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50jili promotion MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — As West Virginia readied itself to play Gonzaga, the nation's No. 3 team and a 15.5-point favorite over them in the opening game of the Battle 4 Atlantis, they knew that this holiday trip to the Bahamas wasn't going to be all sun, sand, mai tais and scuba diving in the clear blue waters of the Caribbean. It was a business trip, with the basketball the focus, and that meant that the coach, Darian DeVries, spent a whole lot of time devising a game plan for the Zags, drilling it into his players and convincing them — and himself — that while the world was watching to see Gonzaga play, they could come up with a way to ruin their vacation. And so they did, gutting it out through regulation and into overtime in a game that no one outside their locker room thought they would win but a game they knew they could win. And with a physical yet thoughtful approach that provided the Mountaineers with their first-ever victory over Gonzaga, 86-78, in overtime. Every coach, of course, knows that it isn't very often that the game plan goes as it's drawn up. If it wasn't that way, then DeVries wouldn't be admitting that he goes into every game with a Plan A and a Plan B, just in case. In this one he never had to go to Plan B, as his frustrated Gonzaga throughout as it stepped out of character and took a different approach to the game. DeVries' idea was to make it ugly, which his team did, but in the end it turned out to be beautiful. "I like to win," DeVries admitted. You look into every corner of his locker room and see someone who had starred in the game for West Virginia, starred because they did their thing in game plan. There was Amani Hansberry, who got them off to a fast start, who finished with 19 points and with being so athletic against Graham Ike, their big man, that Ike had to be removed from the game. "I thought Amani was terrific. He got us off to a great start. His ability to space the floor and play with the ball and make plays for himself and others is a huge asset for us. He's undersized but don't discount his heart and his toughness at both ends of the floor," DeVries said. "We wanted to take advantage of Amani in pick and pop situations. We thought that was one place we would have an advantage and we wanted to keep the ball in Javon's hands and Tucker some as well and get those three involved in the action as much as we could." And there was Javon Small, who just went off on offense all night, scoring 31 points with 7 rebounds on a national TV stage, but who remained modest in its aftermath. "The win is more important. I know I played pretty well. I did what the team needed me to do," he said. And there was Tucker DeVries, the coach's son, who did a little bit of everything and was decisive in the victory. He led as a senior is supposed to lead, he doubled defensively on whomever had the ball, he blocked four shots — and if you know him, that's a lot — he scored 16 but he saved the best for last. Down 5 with 19 seconds to play, he hit a 3, got a steal at mid-court and drove to the hoop and was fouled, making two free throws to tie the game and send it into overtime. And finally there Sencire Harris, who is the shutdown defender who may have made the most difference as he smothered Gonzaga's spectacular point guard Ryan Nembhard, who makes Gonzaga among the top three offensive teams in the country, leading them on fast break after fast break. In this game the Zags scored only nine points in transition "I thought Sencire Harris did a great job executing the game play. The one thing we wanted to do was on every shot running him to their point guard and not let him get running because he's unbelievable when he gets the ball," DeVries said. "I thought that kept them out of their transition game. He was able to make some plays in their transition but holding him to 1 of 12 from the field was really impressive and even though he ended up with 12 assists, I thought they were the kind of assists we were willing to live with in our game plan." Everything about the game plan was executed, if not to perfection, then to the closest thing to it. "As much as we talk about wanting to run, this was one game I said 'Guys, you got to look in the mirror and sometimes they are better at it than we are so we don't want to play to their strengths,' DeVries said. "You won't see this often but this one night where we wanted longer possessions. We wanted to walk it up and make the game a little ugly. If you start playing up and down with them, they are so explosive. I thought we did a great job tonight limiting their runs, either taking the air out of the ball or using time outs." The Mountaineers did not have much time to celebrate the victory, for they have a noon matchup on Thanksgiving Day with Louisville, which ran Indiana out of the gym in a 28-point, 89-61 victory.Quebec Conservative Party leader hospitalized with heart problem

Aaron Rodgers is feeling healthy and will be the New York Jets’ starting quarterback as long as that remains the case. Whether he’s in the huddle beyond this season is still to be decided — by the Jets and Rodgers. “Football life is interesting because there’s no guarantees,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “Even with injuries, obviously, with contract situations, with age, with coaching changes, new scheme possibly, new system. There’s a lot of unknowns, so that stuff is out of my control. “I’m just going to enjoy these times here and let the future take care of itself.” Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said Rodgers returned from the team’s bye-week break appearing physically refreshed and ready to go. The quarterback was not on the Jets’ injury report Wednesday for the first time since Week 4. “Definitely, as long as he’s healthy, my plan is to play him,” Ulbrich said. “And I know talking to him, that’s the way he wants to do it, too.” Rodgers, who turns 41 on Monday, has dealt with various injuries to his left leg, including a sore knee, sprained ankle and balky hamstring. And that’s after coming off a torn Achilles tendon in the same leg that limited him to just four snaps last season. “He’s doing better today than he has for quite a while now,” Ulbrich said. “After my conversations with him the last five or six weeks, he has felt healthier today than he’s felt in that time span.” That echoes what Rodgers said during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, when he said he “feels good.” Rodgers said he’s still contemplating whether he wants to play football next season, but would prefer it be with the Jets if he does return. He reiterated that Wednesday after practice and explained why his tone has changed a bit from a few weeks ago when he said “I think so, yeah,” when he was asked if he planned to play next year. “If you look at what transpired in those two weeks, Joe (Douglas) got axed,” Rodgers said, referring to the Jets’ former general manager who was fired last week. “Joe brought me in here. There’s uncertainty with, you know, everybody on the staff, so I’m not naive to what the situation is. And if a new GM comes in and they don’t retain Brick, I have to fit in those plans, so that’s kind of the first part. “Like I said, on ”The Pat McAfee Show,” this is my first option. I’d love to play here if I end up deciding to play. But there’s got to be a want for them to want to bring me back, and for me to want to play. But ‘I think so’ was the truth, and ‘I’m not 100% sure’ is also the truth today.” Rodgers, who is having a subpar season statistically, has been noticeably affected by his leg ailments — and that’s something that could be much improved starting Sunday against Seattle. “I’m super excited about getting him going, whether it’s the keepers, the boots, a little bit more quarterback movement,” Ulbrich said. “Taking advantage of the stuff that he’s done at a Hall of Fame level his entire career. So, excited to see a healthier version of Aaron out there.” There was some speculation that the Jets, who are 3-8 and close to falling mathematically out of the playoff hunt, could opt to sit Rodgers in favor of Tyrod Taylor with his playing future uncertain. “He is a very prideful person,” Ulbrich said. “He wants to finish this thing off right. He wants to celebrate this team that we have and have a good taste in our mouths as we leave this season.” Rodgers has been very complimentary of Ulbrich as a leader, saying he’s “definitely all-in” on the interim coach and would like to see him get the full-time job for next season. “Again, that’s out of my control,” Rodgers said. “I mean, I’m not going to say Brick or nothing. I need to see how I’m feeling. Obviously, I would love to play for Brick again. He’s a fantastic human being, but there’s a lot of things that can change in the next six weeks. “There could be some really good feelings coming out of this or there could be wholesale changes — and I might be a part of that.” Those changes could include two coaches Rodgers is closest with in offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and passing game coordinator Todd Downing. “Them not being here would not be a deal breaker for me,” Rodgers said, “although I obviously love them.” Owner Woody Johnson is using The 33rd Team, with former GMs Mike Tannenbaum and Rick Spielman leading the project, to identify and analyze candidates for the Jets’ coach and GM searches. Rodgers is unsure if Johnson will seek his input on those decisions. “I’m always available if my opinion is wanted, but I’m going to focus on playing right now,” Rodgers said. “If I get drawn in those conversations, fantastic. If I don’t, that’s fantastic, too.”

