crime rate increased by two per cent between 2022 and 2023 and is higher than the national average but below the provincial average. The Edmonton CMA property crime rate was 11th highest among CMAs, a drop from holding ninth place in 2022. The City of Edmonton’s property crime rate decreased by 15 per cent between 2022 and 2023. Fraud and extortion were both up in 2023. Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters . You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun

Alyssa Nakken leaves Giants for Guardians: report

Justin Trudeau taking the time to reflect following Freeland departureThe great National Hockey League contradiction of sports, celebration and politics is upon us. We have already begun the daily Alexander Ovechkin watch, the giant leap as he makes his way toward the career goal-scoring lead in hockey history. This all comes at a time when the league couldn’t — or wouldn’t — find a place for a Russian team in its major in-house tournament in February. It will be Ovechkin — yay — in the days and months to come, game by game, as he chases down Wayne Gretzky for a record none of us thought was possible. It will be Ovechkin — yay and Russia boo. All in the same convoluted sentence. All happening in a season in which Kirill Kaprizov of Minnesota and Nikita Kucherov of Tampa Bay are among the leading candidates for the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player in the NHL and the Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin signing a contract making him the highest paid goaltender in hockey history. Russian hockey is alive and well, individually. But it’s not alive in any team concept internationally. Ovechkin has been a long-time supporter of Russian president Vladimir Putin. So has the Stanley Cup-winning goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky, who was just named Russian athlete of the year. We like their hockey but don’t care much for their politics or the war that continues in Ukraine. Ovechkin has had an incredible run since entering the NHL in 2005. His 868 goals are 266 more than anyone who has played during his time. Sidney Crosby is second in goals at 602, as of Saturday. Steven Stamkos and another Russian, Evgeni Malkin, are the only others within 300 goals of Ovie’s totals. In Gretzky’s career, he finished 186 goals ahead of Mike Gartner, 281 and 284 ahead of Mario Lemieux and Mark Messier. Ovechkin, in his time, is individually more of a dominant goal-scorer than Gretzky was in his time. And there’s a certain discomfort that goes along with it all in current times. I can cheer for Ovechkin the hockey player, while at the same time feel disdain for his politics and those of his leader and country. Sports and politics mix, whether we want them to or not. Rarely are they as separate as they should be or as they seem right now while Ovechkin works his way to a mark that may never be equalled. There is nothing wrong with Mitch Marner that a playoff series against Detroit or Buffalo or Pittsburgh wouldn’t solve. Marner has 13 goals this season, 10 of them against teams that won’t be in the playoffs. He has six playoff goals in his past 37 playoff games ... Marner, having a terrific season, still ranks below Mikko Rantanen and Kucherov in scoring among right wingers ... The Florida Panthers’ second line has Sam Bennett centring Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. Not sure anyone would relish playing against them in a best-of-seven series in April ... If Auston Matthews doesn’t play for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Americans will still have Jack Hughes, Jack Eichel and Dylan Larkin at centre. But it becomes a tougher matchup, depending on what Canada does with Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Crosby as either their first three centres, or two of the top three with one of Crosby or MacKinnon going to the wing ... Nearing the halfway point of the NHL season, Cale Makar leads all defencemen in scoring. But he’s also been on the ice for 37 even-strength goals-against. That’s significantly more than Victor Hedman and Gustav Forsling with 24, and Darnell Nurse, if you can believe this one, at just 15 ... A Canadian network would be wise to snap up fired Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde for panel work, at least for the short term. Lalonde was sharp on TV in the playoffs between periods a few years back ... Outdoor hockey games are wonderful spectacles for the city in which they take place. But as a must-see TV event, they’ve kind of lost their way. I can’t imagine there are a lot of people waiting for this Chicago-St. Louis outdoor event ... When I first met Scott Arniel, he was playing left wing on a line in Winnipeg with Dale Hawerchuk and Paul MacLean. All three of them became coaches, and Arniel is now a coach of the year candidate in the NHL with the Jets ... The last talk I had with Hawerchuk was when he was coaching Barrie of the OHL. He was telling me all about his underrated centre, Mark Scheifele. He said NHL scouts had him rated too low and he was going to be a good one. The great Hawerchuk, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 57, was right on Scheifele. I had this conversation with a Blue Jays front office man after they traded Teoscar Hernandez to Seattle following the 2022 season. “Would you pay Teoscar $20 million a year?” I was asked. I said I would not. He said neither would the Jays. Since then, Hernandez has won a World Series in Los Angeles and has recently signed to remain with the Dodgers for the next three years at an average of $22 million a season. And the Jays remain in need of a power bat for the outfield. Which means two things: 1) Don’t expect financial advice from me; 2) don’t trust whatever financial advice you might get from the Blue Jays front office, either ... A question to ask yourself, Mr. Edward Rogers. How is it the Blue Jays keep offering more money for free agents, but aren’t signing any? What does that