EUREKA — John Cooper, 80 years old and with a new set of knees, still rises before the sun, dons waders, sets up decoys and tries to call in ducks. “I love waterfowl hunting,” he whispered, nestled into the cattails along the edge of a pond this fall. “The immersive experience of the hunt, learning about these ecosystems, being involved in waterfowl conservation — I love everything about it.” “And it’s good eating if you cook it right,” he added. For Cooper, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement officer and former head of the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks, duck hunting is more than a pastime. It’s a passion tied to the wildlife and land he’s spent over 50 years trying to conserve. These days, he worries about disappearing wetlands and hopes the next generation will stop the losses. Activists across the nation share his concern. The Union of Concerned Scientists, based in Massachusetts, released a report Wednesday saying that a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Sackett v. EPA, has stripped federal protections from 30 million acres of wetlands in the Upper Midwest. The ruling redefined federal wetlands protections, leaving those without direct surface connections to larger water bodies unregulated. The researchers said the decision will accelerate wetland losses. According to estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the more than 300,000 square miles of wetlands that existed on the U.S. mainland several hundred years ago had already been reduced to almost half that amount by 2019. The report says the next federal farm bill, likely to be considered by the new Congress next year, presents an opportunity to strengthen wetland protections by increasing funding for conservation programs that pay farmers to conserve and restore wetlands on their land. Stacy Woods, a research director with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the threat to wetlands is particularly severe in South Dakota, where agriculture occupies more than 85% of the land and the state has no wetlands protections beyond enforcing federal laws. The report says South Dakota is home to about 1.9 million acres of wetlands, which is about a 30% decline from the 2.7 million acres estimated to have existed two centuries ago. Cooper said he sees evidence of those losses every time he goes hunting. CONSERVATIONIST TO THE CORE Born and raised on an orange and avocado farm in rural California, Cooper earned a criminology degree from the University of California, joined the Navy and served two tours in the Vietnam War. He joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Law Enforcement Division, where he oversaw habitat and wildlife protection across the Dakotas and Nebraska for 22 years. “There was just an unbelievable amount of habitat when I first moved here,” he said. In 1995, then-Gov. Bill Janklow appointed Cooper as secretary of South Dakota’s Department of Game, Fish and Parks, a role Cooper held until 2007. Cooper also served as Gov. Mike Rounds’ senior policy adviser on Missouri River issues and as a senior policy adviser to the Bipartisan Policy Center on climate change and wildlife management. From 2013 to 2016, he chaired the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission. All the while, Cooper said, wetlands were vanishing. “The days of when I first moved here are gone,” he said. “Those live in the heads of old guys like me now.” THE INFLUENCE OF FARM POLICY The 1980s farm crisis was a key turning point for wetlands and wildlife habitat, Cooper said. Federal policies in the 1970s had encouraged farmers to plant more crops, especially corn, to meet booming global demand. Many farmers borrowed heavily to buy land, equipment and supplies to expand production. The surge in planting caused overproduction, driving crop prices down. When interest rates on loans soared in the 1980s, many farmers were deep in debt, unable to repay their loans. Bankruptcies spread across rural America, forcing many farm families off the land. In response, the federal government introduced policies to help struggling farmers. They included subsidies, programs to buy surplus crops, 10-year contracts paying landowners to leave marginal land as grass, and requirements for ethanol to be mixed into gasoline. The goal was to stabilize farm incomes and protect family farms, Cooper said. “But did it stop the corporate consolidation trend?” Cooper asked. The evidence says no. Subsidies based on production rewarded larger farms, encouraging growth and out-competing smaller operations. Increasingly expensive farm equipment, seeds and technology favored big operations with better access to credit. And rising land values made expansion easier for large farms while pricing out smaller ones. Large-scale farms operating on 2,000 acres or more now control over two-thirds of the cropland in South Dakota, according to the 2022 U.S. Census of Agriculture. Thirty years ago, large farms controlled less than half of the state’s cropland, according to a report from South Dakota State University Extension. The report says the number of farming operations in the state dropped nearly 30% from 26,808 in 1997 to 19,302 in 2022. The sharpest declines have occurred among medium-sized farms. “You used to only have these small, diversified family farms — a couple of families to a section — where having good habitat was just part of it,” Cooper recalls. “Now, what you see is an industrialized ocean of corn and soybeans.” Cooper said federally subsidized crop programs have encouraged the draining of wetlands and the tilling of grasslands, incentivizing producers to cultivate more acres. “To be clear, I have nothing against the actual farmers,” Cooper said. “They’re responding to a system the international seed and chemical companies, biofuels, tractor companies, and other fat cats have cooked up, where production is king, and conservation doesn’t put food on a farmer’s table.” IMPACTS FROM DRAIN TILE Some farmers drain wetlands using underground perforated pipes, called drain tile, which lower the water table and make land suitable for farming. “And that water goes somewhere,” Cooper said. Instead of being retained in a wetland, excess water from drain-tiled fields flows into ditches, creeks and rivers. The amount of water flowing down the James River in eastern South Dakota has risen 300% since the late 1990s, according to a report by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The report primarily blames increased precipitation. But the report also says that “only a handful of counties in eastern South Dakota have a