New York Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said Aaron Rodgers “absolutely” will remain the team's starting quarterback and start Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. Rodgers, who turns 41 next Monday, has been hampered at times during the Jets' 3-8 start by various injuries to his left leg, including a sore knee, sprained ankle and balky hamstring. Ulbrich said Monday the quarterback came back from the team's bye-week break ready to go. “All I can say, and you'd have to ask Aaron if he's fully healthy, but he's better off today than he's been as of late,” Ulbrich said. "So he's definitely feeling healthier than he has probably for the past month. A healthy Aaron Rodgers is the Aaron Rodgers we all love. “So, I'm excited about what that looks like.” NFL Network reported on Sunday that Rodgers, who missed all but four snaps last season with a torn left Achilles tendon, has declined having medical scans on his injured leg so he can continue to play. The New York Jets are turning to one of their former general managers to help them find their next GM and head coach. The franchise announced Monday that The 33rd Team, a football media, analytics and consulting group founded by former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum, will assist team owner Woody Johnson in the searches. Tannenbaum and Rick Spielman, former GM of the Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings, will be The 33rd Team's primary representatives in helping find replacements for former coach Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas. Purdy resumes throwing, status unknown SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy took part in some light throwing on Monday after missing his first career game because of an injury and the 49ers are hoping he can return this week. Purdy hurt his throwing shoulder during a loss to Seattle on Nov. 17. Purdy underwent two MRIs last week that showed no structural damage. But Purdy he felt discomfort after making a few throws at practice on Thursday and was shut down for the game at Green Bay on Sunday that San Francisco lost 38-10. Coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday that Purdy made it through the session without pain and will rest on Tuesday and hopefully be able to return to practice on Wednesday as the Niners prepare to play at Buffalo this coming week. “We rested it throughout the weekend hoping that would help,” Shanahan said. “He threw lighter today to see if that rest helps and the rest did help him. So we’ll see again, going through the same things we did last week. We’re going to let him rest all the way up to Wednesday. We’ll see how it feels on Wednesday and then we’ll take the exact same course throughout the week. Hopefully it responds better this week than it did last week with the rest.” Brandon Allen went 17 for 29 for 199 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a lost fumble in his first start since the 2021 season. Allen would play once again if Purdy is unable to go on Sunday at Buffalo. Patriots' Peppers cleared to practice, play FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The NFL removed New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers from the commissioner exempt list on Monday, making him eligible to participate in practice and play in the team’s games. Peppers missed seven games since being placed on the list on Oct. 9 after he was arrested and charged with shoving his girlfriend’s head into a wall and choking her. The league said its review is ongoing and is not affected by the change in Peppers’ roster status. Braintree, Massachusetts, police said they were called to a home for an altercation between two people on Oct. 7, and a woman told them Peppers choked her. Police said they found at the home a clear plastic bag containing a white powder, which later tested positive for cocaine. Peppers, 29, pleaded not guilty in Quincy District Court to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a Class “B” substance believed to be cocaine. At a court appearance last week a trial date was set for Jan. 22. Raiders' Minshew out for season HENDERSON, Nev. — Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew is out for the rest of the season with a broken collarbone, coach Antonio Pierce said Monday. Minshew was injured with 3:12 left in Sunday's 29-19 loss to the Denver Broncos. Pierce will have to decide whether Aidan O'Connell or Desmond Ridder will start Friday's game at Kansas City. The Raiders, who have lost seven consecutive games to fall to 2-9, could use a spark. Minshew's grip on the starting job was tenuous even before he was injured. He threw 10 interceptions to just nine touchdown passes this season and Minshew also lost four fumbles. Jaguars' Lawrence hopes for return JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence will practice Monday and “we'll see where he's at from there,” coach Doug Pederson said. Lawrence missed the past two games, losses to Minnesota and Detroit, with a sprained left shoulder. Lawrence had extra time to rest during Jacksonville's bye week. The Jaguars (2-9) host AFC South-leading Houston (7-5) on Sunday and need a victory to avoid being eliminated from playoff contention. Pederson said Lawrence is “feeling better" and they will know more about his playing status following practice Wednesday. Lawrence took a hit to his left shoulder while scrambling at Philadelphia on Nov. 3. Instead of sliding, he chose to go head-first and got hammered by linebacker Zack Baun. Lawrence has practiced some in a limited role since, but was inactive for both games.
