HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s 2023-24 Legislative Session closed Dec. 1 and the next session, while officially underway, doesn’t fully begin until lawmakers are sworn into office Jan. 7. Looking back, members of the state House and Senate introduced 3,862 bills and 924 resolutions across the two-year session. There were 77 bills adopted into law in 2023 and 162 adopted in 2024. The combined total of 239 was far fewer than the previous six legislative sessions. There hasn’t been a lower total since 2009-10 when 226 bills advanced into law — the last time the Pennsylvania General Assembly had a partisan divide. Democrats controlled the House while Republicans led the Senate. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, often cites the challenge of advancing legislation with a split government. That dynamic won’t change in 2025-26. Though there are 20 new members joining the legislature — 16 in the House, four in the Senate — the respective parties defended their majorities. Republicans have a 28-22 advantage in the Senate while Democrats maintained a 102-101 margin in the House. What follows is a look back at the outcome of legislation proposed last session by area lawmakers. Aaron Bernstine — 8th Legislative District Rep. Aaron Bernstine will formally begin his fifth term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives when members are sworn into office on Jan. 7, 2025. He ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections. Bernstine, a Republican, represented Pennsylvania’s 8th Legislative District — parts of Lawrence and Butler counties — since redistricting took hold in 2023. Prior to that, he represented what had been the former 10th District. He held three committee assignments along with a subcommittee appointment during the 2023-24 Legislative Session: Commerce, Finance and Gaming Oversight committees and a subcommittee on Housing Finance. Across the two-year session, Bernstine sponsored 154 bills and resolutions. He was the prime sponsor of two bills. One sought to allow state licensure for nurses educated at a school with national accreditation in addition to the current requirement that institutions hold regional accreditation. The other was a reintroduction of a bill from a prior session, “Markie’s Law,” that seeks to delay parole for state inmates convicted of certain offenses while incarcerated — 12 months for escape attempts, smuggling contraband or retaliation or intimidation of a witness; 24 months for a violent offense. Neither bill gained traction at the committee level. Bernstine is among the members of the conservative Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus. One bill that he announced but ultimately didn’t introduce would have sought to reclassify drag performances as “adult-oriented business” — a bill unlikely to advance given the current dynamics of the General Assembly. He voted against both budgets in the 2023-24 session, criticizing Gov. Josh Shapiro for submitting a “liberal wish list.” “His plan is a copy-paste version of the Bidenomics that are destroying our economy. From Philadelphia mass transit bailouts to doubling the minimum wage, Gov. Shapiro wants Pennsylvania to be just like California, which is where his campaign donations originate,” Bernstine said after the governor made his 2024 budget proposal. Bernstine attempted to trim more than 1% from this year’s $47.6 billion budget through a floor amendment, and he tried the same to enact school choice. He attended President-elect Donald Trump’s rally in Butler where an assassination attempt was made, and he stood up for local police and first responders amid criticism of event security and the immediate response after a bullet grazed Trump’s ear. Marla Brown — 9th Legislative District The 2025-26 session will be the second in the Pennsylvania House for Republican Rep. Marla Brown. She was re-elected to represent the 9th Legislative District, which covers a portion of Lawrence County, after running unopposed in both the primary and general elections. Brown’s first session saw appointments to four committees — Aging & Older Adult Services, Commerce, Finance and Health. She also chaired subcommittees on Care & Services and Local Business. She sponsored 83 bills and resolutions. On 14 bills and three resolutions, she was the primary sponsor, however, none made it into law. In fact, as a member of the House’s political minority, just one received committee consideration. Brown introduced one of at least three proposals to open primary elections to all voters, allowing those not registered with a recognized party, namely Democrat or Republican, to choose which ticket they’d vote on. Pennsylvania is one of nine states with closed primaries and is home to more than 1.46 million independent voters, nearly 16% of its entire electorate. Brown believed the change would help elevate moderate candidates across the political spectrum and improve governance in an era of hyper-partisanship. Open primary proposals aren’t novel but in a rarity, they actually garnered enough support to advance out of the House State Government Committee but were ignored before receiving consideration on the chamber floor. “This is a bipartisan issue, in my opinion, on which we should easily meet in the middle of the road. We’ve got to find common ground in the House if we’re going to be able to represent this state in the best