In addition to lifestyle modifications, individuals with high blood pressure may also benefit from prescribed medications to help regulate their blood pressure. These medications work in various ways to lower blood pressure, including diuretics, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, and angiotensin receptor blockers. It is essential for individuals with hypertension to work closely with their healthcare providers to develop a personalized treatment plan that addresses their unique needs and risk factors.kijiji login calgary 。

That being said, this shift in the media's perception of Mbappe is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be argued that criticism and scrutiny are a necessary part of a player's development and growth. By holding players like Mbappe to account and pushing them to improve, the media can help them reach new heights and fulfill their true potential.

As a seasoned detective, I always find it intriguing to see how the world of law enforcement is portrayed in movies and TV shows. One such recent series that caught my attention was "I Am a Detective," which has garnered a respectable 7.8 rating on Douban, a popular Chinese review platform. But the question remains: is this rating justified compared to the reality of grassroots criminal investigation?

Amid Planning for $20 Billion Magma Powered-Powered AI Data Center, Magma Power LLC Is Granted Its 14th U.S. Patent On Revolutionary Green Baseload Energy SourceMike Ferry, with the University of California San Diego Center for Energy Research, shows a bank of lithium ion batteries at UCSD in September 2022 in La Jolla, Calif. Winter Storm Elliott caused widespread power outages across the eastern U.S. in 2022, leaving 1.5 million people without electricity just days before Christmas. Indiana narrowly avoided similar rolling blackouts from the storm, which caused a huge spike in energy consumption while slowing the production of the natural gas that runs most power plants. But those outages could have been avoided or reduced if states had more large-scale battery energy storage systems, according to clean-energy advocates. The technology stores energy and can immediately disperse it to the grid whenever and wherever it’s needed. That was was proven true in Texas last year during an extreme heat wave that spiked energy use and threatened power outages. The state had massively increased its battery energy storage capacity following a deadly winter storm two years earlier. The extra power kept the lights on for Texans during the heat wave. But in Indiana, electric utilities have been slow to adopt the technology that advocates say is essential as electricity-guzzling data centers and high-tech manufacturing facilities move into the state and strain the grid. Indiana’s main power-grid operator, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), has already issued warnings it could face an electric-capacity deficit as early as next summer as coal plants rapidly close and energy demand grows. The deficit is only expected to increase over the next five years in the 15 states in which MISO operates. Now, even with the looming energy threat, Indiana utility companies still aren’t fully utilizing battery storage to stabilize and bolster the grid, according to Kerwin Olson, executive director of the Citizen Action Coalition, the state’s largest consumer and environmental advocacy organization. “Battery storage has enormous value,” he said. “But I think it’s a matter of moving these conservative utilities to adopt new technologies that they might not be as familiar with. I think they’re a little hesitant to accept it as a real resource.” Today, Indiana’s utility companies operate six battery-energy-storage facilities with a total capacity of 100 megawatts (MG). That’s enough to power roughly 16,000 homes for several hours, but not nearly adequate to stop blackouts during extreme weather events. For comparison, Texas has over 5,700 MG of battery storage capacity tied to the grid. Nearly all of that has been built over the last four years. The state now has the most battery energy storage in the nation. A view from inside one of AES’ existing battery storage projects in the U.S. The Indianapolis utility installed the state’s first facility in 2016. The industry as a whole has also seen major growth. By the end of 2024, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects that the nation’s battery capacity will exceed 30 GW, or 30,000 MG, marking a five-fold increase since 2020. Energy storage systems do more than help avoid blackouts. Clean-energy advocates say they are playing a critical role in transitioning to renewables like wind and solar, which produce extra energy during peak operation that can be stored in batteries and then dispersed when needed. Those systems have existed for decades, but improvements to battery technology are making storage facilities more affordable and reliable than ever. In Indiana, the Indianapolis-based utility AES has led the state in implementing battery storage. The company tested the first grid-connected commercial lithium-ion battery in 2008 and opened a 20-MG site in 2016 that became the first grid-scale battery storage system in MISO. Now, AES is building a facility in Pike County that will store and deliver up to 200 MW of electricity for four hours to help meet energy demand during peak times. The project will be one of the largest storage systems in MISO. “As we’ve seen our generation portfolio transform over the past decade to include natural gas, wind and solar, battery storage has been necessary to improve grid operation and efficiency,” AES said in an email. Other utilities have been far less aggressive. Duke Energy and CenterPoint have each installed two smaller-scale systems. NIPSO this summer opened a 60-MW facility in White County and will soon open another 75-MW storage system in Jasper County. Most state utilities’ snails-pace adoption of battery storage indicates they don’t fully buy in to the benefits and are hesitant to embrace and incorporate a new technology, explained Olson. Kerwin Olson, executive director of the Citizens Action Coalition, informs residents of New Albany about proposed rate increases and how they will affect them. “I’ve heard utilities say, ‘We know what we know and we like what we know,’” he said. “Except what they know is incredibly expensive and incredibly dirty, and there’s a better way to do it.” But the biggest obstacle to quickly expanding battery storage in Indiana isn’t the utilities, argued Noah Roberts, vice president of energy storage at American Clean Power, which represents over 800 clean-energy companies. It’s grid operators like MISO, which have outdated rules on how energy storage can be incorporated into the electric grid, he said. That’s led to a backlog of projects waiting to come online in Indiana. Those connection queues have become significantly longer in the last few years due to the increased requests coming from the growing number of renewable facilities, according to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s annual 2024 report. In 2021, over 22% of requests to connect to the grid came from battery storage. Roberts said how quickly battery energy is deployed in Indiana depends on whether MISO updates its rules to fully utilize the technology. Once those barriers are lifted, he predicts a major uptick in battery-storage projects. “As energy storage is deployed in Indiana and other states in the Midwest, they will realize the very real and tangible benefits of integrating energy storage,” Roberts said. “That will accelerate other changes that need to occur to enable more energy storage.” Even with grid restrictions, a slate of battery projects are under construction that will substantially expand the state’s capacity. But it’s not utilities building them. Nearly all the projects are coming from private developments. Five projects are set come online in the next three years, adding in total 443 MG of storage. A list of upcoming battery storage projects being built by private companies that have been approved in Indiana as of July 1, 2024. That energy can be sold to utilities, some of which do have plans to add substantial amounts of battery storage to their portfolio in the next five years. Duke Energy wants 400 MW of storage to be in service by 2030. NIPSCO plans to add 500 to 900 MG by 2029, but noted that depends on MISO and how it accredits the energy. Indiana lawmakers have also started to cautiously consider battery storage and have approved new regulations on the burgeoning industry. An energy-policy task force report in 2022 determined that “thoughtful attention to fact-based and rational timelines” is necessary to responsibly include battery storage on the grid. Legislators followed up on the report last year by passing a bill detailing a number of siting and safety rules for battery projects, which must now receive approval from the Department of Homeland Security and comply with the National Fire Protection Association’s standards. The Indiana Office of Energy Development has also commissioned a report researching utility-scale battery energy storage systems and their economic impact to provide best practices for local governments and utilities that want to implement them. The report is due in March. Indiana Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, who chairs the Senate Utility Committee, said he hopes battery-storage technology continues to improve, but until it does, he holds some reservations about its large-scale adoption. Eric Koch “We have to be very careful about introducing new technologies into the field before they’ve been validated and verified, but we should always be doing research,” he said. Koch said he and other lawmakers have put serious thought into ensuring the state has enough electricity to accommodate the rapid growth of data centers and other high-energy users. They plan to introduce legislation next year targeting energy policy involving those industries, he said. “It could be an issue, but it is certainly a manageable issue,” he said. “And if we manage it right, I don’t foresee any concerns.” But Olson said legislators and utilities need to make battery storage a top priority in that plan. Failing to incorporate it into the state’s energy portfolio likely means utilities will only build more natural gas power plants, which are far more expensive and come with their own environmental concerns. For that to happen, state officials need to fully embrace the benefits battery storage provides to the grid and to Hoosier residents, he argued. “Storage is an absolute necessity if we are going to have an all-of-the-above energy strategy that has a goal of reducing prices for customers and increasing reliability, resiliency and stability of the grid,” he said. “Otherwise, we’re going to be left with the outdated 20th century model.”

In a very unusual occurrence related to the Right To Information (RTI) Act in India, the Calcutta National Medical College asked a researcher named Sabir Ahamed to prove his Indian citizenship in reply to his submitting an RTI query, The Telegraph reported. Sabir Ahamed, a researcher who works with Pratichi Trust had reportedly submitted an RTI seeking data from 23 medical colleges in West Bengal. The RTI sought details on their students, faculty and administrative employees, including details such as social groups they belonged. The data, which does not come under any restricted information category, was required by Sabir Ahamed for his research on the representation of underprivileged populations in the state’s medical education and administration. “As a researcher, I have filed more than 2,500 applications in various departments of state and central governments since the enactment of the (RTI) law. This was the first time I was asked to prove my citizenship. According to the RTI Act, a mere declaration of citizenship is typically sufficient,” Ahamed was quoted by The Telegraph . On December 2, the Calcutta National Medical College sent a response to the RTI plea asking Ahamed to prove his Indian citizenship. “In response to your RTI application..., the undersigned would like to mention that you have not declared in the said application that you are a citizen of India. Therefore we are unable to are unable to answer your queries until you provide proof of your Indian Citizenship,” said the communication, signed by the state public information officer (SPIO). Ahamed replied to the SPIO with a copy of his Aadhaar card. On December 6, a reply came agreeing to share the information as he has provided the information identifying as a researcher while stating that the Aadhaar card was not considered proof of Indian citizenship. The Union government’s website mentions that there is no requirement for proof of citizenship to apply for any information under RTI. However, it mentions that if the SPIO or any other concerned officer doubts whether the applicant is an Indian citizen, proof may be asked. “My question is: what made the SPIO of the medical college find reason to believe I am not an Indian citizen, or doubt my citizenship? Was it my name, or was it an attempt to deny information?” Ahamed said. Sabir Ahamed is the national coordinator of the Pratichi Institute, which was founded by the Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen.NEW DAWN IN SYRIAkijiji london 。

Percentages: FG .596, FT .833. 3-Point Goals: 10-23, .435 (Kopp 4-7, Nyeri 3-5, Petty 2-3, Ammons 1-3, Grady 0-2, Hall 0-3). Team Rebounds: 0. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 2 (Nyeri, Petty). Turnovers: 8 (Ammons 2, Hall 2, Ebonkoli, Ijeh, Kopp, Petty). Steals: 6 (Kopp 2, Diallo, Ebonkoli, Grady, Petty). Technical Fouls: None. Percentages: FG .475, FT .462. 3-Point Goals: 5-18, .278 (Ríos 2-7, L.Gonzalez 1-1, Fret 1-2, Hollingsworth 1-2, Fraguada 0-1, Texidor 0-1, Rivera 0-2, Torres 0-2). Team Rebounds: 0. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 1 (Rivera). Turnovers: 12 (L.Gonzalez 4, Fret 3, Benitez 2, A.Gonzalez, Ríos, Torres). Steals: 3 (Benitez, L.Gonzalez, Ramirez). Technical Fouls: None. .

National Museum - Tepapa I enjoyed Disney’s 2016 film Moana. My relatives and I attended the Reo Maori release here in Aotearoa, in a packed theatre of Maori language supporters. Watching the film in our own language was emotional and powerful. Moana is a seagoing adventure portraying the courage of its Pacific characters. I see many aspects of Maori communities represented in the film: our elders, our voyaging history, our language and culture, our ability to adapt, our sense of spirituality and our hope. I see the characters in my own whanau (extended family). My nephew is similar to the character of Maui, the demigod voiced by Dwayne Johnson. He’s a likeable “big-boned” fulla with a quick wit – an overly confident rascal who draws others to him with a playfulness that gets him into (and out of) trouble. At the same time, movies like Moana – in which non-Indigenous creators try to tell Indigenous stories – raise sensitive questions about authenticity, cultural appropriation and veiled forms of continuing colonisation. Disney’s bottom line is to develop characters and storylines that suit a global market and will ultimately be financially viable. Perhaps this is why it missed so many key characteristics of Maui as he is known to the Polynesian people. Maui returns to the big screen in Disney’s Moana 2. Disney In Moana, there is a mystique around Maui’s demigod status; he sits in the space between the gods and humanity. Like the Maui of Polynesia, he can shapeshift, wields a magic hook and is courageous. Yet this Hollywood Maui would have no chance against the Maui of Polynesia , who is not a god to be worshipped, but a spirit – a set of characteristics identified through the actions of a person. Maui’s spirit lives today and can be activated by his descendants to do extraordinary things. Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia make up the Pacific islands. Wikimedia , CC BY-SA A Maori view of Maui Maui’s biggest muscles were in his head and stomach (where Maori believe the core being of a person is located). However, there is no record of him having an appearance that made him stand out in the community. When Maui decided to rejoin his birth family as a young man, he lined up with his brothers, and his mother was unable to see a difference between the siblings’ physical builds. This is in contrast with his unusually large build in Moana. He also wasn’t the playful, reckless larrikin depicted in Moana. He saw the world through clear eyes and calculated his way forward, courageously approaching challenges as opportunities to demonstrate his mastery. He was innovative, intelligent, confident and resourceful – and most of what he did would benefit the whole community. That said, he could also be devious, cruel and jealous as he pushed to achieve his goals. One of his names is “Maui-potiki”, or “Maui the youngest sibling”, which signals the characteristics of someone who challenged the status quo – a free thinker and a clever trickster. Supernatural power leads to supernatural deeds Maui faced a series of challenges . Some were forced on him, such as surviving his infancy. At birth he was presumed dead (or near death) and was abandoned to the sea. His grandfather rescued and raised him, teaching him skills, knowledge and karakia – the spiritual means to bend the laws of the universe in his favour. In Maori lore, Maui is said to have used his fish hook to pull up the pacific islands, including New Zealand. Wilhelm Dittmer/Wikimedia He faced many challenges in his world, and his responses conveyed important social and life lessons. For instance, the days were too short and people were unable to complete their work before nightfall. So Maui’s answer was to slow the Sun’s journey across the sky. He convinced his sceptical brothers to help him and they went to the pit where the Sun rose each day. Armed with plaited ropes, infused with spiritual power to hold the Sun, as well as the sacred jawbone of his ancestor (which he also used as a hook), they stationed themselves around the pit and waited. As the Sun rose into the morning sky, the brothers pulled their ropes to form a tight net, trapping the Sun. Maui quickly climbed onto the Sun and began to beat him (the Sun is personified and thought to be masculine in Maori belief) with his ancestor’s jawbone. Dazed and battered, the Sun asked Maui the reason for the attack, who then gave him an ultimatum: “Slow your movement across the sky (or I’ll be back)!” The Sun, from fear and injury, slowed down, providing a useful length of daylight for the people. While violence may not be a justifiable approach to change, there’s still much to learn from this incident. When you need to get something done, you should have a plan, build a team, make use of the resources available to you, be courageous and go for it. Stories spread across the seas Maui is credited with many other exploits . He hauled islands up across the Pacific. He spoke with the gods and creatures of the Earth. He even brought fire to the world from the goddess Mahuika and came close to conquering death. Maui and the fire goddess, 1952, Wellington, by E Mervyn Taylor. Purchased 2004. Te Papa (2004-0026-1). Museum of New Zealand/Te Papa Tongarewa , CC BY-SA Each story contains layers of knowledge, explaining important aspects of the world and human behaviour. This information was so significant that these stories have been passed down through generations for hundreds of years – spread with our voyaging ancestors across the Pacific, the largest continent in the world. As such, Maui pops up in stories all across Polynesia, reaching into Melanesia and Micronesia. While the tales about the character, attitude, aptitude and mana (the spiritual lifeforce) are similar, variations exist across Polynesia. Moana aims to entertain and speak to us and our children. Perhaps the sequel will now reawaken Maui-based discussions on marae (Maori communal spaces) and other Pacific forums. Or perhaps the spirit of Maui will see this “harmless rascal” persona as a launch pad to galvanise his descendants into addressing the ills that face them today. Kia ara ake ano te kawa a Maui – let the spirit of Maui arise. And enjoy the movie. Mike Ross receives funding from Victoria University of Wellington, The Waitangi Tribunal,