NoneThe leader of Sinn Fein has expressed determination to form a government of the left in Ireland as she insisted her party’s performance in the General Election had broken the state’s political mould. Despite Mary Lou McDonald’s confidence around shaping a coalition without Fine Gael and Fianna Fail – the two parties that have dominated the landscape of Irish politics for a century – the pathway to government for Sinn Fein still appears challenging. With counting following Friday’s election still in the relatively early stages – after an exit poll that showed the main three parties effectively neck-and-neck – there is some way to go before the final picture emerges and the options for government formation crystalise. Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, Simon Harris, has dismissed talk of a Sinn Fein surge and said he was “cautiously optimistic” about where his party will stand after all the votes are counted. Meanwhile, Ireland’s deputy premier and Fianna Fail leader, Micheal Martin, insisted his party has a “very clear route back to government” as he predicted seat gains. The counting process could last days because of Ireland’s complex system of proportional representation with a single transferable vote (PR-STV), where candidates are ranked by preference. The leaders of the main three parties were all re-elected as TDs on Saturday evening, topping the polls in their respective constituencies. The early indications have turned the focus to the tricky arithmetic of government formation, as the country’s several smaller parties and many independents potentially jockey for a place in government. Ms McDonald told reporters at the RDS count centre in Dublin that she would be “very, very actively pursuing” the potential to form a government with other parties on the left of the political spectrum. The smaller, left-leaning parties in Ireland include the Social Democrats, the Irish Labour Party, the Green Party and People Before Profit-Solidarity. Ms McDonald said her party had delivered an “incredible performance” in the election. “I think it’s fair to say that we have now confirmed that we have broken the political mould here in this state,” she said. “Two party politics is now gone. It’s consigned to the dustbin of history and that, in itself, is very significant.” She added: “I am looking to bring about a government of change, and I’m going to go and look at all formulations. “If you want my bottom line, the idea of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael for another five years, in our strong opinion, is not a good outcome for Irish society. “Obviously, I want to talk to other parties of the left and those that we share very significant policy objectives with. So I’m going to do that first and just hear their mind, hear their thinking. But be very clear, we will be very, very actively pursuing entrance into government.” In Friday night’s exit poll, Sinn Fein was predicted to take 21.1% of first-preference votes, narrowly ahead of outgoing coalition partners Fine Gael and Fianna Fail at 21% and 19.5% respectively. Prior to the election, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael both ruled out entering government with Sinn Fein. Fine Gael leader Mr Harris rejected suggestions Sinn Fein had broken new ground. He told reporters in his count centre in Greystones, Co Wicklow: “Certainly we haven’t seen a Sinn Fein surge or anything like it. “I mean, it looks likely, on the figures that we’ve seen now, fewer people, many fewer people would have voted Sinn Fein in this election than the last one. “In fact, I think they’re down by around 5% and actually the parties, particularly the two parties, the two larger parties in government, are likely to receive significant support from the electorate. So definitely, politics in Ireland has gotten much more fragmented.” He said it was too early to tell what the next government would look like. “I think anybody who makes any suggestion about who is going to be the largest party or the construct of the next government, they’re a braver person than I am,” he said. “Our electoral system dictates that there’ll be many, many transfers that will go on for hours, if not days, before we know the final computations at all. “But what I am very confident about is that my party will have a very significant role to play in the years ahead, and I’m cautiously optimistic and excited.” Fianna Fail’s Mr Martin told reporters at a count centre in Cork he was confident that the numbers exist to form a government with parties that shared his political viewpoint. Mr Martin said it “remains to be seen” whether he would return to the role of Taoiseach – a position he held between 2020 and 2022 – but he expressed confidence his party would outperform the exit poll prediction. “It’s a bit too early yet to call the exact type of government that will be formed or the composition of the next government,” he said. “But I think there are, there will be a sufficiency of seats, it seems to me, that aligns with the core principles that I articulated at the outset of this campaign and throughout the campaign, around the pro-enterprise economy, around a positively pro-European position, a government that will strongly push for home ownership and around parties that are transparently democratic in how they conduct their affairs.” Asked if it would be in a coalition with Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Social Democrats, he said that would be “racing a bit too far ahead”. The final result may dictate that if Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are to return to government, they may need more than one junior partner, or potentially the buy-in of several independent TDs. Mr Martin said it was unclear how quickly a government can be formed, as he predicted his party would gain new seats. “It will be challenging. This is not easy,” he added. The junior partner in the outgoing government – the Green Party – looks set for a bruising set of results. Green leader Roderic O’Gorman is in a fight to hold onto his seat, as are a number of party colleagues, including Media Minister Catherine Martin. “It’s clear the Green Party has not had a good day,” he said. The early counting also suggested potential trouble for Fianna Fail in Wicklow, where the party’s only candidate in the constituency, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, is considered to have a battle ahead, with the risk of losing his seat. Meanwhile, there is significant focus on independent candidate Gerard Hutch who, on Saturday evening, was sitting in fourth place in the four-seat constituency of Dublin Central. Last spring, Mr Hutch was found not guilty by the non-jury Special Criminal Court of the murder of David Byrne, in one of the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud. Mr Byrne, 33, died after being shot six times at a crowded boxing weigh-in event at the Regency Hotel in February 2016. A Special Criminal Court judge described Mr Hutch, 61, as the patriarchal figurehead of the Hutch criminal organisation and said he had engaged in “serious criminal conduct”. The constituency will be closely watched as other hopefuls wait to see if transfers from eliminated candidates may eventually rule him out of contention. In the constituency of Louth, the much-criticised selection of John McGahon appeared not to have paid off for Fine Gael. The party’s campaign was beset by questioning over footage entering the public domain of the candidate engaged in a fight outside a pub in 2018. The Social Democrats have a strong chance of emerging as the largest of the smaller parties. The party’s leader, Holly Cairns, was already celebrating before a single vote was counted however, having announced the birth of her baby girl on polling day. We do not moderate comments, but we expect readers to adhere to certain rules in the interests of open and accountable debate.7190 students complete SIUT programme