drain tile permit program, meaning there is not a temporal or spatial record of tile drainage in the state and thus difficult to determine the extent to which tiling may have increased flow.” Cooper is skeptical that increased rainfall is the lone culprit. “Nothing on the land occurs in isolation,” Cooper said. “And things start to accumulate.” Other researchers have attributed widespread higher streamflows not only to higher precipitation, but also urban development that sends rainfall running across concrete and asphalt into streams, expanded tile drainage systems under farmland, and the conversion of grassland to cropland, which causes higher runoff. “Taxpayers are subsidizing rich operations to drain wetlands and plant another acre of corn,” Cooper said. “There has got to be a better way to pay these landowners for the ecological benefits their land provides.” The Union of Concerned Scientists not only supports increased funding for conservation programs to protect wetlands, but also tying crop insurance subsidies to environmentally friendly farming practices. By adopting methods such as cover cropping and reduced tillage, farmers can minimize harmful runoff while maintaining productive operations, the union’s report says. FARM BUREAU PERSPECTIVE South Dakota Farm Bureau President Scott VanderWal is a contrary voice, arguing that subsidies aren’t driving increased corn production. He supported the Sackett v. EPA decision. He attributes increased production to advances in genetics, equipment and the changing climate, all of which have allowed farmers to grow corn and other crops in places that previously weren’t considered good areas for those crops. He also said that farmers don’t drain “true wetlands” as defined by federal regulations, since doing so would forfeit federal subsidies. Cooper uses the broader scientific definition of wetlands, which includes ecosystems where water saturates the soil seasonally, supporting aquatic plants and wildlife. “We’ve never agreed with John on that,” VanderWal said. VanderWal is also skeptical that draining wetlands worsens flooding, suggesting drained land can absorb water and saying there are ways to control the outflow. Cooper counters that downstream flooding impacts communities more than farmland — which is insured by federally subsidized programs. There have been signs of worsening floods in South Dakota, including in June when a record crest on the Big Sioux River overwhelmed flood-control measures and devastated the community of McCook Lake. “We need to let these watersheds serve their purpose, as they have for thousands of years,” Cooper said. “When someone thinks their ‘private property rights’ trump Mother Nature, it sets us all up for trouble. Mother Nature always bats last.” VanderWal said modern agriculture prioritizes conservation more than ever, with farmers adopting practices like reduced tillage or no-till and leaving crop residues on the land to protect the soil. “This is becoming more important all the time,” VanderWal said. “People are learning.” WHY WETLANDS MATTER Wetlands absorb and store excess water during heavy rains and snowmelt. That slows water flow into rivers, reducing the risk of downstream flooding, explained Stacy Woods, of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Another way wetlands help mitigate flooding is by slowing climate change, which has already brought more extreme weather to South Dakota. South Dakota has seen two billion-dollar floods in the last two decades. Just this year, the June storms that brought flooding to McCook Lake dumped 10 to 20 inches of rain on some southeast South Dakota communities. During those storms, Mitchell and Sioux Falls recorded their wettest two-day periods since the National Weather Service began record-keeping. “Healthy wetlands can capture and store carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere where it would otherwise trap heat and contribute to a warming planet,” Woods said. “But when wetlands are damaged or destroyed, they can release this stored carbon as methane, carbon dioxide, or other heat-trapping gasses that accelerate climate change.” Saturated wetland soils slow plant decomposition, and the dense plant material becomes carbon-rich peat. Wetlands cover about 3% of the planet’s land yet store approximately 30% of all land-based carbon. That’s according to documentation from the 50th anniversary of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an international treaty the U.S. joined is 1986 focused on the conservation of wetlands worldwide. The loss of wetlands is particularly concerning for waterfowl populations, especially in the Prairie Pothole Region, often referred to as North America’s “duck factory.” This region, which spans much of northeastern South Dakota, is one of the most important breeding grounds for ducks. The small, shallow, seasonal wetlands are critical nesting habitats teaming with the bugs ducklings consume. Yet, these same wetlands are among the most vulnerable to drainage for agricultural purposes. And pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers can kill wetland bugs. That’s why hunters including Cooper are concerned about wetlands, but he wants to spread the concern wider. “You don’t have to be a duck hunter to care about this,” Cooper said. “When we lose these places, we lose a lot more than hunting opportunities, no doubt about it.” COOPER’S MESSAGE Cooper is not optimistic about wetland conservation, citing the dominance of production agriculture and the imbalance between federal programs incentivizing production over conservation. “Until the feds make conservation as competitive as production, I don’t see it changing,” Cooper said. “We need incentives that reward preserving wetlands and grasslands or enforce their protection.” He urges policymakers to recognize wetlands and grasslands as vital climate solutions. He advocates more federal support to encourage less tilling of the soil, more cover crops left on farmland year-round, and incentivizing wetland preservation over the conversion of wet areas to cropland. Cooper and his wife, Vera, are committed conservationists, supporting groups including Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever, which work to conserve wildlife habitats. For him, hunting ties directly to conservation, providing state funding for habitat conservation and improvement through license fees and taxes. “Hunting isn’t just about pursuing wild game. It’s about protecting the ecosystems that sustain them,” Cooper said. At 80, Cooper acknowledges the toll of his efforts but remains steadfast. “Vera says it’s time to kick my feet up, but she knows I can’t,” he said. “Because the wild places are worth fighting for.” South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com . Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X.lucky tagalog 。