The attainment of 1.8 million barrels of crude per day is something to crow about, reckons ADE OLUSOKAN · It is a major milestone in the history of crude oil exploration in Nigeria. The nation is gradually hitting the mark for the crude oil quota from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), thereby revving up the nation’s earnings and setting the country on the path of sustainable growth. Under the visionary leadership of Mallam Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), the company has achieved remarkable milestones, transforming Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. Among these achievements is the recent attainment of 1.8 million barrels per day (mbpd) in crude oil production and 7.4 billion standard cubic feet (bscf) per day in gas production. · Unperturbed by the well-oiled campaign of critics, Kyari remained committed to best global practices, innovation, collaboration, and resilience in steering the company and the nation’s energy sector toward sustainability and growth. · Since assuming leadership, Mele Kyari has demonstrated a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities within Nigeria’s energy sector. His tenure has been marked by bold initiatives and strategic decisions, aimed at ensuring that NNPC Ltd remains competitive and profitable in a rapidly evolving global energy landscape. · Kyari’s leadership style emphasizes collaboration, innovation, and transparency. By fostering partnerships with key stakeholders and deploying cutting-edge technologies, the NNPCL, under his watch, has created a culture of accountability and efficiency within the company. This has not only led to increased production levels but has also restored confidence in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. · One of the most notable achievements under Kyari’s leadership is the recent increase in crude oil production to 1.8mbpd and gas output to 7.4bscf per day. This milestone is a significant improvement from the 1.43mbpd recorded in June 2024 when the Production War Room Team was inaugurated. · The Production War Room, a strategic initiative envisioned and established by Kyari, played a pivotal role in this success. The strategic team comprises experts and key stakeholders, and implemented a series of interventions across the production chain to address inefficiencies and security challenges. Through collaboration with government and private security agencies, as well as Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contract partners, the team restored production levels and set the stage for sustained growth. · The success of the Production War Room and the subsequent production milestone would not have been possible without the collective efforts of various stakeholders. Speaking on the achievement, Kyari praised the team for their dedication and highlighted the importance of collaboration in driving progress. “The team has done a great job in driving this project of not just production recovery but also escalating production to expected levels that are in the short and long terms acceptable to our shareholders,” Kyari remarked. · Other stakeholders, including Chief Pius Akinyelure, Chairman of the NNPC Ltd Board of Directors, and Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), also commended the team’s efforts and pledged continued support. · In addition to an increase in crude oil production, the rise in gas production to 7.4bscf per day is also a testament to NNPCL’s focus on diversifying Nigeria’s energy portfolio. As the world transitions to cleaner energy sources, natural gas is emerging as a critical bridge fuel. Nigeria’s abundant gas reserves position it as a potential leader in the global energy market. · Under Kyari’s leadership, NNPC Ltd has prioritized gas development, aligning with the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas initiative. The company’s efforts in this area include expanding domestic gas infrastructure, promoting gas-to-power projects, and exploring opportunities for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. · The NNPCL also played a key role in deepening the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration. These efforts include partnering with NIPCO Gas Limited to build 35 CNG stations across Nigeria. NNPC Retail has also trained over 1,000 auto mechanics on how to convert vehicles to CNG, aided with toolboxes,coveralls and generators, among others. The PCNGi supports the deployment of CNG vehicles and helps individuals and businesses convert their vehicles into CNG. The initiative aims to: reduce dependence on fossil fuels; enhance energy independence; lower energy costs for citizens; provide economic relief; reduce transportation cost and contribute to Nigeria’s national goals of reducing emissions and combating climate change. · The increase in crude oil and gas production has significant implications for Nigeria’s economy. As the country’s primary source of revenue, the oil and gas sector plays a crucial role in funding government initiatives and driving economic development. The recent milestone positions Nigeria to better meet its OPEC obligations while boosting foreign exchange earnings. · Additionally, increased production capacity enhances Nigeria’s ability to attract foreign investments. With a stable and secure production environment, international investors are more likely to view Nigeria as a viable destination for energy projects. · These remarkable feats didn’t happen in isolation. There were a number of factors that made the achievements possible. Under Kyari’s guidance, NNPC Ltd prioritized the security of oil and gas infrastructure. Pipeline vandalism and theft had long plagued the sector, leading to significant revenue losses and production disruptions. To tackle this, the company worked closely with the Office of the National Security Adviser and other security agencies to monitor pipelines and protect assets. These measures have not only reduced theft but also ensured uninterrupted production. · Besides, the company adopted innovative approaches to maximize output from existing fields while exploring new opportunities. By leveraging advanced technologies and streamlining operations, NNPC Ltd has been able to optimize production processes and achieve higher efficiency. · Kyari’s emphasis on collaboration has been a key driver of success. The coordinated efforts of Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contract partners ensured that resources and expertise were pooled to address production challenges. This partnership model has proven to be effective in driving sustainable growth. The establishment of the Production War Room demonstrated Kyari’s proactive leadership. By closely monitoring production activities and implementing targeted interventions, the team was able to swiftly address bottlenecks and sustain momentum. · Buoyed by the current momentum, NNPCL is confident in its ability to reach 2mbpd by the end of 2024. This ambitious target, declared NNPCL boss, has outlined a road map for