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Manmohan Singh, the visionary architect of India’s 1991 economic reforms, successfully led the country through a tumultuous financial period, which transformed India into an emerging global power. Singh, who was then the newly-appointed finance minister under Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, faced significant challenges in ensuring acceptance of his bold budgetary changes. The iconic reforms, central to his Union Budget of 1991, rescued India from near bankruptcy and reset its trajectory on the world stage. In a bid to control the narrative, Singh made an unexpected appearance at a press briefing on July 25, 1991, just a day after presenting his reforms, ensuring that his pro-market message reached the public without distortion. Amidst intense controversy and criticism from Congress party ranks, Singh stood firm amidst calls for rollbacks, with only a few supporters like Mani Shankar Aiyar and Nathuram Mirdha cheering his efforts. Ultimately, Singh’s steadfastness and political prowess resulted in key economic measures being retained, showcasing a prime example of political economy at work. (With inputs from agencies.)New Delhi, Dec 26 (PTI) Describing former prime minister Manmohan Singh as an exceptional exponent of decency, former law minister Ashwani Kumar has said in his death the nation has lost a voice of sanity and grace. Singh, the architect of India’s economic reforms and a consensus builder in the rough world of politics, died here on Thursday night. He was 92. “The passing of Dr Manmohan Singh is a colossal national tragedy. At a time when national politics is defined by intolerance and vicious animosities, an exceptional exponent of decency,magnanimity ,integrity and humility in public life has been taken away from us, depriving the nation of a voice of sanity and grace in these troubled times,” Kumar said in his statement. Kumar was part of Singh’s cabinet and was minister for law and justice. “Manmohan Singh carried his authority as Prime Minister with the lightness of a saint, never forgetting that power is transient. That his unfailing courtesies as prime minister extended to all was the mark of the man. “His nobility of purpose was reflected in his persona all the way. His warmth, affection and generosity were reserved not only for his friends but even for his political opponents,” he said. Kumar said those who saw Singh’s humility as weakness, could not have been more mistaken. “The quiet dignity and resolve with which he ensured the passage of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal and refused to be coerced by allies in a matter of vital national interest showed his steely resolve and carried the stamp of his personality,” the former law minister said. Singh staked the office of prime minister to do what was right by the nation, Kumar said. “History will doubtless judge him more generously and without doubt this great son of India, who steered the nation for ten long years and ensured the highest inclusive economic growth for the country will get his due from an indebted nation. That he passed away peacefully in the company of his entire family was the Lord’s act of benevolence for his chosen one,” Kumar said. Singh’s death was announced by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, where he was admitted in the Emergency ward around 8.30 pm in a critical condition. An AIIMS bulletin said ” he (Singh) was treated for age-related medical conditions and had sudden loss of consciousness at home” on December 26. PTI SKC SKC KSS KSS This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content. var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.removeEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);lazyloadmyframes();};document.addEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);window.addEventListener('scroll', function() {if (ytflag == 0) {lazyloadmyframes();ytflag = 1;}});function lazyloadmyframes() {var ytv = document.getElementsByClassName("klazyiframe");for (var i = 0; i < ytv.length; i++) {ytv[i].src = ytv[i].getAttribute('data-src');}} Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );

ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. He was 100 years old . The Carter Center said the 39th president died Sunday afternoon, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, lived most of their lives. The center said he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. As reaction poured in from around the world, President Joe Biden mourned Carter’s death, saying the world lost an “extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian” and he lost a dear friend. Biden cited Carter’s compassion and moral clarity, his work to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless and advocacy for the disadvantaged as an example for others. “To all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life – study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility,” Biden said in a statement. “He showed that we are a great nation because we are a good people – decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong.” Biden said he is ordering a state funeral for Carter in Washington. A moderate Democrat, Carter ran for president in 1976 as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad grin, effusive Baptist faith and technocratic plans for efficient government. His promise to never deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter said. Carter’s victory over Republican Gerald Ford, whose fortunes fell after pardoning Nixon, came amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over race, women’s rights and America’s role in the world. His achievements included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David for 13 days in 1978. But his coalition splintered under double-digit inflation and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His negotiations ultimately brought all the hostages home alive, but in a final insult, Iran didn’t release them until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who had trounced him in the 1980 election. Humbled and back home in Georgia, Carter said his faith demanded that he keep doing whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference. He and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, human rights advocates and champions of democracy and public health. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiate cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, the center had monitored at least 113 elections around the world. Carter was determined to eradicate guinea worm infections as one of many health initiatives. Swinging hammers into their 90s, the Carters built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The common observation that he was better as an ex-president rankled Carter. His allies were pleased that he lived long enough to see biographers and historians revisit his presidency and declare it more impactful than many understood at the time. Propelled in 1976 by voters in Iowa and then across the South, Carter ran a no-frills campaign. Americans were captivated by the earnest engineer, and while an election-year Playboy interview drew snickers when he said he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times,” voters tired of political cynicism found it endearing. The first family set an informal tone in the White House, carrying their own luggage, trying to silence the Marine Band’s traditional “Hail to the Chief" and enrolling daughter, Amy, in public schools. Carter was lampooned for wearing a cardigan and urging Americans to turn down their thermostats. But Carter set the stage for an economic revival and sharply reduced America's dependence on foreign oil by deregulating the energy industry along with airlines, trains and trucking. He established the departments of Energy and Education, appointed record numbers of women and nonwhites to federal posts, preserved millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness and pardoned most Vietnam draft evaders. Emphasizing human rights , he ended most support for military dictators and took on bribery by multinational corporations by signing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He persuaded the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties and normalized relations with China, an outgrowth of Nixon’s outreach to Beijing. But crippling turns in foreign affairs took their toll. When OPEC hiked crude prices, making drivers line up for gasoline as inflation spiked to 11%, Carter tried to encourage Americans to overcome “a crisis of confidence.” Many voters lost confidence in Carter instead after