`Changes In Foreign Policy Needed Amid Changing Landscape`: EAM

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Brock Purdy threw one short pass in the open portion of practice for the San Francisco 49ers as he remains slowed by an injury to his throwing shoulder that has already forced him to miss a game. Purdy spent the bulk of the session of Wednesday's practice open to reporters as either a spectator or executing handoffs outside of one short pass to Jordan Mason. Purdy hurt his shoulder during a loss to Seattle on Nov. 17. He tried to throw at practice last Thursday but had soreness in his right shoulder and shut it down. He missed a loss to Green Bay but was able to do some light throwing on Monday. His status for this week remains in doubt as the Niners (5-6) prepare to visit Buffalo on Sunday night. Purdy isn't the only key player for San Francisco dealing with injuries. Left tackle Trent Williams and defensive end Nick Bosa remain sidelined at practice Wednesday after missing last week's game. Williams was using a scooter to get around the locker room as he deals with a left ankle injury. Bosa has been out with injuries to his left hip and oblique. Bosa said the week off helped him make progress and that he hopes to be able to take part in individual drills later in the week. Bosa wouldn't rule out being able to play on Sunday. "It’s feeling a lot better,” Bosa said. “Still need to get better before I’m ready to go. This week will be big and I’ll know a lot more in the next couple of days.” Running back Christian McCaffrey has been able to play, but isn't back to the form that helped him win AP Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 after missing the first eight games this season with Achilles tendinitis. McCaffrey has 149 yards rushing in three games back with his 3.5 yards per carry down significantly from last season's mark of 5.4. But he is confident he will be able to get back to his usual level of play. “When you lose and maybe you don’t jump out on the stat sheet, your failures are highlighted,” he said. “I’m happy I’m out here playing football and I just know with time it will come.” Coach Kyle Shanahan said he has liked what he has seen from McCaffrey, adding that there hasn't been much room to run in recent weeks. But Shanahan said it takes time to get back to speed after McCaffrey had almost no practice time for nine months. “Guys who miss offseasons and miss training camp, usually it takes them a little bit of time at the beginning of the year to get back into how they were the year before, let alone missing half the season also on top of that,” Shanahan said. “I think Christian’s doing a hell of a job. But to just think him coming back in Week 8 with not being able to do anything for the last nine months or whatever it is, and to think he’s just going to be in MVP form is a very unrealistic expectation.” NOTES: LB Dre Greenlaw took part in his first practice since tearing his Achilles tendon in the Super Bowl. Greenlaw will likely need a couple of weeks of practice before being able to play. ... LB Fred Warner said he has been dealing with a fracture in his ankle since Week 4 and is doing his best to manage the pain as he plays through it. ... CB Deommodore Lenoir didn't practice after banging knees on Sunday. His status for this week remains in question. ... DT Jordan Elliott (concussion), OL Aaron Banks (concussion) and LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (knee) also didn't practice. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Adele bids tearful farewell to her Las Vegas residency: I will miss it terribly

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kijiji manitoba In an intense showdown between the Shanxi Loongs and the Beijing Ducks, the Shanxi team emerged victorious with a 106-101 win, effectively ending Beijing's impressive six-game winning streak. This thrilling match not only showcased the competitive spirit and skills of both teams but also signaled Shanxi's ascent in the league standings, now holding the third position.NEW YORK, Nov. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading securities law firm Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP announces that a lawsuit has been filed against ASML Holding N.V. ASML and certain of the Company's senior executives for potential violations of the federal securities laws. If you invested in ASML, you are encouraged to obtain additional information by visiting https://www.bfalaw.com/cases-investigations/asml-holding-nv . Investors have until January 13, 2025, to ask the Court to be appointed to lead the case. The complaint asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 on behalf of investors in ASML securities. The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and is captioned City of Hollywood Firefighters' Pension Fund v. ASML Holding N.V., et al. , No. 24-cv-8664. What is the Lawsuit About? ASML is a leading supplier to the semiconductor industry, providing photolithography machines to chipmakers that are used in the semiconductor fabrication process. The complaint alleges that ASML repeatedly represented to shareholders that new export controls on semiconductor technology announced by the Dutch government would not have a material effect on ASML's financial outlook, and that ASML was on a path to recovery in its sales. On October 15, 2024, ASML announced earnings significantly lower than expectations. The Company attributed this to a market that was "taking longer to recover" and admitted that "[i]t now appears the recovery is more gradual than previously expected." On this news, the price of the Company's stock fell 16%, from a closing price of $872.27 per share on October 14, 2024, to $730.43 per share on October 15, 2024. Then, during the accompanying earnings call with investors on October 16, 2024, the Company attributed the poor earnings results to "a reflection of the slow recovery in the traditional [semiconductor] end markets as customers remain cautious in the current environment." The Company also disclosed that the decline in ASML's sales to China would also negatively impact the Company's gross margins. On this news, the price of the Company's stock fell 6.4%, from a closing price of $730.43 per share on October 15, 2024, to $683.52 per share on October 16, 2024. Click here if you suffered losses: https://www.bfalaw.com/cases-investigations/asml-holding-nv . What Can You Do? If you invested in ASML you may have legal options and are encouraged to submit your information to the firm. All representation is on a contingency fee basis, there is no cost to you. Shareholders are not responsible for any court costs or expenses of litigation. The firm will seek court approval for any potential fees and expenses. Submit your information by visiting: https://www.bfalaw.com/cases-investigations/asml-holding-nv Or contact: Ross Shikowitz ross@bfalaw.com 212-789-3619 Why Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP? Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP is a leading international law firm representing plaintiffs in securities class actions and shareholder litigation. It was named among the Top 5 plaintiff law firms by ISS SCAS in 2023 and its attorneys have been named Titans of the Plaintiffs' Bar by Law360 and SuperLawyers by Thompson Reuters. Among its recent notable successes, BFA recovered over $900 million in value from Tesla, Inc.'s Board of Directors (pending court approval), as well as $420 million from Teva Pharmaceutical Ind. Ltd. For more information about BFA and its attorneys, please visit https://www.bfalaw.com . https://www.bfalaw.com/cases-investigations/asml-holding-nv Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.During the meeting, it was recognized that the global economic landscape is undergoing significant transformations and challenges. In this context, it is imperative for China to adopt a forward-looking approach in formulating economic strategies to effectively tackle the uncertainties and complexities in the international arena.

Nvidia, as a leading player in the semiconductor market, faces heightened scrutiny from regulatory authorities worldwide due to its significant market power and rapid expansion through mergers and acquisitions. The EU's investigation underscores the importance of maintaining a level playing field in the tech industry and ensuring that all companies abide by fair competition rules to foster innovation and benefit consumers.By JESSICA DAMIANO Finding the perfect gift can be daunting. The only way to truly ensure you get it right would be to ask the recipient what they want, but that wouldn’t be much fun for either of you. Luckily, there’s another tactic to help you earn a “gift whisperer” reputation: seeking out unique, practical, game-changing gifts that will truly surprise and delight. But that’s about as easy as it sounds, which is to say it’s not easy at all. So, we’ve done the legwork for you. Start making your list with this compilation of some of the most innovative, functional and fun gifts of 2024. There’s something for every budget. Bear with me: The new FinaMill Ultimate Spice Grinder set elevates the pedestrian pepper and spice mill in both function and style. Available in three colors (Sangria Red, Midnight Black and Soft Cream), the rechargeable-battery unit grinds with a light touch rather than hand-tiring twists. That’s easier for everyone and especially helpful for those experiencing hand or wrist issues such as arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome or tendinitis. And it’s fun to use. The set includes a stackable storage tray and four pods that can be easily swapped as needed: The GT microplane grater for hard spices, nuts and chocolate; the MAX for large spices and dried herbs; the ProPlus for smaller and oily spices; and the Pepper Pod for, well, pepper. $110. Campers and backyard firepit lovers who have experienced the heartbreak of wet wood will appreciate having a three-pack of Pull Start Fire on hand. Made of 89% recycled materials, including sanding dust, wax and flint, the food-safe, eco-friendly, 3-by-2-by-1-inch fire starters will light a fire quickly without matches, lighters or kindling. Just loop the attached green string around a log, incorporate it into a wood stack, and pull the attached red string to ignite. Each windproof, rainproof block burns for 30 minutes. $29.99. The No Mess Utensil Set from Souper Cubes , a company known for its portioned, silicone freezer trays, lives up to its name. The utensils — a serving spoon and a ladle — have innovative, S-shaped handles designed to rest on the edge of a pot, keeping them upright so they won’t slip in. The design also eliminates the need for a spoon rest or, worse, placing dirty utensils on the kitchen counter or stovetop between stirs. A silicone coating in a choice of Aqua, Charcoal, Cranberry or Blueberry keeps handles cool to the touch. $24.99. The FeatherSnap Wi-Fi smart bird feeder could turn anyone into an avid birdwatcher. Equipped with an HD camera, the dual-chamber feeder enables up-close livestreaming of avian visitors, as well as species-logging via the free mobile app. An optional premium subscription ($59.99 annually or $6.99 monthly) includes unlimited photo and video storage, AI identification with species-specific details, and the opportunity to earn badges for logging new visitors. Turn on notifications to get alerts sent to your phone whenever there’s activity at the feeder. $179.99. Fujifilm’s Instax Mini Link 3 smartphone printer offers a touch of nostalgia without sacrificing technology. Just load the 4.9-by-3.5-by-1.3-inch printer with Instax Mini instant film and connect it to your Android or iOS device via Bluetooth to print wallet-size photos. If you want to get fancy, you can adjust brightness, contrast and saturation, or apply filters, including 3D augmented-reality effects, via the free Instax Mini Link app. It can also make collages of up to six images, or animate photos to share on social media. Available in Rose Pink, Clay White and Sage Green. $99.95. The appropriately named easyplant is one of the best gifts you can give your houseplant-loving friends, regardless of their experience level. Select a pot color, size and plant (or get recommendations based on sunlight requirements, pet friendliness and other attributes) and fill the self-watering container’s built-in reservoir roughly once a month. Moisture will permeate the soil from the bottom as needed, eliminating the often-fatal consequences of over- or under-watering. It’s also a literal lifesaver come vacation time. $49-$259. Related Articles Things To Do | US airports with worst weather delays during holiday season Things To Do | The right book can inspire the young readers in your life, from picture books to YA novels Things To Do | Holiday gift ideas for the movie lover, from bios and books to a status tote Things To Do | ‘Gladiator II’ review: Are you not moderately entertained? Things To Do | Beer pairings for your holiday feasts If you’ve got a no-dairy friend on your list, a plant-based milk maker could save them money while allowing them to avoid sugar, stabilizers, thickeners and preservatives. The Nama M1 appliance both blends and strains ingredients, converting nuts, seeds, grains or oats into velvety-smooth milk in just one minute, with zero grit. And for zero waste, the pasty leftover pulp can be used in other recipes for added nutrients. The device also makes infused oils, flavored waters and soups. And, importantly, cleanup is easy. Available in white and black. $400. For friends who prefer stronger beverages, the QelviQ personal sommelier uses “smart” technology to ensure wine is served at its ideal temperature. Unlike traditional wine refrigerators, this device doesn’t take up any floor space. It also doesn’t chill wine to just one or two temperatures based on its color. Instead — paired with the free QelviQ app — the tabletop chiller relies on a database of more than 350,000 wines to bring a bottle to its specific recommended serving temperature in as little as 20 minutes. It also suggests food-wine and wine-food pairings. Plus, the appliance serves as a great icebreaker to inspire dinnertime conversation. Available in Exciting Red, Dashing Black and Dreamy White. $495. Grilling food after dark — and ascertaining its doneness — can prove challenging without outdoor lighting, and it’s nearly impossible to cook while holding a flashlight. But as is often the case, the simplest of solutions can make the biggest of impacts: Uncommon Good’s 2-piece LED Grilling Tool Set puts illumination into the handles of its stainless-steel spatula and tongs. After use, the lights can be removed and the utensils run through the dishwasher. $40.Peyton's steal was not only a result of his individual effort, but also highlighted the effectiveness of the Lakers' team defense. As soon as Peyton saw an opportunity to make a play on the ball, his teammates quickly surrounded Edwards, applying pressure and forcing him into a difficult position. This suffocating defense forced Edwards to make a hurried pass, which Peyton intercepted with lightning-quick reflexes.

At a price point of $46 for a pack of 12 bottles, some may find the cost to be on the higher side for a beverage product. However, the uniqueness and novelty of the collaboration, along with the limited availability, may attract collectors and fans who are willing to pay a premium for a one-of-a-kind experience.Fianna Fail and Fine Gael eye independent TDs as option to secure Dail majority

South Dakota scores with 12 seconds left to beat FCS top-ranked North Dakota State 29-28UCF, LSU face off with improved focus in mindIn order to address the challenges brought about by the ongoing economic uncertainties, policymakers have once again emphasized the need for proactive and effective macroeconomic policies in the upcoming year. The central theme remains on strengthening counter-cyclical adjustment measures beyond the norm, while also highlighting the importance of maintaining a moderately loose monetary policy stance.

In addition to these external factors, several domestic developments have further fueled the rally in the A-share market. The positive earnings reports from major companies, showing robust performance and strong growth prospects, have instilled confidence in investors about the market's resilience and potential for future gains.

South Korea, a country known for its rich history and cultural heritage, recently made a remarkable archaeological discovery that has captured the attention of scholars and historians worldwide. In a dig site near the ancient capital of Gyeongju, archaeologists unearthed four well-preserved wooden tablets dating back over a thousand years. What makes these findings truly significant is that these ancient artifacts are inscribed with a plethora of Chinese characters, providing valuable insights into the linguistic and cultural exchanges between Korea and China during that period.The education bureau attributed the misunderstanding to a lack of proper communication and training among school registration staff. They acknowledged that the erroneous insistence on providing great-grandparents' family background information was a mistake and assured the public that steps would be taken to rectify the situation. Training sessions for school staff would be organized to ensure they are well-informed about the policies and guidelines regarding the political review process.As Liverpool continue their relentless march towards another Champions League triumph, the footballing world is eagerly anticipating the knockout stages, where the Reds will undoubtedly be a formidable opponent for any team. With their attacking flair, defensive solidity, and winning mentality, Liverpool have once again proven why they are one of the most feared teams in Europe, and their quest for European glory shows no signs of slowing down.

With a stirring musical score composed by the acclaimed duo of Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina, the trailer evokes a range of emotions, from heart-pounding excitement to poignant introspection. The characters' struggles, triumphs, and personal growth are beautifully portrayed through both visuals and music, ensuring that the movie resonates with viewers on a deep and emotional level.When we talk about "moderate easing," we are referring to a set of monetary policy tools aimed at lowering interest rates, increasing money supply, and encouraging borrowing and spending. This approach is often used by central banks to provide stimulus to the economy during periods of sluggish growth or recession. The idea is that by making borrowing cheaper and more accessible, businesses will invest more, consumers will spend more, and overall economic activity will pick up.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Ryan Forrest's 30 points led N.C. A&T over North Carolina Central 85-72 on Saturday. Forrest shot 12 of 18 from the field, including 2 for 4 from 3-point range, and went 4 for 7 from the line for the Aggies (4-10). Landon Glasper scored 25 points while going 7 of 17 from the floor, including 5 for 12 from 3-point range, and 6 for 6 from the line. Jahnathan Lamothe went 3 of 7 from the field (1 for 4 from 3-point range) to finish with nine points, while adding eight rebounds. The Aggies stopped an eight-game skid with the win. Po'Boigh King finished with 21 points for the Eagles (6-10). Keishon Porter added 11 points and seven rebounds for North Carolina Central. Dionte Johnson also recorded 11 points. N.C. A&T took the lead with 1:28 remaining in the first half and never looked back. The score was 46-39 at halftime, with Glasper racking up 18 points. Forrest scored 18 points in the second half to help lead the way as N.C. A&T went on to secure a victory, outscoring North Carolina Central by six points in the second half. NEXT UP Up next for N.C. A&T is a matchup Thursday with Elon at home. North Carolina Central hosts Saint Andrews (NC) on Tuesday. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

Meanwhile, in Syria, the sudden and drastic changes in the political landscape have caught the US by surprise. The rapid fall of the Assad regime and the rise of various factions vying for control have created a power vacuum that threatens to destabilize the entire region. The US, along with its allies in the region, is struggling to navigate the complex web of alliances and conflicts in Syria, and formulate a coherent response to the evolving situation.Biden administration races to approve clean energy loans before Trump takes over — here’s who’s benefitting

Karachi, Islamabad among other major cities face cellular, internet service disruptionsIn the realm of European football, there are few feats as impressive as claiming the highly coveted UEFA Champions League title. And when a team not only secures that title, but does so in dominant fashion, their achievement resonates far beyond the confines of the pitch. Such is the story of the reigning champions, who have once again asserted their dominance in the competition by claiming an unprecedented 6th Champions League crown and securing 5 consecutive victories in the group stage.

