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Trump team signs agreement to allow Justice to conduct background checks on nominees, staff
OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he won't play Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's games by voting to bring down the government on an upcoming non-confidence motion. The Conservatives plan to introduce a motion that quotes Singh's own criticism of the Liberals, and asks the House of Commons to declare that it agrees with Singh and has no confidence in the government. The motion is expected to be introduced on Thursday and the debate and vote are set for Monday. Singh said he is not going to trigger an election when he believes Poilievre would cut programs the NDP fought for. "I'm not going to be playing Pierre Poilievre's games. I have no interest in that. We're frankly not going to allow him to cut the things that people need. I want to actually have dental care expanded, I want people to actually start to benefit from the pharmacare legislation we passed," Singh said. With the NDP's expected support, the Liberals should survive this next confidence vote brought forward by the Conservatives. The Tories have vowed to bring forward non-confidence motions every chance they get. The party will have two more opposition motions after this one, which are expected to continue to call for non-confidence. The NDP are scheduled to have their opposition day on Friday. Earlier on Tuesday, Singh did acknowledge that the Conservatives have a sizeable lead on the NDP in public opinion polls, while giving a campaign-style speech to visiting party staffers from across the country. Most pollsters in Canada have recorded a roughly 20 point lead for the Conservatives over both the Liberals and NDP for the last few months. The non-confidence vote was scheduled after Speaker Greg Fergus intervened to pause a filibuster on a privilege debate about a green technology fund. The Conservatives have said they would only end that debate if the NDP agree to topple the government or if the Liberals turn over unredacted documents at the centre of the parliamentary gridlock. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024. David Baxter, The Canadian Press
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers formally asked a judge Monday to throw out his hush money criminal conviction , arguing that continuing the case would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the Presidency.“ In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that anything short of immediate dismissal would undermine the transition of power, as well as the “overwhelming national mandate" granted to Trump by voters last month. They also cited President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “President Biden asserted that his son was ‘selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,’ and ‘treated differently,’" Trump’s legal team wrote. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, they claimed, had engaged in the type of political theater "that President Biden condemned.” Prosecutors will have until Dec. 9 to respond. They have said they will fight any efforts to dismiss the case but have indicated a willingness to delay the sentencing until after Trump’s second term ends in 2029. In their filing Monday, Trump's attorneys dismissed the idea of holding off sentencing until Trump is out of office as a “ridiculous suggestion.” Following Trump’s election victory last month, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed his sentencing, previously scheduled for late November, to allow the defense and prosecution to weigh in on the future of the case. He also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier. He says they did not and denies any wrongdoing. The defense filing was signed by Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who represented Trump during the trial and have since been selected by the president-elect to fill senior roles at the Justice Department. Taking a swipe at Bragg and New York City, as Trump often did throughout the trial, the filing argues that dismissal would also benefit the public by giving him and “the numerous prosecutors assigned to this case a renewed opportunity to put an end to deteriorating conditions in the City and to protect its residents from violent crime.” Clearing Trump, the lawyers added, would also allow him to “to devote all of his energy to protecting the Nation.” Merchan hasn’t yet set a timetable for a decision. He could decide to uphold the verdict and proceed to sentencing, delay the case until Trump leaves office, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court or choose some other option. An outright dismissal of the New York case would further lift a legal cloud that at one point carried the prospect of derailing Trump’s political future. Last week, special counsel Jack Smith told courts that he was withdrawing both federal cases against Trump — one charging him with hoarding classified documents at his Florida estate, the other with scheming to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost — citing longstanding Justice Department policy that shields a president from indictment while in office. The hush money case was the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial, resulting in a historic verdict that made him the first former president to be convicted of a crime. Prosecutors had cast the payout as part of a Trump-driven effort to keep voters from hearing salacious stories about him. Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels. Trump later reimbursed him, and Trump’s company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses — concealing what they really were, prosecutors alleged. Trump has said the payments to Cohen were properly categorized as legal expenses for legal work. A month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that ex-presidents can’t be prosecuted for official acts — things they did in the course of running the country — and that prosecutors can’t cite those actions to bolster a case centered on purely personal, unofficial conduct. Trump’s lawyers cited the ruling to argue that the hush money jury got some improper evidence, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form, testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made during his first term. Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a sliver” of their case. If the verdict stands and the case proceeds to sentencing, Trump’s punishments would range from a fine to probation to up to four years in prison — but it’s unlikely he’d spend any time behind bars for a first-time conviction involving charges in the lowest tier of felonies. Because it is a state case, Trump would not be able to pardon himself once he returns to office. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Alex Mowatt ensured West Brom emerged from their Sky Bet Championship trip to high-flying Sunderland with some reward after his crucial block denied Chris Rigg a winner. The Baggies' skipper threw himself into the path of the teenager's second-half shot to ensure a contest dominated by the Wearsiders ended 0-0 in front of a crowd of 36,733 at the Stadium of Light. Regis Le Bris' men, who travel to leaders Sheffield United on Friday night, went into the game having drawn their last four against a side which had taken a point in seven of the last eight outings, and it was perhaps inevitable that there would be no winner as the hosts extended their unbeaten run to 10 games and the visitors theirs to nine. Alex Palmer was called upon to make his first save with eight minutes gone when, after miskicking at the first attempt, striker Wilson Isidor sent in a deflected follow-up which the Albion goalkeeper needed two attempts to grasp. Patrick Roberts blasted an 11th-minute free-kick wastefully into the defensive wall after Black Cats old boy Josh Maja had been penalised for handball, although the West Brom striker might have made amends in short order, but mistimed his attempt at a volley from Fellows' cross. Trending The visitors failed to make the most of Karlan Grant's 23rd-minute surge upfield after muscling teenager Tommy Watson off the ball, but it was the hosts who started to turn the screw once more. However, an increasingly scrappy game yielded few openings of note, although Kyle Bartley, drafted into the Baggies' starting line-up after the warm-up, had to block Watson's driven 37th-minute cross after he and Roberts had worked a clever short corner. Also See: Download the Sky Sports app Live EFL 2024/25 fixtures on Sky Sports+ Get more EFL to your phone with WhatsApp Watch EFL on Sky with NOW After a tepid conclusion to the first half, Sunderland returned determined to pick up the pace with Roberts and Rigg attempting to inject the devilment which had been largely lacking before the break. It was Rigg's 58th-minute pass to overlapping full-back Luke O'Nien which allowed Isidor to stab home his cross from close range, but an offside flag quickly killed the cheers of the home fans. Rigg and Jobe Bellingham both skied long-range attempts over as the home side's desperation mounted, but it took Mowatt's 69th-minute block to thwart Rigg after substitute Eliezer Mayenda had pulled the ball back. Roberts steered Hume's cross just past the far post, before Dan Ballard's goal-line clearance prevented substitute Lewis Dobbin from snatching victory against the run of play six minutes from time. The managers Sunderland's Regis Le Bris: To follow... West Brom's Carlos Corberan: To follow... The £250,000 is up for grabs with Super 6, and as always it is completely free to play. Entries by 3pm Saturday.HERMITAGE — When three children must choose between bullying a fellow classmate or getting bullied themselves, will they give in to fear or do the right thing? That question, simple yet relatable for many children, is the subject of a colorful new children’s book written by Joe Kulbacki called “The Think It Through Crew.” “It has some of the steps a kid can take when they’re being bullied or see someone getting bullied, like getting help or telling a teacher,” said Kulbacki, director of instructional technology at the Hermitage School District. The book tells the story of three fourth-grade friends named Max, Stan and Amanda, who are threatened by a fifth-grade bully to help him bully a classmate. To guide the three friends in the right direction, the Conscience Canary arrives and shows the students what could happen if they either give in to the bully’s demands or stand up to the bully. After the crew has a chance to think it through, they’re able to make the right decision — giving children some ideas to deal with real-life cases of bullying. Helping to tell the story are a series of bright, colorful and stylized illustrations by Hermitage graduate and artist Max Schaller, under the pseudonym “M. McGinnis.” “He does illustrations of a lot of different things, and he did a great job with this,” Kulbacki said of Schaller. The idea for the book first came about 10 or 15 years ago, when Kulbacki was teaching fourth and fifth grade in Lebanon, Pa. With plenty of students under his supervision and three daughters of his own, Kulbacki was used to reading plenty of children’s books. However, he was also familiar with many of the hardships and social situations that young children can find themselves in. This inspired him to write a book that would appeal to children while giving easy-to-follow instructions. “I’d been around kids enough that I knew what I wanted to teach them, I just had to figure out writing a book,” Kulbacki said. Work on the story itself started around seven years ago, and friends and family members involved in education helped develop and edit the story. Kulbacki discovered Schaller and asked him to illustrate the story, and the book was ultimately published through Amazon in early 2023. About 500 books have been sold so far, with many of those purchased by the United Way of Mercer County for the students involved in their summer program, Kulbacki said. Although he’s still learning the process behind advertising and promoting his work online, Kulbacki has had opportunities to share his work at local events such as the Hermitage Night Market. He’s also spoken at schools and libraries about the book and the importance of preventing bullying, and he has plans to write future books about similar topics for children, such as online safety. “The first book was about what to do when you see bullying, but there are so many things that children need to be aware of,” Kulbacki said. More information can be found on Amazon and at “The Think It Through Crew” on Facebook.
