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Is he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys
Radford wins 63-48 against Chicago State
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the Veterans Expedited TSA Screening (VETS) Safe Travel Act Thursday after the legislation previously cleared the House without opposition — sending the measure to Democratic President Joe Biden for his signature. U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. — co-sponsors of the plan — said following the vote they're grateful both chambers of Congress got behind the proposal, which they've been working to advance to final passage since 2019. "Airports can be a dreaded experience for veterans with service-connected disabilities because of the invasive screenings they may endure at security checkpoints. Once it becomes law, this bill will provide dignified travel to thousands of wounded warriors by ensuring PreCheck benefits are easily available to them," said Young, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1995 and served six years in the Marines. The VETS Safe Travel Act will permit the estimated 70,000 amputee veterans, 100,000 paralyzed veterans and 130,000 blind veterans to enroll for free in the Transportation Security Administration's PreCheck program. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts PreCheck passengers typically are not required to remove their shoes, laptop computers, liquids, belts or light jackets at airport security checkpoints, and generally can bypass security lines at most airports. Enrollment requires a background check, fingerprinting and an $85 fee for a five-year membership. It's already offered free to active duty military, reserve and National Guard members. Duckworth, who lost both of her legs in 2004 when Iraqi insurgents shot down the U.S. Army helicopter she was co-piloting, said the legislation will benefit many veterans with service-connected disabilities. "Millions of veterans have sacrificed a great deal in service to our nation and returned home with service-connected disabilities. For those of us who rely on prosthetics and wheelchairs for mobility, air travel and passing through airport security can be a challenge," Duckworth said. "I'm proud the Senate passed our bipartisan bill to make TSA PreCheck available at no cost to these veterans and make flying and passing through airports easier and less intrusive. I hope President Biden swiftly signs it into law."
Thanksgiving is about spending time with family, eating yourself into a food coma, and football. The NFL reigns supreme on the November holiday. The league has dominated televisions all over the country for years, providing entertainment for fans while they gorge themselves with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and more. The Lions and Cowboys are two teams that always can be expected to be featured on the holiday, as the two NFC members have extensive histories on Thanksgiving. However, do either of those teams own the most wins on Thanksgiving? Here is the full list of records for every NFL team to play on Thanksgiving. NFL HQ: Live NFL scores | Updated NFL standings | Full NFL schedule Who has the most wins on Thanksgiving? The Lions own the record for the most wins on Thanksgiving. Entering Thanksgiving Day in 2024, Detroit has emerged victorious 37 times on the holiday. Despite holding the record for most wins on Thanksgiving, it's been a bit since Lions fans have viewed a victory on the holiday. Detroit is currently riding a seven-game losing streak on Turkey Day, with the franchise's last win coming in 2016. The Cowboys, unsurprisingly, are No. 2, with 33 wins. Here's a look at the teams with the most Thanksgiving wins. Team Thanksgiving wins Detroit Lions 37 Dallas Cowboys 33 Chicago Bears 20 Green Bay Packers 15 Minnesota Vikings 7 New York Giants 7 Arizona Cardinals 6 Buffalo Bills 6 Philadelphia Eagles 6 MORE: How John Madden started NFL's Turkey Leg tradition Who has the most losses on Thanksgiving? Not only do the Lions have the most Thanksgiving wins, but they also own the unfortunate record of the most losses as well. That's what happens when you frequent the holiday slate as often as Detroit has. The Lions enter the 2024 season with 45 losses on Thanksgiving. As mentioned, the franchise is currently on a seven-game losing streak on the holiday. The Cowboys have the second-most with 22, followed by the Packers with 20. Here's a look at the teams with the most Thanksgiving losses. Team Thanksgiving losses Detroit Lions 45 Dallas Cowboys 22 Green Bay Packers 20 Chicago Bears 15 Arizona Cardinals 15 Washington Commanders 9 Denver Broncos 7 New York Giants 6 Pittsburgh Steelers 6 Kansas City Chefs 5 MORE: What teams always play on Thanksgiving? Who has played in the most Thanksgiving games? If the Lions have the most wins on Thanksgiving, as well as the most losses on Thanksgiving, that means they surely have to have the