The new guidelines, developed by a coalition of legal experts, law enforcement officials, and domestic violence advocates, aim to streamline the process of collecting and presenting evidence of domestic violence in court. The guidelines outline specific types of evidence that can be considered in cases of domestic violence, such as medical reports, photographs of injuries, witness statements, and electronic communications. By providing a standardized framework for evidence collection, the guidelines seek to ensure that victims have access to the support and protection they need to seek justice and safety.As news of the multiple cases of patrons falling ill at the bathhouse spread, concerned citizens and local authorities took immediate action to investigate the root cause of the problem and ensure the well-being of those affected. Several individuals were promptly transported to nearby medical facilities for assessment and treatment, with medical professionals working diligently to address their symptoms and provide the necessary care.

Western Pa. experts offer tips on navigating lingering election-related tensions over holidays

In one of the wildest finishes to a game in NFL history, the Dallas Cowboys used two kickoff returns for touchdowns in the final 2:49 to upset the Washington Commanders, 34-26. It felt like the Cowboys won this game three times and tried to lose it just as many. It's the biggest upset in the league this season, as Dallas was a 10.5-point underdog. ... while also taking some obvious steps toward tanking its way to a better pick in the April NFL Draft. But then the game got in the way of that plan ... Our Top 10 observations on the wackiest game in franchise history: 10. TOP 10 EDIT: And to think, this game was a 3-3 snoozefest at halftime. Not sure exactly where this unpredictable, amazing, history-making fourth quarter belongs in the annals of Cowboys-Commanders history , but it's got to wedge itself in there somewhere right? The last eight minutes were a heck of a football game in itself, featuring 41 points, a 99-yard kickoff return, an 86-yard touchdown pass, a two-point conversion, a missed extra point, an onside kick returned for a touchdown and a Commanders' Hail Mary intercepted by Israel Mukuamu to finally end it. Whew. 9. ONE OF THE AGES: This was the first game in NFL history to feature two kickoff returns to touchdown, two missed extra points and a blocked punt. It was an absolute cornucopia of dramatic plays both spectacular and down right stupid. 8. NOT-SEE TV: Let's admit it, the first half was wholly unwatchable. The Cowboys had a dropped pass by Jalen Tolbert on third down, a blocked field goal, a missed field goal by Brandon Aubrey, a fumble by Rico Dowdle, a shotgun snap that sailed over Cooper Rush's head and a punt blocked. Despite that comedy of errors, somehow it was 3-3 at the break. The Commanders should be embarrassed. And ultimately, they were. 7. FINAL, FATAL FLAW: In a loosey-goosey game that both teams made more than their share of mistakes to lose, the Commanders wound up making the biggest. After pulling within 27-26 with 21 seconds remaining, kicker Austin Seibert hooked the extra point wide left after a low snap. Seibert, who missed the last two games with a hip injury, missed two PATs after not missing one all season. The Cowboys had laughably bad coverage on Terry McLaurin's 86-yard touchdown pass and, yes, Juanyeh Thomas should have just fallen down after recovering an onside kickoff that would have ended the game. But in a game of top this, it was a simple extra point that sealed the shocker. 6. SEE CEEDE: For a guy roundly criticized for his seemingly negative body language, CeeDee Lamb sure looked like he wanted to have a positive impact on this game. He caught 10 passes for 67 yards, but it was his hustle play at the end of the first half that stood out. After Noah Igbinoghene picked off Rush and began running deep in Dallas territory in the last minute of the first half, Lamb sprinted back and made a tackle that jarred the ball loose. Hunter Luepke caught the ball out of the air and three plays later the Cowboys kicked a field goal for a halftime tie. 5. WACKY WIN: Still not sure how the Cowboys won this game on the road against a 7-4 team. They ... allowed 412 yards of offense, coughed up an 86-yard touchdown pass while trying to protect a seven-point lead with 30 seconds remaining, had a punt blocked, had a field goal blocked and missed a field goal. Given those elements - plus Dak Prescott not in uniform - the degree of difficulty was off the charts. Related: Cowboys’ Opening Drives End in Double Disaster 4. BUSTED GUYTON?: It's too early call Cowboys' first-round draft choice Tyler Guyton a complete bust, or is it? The rookie was called for four penalties including an illegal formation that negated a 23-yard completion to CeeDee Lamb. ... and he was eventually, to our eyes, benched. 3. UNSPECIAL TEAMS: Nothing like a blocked punt, blocked field goal, missed field goal and short kickoff that gift-wrapped the Commanders field position at their 40-yard line to start the second half. Not sure if Bones Fassel has endured a worse day as the Cowboys' special teams coach. Until ... 2. KAVONTAE KRAZY!: In a game that featured a season's worth of wacky, there was nothing crazier than KaVontae Turpin's touchdown return. With Washington having just scored and converted a two-point conversion to pull within 20-17, Turpin let the kickoff bounce and awkwardly go between his legs. He eventually picked the ball - with one hand, mind you - at the 1-yard line. From there he sort of slow-walked to the 10, where he made a remarkable spin move and then hit high gear in no time to ultimately go untouched 99 yards for a touchdown. It was the Cowboys' first kickoff return in 50 games. Par for the course on this zany day, they'd get another one from Thomas 2:35 later. 1. RARE RIVALRY: This shocking outcome - Washington was favored by 10.5 points - had all the feel of 1989. In that season, the lowly Cowboys went 1-15 with their only win in Washington ... in November ... using a backup quarterback. Sunday it was Rush ending Dallas' five-game losing streak; 35 years ago it was Steve Walsh leading a 13-3 upset. And in the end? Organic Tanking will have to wait. Related: Quinn Stoking Cowboys-Commanders Rivalry: Top 10 GamesMinnesota Frost fall to Montreal, hit end of four-game PWHL winning streak1. Suning Real Estate Group

The highly anticipated Peaky Blinders film “won’t be the end” of the popular gangster series, creator Steven Knight has said. Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy is reprising his role as Birmingham gangster Tommy Shelby for the film, which is set following the events of the original BBC drama which ran for six series from 2013 to 2022. Following the film wrapping production, Knight has revealed that it will be around a year before the project is released. Speaking to Times Radio about a future release date, Knight said: “It’s a bit too soon for that, but you know, you can sort of work out that it will be about a year.” Asked if there are any more plans for Peaky Blinders beyond the film, he replied: “It’s interesting you should ask that question because the film is coming out and that won’t be the end.” The screenwriter was questioned if that meant fans could expect more series in the future, but he refused to provide more details. The film is believed to be titled The Immortal Man and has been teased to involve new conflicts for the Shelby family set during the Second World War. THAT'S A WRAP. The Peaky Blinders film has completed production. 📸: Robert Viglasky pic.twitter.com/VImZlFWZdQ — Netflix (@netflix) December 19, 2024 Saltburn and The Banshees Of Inisherin star Barry Keoghan will join fellow Irish actor Murphy in the new film. Earlier this month a photo was shared by Netflix of the pair looking jubilant while wearing flat caps and suits as the streamer confirmed filming had wrapped on the project. Other returning cast members include British actors Stephen Graham as union organiser Hayden Stagg and Sophie Rundle as Ada Shelby, while Dune actress Rebecca Ferguson and Pulp Fiction actor Tim Roth have also joined the project. Tom Harper, who previously directed episodes in the first season in 2013, will return to helm the film. Knight previously told Netflix’s Tudum site: “It will be an explosive chapter in the Peaky Blinders story. No holds barred. Full-on Peaky Blinders at war.” When the series came to an end in 2022 after nine years, Tommy appeared to put his criminal past behind him. Across the six series, the show tackled the rise of fascism, Irish republican politics and communist activities throughout the period after the First World War – along with Tommy’s ambitions in politics. Knight later created a stage adaptation of the show for a limited-run production, titled The Redemption Of Thomas Shelby, which featured performances from Rambert’s dancers and a soundtrack from a live on-stage band. We do not moderate comments, but we expect readers to adhere to certain rules in the interests of open and accountable debate.Will somebody please tell Donald Trump he won? I’m sure he’s seen the official results by now. I’m sure he knows he’ll be moving back into the White House on Jan. 20. But he’s still acting like he’s on the campaign trail. He’s firing off tweets, trolling his opponents and talking about the United States buying Greenland, retaking control of the Panama Canal, and making jokes that he wants Canada to become the 51st state. It’s weird, what Trump’s doing. It’s the Christmas holidays. It’s a time for families, not politics. It’s a time for shopping, watching football and building back relationships with our loved ones and friends that were ripped apart by four years of ugly partisan politics. I don’t know what topics your family was talking about during your Christmas dinner, but at mine, no one even mentioned Greenland, Panama, or Canada — thank the Lord. I’m the son of a politician. But I know there are many other more important things in life besides politics — especially over the holidays. I really care about the Christmas season and I always try to keep it from being spoiled by politics. I think every American would be much happier at this time of the year if they focused solely on the holiday. That goes especially for Trump. I haven’t been paying attention to what he has been doing or what he’s been saying his policies will be. That’s because he’s not president yet. I don’t care who his appointees are, either. They haven’t even been approved. The best thing Trump could have said to his followers and the entire country was, “Enjoy the holidays. Enjoy your family and friends. Forget politics. “We won. We’ll hit the ground running after the first of the year. See you then. I’m going on vacation.” Trump should know that this is supposed to be the time to relax and look forward to the new year. I’m hoping he’s going to make the sun come back out not only where I live, but to come back out over America. I want to see people being happy again, talking to each other again, having dinner with friends, going to movies. I want to see people getting to know their families and neighbors better and rebuilding their old relationships. I think everybody in the U.S. is ready to get back to the way their daily lives were before the pandemic and the lockdowns came along and wrecked them in so many ways. But that’s not going to happen unless everyone is willing to break out of their partisan bubbles and silos. As for the shrunken army of MSNBC fans who are vowing to continue their failed war against Trump, we know you hate Trump. Get over it. He’s president. Instead of spending the next four years whining about the dumb things he’s going to tweet or detecting the coming of a dictatorship in every executive order he issues, the Trump haters should get a grip. Try to look on the bright side of things. Try to be fair. Try to be open-minded. Try to be less deranged. Trump is bound to do some good things you can agree with. Concentrate on the big and important things he might do right. For instance, what if he brings a quick end to two wars, tames the inflation rate and closes the border? Those would be three major accomplishments. If he pulls them off — of if he fires half a million bureaucrats and cuts a couple trillion dollars in spending out of the budget — not buying Greenland will not prevent him from making America great again for everyone. And don’t forget, President Trump. You won. Take a break. Play golf – while you still can. Michael Reagan’s column is distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.kijiji markham 。

Immigration is one of the hot-button topics of this general election and six candidates from across the political spectrum debated Ireland’s response to a surge in immigration in recent years. The immigration issue was debated by Justice Minister Helen McEntee, Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman, Fianna Fáil’s James Browne, Aontú’s Peadar Tóibín, Independent Ireland’s Michael Fitzmaurice and Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy on RTÉ’s Upfront with Katie Hannon . There was fiery debate over the previous government’s handling of the influx of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion in 2022, along with the increase of asylum seekers from many other countries worldwide. There was criticism for government parties for their “out-of step” supports for Ukrainian refugees which created a “pull factor”, according to Peadar Tóibin. James Browne countered this by saying the government acted with “humanity” and Helen McEntee said the cuts in supports for Ukrainians were instituted along with EU partners. Roderic O’Gorman, in a fiery exchange with Matt Carthy accused Sinn Féin of “walking away from Ukraine” after Mr Carthy suggested Ukrainians living in Ireland should be processed through the International Protection once the temporary protection measures that allow them to live in Ireland are ended, which his party would advocate for at an EU level. O’Gorman blasted it as a “crazy idea”. McEntee insisted that “immigration is a good thing for this country” and that Ireland needs inward migration to fill many posts as the country was at full employment. The government ministers rejected assertions that they were “asleep at the wheel” over sustainably managing migration. The Fine Gael deputy leader said inward migration is needed to ensure increased housing delivery, essential services in healthcare, and other sectors. She defended the current immigration system as rules-based. Ms McEntee said: “If somebody is coming and applying for a work permit, the job has to be there. “If somebody is coming in here as a student, we’re very clear that you are coming to study, that you are not coming here to work, that you’re not coming to use the study visa.” She added that “by and large” most people agree that migration has been a positive for the country. Mr Tóibín said there was “no doubt” that many migrants make really positive contributions to Ireland. However, the opposition politician accused the Government of being “asleep at the wheel” by not keeping immigration at what he characterised as sustainable levels. Mr Tóibín said “we have to start looking at” how many permits are provided to non-essential workers and said: “we have sleepwalked into non-sustainability”, while adding that there are 500,000 adults living with their parents due to a lack of housing. Integration minister and Green leader Roderic O’Gorman said blocking off links to other countries would be “fundamentally a wrong approach for an open economy” like Ireland. He accused Mr Tóibín of having a “deeply divisive” proposal. James Browne, who is the junior minister in the Department of Justice, said the country’s economy is “booming” in ICT and foreign direct investment. He added: “Shutting down effectively any work permit coming for foreign direct investment will be absolutely, I think, counterproductive and, quite frankly, hypocritical as well. “We do need people coming into this country. It’s at full employment and it helps our economy and our society to grow.” Michael Fitzmaurice of Independent Ireland said most people have “no problems whatsoever” on people coming in on permits. However, he said there is a problem around the “complicated permit system”. Mr Carthy said there was an “irony” in doctors and nurses who qualified here having emigrated to the “far side of the globe” over a lack of affordable housing in Ireland. Mr Carthy said the Government was overseeing crises in housing, health and migration. “What we want to do is put in place a system of rules that are clearly understood and clearly enforced that ensures that there is confidence for everyone involved.” He added: “We need to have a managed migration system that ensures that those sectors that need employees are able to access them in a way that doesn’t actually burden the overstretched services that we have, that doesn’t actually add to our housing crisis that we already have. “So we have to be cognisant of all of that and recognise the value of people who are coming here and maintaining our health services and other essential services.” Mr Fitzmaurice criticised the government for “creating divides” across communities in Ireland due to the level of supports given to some and not others and touched on the student housing crisis and claimed universities in Ireland are attracting students from outside the EEA, who have to pay higher fees, to “subsidise their finances” but this in turn creates more pressure on the housing market. While the debate raged on, it was confirmed an accommodation centre for asylum seekers at Kilbride Military camp in Co Wicklow caught fire. There were no injuries reported and an investigation was ongoing into the cause of the blaze, believed to have originated in a canteen.Building the consensus for a net-zero economy