On the first day of the new legislative session, Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, D-Anaheim, introduced Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1 (ACA 1). The proposal would double the amount of state funds that could be placed in the Budget Stabilization Account (BSA) from 10% to 20% of the annual budget. The ostensible reason for the increase is to address the very real problem of revenue volatility. Because California is overly reliant on high income earners who generate massive amounts of capital gains and stock option funds in boom years, it is vulnerable to big drop-offs in revenue during the bust years. Indeed, revenue volatility has been such a large problem that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger created the California Commission for the 21st Century Economy to come up with solutions. Regrettably, while there was a broad consensus that something should be done about the boom and bust cycle, the commissioners could not agree on what to do about it. The goal of placing more funds in reserve because of volatility makes sense, if it can be accomplished without violating the letter and the spirit of Gann spending limit. Unfortunately, ACA 1, in its current form does just that. Here’s how. Just a year after Proposition 13’s passage in 1978, California voters approved the Gann spending limit which, like Prop. 13, sought to restrain the size and growth of government. But unlike Proposition 13, which was a direct limit on taxation, Gann attempted to limit government spending. It limited the growth of state and local government expenditures to a base-year level adjusted annually to reflect increases in population and inflation. Initially, the Gann limit performed as designed and resulted in a modest rebate to taxpayers in 1987. But subsequent measures backed by special interests weakened the Gann limit by creating exceptions for education and transportation spending as well as substituting a far more generous inflation factor. Ironically, after these changes, most public finance observers – including yours truly – wrongfully assumed that California would never again bump up against the limit. But a big surplus in fiscal year 2022-23 put the state on the brink of reaching that limit. While that collision was briefly avoided due to COVID-19, California once again is confronted with a Gann issue that can no longer be ignored. For taxpayers, the best outcome would be to let the Gann limit run its course and return money to taxpayers “by a revision of tax rates or fee schedules within the next two subsequent fiscal years.” Cal.Const., Art. XIIIB, Section 2(a)(2). This is consistent with the plain language of Gann and is more than warranted given California’s heavy tax burden. Related Articles Opinion Columnists | End the IRS’s worldwide tax grab Opinion Columnists | Mass deportations are bad for everyone’s liberties Opinion Columnists | The draconian penalties that Hunter Biden escaped affect people whose fathers can’t save them Opinion Columnists | California politicians suddenly discover inflation in aftermath of election Opinion Columnists | How California ranks as the most active political state But ACA 1 might prevent taxpayer refunds due to the change in treatment of transfers into the budget stabilization account. Under Gann, the state and local governments may create reserve accounts, like the BSA, but those transfers are subject to Gann’s spending limits. On the other hand, spending out of a reserve account is not so limited. As currently drafted, it appears that ACA 1 would exempt transfers out of the reserve account – currently permissible under Gann – but would also exempt appropriations into the BSA: Section (i) provides, “Transfers to the Budget Stabilization Account pursuant to this section do not constitute appropriations subject to limitation as defined in Article XIII B.” This appears to create a fund into which unlimited funds can be appropriated, guaranteeing that taxpayers will never get a refund of their tax dollars. There are better ways to address revenue volatility without injury to the goal of the Gann Spending Limit, which was enacted to provide a modicum of spending restraint in a state that doesn’t have any. California taxpayers need something more than a rainy day fund that’s all slush. Jon Coupal is president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it has donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration fund. The donation comes just weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump privately at Mar-a-Lago. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the offering Thursday. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Stephen Miller, who has been appointed deputy chief of staff for Trump's second term, has said that Zuckerberg, like other business leaders, wants to support Trump's economic plans. The tech CEO has been seeking to change his company's perception on the right following a rocky relationship with Trump. Trump was kicked off Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The company restored his account in early 2023. RELATED STORY | Meta's Mark Zuckerberg is the second richest person in the world. Here's who he just outranked During the 2024 campaign, Zuckerberg did not endorse a candidate for president but has voiced a more positive stance toward Trump. Earlier this year, he praised Trump's response to his first assassination attempt. Still, Trump had continued to attack Zuckerberg publicly during the campaign. In July, he posted a message on his own social network Truth Social threatening to send election fraudsters to prison in part by citing a nickname he used for the Meta CEO. "ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!" Trump wrote. Corporations have traditionally made up a large share of donors to presidential inaugurals, with an exception in 2009, when then-President-elect Barack Obama refused to accept corporate donations. He reversed course for his second inaugural in 2013. Facebook did not donate to either Biden's 2021 inaugural or Trump's 2017 inaugural. Google donated $285,000 each to Trump first inaugural and Biden's inaugural, according to Federal Election Commission records. Inaugural committees are required to disclose the source of their fundraising, but not how they spend the money. Microsoft gave $1 million to Obama's second inaugural, but only $500,000 to Trump in 2017 and Biden in 2021. RELATED STORY | Celebrity private jet-tracking accounts suspended by Meta without reason, college student claims