the infamous address that media dubbed his “malaise" speech, even though he never used that word. After Carter reluctantly agreed to admit the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979. Negotiations to quickly free the hostages broke down, and then eight Americans died when a top-secret military rescue attempt failed. Carter also had to reverse course on the SALT II nuclear arms treaty after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Though historians would later credit Carter's diplomatic efforts for hastening the end of the Cold war, Republicans labeled his soft power weak. Reagan’s “make America great again” appeals resonated, and he beat Carter in all but six states. Born Oct. 1, 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. married fellow Plains native Rosalynn Smith in 1946, the year he graduated from the Naval Academy. He brought his young family back to Plains after his father died, abandoning his Navy career, and they soon turned their ambitions to politics . Carter reached the state Senate in 1962. After rural white and Black voters elected him governor in 1970, he drew national attention by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Carter published more than 30 books and remained influential as his center turned its democracy advocacy onto U.S. politics, monitoring an audit of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results. After a 2015 cancer diagnosis, Carter said he felt “perfectly at ease with whatever comes.” “I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said. “I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” Sanz is a former Associated Press reporter.Despite Mary Lou McDonald’s confidence around shaping a coalition without Fine Gael and Fianna Fail – the two parties that have dominated the landscape of Irish politics for a century – the pathway to government for Sinn Fein still appears challenging. With counting following Friday’s election still in the relatively early stages – after an exit poll that showed the main three parties effectively neck-and-neck – there is some way to go before the final picture emerges and the options for government formation crystalise. Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, Simon Harris, has dismissed talk of a Sinn Fein surge and said he was “cautiously optimistic” about where his party will stand after all the votes are counted. Meanwhile, Ireland’s deputy premier and Fianna Fail leader, Micheal Martin, insisted his party has a “very clear route back to government” as he predicted seat gains. The counting process could last days because of Ireland’s complex system of proportional representation with a single transferable vote (PR-STV), where candidates are ranked by preference. The early indications have turned the focus to the tricky arithmetic of government formation, as the country’s several smaller parties and many independents potentially jockey for a place in government. Ms McDonald told reporters at the RDS count centre in Dublin that she would be “very, very actively pursuing” the potential to form a government with other parties on the left of the political spectrum. The smaller, left-leaning parties in Ireland include the Social Democrats, the Irish Labour Party, the Green Party and People Before Profit-Solidarity. Ms McDonald said her party had delivered an “incredible performance” in the election. “I think it’s fair to say that we have now confirmed that we have broken the political mould here in this state,” she said. “Two party politics is now gone. It’s consigned to the dustbin of history and that, in itself, is very significant.” She added: “I am looking to bring about a government of change, and I’m going to go and look at all formulations. “If you want my bottom line, the idea of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael for another five years, in our strong opinion, is not a good outcome for Irish society. “Obviously, I want to talk to other parties of the left and those that we share very significant policy objectives with. So I’m going to do that first and just hear their mind, hear their thinking. But be very clear, we will be very, very actively pursuing entrance into government.” In Friday night’s exit poll, Sinn Fein was predicted to take 21.1% of first-preference votes, narrowly ahead of outgoing coalition partners Fine Gael and Fianna Fail at 21% and 19.5% respectively. Prior to the election, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael both ruled out entering government with Sinn Fein. Fine Gael leader Mr Harris rejected suggestions Sinn Fein had broken new ground. He told reporters in his count centre in Greystones, Co Wicklow: “Certainly we haven’t seen a Sinn Fein surge or anything like it. “I mean, it looks likely, on the figures that we’ve seen now, fewer people, many fewer people would have voted Sinn Fein in this election than the last one. “In fact, I think they’re down by around 5% and actually the parties, particularly the two parties, the two larger parties in government, are likely to receive significant support from the electorate. So definitely, politics in Ireland has gotten much more fragmented.” He said it was too early to tell what the next government would look like. “I think anybody who makes any suggestion about who is going to be the largest party or the construct of the next government, they’re a braver person than I am,” he said. “Our electoral system dictates that there’ll be many, many transfers that will go on for hours, if not days, before we know the final computations at all. “But what I am very confident about is that my party will have a very significant role to play in the years ahead, and I’m cautiously optimistic and excited.” Fianna Fail’s Mr Martin told reporters at a count centre in Cork he was confident that the numbers exist to form a government with parties that shared his political viewpoint. Mr Martin said it “remains to be seen” whether he would return to the role of Taoiseach – a position he held between 2020 and 2022 – but he expressed confidence his party would outperform the exit poll prediction. “It’s a bit too early yet to call the exact type of government that will be formed or the composition of the next government,” he said. “But I think there are, there will be a sufficiency of seats, it seems to me, that aligns with the core principles that I articulated at the outset of this campaign and throughout the campaign, around the pro-enterprise economy, around a positively pro-European position, a government that will strongly push for home ownership and around parties that are transparently democratic in how they conduct their affairs.” Asked if it would be in a coalition with Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Social Democrats, he said that would be “racing a bit too far ahead”. The final result may dictate that if Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are to return to government, they may need more than one junior partner, or potentially the buy-in of several independent TDs. Mr Martin said it was unclear how quickly a government can be formed, as he predicted his party would gain new seats. “It will be challenging. This is not easy,” he added. The junior partner in the outgoing government – the Green Party – looks set for a bruising set of results. Green leader Roderic O’Gorman is in a fight to hold onto his seat, as are a number of party colleagues, including Media Minister Catherine Martin. “It’s clear the Green Party has not had a good day,” he said. The early counting also suggested potential trouble for Fianna Fail in Wicklow, where the party’s only candidate in the constituency, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, is considered to have a battle ahead, with the risk of losing his seat. Meanwhile, there is significant focus on independent candidate Gerard Hutch who, on Saturday evening, was sitting in fourth place in the four-seat constituency of Dublin Central. Last spring, Mr Hutch was found not guilty by the non-jury Special Criminal Court of the murder of David Byrne, in one of the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud. Mr Byrne, 33, died after being shot six times at a crowded boxing weigh-in event at the Regency Hotel in February 2016. A Special Criminal Court judge described Mr Hutch, 61, as the patriarchal figurehead of the Hutch criminal organisation and said he had engaged in “serious criminal conduct”. The constituency will be closely watched as other hopefuls wait to see if transfers from eliminated candidates may eventually rule him out of contention. In the constituency of Louth, the much-criticised selection of John McGahon appeared not to have paid off for Fine Gael. The party’s campaign was beset by questioning over footage entering the public domain of the candidate engaged in a fight outside a pub in 2018. The Social Democrats have a strong chance of emerging as the largest of the smaller parties. The party’s leader, Holly Cairns, was already celebrating before a single vote was counted however, having announced the birth of her baby girl on polling day.