ST. PAUL — A planned lottery to give some would-be cannabis business owners a licensing head start won’t go forward early this week after a judge halted the process Monday. Ramsey County District Court Judge Stephen Smith sided with a group of applicants who had been denied access to the social equity pre-approval lottery. They sued over a process they argued had lacked clear criteria and that left no room for appeals. “There’s no lottery tomorrow,” Smith ruled toward the end of an hourlong online hearing. He said the state was free to file an appeal. Ahead of the hearing, officials with the Office of Cannabis Management warned that the lottery might not happen at all if it was postponed given the cost and logistics of putting it on. Attorney David Asp, who represented some of the applicants, told Smith that the lottery was rushed and that people who were denied entry deserved a chance to contest their disqualification. “The state doesn’t dispute that our client will suffer irreparable harm if this order isn’t entered. That’s usually one of the main issues in an injunction, but it’s not a dispute here. Our clients will be harmed. As I said, more than $1,000,” Asp said. “The harm on the OCM side is entirely of their own making.” The Office of Cannabis Management had defended its process, saying they were attempting to root out applicants who were looking for a quick profit instead of actually moving to set up legitimate businesses. Officials with the regulatory agency said that some applications appeared to have been put in on behalf of other entrepreneurs trying to get a foothold in Minnesota’s nascent market. “The Legislature chose for this pre-approval process to be an efficient and expedient one, and part of that is evidenced by the fact that there is no appeals provided for for the pre-approval process, whereas in the final license approval process, there is an availability for reconsideration,” said the agency’s attorney, Ryan Petty. “So a major factor of this is the Legislature’s decision to make this process efficient and expedient so that the social equity applicants can get that head start.” There were more than 1,500 applicants for this stage of the licensing process, the agency said. The lottery was to narrow that down to 282. When the judge asked Petty about the timeline, including the lottery being scheduled shortly after denial letters went out, Petty said the selection process involved several moving parts. “There wasn’t any hiding the ball here. There wasn’t any attempt to restrict the ability of applicants to challenge their denials,” he said. State lawmakers legalized cannabis for adult recreational use in 2023, but the setup of a retail marketplace has been slow. No licenses have been issued for commercial growers or sellers ahead of what is expected to be an early 2025 launch. People can grow their own marijuana and give away small quantities. American Indian tribes have also opened their own stores, but those sales are limited to reservation land. The social equity lottery is intended to give a leg up to people who live in high-poverty areas, those harmed by the war on drugs, and military veterans. This story was originally published on MPRNews.org

NoneEddie Howe wants even more from in-form Newcastle striker Alexander Isak. The 25-year-old Sweden international took his goal tally for the season to 12 in the 3-0 Boxing Day win over Aston Villa at St James’ Park, 10 of them in his last 10 Premier League games, after a challenging start to the new campaign. Isak managed 25 goals in a black and white shirt last season to further justify the club record £63million the club paid to bring him to Tyneside from Real Sociedad during the summer of 2022, but as delighted as he is with his big-money signing, head coach Howe is confident there is even more to come. Murph 🔗 Alex Isak Different game. Same link up. 💪 pic.twitter.com/OMhZf7dtKZ — Newcastle United (@NUFC) December 27, 2024 Asked where the former AIK Solna frontman currently ranks in world football, he said: “My biggest thing with Alex is I am evaluating his game on a daily and weekly basis and I just want to try to push him for more. “Everyone else can say where he is in the pecking order of world football. His game is in a good place at the moment. “My job is to not sit back and appreciate that, my job is to try and find areas he can improve, push him towards that and never stop pushing him. He has all the ingredients in there. Football never stops evolving and changing and he has to evolve with it. “There is a lot more to come from him. Our job is to help him deliver that. “Of course the main responsibility is for Alex to keep his focus, ignore the plaudits and keep helping the team, not be selfish. It is about Newcastle and he plays his part.” It is no coincidence that Newcastle have prospered as Isak has rediscovered his best form, and they will head for Manchester United – where they have won only once in the top flight since 1972 – on Monday evening looking for a fifth successive win in all competitions. He has scored in each of the last five league games having grown into the mantle of the Magpies’ main man, a role performed with such distinction in the past by the likes of Jackie Milburn, Malcolm Macdonald and Alan Shearer, and he has done so with the minimum of fuss. Asked about his character, Howe said: “He is calm, cool – he is what you see on the pitch. “He doesn’t get overly emotional, which for a striker is a great quality because that coolness you see and calmness in front of goal is part of his personality, part of what he is. He seems to have an extra half a second when other players don’t. “With Alex, the beauty of his attitude is that he wants to improve. We give him information and he is responsive. He is not a closed shop. “He is in no way thinking he has arrived at a certain place. He knows he has to keep adding to his game. The challenge is great for him to keep scoring freely as he is now.”WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump appears to be siding with Elon Musk and his other backers in the tech industry as a dispute over immigration visas has divided his supporters. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump appears to be siding with Elon Musk and his other backers in the tech industry as a dispute over immigration visas has divided his supporters. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump appears to be siding with Elon Musk and his other backers in the tech industry as a dispute over immigration visas has divided his supporters. Trump, in an interview with the New York Post on Saturday, praised the use of visas to bring skilled foreign workers to the U.S. The topic has become a flashpoint within his conservative base. “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump said. In fact, Trump has in the past criticized the H-1B visas, calling them “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. During his first term as president, he unveiled a “Hire American” policy that directed changes to the program to try to ensure the visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants. Despite his criticism of them and attempts to curb their use, he has also used the visas at his businesses in the past, something he acknowledged in his interview Saturday. “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” Trump told the newspaper. He did not appear to address questions about whether he would pursue any changes to the number or use of the visas once he takes office Jan. 20. Trump’s hardline immigration policies, focused mostly on immigrants who are in the country illegally, were a cornerstone of his presidential campaign and a priority issue for his supporters. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. But in recent days, his coalition has split in a public debate largely taking place online about the tech industry’s hiring of foreign workers. Hard-right members of Trump’s movement have accused Musk and others in Trump’s new flank of tech-world supporters of pushing policies at odds with Trump’s “America First” vision. Software engineers and others in the tech industry have used H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers and say they are a critical tool for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated. Advertisement Advertisement

WASHINGTON (AP) — Working-class voters helped Republicans make steady election gains this year and expanded a coalition that increasingly includes rank-and-file union members, a political shift spotlighting one of President-elect Donald Trump’s latest Cabinet picks: a GOP congresswoman, who has drawn labor support, to be his labor secretary. Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her bid for a second term this month, despite strong backing from union members, a key part of the Democratic base but gravitating in the Trump era toward a Republican Party traditionally allied with business interests. “Lori’s strong support from both the Business and Labor communities will ensure that the Labor Department can unite Americans of all backgrounds behind our Agenda for unprecedented National Success - Making America Richer, Wealthier, Stronger and more Prosperous than ever before!” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice Friday night. For decades, labor unions have sided with Democrats and been greeted largely with hostility by Republicans. But with Trump's populist appeal, his working-class base saw a decent share of union rank-and-file voting for Republicans this year, even as major unions, including the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers , endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris in the White House race. Trump sat down with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union leadership and members this year, and when he emerged from that meeting, he boasted that a significant chunk of union voters were backing him. Of a possible Teamsters endorsement, he said, “Stranger things have happened.” The Teamsters ultimately declined to endorse either Trump, the former president, or Harris, the vice president, though leader Sean O’Brien had a prominent speaking slot at the Republican National Convention. Kara Deniz, a Teamsters spokesperson, told the Associated Press that O’Brien met with more than a dozen House Republicans this past week to lobby on behalf of Chavez-DeRemer. “Chavez-DeRemer would be an excellent choice for labor secretary and has his backing,” Deniz said. The work of the Labor Department affects workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employers' rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. On Election Day, Trump deepened his support among voters without a college degree after running just slightly ahead of Democrat Joe Biden with noncollege voters in 2020. Trump made modest gains, earning a clear majority of this group, while only about 4 in 10 supported Harris, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide. Roughly 18% of voters in this year's election were from union households, with Harris winning a majority of the group. But Trump's performance among union members kept him competitive and helped him win key states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Chavez-DeRemer was one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act, which would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The measure would weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Trump's first term saw firmly pro-business policies from his appointees across government, including those on the National Labor Relations Board. Trump, a real estate developer and businessman before winning the presidency, generally has backed policies that would make it harder for workers to unionize. During his recent campaign, Trump criticized union bosses, and at one point suggested that UAW members should not pay their dues. His first administration did expand overtime eligibility rules, but not nearly as much as Democrats wanted, and a Trump-appointed judge has since struck down the Biden administration’s more generous overtime rules. He has stacked his incoming administration with officials who worked on the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” blueprint, which includes a sharp swing away from Biden’s pro-union policies. “Chavez-DeRemer’s record suggests she understands the value of policies that strengthen workers’ rights and economic security,” said Rebecca Dixon, president and CEO of National Employment Law Project, which is backed my many of the country’s major labor unions. “But the Trump administration’s agenda is fundamentally at odds with these principles, threatening to roll back workplace protections, undermine collective bargaining, and prioritize corporate profits over the needs of working people. This is where her true commitment to workers will be tested.” Other union leaders also issued praise, but also sounded a note of caution. “Educators and working families across the nation will be watching ... as she moves through the confirmation process,” the president of the National Education Association, Becky Pringle, said in a statement, “and hope to hear a pledge from her to continue to stand up for workers and students as her record suggests, not blind loyalty to the Project 2025 agenda.” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler welcomed the choice while taking care to note Trump's history of opposing polices that support unions. "It remains to be seen what she will be permitted to do as secretary of labor in an administration with a dramatically anti-worker agenda,” Shuler said. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Trump appears to side with Musk, tech allies in debate over foreign workers roiling his supportersLower Columbia College def. Pacific University JV, 71-46 - Amir Locus — 12 points - Keshawn Lewis — 11 points - LCC .481 FG % - LCC .375 3-PT % Peninsula College def. Lower Columbia College, 69-54 - Lisa Lorenz Conrotto — 15 points - Karlee Vonmoos — 14 points - LCC .444 3-PT % Sent weekly directly to your inbox! {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Working-class voters helped Republicans make steady election gains this year and expanded a coalition that increasingly includes rank-and-file union members, a political shift spotlighting one of President-elect Donald Trump’s latest Cabinet picks: a GOP congresswoman, who has drawn labor support, to be his labor secretary. Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her bid for a second term this month, despite strong backing from union members, a key part of the Democratic base but gravitating in the Trump era toward a Republican Party traditionally allied with business interests. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.

Special counsel Jack Smith moved to abandon two criminal cases against on Monday, acknowledging that Trump’s will preclude attempts to federally prosecute him for retaining classified documents or trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The decision was inevitable, since longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face Yet it was still a momentous finale to an unprecedented chapter in political and law enforcement history, as federal officials attempted to hold accountable a former president while he was simultaneously running for another term. Trump emerges indisputably victorious, having successfully delayed the investigations through legal maneuvers and then winning reelection despite indictments that described his actions as a threat to the country’s constitutional foundations. “I persevered, against all odds, and WON,” Trump exulted in a post on Truth Social, his social media website. He also said that “these cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought.” The judge in the election case granted prosecutors’ dismissal request. A decision in the documents case was still pending on Monday evening. The outcome makes it clear that, when it comes to a president and criminal accusations, nothing supersedes the voters’ own verdict. In court filings, Smith’s team emphasized that the move to end their prosecutions was not a reflection of the merit of the cases but a recognition of the legal shield that surrounds any commander in chief. “That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” prosecutors said in one of their filings. They wrote that Trump’s return to the White House “sets at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: on the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities ... and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law.” In this situation, “the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” they concluded. Smith’s team said it was leaving intact charges against two co-defendants in the classified documents case — Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.” Steven Cheung, Trump’s incoming White House communications director, said Americans “want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.” Trump has long described the investigations as politically motivated, and he has vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. Now he will start his second term free from criminal scrutiny by the government that he will lead. The election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing Trump as he tried to reclaim the White House. He was to Joe Biden in 2020, an effort that climaxed with his supporters’ violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But the case quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House. The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial. The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence it planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden. In dismissing the case, Chutkan acknowledged prosecutors’ request to do so “without prejudice,” raising the possibility that they could try to bring charges against Trump when his term is over. She wrote that is “consistent with the Government’s understanding that the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office.” But such a move may be barred by the statute of limitations, and Trump may also try to pardon himself while in office. The separate case involving classified documents had been widely seen as legally clear cut, especially because the conduct in question occurred after Trump left the White House and lost the powers of the presidency. The indictment included dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing federal efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. The case quickly became snarled by delays, with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon slow to issue rulings — which favored Trump’s strategy of pushing off deadlines in all his criminal cases — while also entertaining defense motions and arguments that experts said other judges would have dispensed with without hearings. In May, she indefinitely canceled the trial date amid a series of unresolved legal issues before dismissing the case outright two months later. Smith’s team appealed the decision, but now has given up that effort. Trump faced two other state prosecutions while running for president. One of them, a New York case involving hush money payments, on felony charges of falsifying business records. It was the first time a former president had been found guilty of a crime. The sentencing in that case is on hold as Trump’s lawyers try to have the conviction dismissed before he takes office, arguing that letting the verdict stand will interfere with his presidential transition and duties. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is fighting the dismissal but has indicated that it would be until Trump leaves office. Bragg, a Democrat, has said the solution needs to balance the obligations of the presidency with “the sanctity of the jury verdict.” Trump was also indicted in Georgia along with 18 others accused of participating in a sprawling scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election there. Any trial appears unlikely there while Trump holds office. The prosecution already after an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case. Four defendants have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.CDC chief urges focus on health threats as agency confronts political changesPeaky Blinders creator teases the upcoming film ‘won’t be the end’ for the drama

NoneThe University of Oklahoma administration appears to be rethinking possible cuts to its modern language departments following adverse reactions from faculty, students and alumni. Saturday, Provost André-Denis Wright issued a letter to faculty stating that the university’s “review” of the language programs in the College of Arts and Sciences would be moved back from January to February, allowing more time for faculty to discuss and plan. Several faculty told The Transcript that the previous timeline would allow little time for them to review or respond to the proposal. That timeline would have allowed only days before Christmas break ensued. “To ensure all voices are heard and perspectives understood so the university arrives at a decision in the best interests of its students, I am extending my request for a recommendation from the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences from late January to late February,” the provost’s letter states. “The dean and I also will convene the faculty as early as next week to ensure they understand the intent of the review and their opportunities to play a role in helping shape the future of the language requirement...” One former administrator (name witheld) called the administration’s stepping back from the proposal “significant” but likely temporary. Repeated requests for interviews with the administration by The Transcript went unanswered, aside from a short email from the provost for the first article in the series. However, Harroz told the student newspaper, the OU Daily, that The Transcript “went too far” in its initial story. Reports surfaced that tribal leaders were alarmed that Native American programs were jeopardized and contacted the administration. The provost’s letter affirms these concerns were shared. Wright promised a continued commitment to the programs, but without specifics. “These discussions, particularly related to languages taught in our Native American Studies Department, underscore how deeply our community values the role of language studies in fostering global perspectives, cultural understanding, and academic excellence,” Wright’s letter states. “...I will work separately with faculty in our Native American Studies Department to reaffirm that our historical connection to our Indigenous community is a bedrock of the education we offer.” The proposal to cut language courses was moving so quickly that it caused alarm among faculty. History of Science Professor Stephen P. Weldon said the push for the change was really a rush. “A review that affects the curriculum for whole colleges should not be made quickly by upper administration,” Weldon told The Transcript. “Doing so will only sow distrust throughout the university—as can be seen from the already explosive response to this idea. Curricular changes are the purview of the faculty.” Further, Weldon pointed out that OU Biologist Randall Hewes, Interim Dean of the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, has only held the office since August, and such a change being thrust onto him was not good administrative policy. “Forcing them on an interim dean with only five-months of tenure is scandalous,” Weldon said. “It would set a terrible precedent and sharply erode faculty self-governance. Everyone is worried about what’s next on the chopping block. Western Civilization? Science?” Many faculty, students and alumni expressed the thought that cuts to general education requirements might be next, worrying that humanities, sciences, even math classes could also face cuts. “It’s an attack on courses that teach critical thinking. It’s an attack on general education,” said Associate Professor Farina King, who shared in The Transcript’s earlier story that her Native American language classes are among those facing the proposed cuts. “Some people want to wipe out critical thinking. There is no secret that humanities have been suffering.” King said the walking back of the proposed cuts may only be temporary. The push for cutting the courses may be coming from a larger political push, and the administration may come back after rallying. “Either way, it means endurance will be key for those who support language and general education; a well-rounded, rigorous, strong education,” King said.Of Reforms and Dantsoho’s Election as PMAWCA Chairman