way,” Brown said after introducing her bill. Brown’s other bill proposals ranged from mandating that social media companies report suspected drug sales to the creation of a targeted grant program for nurses to repay student loans amid workforce struggles. Brown sought to require felony charges for threats made against schools and mandate a prison sentence for the conviction of delivering fentanyl. She also pursued operator-friendly reforms within Pennsylvania’s cosmetology law. Brown voted against both budgets enacted during her tenure, so far, and she opposed cost of living adjustments for former state employees who retired before 2001. She hosted policy hearings in her district on drug addiction and transportation issues, supported a package of bills to provide tax relief to working families, and joined other legislators in calling on the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to revise its maligned broadcast policy. She did not, however, vote in favor of a study authorized by the House to look into PIAA’s finances, broadcast agreements and more. Michele Brooks — 50th Senatorial District The start of the 2025-26 Legislative Session marks the midway point of Republican Sen. Michele Brooks’ third term in office. Her district, the 50th, includes Crawford, Mercer and most of Lawrence counties. Her current four-year term expires in 2026. In 2023-24, Brooks served as majority chair of the Senate Health & Human Services Committee and vice chair of the Finance Committee. Her other committee assignments were Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Communications & Technology, Education, Rules & Executive Nominations and Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness. She sponsored 248 bills and resolutions last session including 60 bills and eight resolutions as a prime sponsor. The focus of the bills she introduced included eliminating inheritance taxes on siblings and other relatives, enacting consumer protections, the creation of a lost dog registry, extending the statute of limitations for the crime of drug delivery resulting in death, including sales taxes in advertised retail prices, addressing Lyme disease and expansive efforts to serve firefighters and EMS providers. Among the bevy of bills of which she was a prime sponsor, six became law and four others advanced to the House. The rest remained in the Senate. Motorcycles will be included in Pennsylvania’s Automobile Lemon Law after a Brooks bill became Act No. 151 of 2024, extending protections for manufacturer defects to a new class of vehicle. Senate Bill 500 , a bipartisan bill known as Owen’s Law, became Act 32 of 2023. It allows for medical prescriptions through Medicaid of donor milk for children younger than 12 months. Brooks was successful in expanding Pennsylvania’s Safe Haven Law. Act 134 of 2024 adds urgent care centers to designated locations where parents may safely surrender newborns if they feel unfit to care for the child. She also secured an amendment to Pennsylvania’s Public School Code through Act 55 of 2024 which will allow professionals in skilled occupations to more easily receive state certification to teach at career and technical schools. Her bill was amended as part of budget negotiations to include numerous negotiated updates to the code beyond her original intent. Act 66 of 2023, born out of Brooks’ Senate Bill 941, eases eligibility and qualifications to become a drug treatment counselor and increases counselors’ patient caseload capacity during an opioid epidemic, defined as 1,000-plus opioid overdose deaths in three consecutive years. Pennsylvania schools must notify parents and guardians in writing whenever ticks are removed from students under Act 120 of 2024. Schools must provide information on the symptoms of Lyme disease, and must preserve the tick for parents or guardians to either send into a state lab for analysis or allow the school to do so. Results are confidential. Elder Vogel — 47th Senatorial District Republican Sen. Elder Vogel returns to the Pennsylvania Senate for the 2025-26 Legislative Session after being re-elected to represent the 47th Senatorial District. Vogel defeated Democrat Kate Lennen in the general election, garnering nearly 64% of the vote and earning a fifth four-year term. He ran unopposed in the primary. The 47th Senatorial District consists of most of Beaver County and parts of Lawrence and Butler counties. In the 2023-24 session, Vogel served as majority chair of the Senate Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee and vice chair of the Appropriations Committee. He also was appointed to the Banking & Insurance, Environmental Resources & Energy and Transportation committees. He sponsored 286 bills and resolutions last session, including nine bills as a prime sponsor. Three of the bills became law while the other six didn’t pass out of the Senate. Vogel worked for eight years to advance a bill guaranteeing insurance coverage for telemedicine services. After watching his proposals defeated through the years — be it through inaction, lack of House support, a veto by former Gov. Tom Wolf — Vogel’s Telemedicine Act was adopted in 2024 and signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro. Act 42 of 2024 assures patients that any medically necessary service they’d receive in person that’s covered by their insurance plan would also be covered if administered remotely through