Biden considering preemptive pardons for officials allies before Trump takes officeNew Paper Calls for More Diversity and Inclusivity in Neuroscientific Research

AWH Partners Promotes Dev Sharma as Director of AnalyticsAustralian star Steve Smith has admitted he reflected on critics questioning whether his eyes and reflexes were fading by stepping forward and moving closer to the bowler. He believed batting out of his crease takes the game to the bowler but also makes it harder for him to be trapped lbw. “You’ve got to have faith, I was hitting the ball really nicely and people were saying “Is he too old? Are his eyes going?” So I thought I would go out of my crease and make my impact point closer to the bowler, so it all comes a bit quicker,” Smith told Fox Sports this morning. “I think my eyes are still there which is nice. For me, it is about keeping the faith and knowing that I’m hitting the ball well. There is a difference between being out of form and out of runs - I was just out of runs and I’ve played long enough to know that things can turn around quickly.” There could be a hint of rain later today but, otherwise, looks to be a brilliant day for cricket. Ricky Ponting has had this to say on Seven about Virat Kohli turning back to address hecklers after his dismissal at the MCG on day two. Click here to read more about Kohli’s struggles. Virat Kohli came close to an angry confrontation with the crowd after he was involved in a calamitous run out in which veteran spinner Nathan Lyon later pinned him as the guilty party. Kohli was almost out of sight from the crowd in the players’ race after his dismissal before he returned to glare at hecklers. An ICC official then placed a consolatory arm around his shoulder and shepherded him down the race. It is not clear from the video of the incident that surfaced on social media on Friday night what sparked Kohli’s backturn, and though boos were clearly audible, no racial or personal abuse could be heard. Cricket Australia and the Melbourne Cricket Club had not received a complaint from the Board of Control for Cricket in India at the time of publication. The BCCI have been contacted for comment. Click here to read the story. G’day everyone. I’m Roy Ward and welcome to our Boxing Day Test live blog. We are at day three of this match and it really feels like both this match and this series are both on the line today as Australia tries to bowl out India and the tourists aim for a mid-innings recovery after falling to 5-164 at stumps yesterday. India trails by 310 runs and have the dangerous Rishbah Pant and Ravindra Jadeja at the crease, both are capable of posting big scores. Scott Boland, Pat Cummins and the rest of the Australian attack will aim to break this partnership up early and then power through the tail. Play begins at 10.30am AEDT. Enjoy the hours to come.Syria’s prime minister said that most cabinet ministers were back at work on Monday after rebels overthrew President Bashar Assad. However, some state workers failed to return to their jobs and a United Nations official said the country’s public sector had come “to a complete and abrupt halt”. Meanwhile, streams of refugees crossed back into Syria from neighbouring countries, hoping for a more peaceful future and looking for relatives who disappeared during Mr Assad’s brutal rule. There were already signs of the difficulties ahead for the rebel alliance now in control of much of the country. The alliance is led by a former senior al-Qaida militant, who severed ties with the extremist group years ago and has promised representative government and religious tolerance. The rebel command said they would not tell women how to dress. “It is strictly forbidden to interfere with women’s dress or impose any request related to their clothing or appearance, including requests for modesty,” the command said in a statement on social media. Nearly two days after rebels entered the capital, some key government services had shut down after state workers ignored calls to go back to their jobs, the UN official said, causing issues at airports and borders and slowing the flow of humanitarian aid. Rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, also met with Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali for the first time. Mr Jalali stayed in Syria when Mr Assad fled and has sought to project normalcy since. “We are working so that the transitional period is quick and smooth,” he told Sky News Arabia TV on Monday, saying the security situation had already improved from the day before. At the court of Justice in Damascus, which was stormed by the rebels to free detainees, Judge Khitam Haddad, an aide to the justice minister in the outgoing government, said that judges were ready to resume work quickly. “We want to give everyone their rights,” Mr Haddad said outside the courthouse. “We want to build a new Syria and to keep the work, but with new methods.” But a UN official said some government services had been paralysed as worried state employees stayed at home. The public sector “has just come to a complete and abrupt halt,” said Adam Abdelmoula, UN resident and humanitarian co-ordinator for Syria, noting, for example, that an aid flight carrying urgently needed medical supplies had been put on hold after aviation employees abandoned their jobs. “This is a country that has had one government for 53 years and then suddenly all of those who have been demonised by the public media are now in charge in the nation’s capital,” Mr Abdelmoula told The Associated Press. “I think it will take a couple of days and a lot of assurance on the part of the armed groups for these people to return to work again.” In a video shared on a rebel messaging channel, Mr al-Sharaa said: “You will see there are skills” among the rebels. The Kremlin said Russia has granted political asylum to Mr Assad, a decision made by President Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Mr Assad’s specific whereabouts and said Mr Putin did not plan to meet with him. Damascus was quiet Monday, with life slowly returning to normal, though most shops and public institutions were closed. In public squares, some people were still celebrating. Civilian traffic resumed, but there was no public transport. Long lines formed in front of bakeries and other food stores. There was little sign of any security presence though in some areas, small groups of armed men were stationed in the streets.