The holiday season means festive gatherings, meals with family, winter activities with friends and office parties. If you’re among the 38 per cent of Canadian adults aged 20-79 who experience hearing loss, it can also be a very isolating time. “The reason we’re getting together is to eat a lot of food and get together with friends, family, and catch up. And we don’t want to miss any part of their stories. We don’t want to be in those positions where we’re asking for repetition or not able to laugh at that joke,” says audiologist Kathy Pineo from HearCANADA. For those with hearing loss, navigating social situations can become tricky and stressful. “When you can’t participate in those settings, when that conversation no longer is flowing, it’s very frustrating. You’re going to start withdrawing, you’re not going to participate in those conversations and you may not feel great about yourself,” explains Pineo. “One of the things that hearing loss is associated with is clinical depression and we want to make sure that we’re interacting, that we’re being social. Humans are very social creatures, so when you’re not able to, you’re missing out and you may withdraw, isolate, and that’s not good for our brain health in any way.” She says straining to hear those around you can also lead to fatigue and with hearing loss comes an increased risk of falling. It has also been linked to dementia, diabetes and heart health as well. She stresses the importance of getting a hearing test at the earliest signs of hearing loss and regularly thereafter. Pineo says there are some telltale signs that you may be experiencing hearing loss. “You might notice that you really have to look at someone to be able to hear what they’re saying. Maybe your TV volume is creeping up and up and up. Maybe you’ve started even using closed captioning on shows that you’ve never used before. Maybe when you’re going to restaurants, you’re finding all of that extra noise very distracting, and you’re not able to hear what that person across from you is saying,” she says. “If you’re concerned about a loved one, usually again, you’re going to notice that TV volume go up. They’re going to ask for a lot of repetition. They might even stop going out because they don’t want to be in those situations where they’re not able to hear.” For those with parents or other loved ones who are embarrassed or resistant to getting a test, she suggests approaching them with empathy and compassion. “No one wants to be kind of called out. Say ‘You know what? We get our eyes checked every year, we get our teeth done. Why don’t we both go and get our hearing checked so we can make sure everything’s working well?’ And then, when you’re both at the appointments, you’re going to be that social support for your parent or partner,” she says. “You’d be surprised how important it is to make this about the family, about your partners, because we know that if you’re not hearing well, it can really affect those relationships as well.” If hearing aids are required, she says the best way to bring reluctant loved ones around is to have them try it. Hearing aid technology has come a long way and many are surprised by how unobtrusive they can be. “One of the first things I do is I put hearing aids on them. It’s very important because I can tell you about how great it’s going to be, how you’re going to hear better, how they’re very discreet. But until you have them on, that’s going to be kind of theoretical. It’s like, I can describe chocolate to you, but until you taste it, you’re not going to really understand it. Same with hearing aids,” she says. “A lot of times people come back after wearing their hearing aids for a few weeks and you see a transformation. They’re even reporting being less tired, their partners are happier. It’s a very, very positive experience.” Despite the success stories, the stigma attached to hearing loss and requiring hearing aids can lead many to delay getting care. Since hearing loss can be progressive, putting off a test can make matters worse. “I’d love to normalize getting a hearing assessment. We don’t want people to wait until let’s say it’s really ‘bad.’ [It’s important] that we do something about that hearing loss as soon as possible to help in those challenging situations so that we can socialize, we can have those communication skills up to snuff,” says Pineo. “Normalize it. It’s not because you’re older, it’s not because there’s anything wrong. This is part of your wellness. This is going to support you with your cognitive health as well in the long run.” What to expect during a hearing test Hearing tests usually start with questions regarding overall health, medical history and any experience with hearing loss. A hearing care professional will then check the patient’s ears by looking inside each one and check that each eardrum is moving correctly with a device called a tympanometer. Thereafter the patient is usually asked to step into a soundproof booth. “You’re going to listen to some beeps, you’re going to listen to some speech sounds. And once all of that is done, your hearing care professional is going to explain the results in a way that links all of your experiences to that test,” says Pineo. If any hearing loss is detected, the specialist might suggest hearing aids based on the patient’s specific needs and type of hearing loss. Many hearing centres offer free hearing screenings. The Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) only covers hearing tests conducted by an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor. The province’s Assistive Devices Program (ADP) under OHIP covers 75 per cent of the price of a hearing aid, up to $500 for each ear.Manmohan Singh: The Architect of India's Economic Symphony

VIDEO: Donations provide free holiday shopping experiencePresident-elect Donald Trump has filled the key posts for his second term in office, prioritizing loyalty to him after he felt bruised and hampered by internal squabbling during his first term. Some of his choices could face difficult confirmation fights in the Senate, even with Republicans in control, and one candidate has already withdrawn from consideration. Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz was Trump's initial pick for attorney general, but he ultimately withdrew following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation he was embroiled in. Here's a look at Trump's choices: Trump would turn a former critic into an ally as the nation's top diplomat. Rubio , 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate before the slot went to JD Vance. Rubio is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His selection punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator once called a “con man" during his own unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. Hegseth , 44, was a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends Weekend” and had been a contributor with the network since 2014. He developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth served in the Army National Guard from 2002 to 2021, deploying to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2011 and earning two Bronze Stars. He lacks senior military and national security experience and would oversee global crises ranging from Europe to the Middle East. A woman told police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a detailed investigative report recently made public. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and has denied any wrongdoing. Bessent , 62, is a former money manager for George Soros , a big Democratic donor, and an advocate for deficit reduction . He founded the hedge fund Key Square Capital Management after having worked on and off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, Bessent would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. Gabbard, 43, is a former Democratic House member from Hawaii who has been accused of echoing Russian propaganda. She unsuccessfully sought the party’s 2020 presidential nomination and left the party in 2022. Gabbard endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him. Gabbard has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades and deployed to Iraq and Kuwait. If confirmed she would come to the role as an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, spent several years in top national security and intelligence positions. Bondi , 59, was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist , Bondi also has served with the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-allied group that has helped lay the groundwork for his future administration. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush-money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appeared on Fox News and has been critical of the criminal cases against him. The Republican U.S. House member narrowly lost her reelection bid on Nov. 5 but had received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, Chavez-DeRemer would oversee the department's workforce and budget and put forth priorities that affect workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of a few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act that would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and penalize companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws in more than half the states. Lutnick heads the brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and is a cryptocurrency enthusiast. He is co-chair of Trump's transition operation, charged along with Linda McMahon, a former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration, with helping the president-elect fill key jobs in his second administration. As secretary, Lutnick would play a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. He would oversee a sprawling Cabinet department whose oversight ranges from funding new computer chip factories and imposing trade restrictions to releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. Noem is a well-known conservative who used her two terms as South Dakota's governor to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions like other states, instead declaring South Dakota “open for business.” More recently, Noem faced sharp criticism for writing in her memoir about shooting and killing her dog. She is set to lead a department crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda as well as other missions. Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. Ratcliffe , a former U.S. House member from Texas, was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump’s first term. He led U.S. government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. If confirmed, Ratcliffe will have held the highest intelligence positions in the U.S. Kennedy , 70, ran for president as a Democrat, then as an independent before he dropped out and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own presidential campaign. Kennedy's nomination alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Rollins , 52, is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for Trump's second administration. She is a Texas attorney who was Trump's domestic policy adviser and director of his office of American innovation during his first term. Rollins previously was an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry , who also served in Trump's first term. Rollins also ran the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years , sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential campaign, but was acquitted by the Senate. Collins also served in the armed forces himself. He is a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. The North Dakota governor , 68, is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump after he dropped out of the running. Burgum then became a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice in part because of his executive experience and business savvy. He also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump said Burgum would chair a new National Energy Council and have a seat on the National Security Council, which would be a first for the Interior secretary. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Wright is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. He also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. Wright said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. McMahon, a billionaire professional wrestling mogul , would make a return appearance in a second Trump administration. She led the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019 in Trump’s first term and twice ran unsuccessfully in Connecticut as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University. She has expressed support for charter schools and school choice. Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI" and "we will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.” Trump often attacked the Biden administration’s promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referred to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often said his administration would “drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Greer is a partner at King & Spalding, a Washington law firm. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be responsible for negotiating directly with foreign governments on trade deals and disputes, as well as memberships in international trade bodies such as the World Trade Organization. He previously was chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer, who was the trade representative in Trump's first term. Wiles , 67, was a senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. She has a background in Florida politics , helping Ron DeSantis win his first race for Florida governor. Six years later, she was key to Trump’s defeat of him in the 2024 Republican primary. Wiles’ hire was Trump’s first major decision as president-elect and one that could be a defining test of his incoming administration considering her close relationship with him. Wiles is said to have earned Trump’s trust in part by guiding what was the most disciplined of Trump’s three presidential campaigns. Waltz is a three-term Republican congressman from east-central Florida. A former Army Green Beret , he served multiple tours in Afghanistan and worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Hassett, 62, is a major advocate of tax cuts who was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the first Trump term. In the new role as chairman of the National Economic Council, Trump said Hassett will play an important role in helping American families recover from inflation as well as in renewing and improving tax cuts Trump enacted in 2017, many of which are set to expire after 2025. Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. He led the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump's first administration. Democrats have criticized Homan for defending Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings in the first term, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Vought, 48, held the position during Trump’s first presidency. He the founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought also was closely involved with Project 2025 , a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that Trump tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump’s priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump’s first term. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump’s policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation’s economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people living illegally in the U.S. Scavino was an adviser in all three of the president-elect's campaigns and was described by the transition team as one of “Trump’s longest serving and most trusted aides." He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino previously ran Trump’s social media profile in the White House. Blair was political director for Trump’s 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and an assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump’s economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign. Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump’s 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Leavitt , 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. McGinley was Cabinet secretary during Trump's first administration and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee's election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and they were golfing at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Kellogg , 80, is a highly decorated retired three-star general and one of the architects of a staunchly conservative policy book that lays out an “America First” national security agenda for Trump's second term. He has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues and served as national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence . Kellogg also was chief of staff of the National Security Council under Trump and stepped in as an acting national security adviser for Trump after Michael Flynn resigned the post. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests. Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Huckabee has rejected a Palestinian homeland in territory occupied by Israel. His daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, served as White House press secretary in Trump's first term. Stefanik, 40, is a U.S. representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders dating to his first impeachment trial. She was elected chair of the House Republican Conference in 2021, the third-highest position in House leadership, after then-Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after she publicly criticized Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. A former acting attorney general during Trump's first administration and tight end on the University of Iowa football team, Whitaker , 55, has a background in law enforcement but not in foreign policy. A fierce Trump localist, Whitaker, is also a former U.S. attorney in Iowa and served as acting attorney general between November 2018 and February 2019 without Senate confirmation, until William Barr was confirmed for the role. That was when special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference was drawing to a close. Whitaker also faced questions about his past business dealings, including his ties to an invention-promotion company that was accused of misleading consumers. A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. Oz , 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime TV talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz’s bid for elected office. Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. Makary also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine. Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor on Fox News. Weldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed Weldon’s opponent. In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative after cardiac arrest, state should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed. Bhattacharya , 56, is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. As head of the NIH, the leading medical research agency in the United States, Trump said Bhattacharya would work with Kennedy Jr. to direct U.S. medical research and make important discoveries that will improve health and save lives. Bhattacharya is professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and was one of three authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 open letter maintaining that lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic were causing irreparable harm. Gaetz, 42, withdrew from consideration to become the top law enforcement officer of the United States amid fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed by the Senate. In choosing Gaetz, Trump had passed over more established lawyers whose names had been floated as possible contenders for the job. Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump announced him on Nov. 13. The House Ethics Committee has been investigating an allegation that he paid for sex with a 17-year-old. Gaetz has denied wrongdoing. Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Zeke Miller, Farnoush Amiri, Lolita C. Baldor, Jill Colvin, Matthew Daly, Edith M. Lederer, Adriana Gomez Licon, Lisa Mascaro, Chris Megerian, Michelle L. Price, Will Weissert and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

Goodbye Green Bubbles: Apple’s iOS 18.2 Update Bridges the Messaging DivideIndia’s media have been dazzled by Sam Konstas’ audacious Test debut and his stunning blitz on world No.1 bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Watch every ball of Australia v India LIVE & ad-break free during play in 4K on Kayo | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. The teenage opening batter made 60 runs off 65 balls on Boxing Day at the MCG, wowing world cricket by unleashing ramp shots against Bumrah and taking on every Indian bowler. Curiously, Konstas got a back-handed review from an Indian writer for the century he made for Australia A earlier this summer; though his bravado was noted. But now, a star it born - and he earned rave reviews. READ MORE ‘Better behaviour is expected’: Indian media whacks Kohli as Khawaja role revealed How Sam solved Aussies’ opener problem AND broke India; why Kohli wasn’t banned ‘Completely acted wrong’: Kohli shock as star avoids ban for ‘ridiculous’ clash with Aussie teen ‘Hands like Copperfield, eye of a dead fish’: Konstas-mania and the 75 minutes that rocked cricket Writing for the Hindustan Times , R Kaushik said that there was serious scrutiny on Konstas after he’d flagged his intentions to take on Bumrah. After being beaten four times by Bumrah in the first over, chatter gathered steam in the press box. “Until, in Bumrah’s fourth, he did the unthinkable. To the first ball, he walked across his stumps and scooped him to fine-leg for four. Bumrah stopped in his tracks, gave him a knowing smile. Konstas looked the premier quick square in the eye, didn’t back down. The next ball disappeared over third-man for six, the reverse scoop coming off at the third time of asking. In the same over, another reverse, another four. Fourteen had come off Bumrah’s fourth over. Come again? “Come again, Konstas most certainly did. Come hard at Bumrah, that is. “India’s helplessness as the Konstas innings gathered steam was unmistakable. After the first over, there was a sense of déjà vu, of a Nathan McSweeney reprisal. When the first reverse scoop was attempted, the slip cordon – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli among them – grinned. Those grins gave way to frustration, then mounting rage which manifested in a clash of right shoulders between Kohli and Konstas. Who was this guy? How could he treat our Jassi, 6-2-38-0, like this?” Writing for the Deccan Herald , Madhu Jawali compared the buzz of Konstas’ innings to an early masterclass from the iconic Sachin Tendulkar. “Rewind your memories to 1989 when a 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar sensationally demolished Abdul Qadir, perhaps the best leg-spinner of that time, in an exhibition match against Pakistan on his debut series. “It was a lost cause for India until the precocious teenager decided to change the course of the game. India eventually fell short of target but Tendulkar had announced his arrival like few have since. “The scenes weren’t exactly as exhilarating at the near-full Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday, the opening day of the Boxing Day Test between India and Australia. But another immensely talented teen, Sam Konstas, unperturbed by reputations, took down the best fast bowler -- Jasprit Bumrah -- in the world with an audacious display of skill and temperament. “The rookie’s method, as unorthodox as it was effective, left the Indian maestro searching for answers.” Writing for the New Indian Express , Gomesh S described Konstas’ innings as a freak show with purpose. “Now, it all might seem like a freak show — to an