telemedicine. That coverage includes Medicaid and CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program. His proposal to establish the Sexual Assault Emergency Services Act became Act 59 of 2023. It expands Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner programs at hospitals, using telehealth through the existing Penn State University SAFE-T Program to connect victims with specialized nurses to ensure through and timely care in cases of sexual assault. Another bill from Vogel became Act 18 of 2023, authorizing the first increases in dog license fees in nearly 30 years and for kennel fees, 60 years. The modest increases are intended to help improve dog law enforcement in the commonwealth. Vogel was a prime co-sponsor of two bipartisan proposals with Sen. Judith Schwank, D-Berks, that were developed to aid dairy farmers. One bill sought to help Pennsylvania dairy farmers enroll in the federal dairy margin coverage program while the other would allow the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board to collect and distribute over-order premiums collected on Class I fluid milk in Pennsylvania. Each bill was voted out of committee but gained no further momentum. He co-sponsored another bill with Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria/Clearfield/Centre, that would mandate a prison term of 20 to 40 years for anyone convicted of providing fentanyl or related synthetic opioids to minors. The measure received no consideration in the Senate. Vogel’s other proposals last session sought to create a statewide stroke registry, boost funding for the Pennsylvania Housing and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund that aids senior citizens, low- and moderate-income families and persons with disabilities, and create licensing for professional music therapists. He also was active in promoting on-farm conservation efforts, raising awareness of food insecurity and promoting food drives as well as advocating for legislation to mitigate crop damage by deer, enhance trespass penalties related to hunting and add a seat to the Pennsylvania Game Commission Board.
MONTREAL — Laurentian Bank of Canada reported fourth-quarter profits that were up from a year ago, while it reported a loss for 2024 as a whole. The Montreal-based bank said Friday its quarterly profits amounted to $40.7 million, up from $30.6 million a year ago. For the fiscal year, it reported a loss of $5.5 million, compared with a net income of $181 million the year before, as it took charges related to its turnaround efforts. Impairment charges for the year totalled $228.4 million, including a $155.9 million writedown on the value of its personal and commercial banking segment, and $72.5 million in restructuring charges. In the fourth quarter, the bank reported $7.8 million in severance charges and a $5.7 million writedown in the value of its software and licences, plus impairments on its office space and leases. The efforts are part of a turnaround that chief executive Éric Provost said in a statement was going well. "Six months after presenting our strategic plan, I am pleased with the progress we’ve made." Profits in the fourth quarter amounted to 88 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up from a profit of 67 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year. Revenue for the quarter totalled $250.8 million, up from $247.4 million a year earlier. The bank's provision for credit losses for the quarter amounted to $10.4 million compared with $16.7 million a year ago. On an adjusted basis, Laurentian says it earned 89 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $1 per diluted share in the same quarter last year. The average analyst estimate had been for an adjusted profit of 87 cents per share, according to data provided by LSEG Data & Analytics. Scotiabank analyst Meny Grauman said the bank's low provisions for credit loss were impressive, especially given its commercial-heavy loan book as businesses face pressure. "It should highlight for investors the underlying quality of this bank’s commercial franchise at least from an underwriting perspective," he said in a note. Laurentian shares were up nine per cent in early trading Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange while they were up around 4.6 per cent by late afternoon. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX:LB) The Canadian PressWill the College Football Playoff just around the corner, this marks the first year that the bracket is expanding from just four teams to twelve. But it also means there are some changes being made regarding payouts to college conferences with schools competing in the playoff. The Football Bowl Division, commonly referred to as the FBS, is the highest level of college football in the United States and consists of over 100 teams in 10 conferences. But of those 100 teams, just 12 will advance into the College Football Playoff. RELATED STORY | NCAA, leagues sign off on $2.8 billion plan, setting stage for dramatic change across college sports Each conference will receive different payouts based on the number of teams in the conference that make the College Football Playoff. But those teams will be eligible to earn even more money for their conference the further they advance. For the 2024-2025 College Football Playoff: A conference will receive $300,000 for each of its teams in the College Football Playoff that meets the NCAA Academic Progress Rate, which is essentially a team-based metric to hold colleges accountable for their student-athletes' academics. A conference will receive $4 million for each team that makes the 12-team CFP and an additional $4 million for each team to advance to the quarterfinals (eight schools). A conference will receive $6 million for each team that advances to the semifinal (four schools) and an additional $6 million for each team that advances to the national championship game (two schools). Each team that participates in the College Football Playoff will receive $3 million to cover expenses each round. RELATED STORY | States sue NCAA, saying organization unfairly restricts players' sponsorship opportunities