By Nic Maclellan A no-confidence motion in the French National Assembly has ousted the government led by Prime Minister Michel Barnier. But for New Caledonians, still reeling from the economic, cultural and social impacts of six months of conflict this year, the collapse of the Barnier government raises concern about future support from Paris. A long-serving conservative politician and former diplomat, Barnier was appointed as a Prime Minister in September by French President Emmanuel Macron, following the defeat of the presidential majority in July’s snap elections for the National Assembly. From months, Macron had delayed appointing a prime minister, given his Ensemble alliance lacked the numbers to maintain a governing majority in the French legislature. Refusing to appoint a candidate from the Left-wing political alliance Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) – even though it was the largest parliamentary group – Macron finally chose Barnier to lead the government, even though he was a member of the conservative Rassemblement party, which came fourth in the elections! At the time, Barnier’s appointment was welcomed by New Caledonian anti-independence parties, given his past support for the Pacific dependency to remain within the French Republic. Over the last few months, however, business leaders and politicians across the political spectrum in Noumea have been increasingly worried by the drift in French leadership. Since July, political and community leaders in Noumea have sought support from Paris for post-conflict reconstruction, after riots erupted on 13 May, followed by five months of clashes between Kanak activists and more than 6,000 French gendarmes, riot squads and anti-terrorist police, backed by armoured cars and military assistance. Initially, responding to the crisis was high on the Barnier government’s agenda. It formally abandoned Macron’s failed policy on electoral reform for New Caledonia’s local legislature (a constitutional amendment that triggered the riots in mid-May). Barnier deployed a series of diplomatic missions to Noumea, including Overseas Minister François-Noël Buffet, the president of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet and Senate president Gérard Larcher. His government adopted a more conciliatory tone towards the independence movement, seeking to re-start stalled negotiations on New Caledonia’s future political status. For the Government of New Caledonia, however, a central priority was to negotiate new funding in the French government’s 2025 budget to support economic reconstruction. The months of conflict had damaged local businesses, the tourism sector and the crucial nickel industry, one in six workers in the private sector have lost their jobs and many others survive on reduced hours. Under President Louis Mapou, New Caledonia’s government adopted a plan to stabilise the economy, transform the tax base, and support workers and employers battered by months of shutdown and conflict – but needed support from Paris to finance the transition over the next three years. Since Barnier took office, New Caledonian business and political leaders have travelled to Paris to lobby French politicians for extra funding in the 2025 national budget. President Mapou also flew to Paris in November, meeting with President Macron at the Elysee Palace to call for urgent action. However, after weeks of negotiations, Barnier couldn’t finalise a national budget for 2025. In office for only three months, Barnier’s government lacked the numbers to easily pass legislation. Trapped between the largest bloc in the National Assembly, the Left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire and the extreme right Rassemblement national, Barnier lacked the political authority to bang heads together. His decision to ram through changes to Social Security funding without a vote in the National Assembly was the final straw. On 4 December, a no confidence motion proposed by the NFP was backed by Rassemblement national, and 331 of 577 deputies in the National Assembly voted to bring down the government. Unlike most parliamentarians from France’s overseas colonies in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean, New Caledonia’s two deputies in the National Assembly did not vote in favour of the no-confidence motion. Loyalist politician Nicolas Metzdorf is a member of Macron’s presidential bloc and voted against the resolution. Speaking in Paris after the vote, Metzdorf said “we need to have a functioning government to discuss the future of New Caledonia, and we need to have economic and financial stability and support from the French State.” The other New Caledonian member of the French legislature is Emmanuel Tjibaou, newly elected as president of the largest pro-independence party Union Calédonienne (UC). Winning his seat in Paris last July, Tjibaou is the first pro-independence Kanak leader to serve in the National Assembly for 38 years. However, on Wednesday he was absent during the no-confidence vote, one of the few members of the Left who declined to vote for Barnier’s ousting. As UC president, Tjibaou continues to call for a pathway to sovereign independence. However, like his conservative colleague Metzdorf, Tjibaou has been working to gain extra economic assistance for New Caledonia, in preparation for planned discussions on a new political statute in 2025 (as he recently said “you can’t negotiate on an empty stomach”). In recent weeks, the New Caledonian parliamentarians have been successful in gaining pledges of extra support from Paris. The Barnier government committed financial assistance until the end of 2024 and included important provisions just for New Caledonia in the draft budget for 2025. Just before the no-confidence motion, the National Assembly passed a bill to continue funding for the 2024 financial year, including important commitments made by France’s Overseas Minister during his October visit to Noumea (additional loan guarantees; funding to rebuild schools, town halls and other public buildings damaged by arson or rioting over the last six months; financial subsidies to employers to retain workers who have lost full-time jobs). However, this month’s parliamentary no-confidence motion – the first in more than 60 years – blows the draft 2025 budget out of the water. Barnier has now formally resigned, with the dubious distinction