NYT ‘Strands’ Hints, Spangram And Answers For Sunday, November 24Eddie Howe says ‘a lot more to come’ from Newcastle striker Alexander IsakJust hours after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) withdrew from consideration for attorney general, President-elect Donald Trump announced his new nominee : former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi . The selection shifts the spotlight to Bondi's record, especially her stance on cannabis reform, which contrasts starkly with Gaetz's pro-legalization views. Despite the unsavory allegations against Gaetz's personal behavior, he’s been an advocate for cannabis reform and was expected to adopt a lenient approach toward legalization if appointed. In contrast, Bondi had a tougher stance on medical marijuana during her tenure as Florida's Attorney General (2011-2019). For example, in 2013, Bondi’s office filed a 57-page challenge to the proposed ballot initiative that was seeking to put medical marijuana (MMJ) on the ballot the following year. Once medical marijuana was approved, she defended state laws restricting cannabis use, including a ban on publicly smoking it. Bondi argued at the time that the ban was justified due to concerns over secondhand smoke exposure. A state judge later ruled the ban to be inconsistent with Florida's constitutional amendment that legalized medical cannabis in 2014. The restriction was eventually overturned under Gov. Ron DeSantis who went on the warpath against smoking in public. Read Also: Cannabis Stocks Feel The Burn: Matt Gaetz Bows Out As Trump’s Attorney General Nominee Bondi's role on Trump's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis during his first term in the White House could further complicate her position on cannabis. The commission, which was chaired by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie , was skeptical about cannabis as a treatment for chronic pain or opioid addiction, citing studies suggesting a potential link between marijuana use and opioid abuse. Authoritative studies have since shown the contrary to be the case. Though Bondi's track record has raised concerns among some cannabis reform advocates, industry leader Kim Rivers , CEO of Trulieve Cannabis Corp TCNNF , described Bondi on X as "straightforward and very fair," reported Marijuana Moment. "She is passionate about ending the opioid crisis and did great work shutting down pill mills in Florida. She is an advocate for safe, regulated markets and I believe she will bring the same energy to end the fentanyl issues our country is facing," Rivers said. Now Read: • Kentucky Gov. Beshear: ‘Go Online And Find’ Your Medical Marijuana Practitioner On Dec. 1 Photo: Shutterstock © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — Matt Morrissey threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Calwise Jr. that ended the scoring midway through the fourth quarter and Eastern Kentucky beat North Alabama 21-15 on Saturday for its fifth straight win. TJ Smith drove North Alabama to the EKU 45-yard line before he threw an interception to Mike Smith Jr. to end the game. Smith threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Dakota Warfield to give North Alabama a 15-14 lead with 10:37 to play. Morrissey completed 9 of 15 passes for 154 yards and added 60 yards on the ground with a touchdown run. Brayden Latham added 103 yards rushing on 19 carries that included a 2-yard score for Eastern Kentucky (8-4, 6-2 United Athletic Conference). Smith was 23-of-39 passing for 325 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for North Alabama (3-9, 2-5). Tanaka Scott had 109 yards receiving and a touchdown catch. ___ Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here ___ AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballDrew Lock likely to start at QB for the Giants against the Colts on Sunday