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., responds to criticism over her transgender bathroom ban resolution on 'FOX & Friends Weekend.' Transgender rights activists on Thursday participated in a "bathroom sit-in" in a restroom across from House Speaker Mike Johnson's office on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in protest of a new policy barring trans people from using bathroom facilities that match their gender identity. Around 15 people were arrested on suspicion of crowding, obstructing or incommoding for illegally protesting inside the Cannon House Office Building, the U.S. Capitol Police told Fox News Digital. The protest was organized by the Gender Liberation Movement, which describes itself as a grassroots organization that focuses on bodily autonomy and gender. NANCY MACE'S EFFORT TO BAN TRANSGENDER DELAWARE DEMOCRAT FROM CAPITOL WOMEN'S RESTROOMS GAINS SUPPORT A transgender rights supporter takes part in a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Getty Images) A video posted on the group's Instagram account shows protesters holding signs calling for a "Ban on bathroom bigotry," occupying a restroom and blocking a hallway. The Hill reported that Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst and whistleblower, was one of those being led away by authorities in zip ties. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 after disclosing classified documents and military reports to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The sentence was commuted in 2017 by former President Obama and Manning was released from prison after serving seven years. Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, announced the new bathroom policy in November after Rep. Nancy Mace , R-S.C., tried to block trans people from Capitol restrooms that don't match their gender at birth. MACE FACES BACKLASH OVER EFFORT TO BAN NEW TRANSGENDER MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM WOMEN'S BATHROOMS Transgender rights activist Sarah McBride speaks on stage at the Women In The World Summit in New York on April 11, 2019. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid) The move came ahead of the first openly transgender lawmaker, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., joining Congress in January. McBride is a biological male who identifies and presents as a woman. Mace recently introduced a resolution to ban men who identify as female from women's restrooms on Capitol Hill. On Thursday, she posted a video on X of herself standing outside a Capitol Police station. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on June 6, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Using a bullhorn, she read the Miranda rule to the protesters arrested. Fox News Digital has reached out to Johnson's office . Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com .WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 6, 2024-- Incyte (Nasdaq:INCY) today announced that it granted restricted stock unit awards (RSUs) representing an aggregate of 7,259 shares of the Company’s common stock to 15 new employees. The awards were made under the Company’s 2024 Inducement Stock Incentive Plan, with a grant date and vesting commencement date of December 2, 2024, and were approved by the compensation committee of the Company’s board of directors as an inducement material to the new employees entering into employment with the Company in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). Each RSU vests as to 25% of the shares subject to the RSU on each of the first four anniversaries of the vesting commencement date, subject to the employee's continued service with the Company on each such date. About Incyte A global biopharmaceutical company on a mission to Solve On. , Incyte follows the science to find solutions for patients with unmet medical needs. Through the discovery, development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics, Incyte has established a portfolio of first-in-class medicines for patients and a strong pipeline of products in Oncology and Inflammation & Autoimmunity. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, Incyte has operations in North America, Europe and Asia. For additional information on Incyte, please visit Incyte.com or follow us on social media: LinkedIn , X , Instagram , Facebook , YouTube . View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241206245128/en/ CONTACT: Media media@incyte.comInvestors ir@incyte.com KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA DELAWARE INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BIOTECHNOLOGY PHARMACEUTICAL HEALTH ONCOLOGY SOURCE: Incyte Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/06/2024 04:30 PM/DISC: 12/06/2024 04:31 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241206245128/en‘Nebraska did a good job': Boston College's Bill O'Brien lauds NU’s red zone defense