achieving the goal, which includes further investments in infrastructure, exploration of new oil fields, and strengthening partnerships with stakeholders. The company is also exploring opportunities to leverage renewable energy sources, ensuring a balanced and sustainable energy mix. · Olusokan writes from LagosRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson sued CNN on Tuesday over its recent report that he made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website’s message board, calling the reporting reckless and defamatory. The lawsuit, filed in Wake County Superior Court, comes less than four weeks after a report that led many fellow GOP elected officials and candidates, including presidential nominee Donald Trump, to distance themselves from Robinson's gubernatorial campaign. Robinson, who announced the lawsuit at a news conference in Raleigh with a Virginia-based attorney, has denied authoring the messages. CNN “chose to publish despite knowing or recklessly disregarding that Lt. Gov. Robinson’s data — including his name, date of birth, passwords, and the email address supposedly associated with the NudeAfrica account — were previously compromised by multiple data breaches,” the lawsuit states, referencing the website. Robinson, who would be the state’s first Black governor if elected, called the report a “high-tech lynching” on a candidate "who has been targeted from Day 1 by folks who disagree with me politically and want to see me destroyed.” CNN declined to comment Tuesday, spokesperson Emily Kuhn said in an email. The CNN report, which first aired Sept. 19, said Robinson left statements over a decade ago on the message board in which, in part, he referred to himself as a “black NAZI,” said he enjoyed transgender pornography, said he preferred Hitler to then-President Barack Obama, and slammed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as “worse than a maggot.” The network report said it matched details of the account on the message board to other online accounts held by Robinson by comparing usernames, a known email address and his full name. CNN reported that details discussed by the account holder matched Robinson’s age, length of marriage and other biographical information. It also compared figures of speech that were used in his public Facebook profile and that appeared in discussions by the account on the pornographic website. Polls at the time of the CNN report already showed Democratic rival Josh Stein, the sitting attorney general, with a lead over Robinson. Early in-person voting begins Thursday statewide, and over 57,000 completed absentee ballots have been received so far. Robinson also in the same defamation lawsuit sued a Greensboro punk rock band singer who alleged in a music video and in an interview with a media outlet that Robinson, in the 1990s and early 2000s, frequented a porn shop the singer once worked at and purchased videos. Louis Love Money, the other named defendant, released the video and spoke with other media outlets before the CNN report. Robinson denies the allegation in the lawsuit, which reads, “Lt. Gov. Robinson was not spending hours at the video store, five nights a week. He was not renting or previewing videos, and he did not purchase ‘bootleg’ or other videos from Defendant Money.” Money said in a phone interview Tuesday that he stands by his statements and the music video's content as truthful: “My story hasn't changed.” The lawsuit, which seeks at least $50 million in damages, says the effort against Robinson “appears to be a coordinated attack aimed at derailing his campaign for governor.” It provides no evidence that the network or Money schemed with outside groups to create what Robinson alleges are false statements. Robinson’s lawyer, Jesse Binnall, said that he expects to find more “bad actors,” and that entities, which he did not identify, have stonewalled his firm's efforts to collect information. “We will use every tool at our disposal now that a lawsuit has been filed, including the subpoena power, in order to continue pursuing the facts,” said Binnall, whose clients have included Trump and his campaign. In North Carolina courts, a public official claiming defamation generally must show a defendant knew a statement was false or recklessly disregarded its untruthfulness. Most of the top staff running Robinson’s campaign and his lieutenant governor’s office quit following the CNN report, and the Republican Governors Association, which had already spent millions of dollars in advertising backing Robinson, stopped supporting his bid. And Democrats from presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris to downballot state candidates began running ads linking their opponents to Robinson. Robinson's campaign isn't running TV commercials now. He said that “we’ve chosen to go in a different direction” and focus on in-person campaign stops. Robinson already had a history of inflammatory comments about topics like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights that Stein and his allies have emphasized in opposing him on TV commercials and online. Stein spokesperson Morgan Hopkins said Tuesday in a statement that “even before the CNN report, North Carolinians have known for a long time that Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be Governor." Hurricane Helene and its aftermath took the CNN report off the front pages. Robinson worked for several days with a central North Carolina sheriff collecting relief supplies and criticized Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper — barred by term limits from seeking reelection — for state government's response in the initial stages of relief. Trump endorsed Robinson before the March gubernatorial primary, calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids” for his speaking ability. Robinson had been a frequent presence at Trump’s North Carolina campaign stops, but he hasn’t participated in such an event since the CNN report. This story was first published on Oct. 15, 2024. It was updated on Nov. 22, 2024 to correct which of Robinson’s social media accounts CNN cited in a comparison to language in messages from a pornographic website message board. CNN cited his public Facebook account, not his Twitter account.
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Anti-fraud efforts meet real-world test during ACA enrollment periodWASHINGTON — For someone who has made winning a key part of his personal, professional and political brand, Donald Trump is set to rely on a large stable of losers in his second term. The president-elect has tapped more than a dozen people who previously lost elections to join his administration next year. Even though both parties love to deride unsuccessful candidates who run again, the term “loser” doesn’t have to be a pejorative. Losing candidates regularly get elected later, including in the 2014 and 2020 election cycles. It also isn’t a disqualifying factor to serve a president, or even to serve as president. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.