most appearances on the holiday? You would be correct. No other franchise has played in more Thanksgiving matchups than Detroit, with a total of 84 games played. When the team plays in 2024, it will be the 85th time. The next-closest is Dallas, with soon-to-be 57 appearances when it takes the field in 2024. Only five organizations have played in at least 20 Thanksgiving games, and only 10 have been featured on the holiday at least 10 times. Here are the number of appearances for all NFL teams on Thanksgiving, including the games in 2024. Team Thanksgiving games Detroit Lions 85 Dallas Cowboys 57 Chicago Bears 38 Green Bay Packers 38 Arizona Cardinals 23 New York Giants 16 Washington Commanders 13 Denver Broncos 11 Buffalo Bills 11 Kansas City Chiefs 10 Minnesota Vikings 9 Pittsburgh Steelers 8 Las Vegas Raiders 8 New York Jets 8 Miami Dolphins 8 Philadelphia Eagles 7 Tennessee Titans 7 San Francisco 49ers 7 New England Patriots 6 Cleveland Browns 6 Los Angeles Chargers 5 Los Angeles Rams 5 Seattle Seahawks 5 Indianapolis Colts 4 New Orleans Saints 4 Atlanta Falcons 4 Baltimore Ravens 3 Houston Texans 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1 Carolina Panthers 1 Cincinnati Bengals 1 Jacksonville Jaguars 0 Who has the best record on Thanksgiving? While the Lions have the most wins on Thanksgiving, they hardly have the best record. There are three teams who are undefeated on Thanksgiving — the Ravens, the Texans and the Panthers. Baltimore won its pair of games in 2011 and 2013, Houston took care of business in its two matchups in 2012 and 2020, and Carolina emerged victorious in its lone Thanksgiving game in 2015. In terms of teams who have played frequently on Thanksgiving, the Eagles and Vikings own impressive marks. Philadelphia is 6-1 in holiday contests in November, while Minnesota is 7-2. There are three franchises who have yet to win on Thanksgiving, excluding the Jaguars who have never played on the holiday. The Bengals and Buccaneers were unsuccessful in their one attempt, while the Browns own a fitting 0-3 record on Thanksgiving. MORE: How John Madden popularized the turducken on NFL broadcasts Team Thanksgiving win% Baltimore Ravens 1.000 Houston Texans 1.000 Carolina Panthers 1.000 Philadelphia Eagles .857 Los Angeles Rams .800 Minnesota Vikings .778 New Orleans Saints .750 Miami Dolphins .714 Tennessee Titans .714 Los Angeles Chargers .700 Indianapolis Colts .625 Dallas Cowboys .598 Buffalo Bills .591 San Francisco 49ers .583 Chicago Bears .568 New York Giants .531 Kansas City Chiefs .500 Las Vegas Raiders .500 New York Jets .500 New England Patriots .500 Detroit Lions .452 Green Bay Packers .432 Seattle Seahawks .400 Denver Broncos .364 Washington Commanders .308 Arizona Cardinals .304 Pittsburgh Steelers .250 Atlanta Falcons .250 Cleveland Browns .000 Cincinnati Bengals .000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers .000 Jacksonville Jaguars N/A What teams have never played on Thanksgiving? There remains just one team that the NFL hasn't yet played on Thanksgiving: the Jaguars. Jacksonville has had an NFL team since 1995 but hasn't yet enjoyed much success. The Jaguars finished with the No. 1 pick in back-to-back drafts in 2021 and 2022, and given that they are in a smaller market, it makes sense that the NFL would look to schedule other teams for these marquee spots. Despite the Jaguars' surprise run to an AFC South title and the divisional round last season, the league didn't put Jacksonville in a Thanksgiving slot this year. With Trevor Lawrence and Doug Pederson restoring credibility to the franchise, however, it's certainly possible the opportunity comes along at some point in the near future.None
The distraught family of a father-of-two has issued a desperate plea for information almost a week after he missed a flight to spend the Christmas period with his children. John Hardy, 37, was reported missing on December 18 when he missed his flight home from Benidorm, Spain , to spend the festive season with his sons, aged 13 and six, in Belfast. He reportedly been holidaying at a friend's home in Alicante and left to meet friends in the nearby holiday hotspot. He hasn't been seen or heard from since and his "worried sick" sister Courtney George is desperate for information. She said the unemployed Belfast man wouldn't usually go 48 hours without speaking to her, but it has now been nine days without a word from him. The pharmacy assistant, who had planned to welcome John for Christmas dinner, said: "All his kids want for Christmas is for him to come home". She has set up a GoFundMe account that has amassed more than £8,900 of donations, with the situation leaving her feeling like "setting her tree on fire and running away from this nightmare". Courtney, from Belfast, said: "I have to have Christmas for my own kids but I would happily set my tree on fire and run away from this nightmare. We've lost a family member recently and he was really upset