Emerging anti-US axis worrisome but 'not acting as a bloc'
A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied TikTok's petition to overturn the law — which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January — and rebuffed the company's challenge of the statute, which it argued had ran afoul of the First Amendment. “The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” said the court's opinion, which was written by Judge Douglas Ginsburg. “Here the Government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.” TikTok and ByteDance — another plaintiff in the lawsuit — are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, though its unclear whether the court will take up the case. “The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue," TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people,” Hughes said. Unless stopped, he argued the statute “will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19th, 2025.” Though the case is squarely in the court system, it's also possible the two companies might be thrown some sort of a lifeline by President-elect Donald Trump, who tried to ban TikTok during his first term but said during the presidential campaign that he is now against such action. The law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, was the culmination of a yearslong saga in Washington over the short-form video-sharing app, which the government sees as a national security threat due to its connections to China. The U.S. has said it’s concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of user data, including sensitive information on viewing habits, that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Officials have also warned the proprietary algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect — a concern mirrored by the European Union on Friday as it scrutinizes the video-sharing app’s role in the Romanian elections. TikTok, which sued the government over the law in May, has long denied it could be used by Beijing to spy on or manipulate Americans. Its attorneys have accurately pointed out that the U.S. hasn’t provided evidence to show that the company handed over user data to the Chinese government, or manipulated content for Beijing’s benefit in the U.S. They have also argued the law is predicated on future risks, which the Department of Justice has emphasized pointing in part to unspecified action it claims the two companies have taken in the past due to demands from the Chinese government. Friday’s ruling came after the appeals court panel, composed of two Republicans and one Democrat appointed judges, heard oral arguments in September. In the hearing, which lasted more than two hours, the panel appeared to grapple with how TikTok’s foreign ownership affects its rights under the Constitution and how far the government could go to curtail potential influence from abroad on a foreign-owned platform. On Friday, all three denied TikTok’s petition. In the court's ruling, Ginsburg, a Republican appointee, rejected TikTok's main legal arguments against the law, including that the statute was an unlawful bill of attainder, or a taking of property in violation of the Fifth Amendment. He also said the law did not violate the First Amendment because the government is not looking to "suppress content or require a certain mix of content” on TikTok. “Content on the platform could in principle remain unchanged after divestiture, and people in the United States would remain free to read and share as much PRC propaganda (or any other content) as they desire on TikTok or any other platform of their choosing,” Ginsburg wrote, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China.Fort Hill and Bridgeport have signed a two-year scheduling agreement in football, with the first meeting set for Week 5 at Wayne Jamison Stadium in Bridgeport on Oct. 3, 2025. The 2026 matchup will be played at Greenway Avenue Stadium. The Sentinels and Indians entered this year with 10 state championships each, and both are a win away from their 11th. Fort Hill faces Northern Saturday at noon for the Maryland Class 1A crown, and Bridgeport faces Fairmont Senior for the West Virginia Class AAA championship Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Bridgeport, known for its Single Wing offense, is 13-0 this season and is averaging 59.7 points per game. The Indians have an enrollment of approximately 800 students. Bridgeport has appeared in Fort Hill's preseason scrimmage, the Queen City Quad, for the past 15 years but won't next year with the teams playing in the regular season. Fort Hill is looking for a fourth school at the Quad with Clarkson North returning and Perry Hall joining the field next August. Bridgeport has never played an opponent from Maryland in the regular season. Fort Hill last played a school from West Virginia in 2019 when it defeated Morgantown, 49-23, and Hedgesville, 64-6. Bridgeport will replace Briar Woods on the Sentinels' schedule. Hall of Fame Fort Hill head coach Charlie Lattimer coached Bridgeport for two seasons (1957-58) to a 4-12-2 record before he began his run with the Sentinels in 1959, taking over the program from Bill Hahn.