The expanded Big Ten is poised to be a major player in this season's College Football Playoff. The 18-team conference had three of the top-four teams in the AP poll this week — No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4 Penn State. A one-loss Indiana team is ranked 10th but is still very much a contender to make the playoff, given how many Southeastern Conference teams have three defeats or more. Indiana's rise has been perhaps the Big Ten's biggest story this season. Much of the spotlight was on newcomers Oregon, Southern California, UCLA and Washington, but aside from the top-ranked Ducks, that foursome has struggled to impress. Meanwhile, the Hoosiers won their first 10 games under new coach Curt Cignetti before losing at Ohio State last weekend. Oregon beat Ohio State 32-31 back in October, and if the Buckeyes beat rival Michigan this weekend, they'll earn a rematch with the Ducks for the Big Ten title. And it's entirely possible another matchup between those two teams awaits in the CFP. Dillon Gabriel has quarterbacked Oregon to an unbeaten record, throwing for 3,066 yards and 22 touchdowns in 11 games. But don't overlook Iowa's Kaleb Johnson and his 21 rushing TDs, and quarterback Kurtis Rourke has been a big part of Indiana's improvement. Penn State's Abdul Carter has eight sacks and two forced fumbles and could be one of the top edge rushers drafted this year. Oregon (11-0, 8-0), Ohio State (10-1, 7-1), Penn State (10-1, 7-1), Indiana (10-1, 7-1), Illinois (8-3, 5-3), Iowa (7-4, 5-3), Michigan (6-5, 4-4), Minnesota (6-5, 4-4), Washington (6-5, 4-4), Southern California (6-5, 4-5), Nebraska (6-5, 3-5) and Rutgers (6-5, 3-5) have already reached the six-win mark for bowl eligibility. Michigan State (5-6, 3-5) and Wisconsin (5-6, 3-5) can join them. There may not be many firings in general at the top level of college football. The prospect of sharing revenue with athletes in the future might lead schools to be more judicious about shedding one coach and hiring a new one. Who should be most worried in the Big Ten? Well, Lincoln Riley is struggling to stay above .500 in his third season at USC. Purdue is 1-10, but coach Ryan Walters is only in his second season. Maryland's Mike Locksley has been there six years and his Terrapins are 4-7, but this was his first real step backward after guiding the team to three straight bowl wins. Cignetti has shown it is possible for a coaching change to push a previously moribund program to some impressive heights in a short amount of time — but the improvement has been more incremental at Michigan State following Jonathan Smith's arrival. Sherrone Moore wasn't a completely unknown commodity at Michigan after he won some massive games in place of a suspended Jim Harbaugh last year. But in his first season completely at the helm, the Wolverines have declined significantly following their national title a season ago. The Big Ten is home to one of the most dynamic freshmen in the country in Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith. He has 52 catches for 899 yards and nine touchdowns. Highly touted quarterback Dylan Raiola has teamed up with fellow freshman Jacory Barney (49 catches) to lead Nebraska to bowl eligibility. Ohio State is on track to land the Big Ten's top class, according to 247 Sports, but the big news recently was quarterback Bryce Underwood flipping from LSU to Michigan. If the Wolverines do in fact keep Underwood in his home state, that would be a big development for Moore. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Pool Patcher Takes Over Pool Leak Repairs in Monmouth, Ocean, and Middlesex Counties of NJ