that his 90-day tenure was the shortest period as prime minister since the French Fifth Republic was created in 1958. Funding for New Caledonia Before the vote on 4 December, Overseas Minister François-Noël Buffet acknowledged that the government had failed to lock in its pledges to New Caledonia. “We are in an extremely difficult situation,” he said. “The government had made commitments at the time of my visit to New Caledonia [last October] and they had to be translated into concrete terms in the budget.” In a statement, Buffet outlined the provisions that would lapse if the government lost office. The draft financial program for next year included: a loan guarantee of 1 billion euros to underwrite budgetary initiatives by the Government of New Caledonia; plans for tax incentives to encourage post-conflict investment in the islands; and legislation and funding to conduct a census next year (New Caledonia’s five-yearly census was last held in 2019 and was due this year, but could not proceed during the months of turmoil since May). Last month, the French Parliament deferred local elections in New Caledonia until November 2025, leaving the Mapou government in office until New Caledonian citizens can again vote for their three provincial assemblies and national Congress. The year-long delay is designed to give time for supporters and opponents of independence to negotiate a new political statute to replace the 1998 Noumea Accord. Now, the collapse of the French government and ongoing political uncertainty in Paris may delay the timing of crucial negotiations on New Caledonia’s future. For Loyalist leader Nicolas Metzdorf, the no-confidence motion “plunges France into a major political crisis at a time when New Caledonia needs stability more than ever. This vote, with serious consequences, comes while significant progress had been obtained within the framework of the finance bill for 2025.” On 11 December, the Congress of New Caledonia must now vote on legislation that would validate the loans and grants committed for 2024 worth 27 billion Pacific francs (AUD$350 million). Beyond this, prospects for next year are still uncertain. Macron’s folly On the night after the collapse of the Barnier government, French President Emmanuel Macron made a televised speech to the nation, pledging to appoint a new prime minister quickly. However, he showed no humility or acknowledgement of his own responsibility for the current crisis. Instead he thrust responsibility back to the parliament, suggesting they must finalise a new budget before Christmas: “It is necessary to have this budget at the very beginning of next year to allow the country to invest, as has been planned, in our armed forces, our court system, our law enforcement, but also to help our farmers in difficulty who were waiting for the budget, or to support New Caledonia.” Macron still has two years in office until the next presidential elections in 2027, but his capacity to drive politics and policy is diminished. Even as he struts the world stage as a statesman, he is on the nose with most French voters – one opinion poll taken after the no-confidence motion reported that 63% of French citizens want him to resign. The New Popular Front has called for Macron’s resignation, but – returning to Paris from a diplomatic visit to Saudi Arabia – Macron was defiant: “If I am here before you, it is because I was elected twice by the French people. I am extremely proud of this, and I will honour this trust with all the energy that is mine, until the last second, I can be useful to the country.” His political future remains uncertain however, given that many of the key players in the National Assembly also intend to run for the presidency in 2027, including Marine Le Pen of Rassemblement national (National Rally), Jean-Luc Mélenchon of La France Insoumise (France unbowed) and even Macron allies like Edouard Philippe, a former Prime Minister dumped in the 2021, or outgoing Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu. Widely seen as arrogant or out of touch, the French President has been criticised by his own supporters for last June’s decision to call snap elections, which left his parliamentary group without the numbers to pass legislation. After the collapse of the Barnier government, an editorial in Le Monde noted that “Macron is still paying for, and making the country pay for, his disastrous dissolution of the National Assembly in June, which resulted in no governing majority, three political blocs unable to agree, and the feeling amongst many voters that they had been democratically cheated during the interminable appointment of Prime Minister Barnier.” The leading newspaper argued “there is now a real risk that the political crisis will degenerate into an institutional crisis, given the high level of mistrust not only of the President but also of parliamentarians.” Macron’s misjudgement on domestic French politics echoes a series of policy blunders in recent years that have affected people in New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna and French Polynesia, even as the small island states try to deal with post-Covid debt, cost-of-living pressure, the climate emergency and growing US-China strategic competition. At the Pacific Islands Forum in Nuku’alofa last August, President of French Polynesia Moetai Brotherson told Islands Business that misjudged decisions taken by President Macron since 2021 had contributed to mid-May’s explosion of conflict in New Caledonia. “Unfortunately, all the events since 13 May were easy to foresee,” Brotherson said. “I’ve been telling France for three years now about the stepping stones that led to those events.” “First of all, the decision by the French State to maintain the third referendum on self-determination in December 2021, that was the first mistake. Then the nomination of [Loyalist leader] Madame Backès as Secretary of State for Citizenship – that was a huge mistake, because it was the first time that the French State was clearly no longer respecting the neutral position that was their position since the [1998 Noumea] Accord.” Brotherson noted that President Macron’s attempt to ram through electoral reforms for New Caledonia – without a local consensus – added to this breakdown of trust between independence supporters and the French State: “The third and major mistake was this push around