The GCC never disappoints when it comes to keeping us on our toes with updates! From flight dramas to futuristic skyscrapers, here’s your rundown of the latest and greatest happening across the region. Grab your coffee (or something stronger, if that’s your vibe), and let’s dive in! 6 GCC Updates for You 1. Ring In The New Year With Free Parking In Dubai Here’s a little New Year’s gift from Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) all public parking will be free on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, in celebration of the holiday. This freebie, however, doesn’t apply to multi-storey parking, so keep an eye out for those. Normal paid parking services will kick off again on Thursday, January 2, 2025. So, if you’re planning on ringing in the New Year with some extra space for your car (and less stress on your wallet), you’re in luck! 2. Air Arabia Takes You To Russia, Non-Stop! Get your bags packed, because Air Arabia has just launched a new flight route that might just become your next adventure! The budget-friendly airline now offers a non-stop service from Abu Dhabi to Yekaterinburg, Russia. Twice a week, you’ll be able to jet off directly to Koltsovo International Airport in Yekaterinburg, making it easier than ever to explore Russia. Whether you’re into snowy landscapes or vodka tasting, this new route is your passport to Eastern Europe. 3. Dubai’s Skyscraper Innovation: A Sky Pool Between Towers If you thought Dubai couldn’t get any cooler, think again! Architecture firm Foster + Partners is creating something out of this world, literally. The Regent Residences Dubai, a pair of 180-meter-tall towers, will be connected by a sky pool at the penthouse level. Talk about luxury! The apartments will boast 360-degree views of everything that matters: Burj Khalifa, sunsets, sunrises, you name it. Also Read: From Harry Potter Dishes At Riyadh To Hussain Al Jassmi Concert At Global Village; 6 GCC Updates For You 4. 2025 Public Holiday For Dubai Government Employees And here’s something to look forward to: Dubai’s public sector workers are getting a New Year’s Day holiday in 2025. The Government Human Resources Department finally announced January 1st as a holiday for all public sector employees. So, if you work for the Dubai government, enjoy your well-deserved break, and get ready to resume your work on January 2nd. Time to plan that hangover recovery day! 5. Qatar’s New Digital Service: Document Attestation Made Easy In case you’re dealing with paperwork (who isn’t, right?), Qatar has just made it way easier. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched an online document attestation service, so you can get your paperwork sorted from the comfort of your couch, no matter where you are in the world. The initiative is part of Qatar’s commitment to the digital future. If you’re a jobseeker needing documents verified overseas, this new service is about to make your life a whole lot simpler. 6. Air Arabia’s Mid-Air Drama: Emergency Landing Edition Here’s a plot twist for you, Air Arabia had to make an emergency landing earlier this week after a mechanical malfunction in one of its flights. The plane, which had just taken off from Chennai with 168 passengers, had to make a return to the airport after about 30 minutes in the air. Luckily, the pilot took swift action, and the flight safely touched down. Passengers were evacuated and even got some chill time in the airport lounges while the aircraft was fixed. It was a tense few hours, but hey, at least everyone’s safe, right? And there you have it, folks! Whether you’re planning your New Year’s festivities or dreaming of a swim between skyscrapers, the GCC is full of updates that keep things exciting. Stay tuned for more buzz, and make sure to keep your holiday plans in check! Cover Image Courtesy: Canva Stock Images
Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah start a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fightingLOS ANGELES — Jim Gaffigan is experiencing a major glow-up lately. He’s looking slim, trim and well-styled in a hip suit and glasses on a recent morning in a posh room at the Peninsula hotel. His vibe is a lot different from the hefty, pale, Midwestern everyman that a lot of people think of when they hear his name. But if you’ve tracked his recent trajectory, the recent evolution shouldn’t come as a surprise. From touring with comedy megastar Jerry Seinfeld to portraying Tim Walz for five weeks on “Saturday Night Live,” Gaffigan’s fit physique and wry, clean humor are meeting the moment by popping up in places that bring together the biggest crowds to laugh as a family about topics we can all relate to on some level at a time when we need it most. On Nov. 22, his 11th stand-up special, “The Skinny,” premiered on Hulu as part of the new brand rollout dubbed “Hulu Laughing Now,” featuring 12 new comedy specials per year on the streaming platform. We spoke to Gaffigan about the inspiration behind his new hourlong special, the pains of parenting teenagers and how growing his career while his body gets slimmer is only the beginning of his new chapter in comedy. This interview was edited for length and clarity. Question: In your new special “The Skinny,” obviously you talk about the fact that you’ve had a body transformation. What inspired you to make a change to become Slim Jim? A: I wish there was some romantic story surrounding it, but it really came down to my doctor who brought it up. [She said] “I’ve noticed you’ve gained a fair amount of weight.” In the ’90s I was working out twice a day to be thin. And then once I had kids, I was desperately trying to find time to work out. And then it just got to a point where my knees didn’t work. So [my doctor] said, “You can try these appetite suppressants.” And I’m like, “yeah, sure!” but I didn’t have an expectation it would work. Even when I was working out twice a day — I have a joke where I was like, “I need to work out a lot just to look like someone who doesn’t work out.” And so I was pleasantly surprised when it worked. Q: What are some vices, especially