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WASHINGTON — The House passed a $895 billion measure Wednesday that authorizes a 1% increase in defense spending this fiscal year and would give a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military. The bill is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers opposed the inclusion of a ban on transgender medical treatments for children of military members if such treatment could result in sterilization. The bill passed by a vote of 281-140 and next moves to the Senate, where lawmakers sought a bigger boost in defense spending than the current measure allows. The Pentagon and the surrounding area is seen Jan. 26, 2020, from the air in Washington. Lawmakers are touting the bill's 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others as key to improving the quality of life for those serving in the U.S. military. Those serving as junior enlisted personnel are in pay grades that generally track with their first enlistment term. People are also reading... Nebraska transportation director: Expressway system won't be done until 2042 At the courthouse, Dec. 7, 2024 Camper total loss after fire north of Beatrice Spreading kindness one butterfly at a time 27-year-old Beatrice man sentenced for May assault Stabler scores 22 in Lady O's season opening win BPS receives a "good" classification Holiday lights travel through downtown Beatrice for annual parade Orangemen open season with win over Nebraska City P.E.O. sponsors Holiday Tour of Homes Missouri man sentenced for attempted sexual assault At the courthouse, Nov. 30, 2024 Community Players open holiday play Amie Just: This recruiting class marks the beginning of a new era — one without walk-ons Lonnie Meyer Lawmakers said service member pay failed to remain competitive with the private sector, forcing many military families to rely on food banks and government assistance programs to put food on the table. The bill also provides significant new resources for child care and housing. "No service member should have to live in squalid conditions and no military family should have to rely on food stamps to feed their children, but that's exactly what many of our service members are experiencing, especially the junior enlisted," said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. "This bill goes a long way to fixing that." The bill sets key Pentagon policy that lawmakers will attempt to fund through a follow-up appropriations bill. The overall spending tracks the numbers established in a 2023 agreement that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., reached with President Joe Biden to increase the nation's borrowing authority and avoid a federal default in exchange for spending restraints. Many senators wanted to increase defense spending about $25 billion above what was called for in that agreement, but those efforts failed. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is expected to serve as the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the overall spending level was a "tremendous loss for our national defense," though he agreed with many provisions in the bill. "We need to make a generational investment to deter the Axis of Aggressors. I will not cease work with my congressional colleagues, the Trump administration, and others until we achieve it," Wicker said. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., speaks with reporters Nov. 21 on Capitol Hill in Washington. House Republicans don't want to go above the McCarthy-Biden agreement for defense spending and are looking to go way below it for many nondefense programs. They are also focused on cultural issues. The bill prohibits funding for teaching critical race theory in the military and prohibits TRICARE health plans from covering gender dysphoria treatment for children under 18 if that treatment could result in sterilization. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, said minors dealing with gender dysphoria is a "very real problem." He said the treatments available, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, proved effective at helping young people dealing with suicidal thoughts, anxiety and depression. "These treatments changed their lives and in many cases saved their lives," Smith said. "And in this bill, we decided we're going to bar service members' children from having access to that." Smith said the number of minors in service member families receiving transgender medical care extends into the thousands. He could have supported a study asking medical experts to determine whether such treatments are too often used, but a ban on health insurance coverage went too far. He said Speaker Mike Johnson's office insisted on the ban and said the provision "taints an otherwise excellent piece of legislation." Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the ban a step in the right direction, saying, "I think these questions need to be pulled out of the debate of defense, so we can get back to the business of defending the United States of America without having to deal with social engineering debates." Smith said he agrees with Roy that lawmakers should be focused on the military and not on cultural conflicts, "and yet, here it is in this bill." House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., responds to reporters Dec. 6 during his weekly news conference at the Capitol in Washington. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said his team did not tell Democrats how to vote on the bill. "There's a lot of positive things in the National Defense Authorization Act that were negotiated in a bipartisan way, and there are some troubling provisions in a few areas as well," Jeffries said. The defense policy bill also looks to strengthen deterrence against China. It calls for investing $15.6 billion to build military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. The Biden administration requested about $10 billion. On Israel, the bill, among other things, includes an expansion of U.S. joint military exercises with Israel and a prohibition on the Pentagon citing casualty data from Hamas. The defense policy bill is one of the final measures that lawmakers view as a must-pass before making way for a new Congress in January. U.S. Troops Face Mounting Threats from Predatory Debt Collectors U.S. Troops Face Mounting Threats from Predatory Debt Collectors Rising threats from debt collectors against members of the U.S. armed forces are undermining national security, according to data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal watchdog that protects consumer rights. To manage the impact of financial stress on individual performance, the Defense Department dedicates precious resources to improving financial literacy, so service members know the dangers of notorious no-credit-check loans. “The financial well-being of service members and their families is one of the Department’s top priorities,” said Andrew Cohen, the director of financial readiness in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. But debt collectors are gaining ground. Last quarter, debt collection complaints by U.S. military service members increased 24% , and attempts to collect on “debts not owed” surged 40%. Complaints by service members against debt collectors for deceptive practices ballooned from 1,360 in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 1,833 in the first quarter of 2024. “There’s a connection between the financial readiness and the readiness of a service member to perform their duty,” said Jim Rice, Assistant Director, Office of Servicemember Affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Laws exist to protect the mission readiness of U.S. troops from being compromised by threats and intimidation, but debt collectors appear to be violating them at an alarming pace. “If they’re threatening to call your commander or get your security clearance revoked, that’s illegal,” says Deborah Olvera, financial readiness manager at Wounded Warriors Project, and a military spouse who’s been harassed herself by a collection agency that tried to extort money from her for a debt she didn’t owe. But after she requested the name of the original creditor, she never heard from them again. “The financial well-being of service members and their families is one of the Department’s top priorities.” —Andrew Cohen, Director of Financial Readiness at the Pentagon Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, it’s illegal for debt collectors to threaten to contact your boss or have you arrested because it violates your financial privacy. The FDCPA also prohibits debt collectors from making false, deceptive, or misleading representations in connection with the collection of a debt, even for borrowers with bad credit scores. But according to the data, debt collectors are increasingly ignoring those rules. “Debt collection continues to be one of the top consumer complaint categories,” said a spokesperson at the Federal Trade Commission. The commission released a report earlier this year revealing that consumers were scammed $10 billion in 2023, a new benchmark for fraud losses. In his book Debt: The First 5,000 Years, David Graeber argues that debt often creates a relationship that can feel more oppressive than systems of hierarchy, like slavery or caste systems because it starts by presuming equality between the debtor and the creditor. When the debtor falls into arrears, that equality is then destroyed. This sense of betrayal and the subsequent imbalance of power leads to widespread resentment toward lenders. Most Menacing Loan Messengers Photo Credit: Olena Yakobchuk / Shutterstock The debt collector reportedly harassing military service members most was Resurgent Capital Services, a subsidiary of collection giant Sherman Financial Group. The company tacks on accrued interest and junk fees and tries to collect on debts purchased for pennies on the dollar from cable companies, hospitals, and credit card companies, among others. Sherman Financial Group is run by billionaire Benjamin Navarro, who has a reported net worth of $1.5 billion, according to Forbes. Sherman Financial also owns subprime lender Credit One Bank and LVNV Funding, which outsource collections to Resurgent Capital. According to CFPB data, the second worst offender is CL Holdings, the parent company of debt-buyer Jefferson Capital Systems. The company has also been named in numerous complaints to the Better Business Bureau for alleged violations of the FDCPA, such as failing to properly validate debts or update credit reports with accurate information. Under the leadership of CEO David Burton, Jefferson Capital Systems is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CompuCredit Corporation, which markets subprime credit cards under the names Aspire, Majestic, and others. The third most referenced debt collector is publicly traded Portfolio Recovery Associates [NASDAQ: PRAA], which was forced to pay $27 million in penalties for making false representations about debts, initiating lawsuits without proper documentation, and other violations. Portfolio Recovery Associates is run by CEO Vikram Atal. Fourth place for alleged worst offender goes to Encore Capital Group [NASDAQ ECPG], which was required to pay $42 million in consumer refunds and a $10 million penalty for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Encore collects under its subsidiary Midland Credit Management Group. These debt collectors all operate under a veritable shell game of company and brand names, almost none of which are disclosed on their websites, sending consumers on a wild goose chase to try and figure out how they’re related to each other. But despite their attempts to hide their tracks behind a smoke screen of subsidiaries, a leopard can’t change its spots, and the CFPB complaint database makes it harder for them to try. Loan Harassment Hotspots Photo Credit: Bumble Dee / Shutterstock Although widely considered a consumer-friendly state, complaints spiked most in California, which saw a 188% increase in complaints filed from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024. California is home to 157,367 military personnel, making it the most populous state for active-duty service members. The second-largest increase in debt collection complaints was in Texas, which saw a 66% jump from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024. The U.S. Department of Defense reports 111,005 service members stationed in the Lone Star State, which is the third-most populous state for active-duty military. The rising trends do not correlate to the number of military personnel by state. Complaints against debt collectors in Virginia, the second most populous state with 126,145 active duty personnel, decreased by 29% in the same quarter-over-quarter period. And complaints filed quarter-over-quarter in North Carolina, the fifth most populous state with 91,077 military personnel, decreased by 3% in the same period. The third largest percentage increase in debt collection complaints was from service members stationed in Maryland, where alleged harassment reports jumped 112% from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024. Maryland ranks number 12 with just 28,059 active duty service members. Fourth place goes to Ohio – the 28th most populous active-duty state – where complaints doubled, followed by Arizona – the 15th most populous military state – where complaints were up 70% in the same quarter-over-quarter period. Billionaire Bets on Bad Credit Photo Credit: PeopleImages.com - Yuri A / Shutterstock In 2007, Congress passed the Military Lending Act to cap the cost of credit to a 36% annual percentage rate, inclusive of junk fees and late charges, for active duty military service members. That rate is still considerably higher than average credit card rates, which range from 8% for borrowers with excellent credit scores to as high as 36% for borrowers with bad credit. But lenders still get hauled into court for violating the MLA. Don Hankey, the billionaire subprime auto lender who funded Donald Trump’s $175 million appeal bond , is among those violators. His company, Westlake Financial, which markets high-interest car loans for bad credit, has been sued twice by the Department of Justice for harassing military service members. In 2017, the DoJ alleged Hankey’s Westlake Financial illegally repossessed at least 70 vehicles owned by military service members. Westlake Financial paid $700,000 to settle the charges. In 2022, Westlake Financial paid $250,000 for allegedly cheating U.S. troops out of interest rates they were legally entitled to. Westlake Financial continues to receive complaints from military service members alleging abusive debt collection practices on its no-credit-check loans. A steady year-over-year increase in the number of complaints filed against Westlake Financial continued from 2020 to 2023. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau data shows a 13% increase in the number of complaints against the company from 2020 to 2021, a 28% increase from 2021 to 2022, and a torrential 119% surge from 2022 to 2023. The numbers suggest systemic complaint-handling processes and inadequate customer service resources. Lenders Try to Shutter CFPB Photo Credit: Cynthia Shirk / Shutterstock On May 16, 2024, a deceptively named predatory lending industry front group dubbed the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) lost a legal attempt to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In an effort to deprive Americans of essential consumer protections, the lobby group argued that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding structure was unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court denied its claim. In a 7-2 ruling, the Court held that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding structure is indeed constitutional. That means the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau cannot be defunded, but it does not mean the agency cannot be defanged. The New York Times suggested that Hankey’s incentive to finance Trump’s $175 million bond could have been a reciprocity pledge to neuter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if Trump wins the upcoming U.S. presidential election. If Trump wins a second term, he could replace Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Rohit Chopra, an American consumer advocate, with a predatory lending advocate. In 2020, the Trump Administration secured a Supreme Court ruling that made it easier for the president to fire the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The ruling struck down previous restrictions on when a president can fire the bureau’s director. Like other federal agencies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has also been confronted for overstepping its bounds, pushing too far, and acting unfairly against entities it regulates. Holidays, Interest Rates Not to Blame Photo Credit: Lux Blue / Shutterstock Seasonality and rising interest rates do not explain the increase in debt collection complaints from service members. The surge in complaints is not tied to predictable seasonal fluctuations or changes in interest rates. The increase in debt collection complaints by service members may point to underlying systemic issues, such as aggressive and predatory debt collection practices that exploit the unique financial vulnerabilities of service members, who face frequent relocations and deployments. Debt Complaints by Service Members From Q1 2021 to Q4 2022 Up 4% From Q4 2022 to Q1 2023 Up 6% From Q4 2023 to Q1 2024 Up 24% The 24% spike in debt collection complaints exhibits no correlation to fluctuations in interest rates. 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates From 3.08% in Q4 2021 to 3.82% in Q1 2022 From 6.66% in Q4 2022 to 6.37% in Q1 2023 From 7.30% in Q1 2023 to 6.75% in Q4 2024 Pandemic stimulus checks were also not a factor. COVID-19 relief benefit checks went through three major rounds during the pandemic. The final round of Economic Impact Payments went out in March 2021 . To better understand the rising trend of debt collection complaints, we calculated the increase in the total number of complaints and the percentage increase quarter-over-quarter. For example, New Jersey has the second largest percentage increase in complaints quarter-over-quarter, but the total number of complaints increased by just 16. Methodology The data for this study was sourced from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) complaint database. The dataset specifically targeted complaints filed by U.S. military service members, identified using the tag “Servicemember” within Q4 2023 and Q1 2024. Readers can find the detailed research methodology underlying this news story in the accompanying section here . For complete results, see U.S. Troops Face Mounting Threats from Predatory Debt Collectors on BadCredit.org . Veteran homelessness is on the rise despite government efforts—here's how it happens Veteran homelessness is on the rise despite government efforts—here's how it happens Homelessness reached record levels in 2023, as rents and home prices continued to rise in most of the U.S. One group was particularly impacted: people who have served in the U.S. military. "This time last year, we knew the nation was facing a deadly public health crisis," Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, said in a statement about the 2023 numbers. He said the latest homelessness estimates from the Department of Housing and Urban Development "confirms the depth of the crisis." At least 35,000 veterans were experiencing homelessness in 2023, according to HUD. While that's about half of what it was in 2009—when the organization began collecting data—things have plateaued in recent years despite active efforts to get that number to zero. Although they make up just 6.6% of the total homeless population, veterans are more likely to be at risk of homelessness than Americans overall. Of every 10,000 Americans, 20 were experiencing homelessness. Of veterans living in the United States, that number jumps to 22, HUD data shows. Complicated by bureaucracy, family dynamics, and prejudice, the path from serving in the military to homelessness is a long one. According to a 2022 study by Yale School of Medicine researchers, homelessness typically occurs within four years of leaving the military, as veterans must contend with the harsh reality of finding a job in a world where employers struggle to see how skills on the battlefield transfer to a corporate environment. These days, veterans also deal with historically high rent and home prices, which causes many to rely on family generosity while figuring out a game plan. Stacker examined academic studies, analyzed government data, and spoke with members of the Biden administration, experts, and former members of the armed forces to see the struggles members of the military face when leaving the armed forces. Veterans struggle to find a path forward The Department of Veterans Affairs offers transition assistance to the roughly 250,000 service members who leave each year. However, those programs can be burdensome and complex to navigate, especially for those who don't have a plan for post-military life. Only a small portion of veterans have jobs lined up when they leave, according to 2019 Pew Research. Many also choose to live with relatives until they get on their feet, which can be longer than anticipated. Some former service members are unsure what kind of career they'd like to pursue and may have to get further education or training, Carl Castro, director of the Military and Veteran Programs at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California, told Stacker. "It takes years for that kind of transition," Castro said. Many have trouble finding a job after leaving the service, even if they are qualified. Some employers carry misconceptions about those who have served. A 2020 analysis from the journal Human Resource Management Review found that some veterans face hiring discrimination due to negative stereotypes that lead hiring managers to write them off as a poor culture fit. Underemployment, or working low-wage jobs below their skill level, is also an issue. While the unemployment rate for veterans was 3% in March 2024, a study released by Penn State at the end of 2023 found three years after leaving the service, 61% of veterans said they were underemployed because of perceived skill mismatches . This phenomenon can have long-term economic effects, and eventually, that frustration can boil over, strain relationships, and potentially lead to housing instability. Working, especially a low-wage job, is not protection against homelessness. A 2021 study from the University of Chicago found half of people living in homeless shelters and 2 in 5 unsheltered people were employed, full or part-time. Some veterans struggle to find homes in their budget High rents make it difficult to save up, even when applying for a VA loan—a mortgage backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs that typically has more favorable terms. While the VA does not require a downpayment, some lenders, who ultimately provide the loan, do. They're not entirely risk-free either, and veterans can still lose their homes if they are unable to keep up with their mortgages. In November 2023, the VA put a six-month pause on foreclosures when an NPR investigation found thousands of veterans were in danger of losing their homes after a COVID forbearance program ended. Biden officials pointed to high rents and the end of COVID-era housing restrictions like eviction moratoriums to explain the spike in Americans experiencing homelessness. In the last year, homelessness rose 12%—to more than 650,000 people—the highest level since data began being collected in 2007. Overall, more than half of people experiencing homelessness in 2023 live in states with high living costs. Most were in California, followed by New York and Florida. Western states, including Montana and Utah, experienced massive population growth during the pandemic, becoming hubs for remote workers who drove home prices and rents even further. Vets with mental health issues most at risk for homelessness For veterans, housing costs certainly play a role, but those who leave the military also face systemic barriers. "It's worrying there are people that continue to fall through the cracks," said Jeanette Yih Harvie, a research associate at Syracuse University's D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families. Just under a quarter of adults experiencing homelessness have a severe mental illness , according to 2022 HUD survey data. They are also likely to have chronic illnesses but are unable to maintain preventative care, which only exacerbates these problems. Veterans facing homelessness are more likely to have experienced trauma , either before or after joining the military, according to Yale researchers who analyzed the 2019-2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study. Childhood trauma was among the most significant commonalities among vets who become homeless. Substance use disorder is also widespread and can indicate an undiagnosed mental illness . Racial and ethnic disparities are at play, too. A 2023 study in the Journal of Psychiatric Research showed that Hispanic and Black veterans were more likely to screen positive for PTSD, and Hispanic veterans were more likely to report having suicidal ideation. Overall, access to mental health care has improved in the last decade or so. In December 2023, the VA announced it would open nine additional counseling centers. However, the stigma of getting help remains, especially after years of being conditioned to be self-reliant and pull oneself up by their bootstraps. That help, in the form of public policy, is slowly working to catch up to the need. In 2023, the Biden administration invested millions into research programs and studies on suicide prevention by the VA office in addition to a proposed $16 billion to improve quality and lower-cost mental health care services for veterans. And, in February of this year, HUD and the VA announced they would give up to $14 million in vouchers to public housing agencies for veterans experiencing homelessness. The program would also offer case management and other services. Still, with a culture that pushes people to keep going, it can be challenging for servicemembers to take advantage of these opportunities, Harvie said. "When you've been doing that for the last 15 or 20 years, it's difficult to stop and say, 'I'm the person that needs help.'" Story editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.A recent study that recommended toxic chemicals in black plastic products be immediately thrown away included a math error that significantly overstated the risks of contamination, but its authors are standing by their conclusions and warn against using such products. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Chemosphere , experts from the nonprofit Toxic-Free Future said they detected flame retardants and other toxic chemicals in 85% of 203 items made of black plastic including kitchen utensils , take-out containers, children's toys and hair accessories. In a blog post, Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society in Canada, explained that the Toxin-Free Future scientists miscalculated the lower end of what the EPA considered a health risk through a multiplication error. Instead of humans being potentially exposed to a dose of toxic chemicals in black plastic utensils near the minimum level that the EPA deems a health risk, it's actually about one-tenth of that. (Dreamstime/TNS) The study initially said the potential exposure to chemicals found in one of the kitchen utensils approached the minimum levels the Environmental Protection Agency deemed a health risk. But in an update to the study, the authors say they made an error in their calculations and the real levels were "an order of magnitude lower" than the EPA's thresholds. The error was discovered by Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society in Canada. In a blog post, Schwarcz explained that the Toxin-Free Future scientists miscalculated the lower end of what the EPA considered a health risk through a multiplication error. Instead of humans being potentially exposed to a dose of toxic chemicals in black plastic utensils near the minimum level that the EPA deems a health risk, it's actually about one-tenth of that. Though Schwarcz said the risks outlined in the study aren't enough for him to discard his black plastic kitchen items if he had them, he agreed with the authors that flame retardants shouldn't be in these products in the first place. "The math error does not impact the study's findings, conclusions or recommendations," said Megan Liu, a co-author of the study who is the science and policy manager for Toxic-Free Future . She added that any traces of flame retardants or toxic chemicals in cooking utensils should be concerning for the public. Flame retardants are getting into commonly used items because black-colored products are being made from recycled electronic waste, such as discarded television sets and computers, that frequently contain the additives. When they're heated, the flame retardants and other toxic chemicals can migrate out. If you're wondering whether your old black plastic spoon or other utensils are a part of this group, Liu shared some more guidance. It's nearly impossible to know whether a black plastic product is contaminated. That's because these products that include recycled e-waste don't disclose a detailed list of all ingredients and contaminants in the product. Liu said it's also unclear how many types of flame retardants are in these black plastic products. Some of the products that researchers tested in this recent study "had up to nine different harmful chemicals and harmful flame retardants in them," she said. Anytime you're looking for the type of recycled plastic a product is made of you're going to look for a number within the chasing arrows (that form a triangle) logo. Recycling symbols are numbered 1 to 7 and we commonly associate the numbers with what we can toss in our blue recycling bins. The 1 through 7 numbers stand for, respectively, polyethylene terephthalate, high-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene or Styrofoam, and miscellaneous plastics (including polycarbonate, polylactide, acrylic, acrylonitrile butadiene, styrene, fiberglass and nylon). The study found higher levels of toxic flame retardants in polystyrene plastic, which is labeled with the number 6, said Liu. There isn't a definitive timeline of when recycled electronic-waste started to be incorporated into black plastic products specifically, but e-waste started to get recycled in the early 2000s, Liu said. The way computers, cellphones, stereos, printers and copiers were being disposed of previously was to simply add them to a landfill without reusing salvageable parts. But as the National Conference of State Legislatures notes, electronics production required a significant amount of resources that could be recovered through recycling. Recovering resources such as metals, plastics and glass through recycling used a fraction of the energy needed to mine new materials. However, the study pointed out that flame retardants and other chemical contaminates have been detected in and near e-waste recycling facilities, in indoor air and dust at formal e-waste recycling facilities in Canada, China, Spain and the U.S. It also noted contamination in soil samples surrounding e-waste recycling sites in China and Vietnam. The safest nontoxic material options for kitchen utensil are wood and stainless steel. The 20th century brought airplanes, radio, television, the internet, and plastic. Lots of plastic. That plastic is now showing up on shorelines, forming islands in oceans, and generating mountains of translucent trash on land. Around 700 species of animals in the sea have been found to interact with plastic daily. Companies across every industry face pressure to reduce the amount of plastic they produce. Seventy-two percent of the world's largest have made voluntary commitments to reduce their plastic waste, according to a Duke University analysis. One industry, in particular, has greatly benefited from advancements in single-use plastic technology: the medical industry. Only in recent years have businesses and academics in the field begun to talk about minimizing their impact on our environment like beverage manufacturers and other consumer goods-producing businesses. Medical Technology Schools analyzed academic studies published in the National Library of Medicine , the American Medical Association , and news reports to shed light on the medical community's use of plastics through history, their environmental problems, and proposed solutions to reduce their impact. And the impact can be significant. A single hospital patient generates nearly 34 pounds of waste a day —as much as a quarter of it is plastic. The COVID-19 pandemic only worsened the problem. The pandemic pushed hospital capacity to the brink and led to a massive increase in personal protective equipment and medical supply usage. Medical-grade masks and other protective equipment like face shields, made mostly of nonrenewable plastics, were in high demand. In 2020, the World Health Organization estimated that the international need for PPE manufacturing would boost 40% to address the public health crisis. Hospitals needed an estimated 89 million masks, 76 million gloves, and 1.6 million goggles every month of the pandemic. To date, nearly 677 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, each requiring their own plastic syringe, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Global consulting firm Frost & Sullivan estimated that the U.S. would produce a year's worth of medical waste in just two months due to the pandemic. The World Economic Forum warned that the COVID-19 crisis threatened to " stall and even reverse progress " to reduce large plastic waste. It's a challenge researchers acknowledge today as they search for solutions. Plastics introduced an era of ultraconvenience to the world. It makes our clothes. It's made bike helmets and airbags possible. And it's a cheap material to produce, meaning it's cheap for consumers too. Almost as importantly, it's durable and incredibly easy to make into complex shapes—a trait that helped plastics invented in the mid-20th century quickly replace more expensive metal and wooden goods. That adoption extended to the medical field, where the single-use nature of plastics represented a move toward more hygienic tools for physicians and hospitals. But it wasn't plastic's sanitary qualities that the industry first latched onto. Like so many other technical advancements, convenience and cost were the initial driving factors. That they were more conducive to creating a sterile environment for patients was a benefit that health care began to tout closer to the end of the 20th century. PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, replaced glass bottles previously used to hold IV solution and replaced rubber tubing used throughout hospital settings. Plastic has also become the go-to material for making syringes and catheters. Plastic products are generally made from chemicals derived from the oil and natural gas refining process. Chemists use those byproducts to create synthetic materials with malleable and durable chemical structures. The low cost of these materials has helped medical device-makers support better health outcomes for communities across the U.S. since the 1900s. No longer was health care priced at rates only the elite could afford—it was accessible to a much larger swath of the public. In the last decade, the U.S., in particular, has emerged as a massive market for medical plastics. The country generally accounts for nearly half of the global market for medical devices. Plastic's durability is not only a benefit but a detriment to the environment, as the material can take many years to deteriorate when it enters landfills or trashes oceans. Estimates vary widely, but scientists ballpark that depending on the kind of plastic and the environment in which it decomposes, it could take dozens to thousands of years to break down entirely. COVID-19, which remains a burden for health care systems, isn't the only force raising the stakes for a health care industry pressured to reduce reliance on plastics or find ways to reuse them. Global annual production of plastic has doubled in the last two decades , according to the Environmental Protection Agency. As the U.S. looks toward the future, its aging population is another factor that could exacerbate the rate at which medical plastics end up in landfills. People require more medical care as they age, and aging baby boomers are expected to place increased demand on the medical device industry. At the same time, governments are under pressure to lower health care costs, which have become unaffordable even for those insured . As recently as 2021, researchers lamented a lack of data on efforts to recycle medical plastics. Around 350 hospitals participate in Practice Greenhealth's Environmental Excellence Awards . Practice Greenhealth is an organization working to help hospitals increase their sustainability. It's one of the few sources of hospital sustainability data, and its roster of participating hospitals represents a small fraction of the more than 6,000 hospitals operating in the U.S. To meet the need to reduce plastic waste generation, some hospitals are moving away from using plastic in certain applications. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center replaced health care workers' disposable plastic isolation gowns with reusable cloth gowns at its hospitals in the last decade, saving money and preventing literal tons of medical waste. It also implemented a process for sterilizing and incinerating the boxes that hold used needles, allowing them to be reassembled and reused in a health care setting. Recycling plastic medical waste is complicated by the potential for contamination and the need to separate contaminated and noncontaminated waste; once separated, they can be broken down with heat or treated with chemicals and reprocessed. However, using chemical methods to break down and dispose of plastics has drawbacks. Over 200 nongovernmental organizations signed a letter in 2023 urging the Biden administration to end federal support for methods like these, arguing they generate toxic pollutants. The Vinyl Council of Australia is working with hospitals to recover used materials made of PVC . The materials are broken down into tiny pieces, washed and heated at high temperatures, and remade into things used outside medical settings. In the U.S. and Europe, there's the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council, a coalition of companies working in the health care device space that includes DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, and Medtronic. In 2021, the HPRC, advised by professionals at Kaiser Permanente and other health systems, rolled out a medical waste recycling pilot project with hopes of scaling it across more hospitals. Story editing by Ashleigh Graf. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Clarese Moller. This story originally appeared on Medical Technology Schools and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. Sign up here to get the latest health & fitness updates in your inbox every week!kijiji milton 。