modification of the voting constituency in New Caledonia, and that was a major mistake, especially in the light of dissolving the French National Assembly right after creating all this havoc!” So, what comes next? Michel Barnier will remain as caretaker leader until President Macron can appoint a successor (who will become the fifth prime minister the French leader has churned through since his re-election in 2022). Macron may now seek to split the Left’s New Popular Front, offering the prime minister’s job to a politician from the Socialist Party or Greens, while isolating Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise. However, whoever takes up this poisoned chalice will not have a governing majority in the parliament, Macron cannot call new parliamentary elections until July 2025 (after calling snap elections last June, the law requires him to wait a year before he can dissolve the legislature again). When Barnier first took office three months ago, a Le Monde editorial on New Caledonia said that “France has a duty there to achieve what it has so often failed to do in the past: decolonisation.” That remains the challenge for France’s next Prime Minister. Many independence supporters will be reaffirmed in their belief that it’s time to move on from the French colonial empire, as an independent nation.... PACNEWS/ISLANDS BUSINESS

Trump gave Interior nominee one directive for a half-billion acres of US land: ‘Drill.’A newly elected Democrat in the Minnesota House of Representatives resigned Friday following a recent court decision that found him ineligible to serve because he failed to meet the state’s residency requirement. As a result, a special election will be held Jan. 28 to fill Curtis Johnson’s House seat representing parts of Ramsey County. Last week, Ramsey County District Court Judge Leonardo Castro ruled in favor of Paul Wikstrom, the Republican challenger who contested Johnson’s decisive election victory. Wikstrom alleged that Johnson didn’t live in the Rice Street apartment he had rented in early 2024 to establish residency in the Roseville-area House district, and the judge agreed. In a resignation letter Friday to Gov. Tim Walz posted on social media, Johnson said he disagrees with the court’s decision, but he didn’t see a “viable pathway” to regain his seat in the legislature by appealing to the Minnesota Supreme Court. “Rather than dragging this out further I decided to resign now so a special election can be held as soon as possible,” Johnson wrote. The news means partisan power at the Capitol will shift to Republicans, at least for the time being. Prior to the court’s ruling, the Minnesota House was expected to be tied with 67 DFLers and 67 Republicans for the first time since 1979 . In a statement Friday, DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman said a prompt special election means voters in Johnson’s east-metro suburban district will be represented for the bulk of the legislative session. “We expect the district will again vote to elect a Democrat by overwhelming margins,” Hortman said. “This session provides a historic opportunity for the Minnesota House to govern on a bipartisan basis,” Hortman added. “House Democrats are ready to get to work with our Republican colleagues. There is no time to waste on partisanship as we head into session. Neither party has enough votes to pass a bill on its own, so we will need to work together.” Republican Speaker-designate Lisa Demuth said in a statement she was pleased Johnson “accepted the court’s clear decision.” “This confirms that Republicans will have an organizational majority on Day One,” Demuth added. Democrats and Republicans have been negotiating power-sharing agreements in recent weeks and have agreed on House committee membership but those discussions had been paused because of the Johnson court case and another pending in Scott County. Walz on Friday issued a writ of special election to fill Johnson’s vacancy in House District 40B. A special primary election for the nomination of candidates will be Jan. 14, if necessary. Affidavits of candidacy and nominating petitions for potential candidates must be filed with the Secretary of State or the Ramsey County auditor by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31.

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TRAGIC Sara Sharif excitedly told her grandad about a planned trip with her siblings just hours before she was killed. The ten-year -old also told him she was looking forward to visiting him in Pakistan so they could explore his village. 3 Sara Sharif excitedly told her grandad about a planned trip with her siblings just hours before she was killed Credit: Simon Jones - Commissioned by The Sun 3 Urfan Sharif and partner Beinash Batool were convicted of Sara's murder Credit: PA Grandad Muhammad, speaking before his son Urfan , who is Sara’s father, her stepmum Beinash Batool and her uncle Faisal Malik were convicted, said he chatted with her on a video call on the day she died. He told The Sun: “She was having dinner on the dining table. "I can’t believe she was brutally beaten. “She talked about going for a trip with her siblings in coming days and she said she will visit Pakistan and meet me and want to explore the village again.” read more on uk news SARA FAILED From burn marks to teachers spotting bruises - 15 missed chances to save Sharif On Wednesday, father-of-seven Muhammad, 68, collapsed and had to be taken to hospital when the three were found guilty . Urfan, 43, and partner Batool, 30, were convicted of murder and Urfan’s brother Malik, 29, of allowing her death. Sara had suffered years of abuse before being beaten to death at her home in Woking, Surrey, last year. Urfan, who divorced Sara’s mum Olga Domin in 2017, Batool and Malik then fled to Pakistan, turning up at the family home in Jhelum. Most read in The Sun FAIR CARNAGE Horror as Birmingham fairground ride 'collapses' with several people injured STAYING POSITIVE Max George to undergo major heart surgery after terrifying health scare ALL CHANGE Another Rangers executive quits club just a week after key role at club's AGM NEWBORN JOY Huge Scots DJ becomes dad as he reveals baby boy in emotional social media post Ex-army officer Muhammad told The Sun: “ The death of Sara was the saddest moment of my life. “When Urfan suddenly reached our family home and told me Sara is no