extent, it was — but there was a method to Konstas madness. He used the reverse scoop to throw Bumrah off his length and put a fielder in the back and never brought it back again. In the first hour of the Test match — on a pitch that was flatter than expected — he had not just gotten under the skin of India captain Rohit Sharma who was struggling for moves, but also Bumrah who had to alter his lengths. “And then with the ball was pitched full, Konstas threw the bat down the ground. He became the first batter since Jost Buttler in 2021 to hit Bumrah for a six in Test cricket. He also ensured Bumrah went for more than run-a-ball in his first spell. The 34 of the 38 he scored is the most any batter has ever scored against Bumrah during a spell in Test cricket. Adding to it, Konstas would even say that he is keen on facing Bumrah in his second spell during a conversation with the broadcasters at drinks. “The teen sensation, who created history by just walking onto the field, lived up to every bit of hype that was around him as he got to his half-century in front of family and friends and coach Tahmid Islam who had flown in from Sydney to watch him. He eventually fell to Jadeja in the 20th over, with a 65-ball 60 to show, but Konstas’ knock was so much more than that.” Writing for the Indian Express , Sriram Veera said that Konstas might have made a century and that his teammates had not entirely capitalised on by far Australia’s best opening partnership of the series. “He had beaten Konstas four times in the first over and troubled him a few more times later, before the youngster decided it was time to play his card. A shimmy to the left and to the right and the audacious lapscoops came. Did he ever think that he might have looked silly had he been bowled, trying to do it? “He has every reason to be disappointed that he didn’t go on and get a hundred but it’s a few other teammates of his that should be disappointed as they have allowed the gate to be slightly ajar for India to gatecrash. “It was a day of goosebumps, sighs and relief. Firstly a record crowd of 87242 saw a plucky teenager live out a surreal dream, a moment made more surreal that it was the great Australian captain Mark Taylor, a dour dogged opening batsman, who gave the baggy green to him. Once the crowd got over the goosebumps provided by the kid, Australia made them sigh by yielding wickets and thus providing relief to Indians who could have found themselves under the mat.’ Speaking on Star Sports, former Australian coach and champion opening batter Justin Langer said that the tourists had underestimated Konstas. He revealed that an opposing opening batter had claimed he would not have the gumption to try ramp shots on Test debut. “Sam Konstas has been given a license to go and attack Bumrah, but that’s not easy. That is so hard to do. Even in T20 cricket, I think Bumrah’s economy rate is as good as anyone. So it’s not easy to do that. But the kid was bold, talking a good game, and then he came and put it into action. That’s what great players do. Anyone can talk a good game. He came and put it into action, and it was exciting to watch. “He’s only played 11 first-class games, but I did speak to KL Rahul before the game. And I said, ‘Have you seen this kid Sam Konstas?’ And he goes, ‘Oh, we only saw him in the Prime Minister’s XI game (50 overs). He was playing these ramp shots and all this sort of stuff.’ Rahul said, ‘But he won’t do that today.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, sure he won’t do that today.’ And straight away, Sam Konstas was doing that.”

Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh has died at the age of 92. Singh was one of India’s longest-serving prime ministers and he was considered the architect of key liberalising economic reforms, as premier from 2004-2014 and before that as finance minister. He had been admitted to a hospital in the capital Delhi after his health condition deteriorated, reports say. Among those who paid tribute to Singh on Thursday were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wrote on social media that “India mourns the loss of one of its most distinguished leaders”. Modi said that Singh’s “wisdom and humility were always visible” during their interactions and that he had “made extensive efforts to improve people’s lives” during his time as prime minister. Priyanka Gandhi, the daughter of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and a Congress party member, said that Singh was “genuinely egalitarian, wise, strong-willed and courageous until the end”. Her brother Rahul, who leads Congress, said he had “lost a mentor and guide”. Singh was the first Indian leader since Jawaharlal Nehru to be re-elected after serving a full first term, and the first Sikh to hold the country’s top post. He made a public apology in parliament for the 1984 riots in which some 3,000 Sikhs were killed. But his second term in office was marred by a string of corruption allegations that dogged his administration. The scandals, many say, were partially responsible for his Congress party’s crushing defeat in the 2014 general election. Singh was born on 26 September 1932, in a desolate village in the Punjab province of undivided India, which lacked both water and electricity. After attending Panjab University he took a master’s degree at the University of Cambridge and then a DPhil at Oxford. While studying at Cambridge, the lack of funds bothered Singh, his daughter, Daman Singh, wrote in a book on her parents. “His tuition and living expenses came to about £600 a year. The Panjab University scholarship gave him about £160. For the rest he had to depend on his father. Manmohan was careful to live very stingily. Subsidised meals in the dining hall were relatively cheap at two shillings sixpence.” Daman Singh remembered her father as “completely helpless about the house and could neither boil an egg, nor switch on the television”. Singh rose to political prominence as India’s finance minister in 1991, taking over as the country was plunging into bankruptcy. His unexpected appointment capped a long and illustrious career as an academic and civil servant – he served as an economic adviser to the government, and became the governor of India’s central bank. In his maiden speech as finance minister he famously quoted Victor Hugo, saying that “no power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come”. That served as a launchpad for an ambitious and unprecedented economic reform programme: he cut taxes, devalued the rupee, privatised state-run companies and encouraged foreign investment. The economy revived, industry picked up, inflation was checked and growth rates remained consistently high in the 1990s. Manmohan Singh was a man acutely aware of his lack of a political base. “It is nice to be a statesman, but in order to be a statesman in a democracy you first have to win elections,” he once said. When he tried to win election to India’s lower house in 1999, he was defeated. He sat instead in the upper house, chosen by his own Congress party. The same happened in 2004, when Singh was first appointed prime minister after Congress president Sonia Gandhi turned down the post – apparently to protect the party from damaging attacks over her Italian origins. Critics however alleged that Sonia Gandhi was the real source of power while he was prime minister, and that he was never truly in charge. The biggest triumph during his first five-year term was to bring India out of nuclear isolation by signing a landmark deal securing access to American nuclear technology. But the deal came at a price – the government’s Communist allies withdrew support after protesting against it, and Congress had to make up lost numbers by enlisting the support of another party amid charges of vote-buying. A consensus builder, Singh presided over a coalition of sometimes difficult, assertive and potentially unruly regional coalition allies and supporters. Although he earned respect for his integrity and intelligence, he also had a reputation for being soft and indecisive. Some critics claimed that the pace of reform slowed and he failed to achieve the same momentum he had while finance minister. (BBC News) Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

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