A recent study that recommended toxic chemicals in black plastic products be immediately thrown away included a math error that significantly overstated the risks of contamination, but its authors are standing by their conclusions and warn against using such products. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Chemosphere , experts from the nonprofit Toxic-Free Future said they detected flame retardants and other toxic chemicals in 85% of 203 items made of black plastic including kitchen utensils , take-out containers, children's toys and hair accessories. In a blog post, Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society in Canada, explained that the Toxin-Free Future scientists miscalculated the lower end of what the EPA considered a health risk through a multiplication error. Instead of humans being potentially exposed to a dose of toxic chemicals in black plastic utensils near the minimum level that the EPA deems a health risk, it's actually about one-tenth of that. (Dreamstime/TNS) The study initially said the potential exposure to chemicals found in one of the kitchen utensils approached the minimum levels the Environmental Protection Agency deemed a health risk. But in an update to the study, the authors say they made an error in their calculations and the real levels were "an order of magnitude lower" than the EPA's thresholds. The error was discovered by Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society in Canada. In a blog post, Schwarcz explained that the Toxin-Free Future scientists miscalculated the lower end of what the EPA considered a health risk through a multiplication error. Instead of humans being potentially exposed to a dose of toxic chemicals in black plastic utensils near the minimum level that the EPA deems a health risk, it's actually about one-tenth of that. Though Schwarcz said the risks outlined in the study aren't enough for him to discard his black plastic kitchen items if he had them, he agreed with the authors that flame retardants shouldn't be in these products in the first place. "The math error does not impact the study's findings, conclusions or recommendations," said Megan Liu, a co-author of the study who is the science and policy manager for Toxic-Free Future . She added that any traces of flame retardants or toxic chemicals in cooking utensils should be concerning for the public. Flame retardants are getting into commonly used items because black-colored products are being made from recycled electronic waste, such as discarded television sets and computers, that frequently contain the additives. When they're heated, the flame retardants and other toxic chemicals can migrate out. If you're wondering whether your old black plastic spoon or other utensils are a part of this group, Liu shared some more guidance. It's nearly impossible to know whether a black plastic product is contaminated. That's because these products that include recycled e-waste don't disclose a detailed list of all ingredients and contaminants in the product. Liu said it's also unclear how many types of flame retardants are in these black plastic products. Some of the products that researchers tested in this recent study "had up to nine different harmful chemicals and harmful flame retardants in them," she said. Anytime you're looking for the type of recycled plastic a product is made of you're going to look for a number within the chasing arrows (that form a triangle) logo. Recycling symbols are numbered 1 to 7 and we commonly associate the numbers with what we can toss in our blue recycling bins. The 1 through 7 numbers stand for, respectively, polyethylene terephthalate, high-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene or Styrofoam, and miscellaneous plastics (including polycarbonate, polylactide, acrylic, acrylonitrile butadiene, styrene, fiberglass and nylon). The study found higher levels of toxic flame retardants in polystyrene plastic, which is labeled with the number 6, said Liu. There isn't a definitive timeline of when recycled electronic-waste started to be incorporated into black plastic products specifically, but e-waste started to get recycled in the early 2000s, Liu said. The way computers, cellphones, stereos, printers and copiers were being disposed of previously was to simply add them to a landfill without reusing salvageable parts. But as the National Conference of State Legislatures notes, electronics production required a significant amount of resources that could be recovered through recycling. Recovering resources such as metals, plastics and glass through recycling used a fraction of the energy needed to mine new materials. However, the study pointed out that flame retardants and other chemical contaminates have been detected in and near e-waste recycling facilities, in indoor air and dust at formal e-waste recycling facilities in Canada, China, Spain and the U.S. It also noted contamination in soil samples surrounding e-waste recycling sites in China and Vietnam. The safest nontoxic material options for kitchen utensil are wood and stainless steel. The 20th century brought airplanes, radio, television, the internet, and plastic. Lots of plastic. That plastic is now showing up on shorelines, forming islands in oceans, and generating mountains of translucent trash on land. Around 700 species of animals in the sea have been found to interact with plastic daily. Companies across every industry face pressure to reduce the amount of plastic they produce. Seventy-two percent of the world's largest have made voluntary commitments to reduce their plastic waste, according to a Duke University analysis. One industry, in particular, has greatly benefited from advancements in single-use plastic technology: the medical industry. Only in recent years have businesses and academics in the field begun to talk about minimizing their impact on our environment like beverage manufacturers and other consumer goods-producing businesses. Medical Technology Schools analyzed academic studies published in the National Library of Medicine , the American Medical Association , and news reports to shed light on the medical community's use of plastics through history, their environmental problems, and proposed solutions to reduce their impact. And the impact can be significant. A single hospital patient generates nearly 34 pounds of waste a day —as much as a quarter of it is plastic. The COVID-19 pandemic only worsened the problem. The pandemic pushed hospital capacity to the brink and led to a massive increase in personal protective equipment and medical supply usage. Medical-grade masks and other protective equipment like face shields, made mostly of nonrenewable plastics, were in high demand. In 2020, the World Health Organization estimated that the international need for PPE manufacturing would boost 40% to address the public health crisis. Hospitals needed an estimated 89 million masks, 76 million gloves, and 1.6 million goggles every month of the pandemic. To date, nearly 677 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, each requiring their own plastic syringe, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Global consulting firm Frost & Sullivan estimated that the U.S. would produce a year's worth of medical waste in just two months due to the pandemic. The World Economic Forum warned that the COVID-19 crisis threatened to " stall and even reverse progress " to reduce large plastic waste. It's a challenge researchers acknowledge today as they search for solutions. Plastics introduced an era of ultraconvenience to the world. It makes our clothes. It's made bike helmets and airbags possible. And it's a cheap material to produce, meaning it's cheap for consumers too. Almost as importantly, it's durable and incredibly easy to make into complex shapes—a trait that helped plastics invented in the mid-20th century quickly replace more expensive metal and wooden goods. That adoption extended to the medical field, where the single-use nature of plastics represented a move toward more hygienic tools for physicians and hospitals. But it wasn't plastic's sanitary qualities that the industry first latched onto. Like so many other technical advancements, convenience and cost were the initial driving factors. That they were more conducive to creating a sterile environment for patients was a benefit that health care began to tout closer to the end of the 20th century. PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, replaced glass bottles previously used to hold IV solution and replaced rubber tubing used throughout hospital settings. Plastic has also become the go-to material for making syringes and catheters. Plastic products are generally made from chemicals derived from the oil and natural gas refining process. Chemists use those byproducts to create synthetic materials with malleable and durable chemical structures. The low cost of these materials has helped medical device-makers support better health outcomes for communities across the U.S. since the 1900s. No longer was health care priced at rates only the elite could afford—it was accessible to a much larger swath of the public. In the last decade, the U.S., in particular, has emerged as a massive market for medical plastics. The country generally accounts for nearly half of the global market for medical devices. Plastic's durability is not only a benefit but a detriment to the environment, as the material can take many years to deteriorate when it enters landfills or trashes oceans. Estimates vary widely, but scientists ballpark that depending on the kind of plastic and the environment in which it decomposes, it could take dozens to thousands of years to break down entirely. COVID-19, which remains a burden for health care systems, isn't the only force raising the stakes for a health care industry pressured to reduce reliance on plastics or find ways to reuse them. Global annual production of plastic has doubled in the last two decades , according to the Environmental Protection Agency. As the U.S. looks toward the future, its aging population is another factor that could exacerbate the rate at which medical plastics end up in landfills. People require more medical care as they age, and aging baby boomers are expected to place increased demand on the medical device industry. At the same time, governments are under pressure to lower health care costs, which have become unaffordable even for those insured . As recently as 2021, researchers lamented a lack of data on efforts to recycle medical plastics. Around 350 hospitals participate in Practice Greenhealth's Environmental Excellence Awards . Practice Greenhealth is an organization working to help hospitals increase their sustainability. It's one of the few sources of hospital sustainability data, and its roster of participating hospitals represents a small fraction of the more than 6,000 hospitals operating in the U.S. To meet the need to reduce plastic waste generation, some hospitals are moving away from using plastic in certain applications. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center replaced health care workers' disposable plastic isolation gowns with reusable cloth gowns at its hospitals in the last decade, saving money and preventing literal tons of medical waste. It also implemented a process for sterilizing and incinerating the boxes that hold used needles, allowing them to be reassembled and reused in a health care setting. Recycling plastic medical waste is complicated by the potential for contamination and the need to separate contaminated and noncontaminated waste; once separated, they can be broken down with heat or treated with chemicals and reprocessed. However, using chemical methods to break down and dispose of plastics has drawbacks. Over 200 nongovernmental organizations signed a letter in 2023 urging the Biden administration to end federal support for methods like these, arguing they generate toxic pollutants. The Vinyl Council of Australia is working with hospitals to recover used materials made of PVC . The materials are broken down into tiny pieces, washed and heated at high temperatures, and remade into things used outside medical settings. In the U.S. and Europe, there's the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council, a coalition of companies working in the health care device space that includes DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, and Medtronic. In 2021, the HPRC, advised by professionals at Kaiser Permanente and other health systems, rolled out a medical waste recycling pilot project with hopes of scaling it across more hospitals. Story editing by Ashleigh Graf. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Clarese Moller. This story originally appeared on Medical Technology Schools and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. Sign up here to get the latest health & fitness updates in your inbox every week!

‘I work at a hospital’: From Reddit to 4chan, blue and red readers disagreed on everything. Then came Luigi Mangione

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Greg McGarity had reason to be concerned. The Gator Bowl president kept a watchful eye on College Football Playoff scenarios all season and understood the fallout might affect his postseason matchup in Jacksonville. What if the Southeastern Conference got five teams into the expanded CFP? What if the Atlantic Coast Conference landed three spots? It was a math problem that was impossible to truly answer, even into late November. Four first-round playoff games, which will end with four good teams going home without a bowl game, had the potential to shake up the system. The good news for McGarity and other bowl organizers: Adding quality teams to power leagues — Oregon to the Big Ten, Texas to the SEC and SMU to the ACC — managed to ease much of the handwringing. McGarity and the Gator Bowl ended up with their highest-ranked team, No. 16 Ole Miss, in nearly two decades. "It really didn't lessen our pool much at all," McGarity said. "The SEC bowl pool strengthened with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma. You knew they were going to push traditional SEC teams up or down. Texas ended up pushing just about everyone down." The long waiting game was the latest twist for non-CFP bowls that have become adept at dealing with change. Efforts to match the top teams came and went in the 1990s and first decade of this century before the CFP became the first actual tournament in major college football. It was a four-team invitational — until this year, when the 12-team expanded format meant that four quality teams would not be in the mix for bowl games after they lose next week in the first round. "There's been a lot of things that we've kind of had to roll with," said Scott Ramsey, president of the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee. "I don't think the extra games changed our selection model to much degree. We used to look at the New York's Six before this, and that was 12 teams out of the bowl mix. The 12-team playoff is pretty much the same." Ramsey ended up with No. 23 Missouri against Iowa in his Dec. 30 bowl. A lot of so-called lesser bowl games do have high-profile teams — the ReliaQuest Bowl has No. 11 Alabama vs. Michigan (a rematch of last year's CFP semifinal), Texas A&M and USC will play in the Las Vegas Bowl while No. 14 South Carolina and No. 15 Miami, two CFP bubble teams, ended up in separate bowls in Orlando. "The stress of it is just the fact that the CFP takes that opening weekend," Las Vegas Bowl executive director John Saccenti said. "It kind of condenses the calendar a little bit." Bowl season opens Saturday with the Cricket Celebration Bowl. The first round of the CFP runs Dec. 20-21. It remains to be seen whether non-CFP bowls will see an impact from the new dynamic. They will know more by 2026, with a planned bowl reset looming. It could include CFP expansion from 12 to 14 teams and significant tweaks to the bowl system. More on-campus matchups? More diversity among cities selected to host semifinal and championship games? And would there be a trickle-down effect for everyone else? Demand for non-playoff bowls remains high, according to ESPN, despite increased focus on the expanded CFP and more players choosing to skip season finales to either enter the NCAA transfer portal or begin preparations for the NFL draft. "There's a natural appetite around the holidays for football and bowl games," Kurt Dargis, ESPN's senior director of programming and acquisitions, said at Sports Business Journal's Intercollegiate Athletics Forum last week in Las Vegas. "People still want to watch bowl games, regardless of what's going on with the playoff. ... It's obviously an unknown now with the expanded playoff, but we really feel like it's going to continue." The current bowl format runs through 2025. What lies ahead is anyone's guess. Could sponsors start paying athletes to play in bowl games? Could schools include hefty name, image and likeness incentives for players participating in bowls? Would conferences be willing to dump bowl tie-ins to provide a wider range of potential matchups? Are bowls ready to lean into more edginess like Pop-Tarts has done with its edible mascot? The path forward will be determined primarily by revenue, title sponsors, TV demand and ticket sales. "The one thing I have learned is we're going to serve our partners," Saccenti said. "We're going to be a part of the system that's there, and we're going to try to remain flexible and make sure that we're adjusting to what's going on in the world of postseason college football." Get local news delivered to your inbox!

BEND, OREGON (AP) — Eliza Wilson is a little nervous as she draws the microphone close, but she is determined to share her life story. “My father was a disabled veteran,” she says. “I first experienced homelessness when I was 5 years old.” Wilson, who’s 36, leads programs focused on unhoused youth. On a recent Saturday, she is addressing a citizen assembly, a grassroots gathering seeking solutions to tough local challenges. Her audience consists of 30 ordinary Oregonians. They are acupuncturists and elk hunters; house cleaners and retired riverboat pilots. None are public policy experts. All the same, these participants have been asked to recommend new strategies for combating youth homelessness — a major problem in this affluent Oregon city and the surrounding rural areas of Deschutes County. This unusual experiment in small-D democracy is underwritten by more than $250,000 in grants from backers such as the Rockefeller Foundation and Omidyar Network. As a key early presenter, Wilson wins rapt attention, clicking through data-rich slides and sharing her story of crisis and recovery. That’s how citizen assemblies should work, says Kevin O’Neil, an innovation specialist at the Rockefeller Foundation. His research shows Americans are frustrated with what they perceive as aloofness and gridlock within civic institutions. “People want to be directly involved in decision-making,” O’Neil says. “They recognize the value of expertise, but they don’t want to delegate decision-making to experts.” Assemblies can help “overcome polarization and strengthen societal cohesion,” says Claudia Chwalisz, founder of DemocracyNext . Her nonprofit, launched in Paris in 2022, champions such assemblies worldwide, hoping they can “create the democratic spaces for everyday people to grapple with the complexity of policy issues, listen to one another, and find common ground.” At least, that’s the theory. To succeed, citizen assemblies can’t settle for a few days of harmonious dialogue among well-intentioned strangers. They need to inspire policy changes or new programs from government and other civic institutions. In Europe, such wins abound. In the United States, results are spottier. The most fruitful U.S. effort to date was a 2021 people’s assembly in Washington State that produced 148 ideas — including more solar canopies and food composting — to combat climate change. More often, progress is challenging. An assembly in 2022 in Petaluma, California, spun up ideas to repurpose a long-time county fairground site. Two years later, the fair still operates under short-term leases; its long-term destiny remains in limbo. In Colorado’s Montrose County , enacting an assembly’s bold ideas for improving rural day care has been “more of a marathon than a sprint,” says organizer Morgan Lasher. Can central Oregon do better? It may take years to know, but evidence so far shows both the assembly system’s opportunities and the challenges. Bend’s local economy is strong, with a jobless rate of just 4.2% and median household income of more than $80,000. As housing costs have skyrocketed, though, the spectacle of people living in tent and trailer encampments has become more common. A January count found more than 1,800 people were homeless in Deschutes County, up from 913 in 2020. In 2023, DemocracyNext and Healthy Democracy , a Portland, Oregon, nonprofit, connected with Bend officials interested in bringing the assembly idea to central Oregon. Josh Burgess, an Air Force veteran, who moved to Bend and became the proverbial “advance man” for DemocracyNext. Operating in a county evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, Burgess built rapport with both liberal and conservative members on the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners. “It took four or five meetings to get there,” Burgess recalls. Organizers decided to focus on homelessness among ages 14 to 24, where opportunities for progress seemed greatest. To pick citizens for the assembly, organizers contacted 12,000 county residents before selecting just 30. Everything was balanced by age, race, gender, and geography – a slow, costly requirement. Even so, advocates such as Michelle Barsa of Omidyar Network says assemblies’ big edge comes from using “an actual representative sample of the community, not just the people who always show up at town-hall meetings and yell into a microphone for three minutes.” At the northern edge of Oregon State’s Bend campus, a few hundred yards from the Deschutes River, is the McGrath Family atrium, a sunlight-drenched space with panoramic woodland views. It feels almost like a spa. As the Bend assembly gets started, black tablecloths at a huge, U-shaped table convey gravity. Name tags identify attendees as “Noelle,” “Dave,” “Alex.” The first few hours go slowly, but everything perks up after lunch. Eliza Wilson takes command, introducing herself as director of runaway and homeless youth services at J Bar J , a social-services organization. Her voice is unfailingly steady, but emotions race fast across her face: hope, frustration, empathy, resolve, and more. “Teens get really good at hiding their homelessness,” Wilson explains. “We don’t share family business outside of the family. I was really fortunate that a high-school counselor pointed me, at age 15, to the first youth shelter that had just opened in Bend. I stayed there for three years, until I graduated from high school. I finally got on my feet at age 21.” As Wilson finishes, questions stream in. “Are there any programs advocating for children to get back to their parents?” one woman wants to know. “Is there open communication between you guys and the school district?” a man asks. Wilson and other presenters respond with a road map of what exists today. They point out how homeless youth are in a precarious but not hopeless situation, counting on allies for a couch to sleep on. Less than 20 percent live outside in encampments. Practically everyone in the audience takes notes. The next day, assembly members strike up conversations with young adults who were once homeless. Chronic problems — and glimmers of ideas about how to address them — tumble forth. Flaws in the foster parent system. The risk of sexual abuse. The unique challenges that LGBTQ youth face. Attendees — who shared their thoughts with the Chronicle on the condition they be identified only by their first name — regarded those conversations as eye-opening breakthroughs in their hunt for policy recommendations. “I’m coming away with a whole different point of view,” Ken told me. He had arrived believing that poor parenting and drug abuse led to homelessness, and that affected families should personally address such challenges. Now, he said, he was interested in broader solutions. Several local officials stopped by to watch the assembly proceedings. Phil Chang, a Deschutes County commissioner, said the broad-based assembly creates “social license for us to do things that the community wants.” Conservative county commissioner Tony DeBone worries that Oregon’s rollback of drug-offense laws has worsened social problems; he also believes that an economic upturn would do the most good. Still, he says, he’s willing to see what the assembly can offer. Ultimately, the assembly’s effectiveness will depend on whether its recommendations can overcome bureaucratic inertia, says Tammy Baney, executive director of the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council . Proposed changes in police interactions with homeless youth could be acted on within a month or two if local law enforcement is receptive, she says. Improving Oregon’s gridlocked foster-care system might be much harder. “It all depends on how much political will there is,” Baney says. George Anders is editor-at-large at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where you can read the full article . This article was provided to The Associated Press by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as part of a partnership to cover philanthropy and nonprofits supported by the Lilly Endowment. The Chronicle is solely responsible for the content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy . Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Can ordinary citizens solve our toughest problems?