and thought he needed a holiday. His youngest is very confused and the 13-year-old has seen everything on social media and is very distressed. They love their daddy." "All they want for Christmas is their dad to come home. I haven't eaten in five days and have been physically sick because it's been nine days without contact. My brother would never go two days without speaking to me. He was meant to be coming to my house for Christmas dinner and we had our plans made." "John is missing from Alicante to Benidorm so we need a search party out there to look for him. It's family time so nobody will be looking for our family when they want to spend it with their own. It's very urgent because places close and people go on holiday. We already know that we won't have John for Christmas." Mum-of-two Courtney says she can't believe the amazing support through the GoFundMe, to which people can donate here, from both Belfast and further afield. A spokesperson for the Police Service of Northern Ireland said: "The Police Service of Northern Ireland received a report on Wednesday, 18th December that a 37-year-old man from Belfast, holidaying in Spain, was believed to be missing. Enquiries are ongoing in conjunction with our international policing partners." Join our Belfast Live breaking news service on WhatsApp Click this link or scan the QR code to receive breaking news and top stories from Belfast Live. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice . For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
Darius Tahir | (TNS) KFF Health News President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to run the sprawling government agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act marketplace — celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz — recently held broad investments in health care, tech, and food companies that would pose significant conflicts of interest. Oz’s holdings, some shared with family, included a stake in UnitedHealth Group worth as much as $600,000, as well as shares of pharmaceutical firms and tech companies with business in the health care sector, such as Amazon. Collectively, Oz’s investments total tens of millions of dollars, according to financial disclosures he filed during his failed 2022 run for a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat. Trump said Tuesday he would nominate Oz as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The agency’s scope is huge: CMS oversees coverage for more than 160 million Americans, nearly half the population. Medicare alone accounts for approximately $1 trillion in annual spending, with over 67 million enrollees. UnitedHealth Group is one of the largest health care companies in the nation and arguably the most important business partner of CMS, through which it is the leading provider of commercial health plans available to Medicare beneficiaries. UnitedHealth also offers managed-care plans under Medicaid, the joint state-federal program for low-income people, and sells plans on government-run marketplaces set up via the Affordable Care Act. Oz also had smaller stakes in CVS Health, which now includes the insurer Aetna, and in the insurer Cigna. It’s not clear if Oz, a heart surgeon by training, still holds investments in health care companies, or if he would divest his shares or otherwise seek to mitigate conflicts of interest should he be confirmed by the Senate. Reached by phone on Wednesday, he said he was in a Zoom meeting and declined to comment. An assistant did not reply to an email message with detailed questions. “It’s obvious that over the years he’s cultivated an interest in the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry,” said Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a watchdog group. “That raises a question of whether he can be trusted to act on behalf of the American people.” (The publisher of KFF Health News, David Rousseau, is on the CSPI board .) Oz used his TikTok page on multiple occasions in November to praise Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including their efforts to take on the “illness-industrial complex,” and he slammed “so-called experts like the big medical societies” for dishing out what he called bad nutritional advice. Oz’s positions on health policy have been chameleonic; in 2010, he cut an ad urging Californians to sign up for insurance under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, telling viewers they had a “historic opportunity.” Oz’s 2022 financial disclosures show that the television star invested a substantial part of his wealth in health care and food firms. Were he confirmed to run CMS, his job would involve interacting with giants of the industry that have contributed to his wealth. Given the breadth of his investments, it would be difficult for Oz to recuse himself from matters affecting his assets, if he still holds them. “He could spend his time in a rocking chair” if that happened, Lurie