being on the road as a comic, that you’ve had to give up? A: I can’t tell you how much this drug curbs this insatiable eating I have, but it also curbs other things. So if I have one drink, then I’m like, I’m good, or if I have any kind of compulsive behavior, it kind of diminishes. I mean, I joke around in the special that I feel no joy, but it kind of makes you behave like an adult, which is weird. Q: Describe the process of whittling down the material for “The Skinny” and what do you hope that audiences will get to see from you in terms of what’s going on with your life and your comedy? A: Stand-up has changed so much. The notion that people are putting out multiple specials didn’t exist when I started with stand-up, but I think that people who consume a stand-up comedian’s material, there’s a familiarity, but it’s like a friendship. You can’t have the exact same conversation, even though we all have friends where it’s like we’re having the same conversation about high school, it has to be different. You both have to challenge each other. So there for me, working on the special or working on this new hour that I’m working on now, it’s self assignment. So some of it, as any creative person, it’s like, “what can I talk about that is embarrassing or is revealing?” I think that people that have tracked me along the way in my stand-up will be interested in my view on parenting. I’ve always had the view that I suck at it, but I have a greater empathy for what all parents are dealing with it. And I think also parents of this era, we’ve made mistakes. And it doesn’t help with social media and the apps and screens. And that’s something that’s revealed in doing my stand-up and in reading some of the parenting books. I don’t know if you have kids, do you have kids? Q: No, I’m still happy . A: (Laughs) There’s books that reveal the mistakes [we] have made. Parents of teenagers have this perspective. Adults have an impression of what their teenage years were like and I’m providing this point of view of what it’s like to live with these people. It’s kind of a cliché but raising teenagers is like raising a mentally ill person. It sounds harsh — we know there’s a natural separation process where teenagers challenge things but I love that I’ve gained this perspective of “was my dad a d— or maybe I was a d—?” Maybe it’s kind of basic but that’s something that’s universal. We all went through being teenagers and not necessarily the conflict but the misunderstanding between the teenager and the parent, which I find fascinating. Q: Do you think the stress of raising your own teenagers feels like payback for how you were as a teen? A: I would say I was a good teen. I was very hard working. I would say that my dad was unnecessarily annoyed by some of my behavior. And now I’m kind of like, “Oh, I get it. I totally get what his annoyance was.” And these are your children and you’d do anything for them. But there is a bafflement. I talk about it [in the special] where you have this sweet 12-year-old and then they change. And I’m obviously using hyperbole and exaggeration but there is a shift. And what’s so great about touring with the material is that it’s a conversation so the feedback from the audience can prove your premise or your theory. So even older parents, empty nesters can say, “oh yeah that’s true.” The hyperbolic, humorous statement you’re making is only funny because it’s grounded in a shared experience. Q: One of the things that is unique about your comedy is that it’s not about trying to say something necessarily outlandish. It’s about bringing people together in a way by poking fun at everyone at the same time. How did you hone your comedic voice and why do you think your brand of comedy is important these days, when so many comedians — or just comedy in general — is really dedicated to getting a reaction by saying something overtly controversial? A: A joke is a surprise and irreverence is kind of a shortcut to that surprise. And, by the way, we all love it, but I kind of nerd out [when talking about the idea that] there is an aftertaste to comedy. We all have that really kind of bitchy friend that makes us laugh, that is kind of a little mean, but then afterwards we feel a little guilty [because] I know they went too far, or, you know, I shouldn’t have laughed at what they said. I believe there is an aftertaste so you can take that short-term approach .... I think some comedians just do what they have to do. Irreverence is also something where it’s not in my wheelhouse, some comics are really good at it, and that is their thing .... I believe you can be respectful and highlight some important stories and also present the humor of it. Q: Considering how long it’s taken for you to build a career, it’s cool to see you popping up on “SNL” as Tim Walz, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, appearing in movies.... This is a pretty big comeback era for you — you are smaller but your career is getting bigger, does that feel weird? A: That’s funny — yeah, doing those shows with Jerry, I never had an expectation that that would happen. Jerry has a clear and concise view and philosophy on stand-up and comedy that when you talk to him, you feel like you’re talking to Aristotle. He’s kind of like a stoic [who reminds you to have] control of your material. You don’t get caught up in what the trend is of the moment. You work on evolving your act and your writing. The “SNL” experience was so surreal, because I never auditioned for “SNL.” I was presented an opportunity to audition to be a writer, but I was like, “I want to be an actor,” so I was resistant. But the opportunity to be in that orbit of this last vestige of American live television that still exists with its impracticalities ... there’s no replicating it. What “SNL” has done for 50 years is insane. So even when we were there [filming] and I’m sitting in a room with Dana Carvey, or you look out and you see John Lovitz or Chris Rock, it’s just bizarre. So gaining access to that is really an amazing thing.
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