say about the perception of the franchise around Major League Baseball and those operating it? ... This has not been the best of years for shareholders of Bell or Rogers Communications, the former majority owners of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Bell stock is down 36.5% on the year. Rogers stock is down 35%. Netflix stock, by the way, is up 85% on the year and 227% over the past two years ... This was Thursday in the NBA: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 45 points for Oklahoma City and teammate Lu Dort had 13 against Indiana. Meanwhile, Andrew Nembhard and Ben Mathurin combined for 41 for the Pacers. That’s 99 points scored by four Canadians in the same game. Not sure that’s ever happened before ... Some things in life don’t make sense: The Raptors are a better three-point shooting team on the road than the 24-5 first-place Thunder is ... Simon Benoit is hardly a sexy name among NHL defencemen, but few are on the ice as much as he is while being scored upon so infrequently. My favourite sporting things of 2024, in no particular order: The Paris Olympics; Paris itself; Roland Garros Stadium; everything that is Summer McIntosh ; the American League Championship Series; the Patrick Mahomes comeback in the Super Bowl; the Stanley Cup final, never mind the result; Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Vladdy Guerrero Jr.; the unlikely Argos; Matthews’ almost 70-goal season; Andre De Grasse and his 100-metre teammates in the 4 x100 relay at the Olympics; Team USA vs. Serbia in men’s basketball, the greatest game I’ve ever seen; Steph Curry ... Terrible time to be a sports fan in Chicago. The Bears stink. The Blackhawks stink. The White Sox stink. The Bulls aren’t any good. Not much to care about in one of the great sporting towns in America ... It’s wonderful for the hammer thrower Ethan Katzberg to be named The Canadian Press male athlete of the year. But I don’t quite understand how you can compare a hammer thrower — a singular event in athletics with a very small competitive field — with an NBA star such as Gilgeous-Alexander, who plays 82 games, plus playoffs. Or McDavid or MacKinnon, who played more than 100 NHL games in the calendar year ... The challenge for Leafs coach Craig Berube in the second half of the NHL season: Finding the right defensive partner for Morgan Rielly. He hasn’t had the right partner since Ron Hainsey was a Leaf ... First baseman Pete Alonso, a good player, not a great one, seems to be pricing himself out of the free-agent market in baseball. Even the high-priced Mets seem to be willing to walk away from Alonso ... Brendan Shanahan takes a lot of heat for his time running the Leafs, but consider this: Steve Yzerman is six years in as GM in Detroit, nowhere near the playoffs; Buffalo hasn’t made the playoffs in a lifetime. Shanahan missed the playoffs once, hasn’t missed since drafting Matthews ... Don’t know where Darko Rajakovic rates as an all-time coach — probably near the bottom — but his tantrum in Memphis the other night is an all-time unforgettable Raptors moment ... So many tough questions this time of year. What presents to keep, which to return, which games to watch when you’re not screaming about junior hockey. Are you watching the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl or the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl? ... And good luck to all those playing fantasy football championship games on Sunday. I started the wrong kicker two weeks ago. Cost me and my partner a title shot. There are four sound candidates for MVP in the NFL, although if you watch enough television these days, you would think there is only one: Josh Allen. It’s a quarterback’s job to produce wins and Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City have the most in the league. Two-time MVP Lamar Jackson has combined yardage of 4,807 passing and rushing in Baltimore, which blows everyone else away. The giant Allen is unstoppable, having run for 11 touchdowns and passed for 3,549 yards with the Bills. And Saquon Barkley is in contention for all-time numbers as a running back, leading the Philadelphia Eagles. In any given year, any one of the four could, or should, be MVP. This year it will come down to Allen or Jackson, and a sound case could be made right now for either quarterback ... It drives me a little batty when I see Tkachuk or Steelers wide receiver George Pickens dangling or chewing on their mouthguard, rather than keeping it where it should be. We try to convince kids about the necessity of mouthguard usage. This kind of example doesn’t help ... Wonder how many owners in sports are paying attention to what the Suns are doing in Phoenix, charging $2 at concession stands for water, soda, hotdogs, and popcorn? A small popcorn at Cineplex is $9 now. And you wonder why people don’t go to movies anymore ... It’s highly possible that Cody Bellinger will be batting next to Giancarlo Stanton in the Yankees batting order this coming season. Bellinger, by the way, is married to Stanton’s old girlfriend ... The NBA was excited to have five million people watching games on Christmas Day on television, especially those up against NFL games on Netflix for the first time. But follow me here for a second: The U.S. is 10 times the size of Canada. A five-million-person audience in the U.S. is about half a million Canadians. By my translation, the NBA audience in the U.S. at Christmas is basically equal to the average CFL audience in Canada throughout the season ... Happy birthday to Ray Bourque (64), Myles Garrett (29), Bill Lee (78), George Parros (45), Julio Rodriguez (24), Sean Payton (61) Theo Epstein (51), Adam Vinatieri (52) and B.J. Ryan (49) ... And hey, whatever became of Jonathan Toews? ssimmons@postmedia.com twitter.com/simmonssteve

Vehicle Telematics Hardware Market Report 2024: Global Shipments of Aftermarket Telematics Devices is Forecast to Grow at a CAGR of 8% in the Next Five Years to Reach 69.3 Million in 2028