said. In the past, nominees for government positions with similar potential conflicts of interest have chosen to sell the assets or otherwise divest themselves. For instance, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland agreed to divest their holdings in relevant, publicly traded companies when they joined the Biden administration. Trump, however, declined in his first term to relinquish control of his own companies and other assets while in office, and he isn’t expected to do so in his second term. He has not publicly indicated concern about his subordinates’ financial holdings. CMS’ main job is to administer Medicare. About half of new enrollees now choose Medicare Advantage, in which commercial insurers provide their health coverage, instead of the traditional, government-run program, according to an analysis from KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. Proponents of Medicare Advantage say the private plans offer more compelling services than the government and better manage the costs of care. Critics note that Medicare Advantage plans have a long history of costing taxpayers more than the traditional program. UnitedHealth, CVS, and Cigna are all substantial players in the Medicare Advantage market. It’s not always a good relationship with the government. The Department of Justice filed a 2017 complaint against UnitedHealth alleging the company used false information to inflate charges to the government. The case is ongoing. Oz is an enthusiastic proponent of Medicare Advantage. In 2020, he proposed offering Medicare Advantage to all; during his Senate run, he offered a more general pledge to expand those plans. After Trump announced Oz’s nomination for CMS, Jeffrey Singer, a senior fellow at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, said he was “uncertain about Dr. Oz’s familiarity with health care financing and economics.” Singer said Oz’s Medicare Advantage proposal could require large new taxes — perhaps a 20% payroll tax — to implement. Oz has gotten a mixed reception from elsewhere in Washington. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, the Democrat who defeated Oz in 2022, signaled he’d potentially support his appointment to CMS. “If Dr. Oz is about protecting and preserving Medicare and Medicaid, I’m voting for the dude,” he said on the social platform X. Oz’s investments in companies doing business with the federal government don’t end with big insurers. He and his family also hold hospital stocks, according to his 2022 disclosure, as well as a stake in Amazon worth as much as nearly $2.4 million. (Candidates for federal office are required to disclose a broad range of values for their holdings, not a specific figure.) Amazon operates an internet pharmacy, and the company announced in June that its subscription service is available to Medicare enrollees. It also owns a primary care service , One Medical, that accepts Medicare and “select” Medicare Advantage plans. Oz was also directly invested in several large pharmaceutical companies and, through investments in venture capital funds, indirectly invested in other biotech and vaccine firms. Big Pharma has been a frequent target of criticism and sometimes conspiracy theories from Trump and his allies. Kennedy, whom Trump has said he’ll nominate to be Health and Human Services secretary, is a longtime anti-vaccine activist. During the Biden administration, Congress gave Medicare authority to negotiate with drug companies over their prices. CMS initially selected 10 drugs. Those drugs collectively accounted for $50.5 billion in spending between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023, under Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit. At least four of those 10 medications are manufactured by companies in which Oz held stock, worth as much as about $50,000. 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In his TikTok videos from earlier in November, Oz echoed attacks on the food industry by Kennedy and other figures in his “Make America Healthy Again” movement. They blame processed foods and underregulation of the industry for the poor health of many Americans, concerns shared by many Democrats and more mainstream experts. But in 2022, Oz owned stakes worth as much as $80,000 in Domino’s Pizza, Pepsi, and US Foods, as well as more substantial investments in other parts of the food chain, including cattle; Oz reported investments worth as much as $5.5 million in a farm and livestock, as well as a stake in a dairy-free milk startup. He was also indirectly invested in the restaurant chain Epic Burger. One of his largest investments was in the Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain Wawa, which sells fast food and all manner of ultra-processed snacks. Oz and his wife reported a stake in the company, beloved by many Pennsylvanians, worth as much as $30 million. ©2024 KFF Health News. 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