more, I did not believe his words. Moment armed police storm plane at Gatwick to arrest Sara Sharif's dad & stepmum - as pair found GUILTY of murder "I was expecting Sara to come with them and give us a surprise. "I yelled and cried loudly and shouted at them. "It was a heartbreaking moment for me. “I was not aware of the level of torture and abuse but the stepmum Batool’s behaviour was not good.” She talked about going for a trip with her siblings in coming days and she said she will visit Pakistan and meet me and want to explore the village again Grandad Muhammad Meanwhile, another of his sons, Urfan’ s brother, Imran, is standing by the killer, insisting that he is innocent. He said: “He would never harm his own daughter. “We plan to consult our legal team and push our brother Urfan to appeal this verdict. "This decision has deeply affected us and left our family in deep sorrow. Read more on the Scottish Sun WARMING UP Scots set for 21C swing as temperature rise to bring an end to sub zero freeze HOT BUY Shoppers race to Primark for fleecy £14 hoodie will keep you cosy on frosty days “We are determined to fight this unjust verdict with our legal team and seek justice. "This ruling has shattered our family, leaving us devastated and deeply anguished.” 3 Sara’s mum Olga Domin Credit: Simon Jones - Commissioned by The Sun

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CARSON, Calif. — The LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls have been Major League Soccer mainstays since the league's inaugural season in 1996, signing glamorous players and regularly competing for championships through years of success and setbacks in a league that's perpetually improving and expanding. Yet just a year ago, both of these clubs appeared to be a very long way from the stage they'll share Saturday in the MLS Cup Final. The Galaxy were one of MLS' worst teams after a season of internal turmoil and public fan dissent, while the Red Bulls were merely a steady mediocrity seeking yet another coach to chart a new direction. A year later, these MLS founders are meeting in the league's first Cup final between teams from North America's two biggest markets. "Two original clubs being able to put themselves in this situation, I think it's great," Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. "To see two clubs that have been at it as long as this league has been around be here, I think it's a special moment. Couldn't be two more different and contrasting styles as well, which could make for an interesting game, and I would imagine a high-intensity game." Everything changed in 2024 after a dismal decade for the Galaxy, who are favored to cap their transformation by winning their team's record sixth MLS championship with a roster that's dramatically different from its past few groups — albeit with one massive injury absence in the final. The transformation of the Red Bulls happened only in the postseason, when a team that hadn't won a playoff game since 2017 suddenly turned into world-beaters under rookie coach Sandro Schwarz. New York struggled through the final three months of league play with only two wins before posting road playoff victories over defending champ Columbus, archrival New York City FC and conference finalist Orlando to storm into the Cup final. "We know about the history (of our club), and we know tomorrow will define what that could mean," Schwarz said Friday. "To feel the pressure for tomorrow, it's necessary, because it's a final, and without pressure it's not possible to bring the best quality on the field." The Red Bulls have never won an MLS Cup, only reaching the championship match once before. What's more, they've somehow never won a Cup in any tournament, although they've collected three Supporters' Shields for MLS' best regular-season record. The Galaxy's trophy case is large and loaded, and those five MLS Cups are on the top shelf. But not much of that team success happened in the past decade for the club that famously brought David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and many other international stars to Hollywood. In fact, this season has ended a grim era for the Galaxy, who haven't lost all year at their frequently renamed home stadium — which was the site of protests and boycotts just a year ago. The club's fans were tired of LA's steady underachievement and ineptitude in the front office run by team president Chris Klein, who was fired in May 2023. One year ago Thursday, the Galaxy hired Will Kuntz, a longtime Los Angeles FC executive who engineered his new club's roster transformation, most dramatically by landing new designated players Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil — two international talents that LAFC also had in its sights. "I give Will and the group up there a ton of credit," Vanney said. "It's one thing to have players you like, and it's a whole other thing to get them here and get them to connect with your group." Pec and Paintsil combined for 32 goals and 27 assists while boosting the incumbent talents of striker Dejan Joveljic and Riqui Puig, the gifted Barcelona product who runs the offense from the midfield. The Galaxy clicked in the postseason, scoring a jaw-dropping 16 goals in four matches. Puig has been the Galaxy's most important player all season, but he won't be in the MLS Cup Final after tearing a knee ligament late in last week's conference final victory over Seattle. The loss of Puig — who somehow kept playing on his injured knee, and even delivered the game-winning pass to Joveljic — makes the Galaxy even more difficult to anticipate. "He played a lot in the regular season, so it was not so easy to analyze all these games now without him," Schwarz said. "But the main focus is to analyze what we need to do, because it's not clear now how they're playing without him." The Galaxy could give some of Puig's responsibilities to Marco Reus, the longtime Dortmund standout who joined LA in August. Reus is nursing a hamstring injury, but Vanney expects him to play. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Unveiling Android’s Upgrade: Better Accessibility & Smarter Gemini AI

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FDA Accepts Ascendis Pharma’s Supplemental Biologics License Application for TransConTM hGH for ...I used Amazon noise cancelling headphones on a long haul flight and slept the whole way'