Bowls miss out in 4 CFP teams in latest postseason twist

A recent study that recommended toxic chemicals in black plastic products be immediately thrown away included a math error that significantly overstated the risks of contamination, but its authors are standing by their conclusions and warn against using such products. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Chemosphere , experts from the nonprofit Toxic-Free Future said they detected flame retardants and other toxic chemicals in 85% of 203 items made of black plastic including kitchen utensils , take-out containers, children's toys and hair accessories. In a blog post, Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society in Canada, explained that the Toxin-Free Future scientists miscalculated the lower end of what the EPA considered a health risk through a multiplication error. Instead of humans being potentially exposed to a dose of toxic chemicals in black plastic utensils near the minimum level that the EPA deems a health risk, it's actually about one-tenth of that. (Dreamstime/TNS) Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS The study initially said the potential exposure to chemicals found in one of the kitchen utensils approached the minimum levels the Environmental Protection Agency deemed a health risk. But in an update to the study, the authors say they made an error in their calculations and the real levels were "an order of magnitude lower" than the EPA's thresholds. The error was discovered by Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society in Canada. In a blog post, Schwarcz explained that the Toxin-Free Future scientists miscalculated the lower end of what the EPA considered a health risk through a multiplication error. Instead of humans being potentially exposed to a dose of toxic chemicals in black plastic utensils near the minimum level that the EPA deems a health risk, it's actually about one-tenth of that. Though Schwarcz said the risks outlined in the study aren't enough for him to discard his black plastic kitchen items if he had them, he agreed with the authors that flame retardants shouldn't be in these products in the first place. "The math error does not impact the study's findings, conclusions or recommendations," said Megan Liu, a co-author of the study who is the science and policy manager for Toxic-Free Future . She added that any traces of flame retardants or toxic chemicals in cooking utensils should be concerning for the public. Flame retardants are getting into commonly used items because black-colored products are being made from recycled electronic waste, such as discarded television sets and computers, that frequently contain the additives. When they're heated, the flame retardants and other toxic chemicals can migrate out. If you're wondering whether your old black plastic spoon or other utensils are a part of this group, Liu shared some more guidance. It's nearly impossible to know whether a black plastic product is contaminated. That's because these products that include recycled e-waste don't disclose a detailed list of all ingredients and contaminants in the product. Liu said it's also unclear how many types of flame retardants are in these black plastic products. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts Some of the products that researchers tested in this recent study "had up to nine different harmful chemicals and harmful flame retardants in them," she said. Anytime you're looking for the type of recycled plastic a product is made of you're going to look for a number within the chasing arrows (that form a triangle) logo. Recycling symbols are numbered 1 to 7 and we commonly associate the numbers with what we can toss in our blue recycling bins. The 1 through 7 numbers stand for, respectively, polyethylene terephthalate, high-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene or Styrofoam, and miscellaneous plastics (including polycarbonate, polylactide, acrylic, acrylonitrile butadiene, styrene, fiberglass and nylon). The study found higher levels of toxic flame retardants in polystyrene plastic, which is labeled with the number 6, said Liu. There isn't a definitive timeline of when recycled electronic-waste started to be incorporated into black plastic products specifically, but e-waste started to get recycled in the early 2000s, Liu said. The way computers, cellphones, stereos, printers and copiers were being disposed of previously was to simply add them to a landfill without reusing salvageable parts. But as the National Conference of State Legislatures notes, electronics production required a significant amount of resources that could be recovered through recycling. Recovering resources such as metals, plastics and glass through recycling used a fraction of the energy needed to mine new materials. However, the study pointed out that flame retardants and other chemical contaminates have been detected in and near e-waste recycling facilities, in indoor air and dust at formal e-waste recycling facilities in Canada, China, Spain and the U.S. It also noted contamination in soil samples surrounding e-waste recycling sites in China and Vietnam. The safest nontoxic material options for kitchen utensil are wood and stainless steel. The 20th century brought airplanes, radio, television, the internet, and plastic. Lots of plastic. That plastic is now showing up on shorelines, forming islands in oceans, and generating mountains of translucent trash on land. Around 700 species of animals in the sea have been found to interact with plastic daily. Companies across every industry face pressure to reduce the amount of plastic they produce. Seventy-two percent of the world's largest have made voluntary commitments to reduce their plastic waste, according to a Duke University analysis. One industry, in particular, has greatly benefited from advancements in single-use plastic technology: the medical industry. Only in recent years have businesses and academics in the field begun to talk about minimizing their impact on our environment like beverage manufacturers and other consumer goods-producing businesses. Medical Technology Schools analyzed academic studies published in the National Library of Medicine , the American Medical Association , and news reports to shed light on the medical community's use of plastics through history, their environmental problems, and proposed solutions to reduce their impact. And the impact can be significant. A single hospital patient generates nearly 34 pounds of waste a day —as much as a quarter of it is plastic. The COVID-19 pandemic only worsened the problem. EleniyaChe // Shutterstock The pandemic pushed hospital capacity to the brink and led to a massive increase in personal protective equipment and medical supply usage. Medical-grade masks and other protective equipment like face shields, made mostly of nonrenewable plastics, were in high demand. In 2020, the World Health Organization estimated that the international need for PPE manufacturing would boost 40% to address the public health crisis. Hospitals needed an estimated 89 million masks, 76 million gloves, and 1.6 million goggles every month of the pandemic. To date, nearly 677 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, each requiring their own plastic syringe, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Global consulting firm Frost & Sullivan estimated that the U.S. would produce a year's worth of medical waste in just two months due to the pandemic. The World Economic Forum warned that the COVID-19 crisis threatened to " stall and even reverse progress " to reduce large plastic waste. It's a challenge researchers acknowledge today as they search for solutions. LookerStudio // Shutterstock Plastics introduced an era of ultraconvenience to the world. It makes our clothes. It's made bike helmets and airbags possible. And it's a cheap material to produce, meaning it's cheap for consumers too. Almost as importantly, it's durable and incredibly easy to make into complex shapes—a trait that helped plastics invented in the mid-20th century quickly replace more expensive metal and wooden goods. That adoption extended to the medical field, where the single-use nature of plastics represented a move toward more hygienic tools for physicians and hospitals. But it wasn't plastic's sanitary qualities that the industry first latched onto. Like so many other technical advancements, convenience and cost were the initial driving factors. That they were more conducive to creating a sterile environment for patients was a benefit that health care began to tout closer to the end of the 20th century. PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, replaced glass bottles previously used to hold IV solution and replaced rubber tubing used throughout hospital settings. Plastic has also become the go-to material for making syringes and catheters. Plastic products are generally made from chemicals derived from the oil and natural gas refining process. Chemists use those byproducts to create synthetic materials with malleable and durable chemical structures. The low cost of these materials has helped medical device-makers support better health outcomes for communities across the U.S. since the 1900s. No longer was health care priced at rates only the elite could afford—it was accessible to a much larger swath of the public. In the last decade, the U.S., in particular, has emerged as a massive market for medical plastics. The country generally accounts for nearly half of the global market for medical devices. Plastic's durability is not only a benefit but a detriment to the environment, as the material can take many years to deteriorate when it enters landfills or trashes oceans. Estimates vary widely, but scientists ballpark that depending on the kind of plastic and the environment in which it decomposes, it could take dozens to thousands of years to break down entirely. InkheartX // Shutterstock COVID-19, which remains a burden for health care systems, isn't the only force raising the stakes for a health care industry pressured to reduce reliance on plastics or find ways to reuse them. Global annual production of plastic has doubled in the last two decades , according to the Environmental Protection Agency. As the U.S. looks toward the future, its aging population is another factor that could exacerbate the rate at which medical plastics end up in landfills. People require more medical care as they age, and aging baby boomers are expected to place increased demand on the medical device industry. At the same time, governments are under pressure to lower health care costs, which have become unaffordable even for those insured . sirtravelalot // Shutterstock As recently as 2021, researchers lamented a lack of data on efforts to recycle medical plastics. Around 350 hospitals participate in Practice Greenhealth's Environmental Excellence Awards . Practice Greenhealth is an organization working to help hospitals increase their sustainability. It's one of the few sources of hospital sustainability data, and its roster of participating hospitals represents a small fraction of the more than 6,000 hospitals operating in the U.S. To meet the need to reduce plastic waste generation, some hospitals are moving away from using plastic in certain applications. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center replaced health care workers' disposable plastic isolation gowns with reusable cloth gowns at its hospitals in the last decade, saving money and preventing literal tons of medical waste. It also implemented a process for sterilizing and incinerating the boxes that hold used needles, allowing them to be reassembled and reused in a health care setting. Recycling plastic medical waste is complicated by the potential for contamination and the need to separate contaminated and noncontaminated waste; once separated, they can be broken down with heat or treated with chemicals and reprocessed. However, using chemical methods to break down and dispose of plastics has drawbacks. Over 200 nongovernmental organizations signed a letter in 2023 urging the Biden administration to end federal support for methods like these, arguing they generate toxic pollutants. The Vinyl Council of Australia is working with hospitals to recover used materials made of PVC . The materials are broken down into tiny pieces, washed and heated at high temperatures, and remade into things used outside medical settings. In the U.S. and Europe, there's the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council, a coalition of companies working in the health care device space that includes DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, and Medtronic. In 2021, the HPRC, advised by professionals at Kaiser Permanente and other health systems, rolled out a medical waste recycling pilot project with hopes of scaling it across more hospitals. Story editing by Ashleigh Graf. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Clarese Moller. This story originally appeared on Medical Technology Schools and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. Watchara Chuenchomnoi // ShutterstockPORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Two reporters were killed and several were wounded Tuesday in a gang attack in Haiti on the reopening of Port-au-Prince’s biggest public hospital , the country's online media association said. A police officer was also killed in the attack. Street gangs forced the closure of the General Hospital early this year and authorities had pledged to reopen the facility in Haiti's capital on Christmas Eve. But as journalists gathered to cover the event, suspected gang members opened fire. It was the latest violence in Haiti, crippled by an unprecedented crisis that has seen coordinated gang attacks on prisons, police stations and the main international airport. Robest Dimanche, a spokesman for the Online Media Collective, identified the killed journalists as Markenzy Nathoux and Jimmy Jean. Dimanche said an unspecified number of reporters were also been in the attack, which he blamed on the Viv Ansanm coalition of gangs. The Haitian Association of Journalists confirmed two reporters and a police officer were killed, and seven reporters were wounded in what it called “a macabre scene comparable to terrorism, pure and simple.” Haiti’s interim president, Leslie Voltaire, said in an address to the nation that journalists and police were among the victims of the attack. He did not specify the casualty numbers or provide a breakdown. “I send my sympathies to the people who were victims, the national police and the journalists,” Voltaire said. Later, the government put out a statement saying it is “responding firmly to the attack." "This heinous act, which targets an institution dedicated to health and life, constitutes an unacceptable attack on the very foundations of our society," it said. Related: Earlier, a video posted online by the reporters trapped inside the hospital shows what appeared to be two lifeless bodies of men on stretchers, their clothes bloodied. One of the men had a lanyard with a press credential around his neck. Radio Télé Métronome initially reported that seven journalists and two police officers were wounded. Police and officials did not immediately respond to calls for information on the attack. Another video posted online, which also could not be immediately verified, showed reporters inside the building and at least three lying on the floor, apparently wounded. Street gangs have taken over an estimated 85% of Port-au-Prince and have also targeted the main international airport and Haiti’s two largest prisons. Johnson “Izo” André, considered Haiti’s most powerful gang leader and part of the Viv Ansanm group of gangs, which that has taken control of much of Port-au-Prince , posted a video on social media claiming responsibility for the attack. The video said the gang coalition had not authorized the hospital’s reopening. Haiti has seen journalists targeted before. In 2023, two local journalists were killed in the space of a couple of weeks — radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was fatally shot in mid-April that year, while journalist Ricot Jean was found dead later that month. In July, former Prime Minister Garry Conille visited the Hospital of the State University of Haiti, more widely known as the General Hospital, after authorities regained control of it from gangs. The hospital had been left ravaged and strewn with debris. Walls and nearby buildings were riddled with bullet holes, signaling fights between police and gangs. The hospital is across the street from the national palace, the scene of several battles in recent months. Gang attacks have pushed Haiti’s health system to the brink of collapse with looting, setting fires, and destroying medical institutions and pharmacies in the capital. The violence has created a surge in patients and a shortage of resources to treat them. Haiti’s health care system faces additional challenges during the rainy season, which is likely to increase the risk of water-borne diseases. Poor conditions in camps and makeshift settlements have heightened the risk of diseases like cholera, with over 84,000 suspected cases in the country, according to UNICEF. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america Copyright 2024 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.The last six years have landed Canadian Kurtis Rourke firmly in the U.S. college football limelight. The 24-year-old Oakville, Ont., native will lead the upstart Indiana Hoosiers (11-1) into South Bend, Ind., to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-1) on Dec. 20 to open American university football's expanded playoff bracket. Rourke transferred to Indiana last December to boost his NFL draft stock after five years at Ohio University, where he began as a backup to his older brother, Nathan, then captured the 2022 MAC offensive player of the year award despite suffering a season-ending knee injury before heading to Indiana after the 2023 season. A win over Notre Dame would extend Indiana's stellar campaign while a loss would mark the end of Rourke's collegiate career. "Having six years is something not many people can say," Rourke told Canadian reporters Wednesday. "(It has been) very much a roller-coaster but I'm just grateful. "I've had four surgeries in college and only missed a handful of games. That's the biggest thing I come back to, that I've been so lucky to still play and have an opportunity to play (maybe) four more games and hopefully at a professional level." The six-foot-five, 223-pound Rourke will be eligible for the '25 NFL draft. Rourke has played a big role in Indiana — traditionally known as a basketball school — emerging as a Big Ten contender in head coach Curt Cignetti's first season. Rourke completed 202-of-287 passes (70.4 per cent) for 2,827 yards with 27 TDs and just four interceptions in 11 games and last week was named a finalist for the Manning Award, given annually to American college football's top quarterback. The only blemish on Indiana's record was a 38-15 loss to Ohio State before 105,751 spectators in Columbus, Ohio, on Nov. 23. Rourke was eight-of-18 passing for 68 yards in that contest and sacked five times. It's that experience Rourke and the Hoosiers are drawing upon as they prepare to visit Notre Dame Stadium, which has a seating capacity of roughly 77,000 but held 84,000 spectators for a 2018 Garth Brooks concert. "I don't know if it will be as crazy or as hostile an environment as Ohio State ... but I do expect it to be a pretty good environment," Rourke said. "We have some plans in place with the silent count if we need at any point to go to ... but ultimately just learning from the experience of Ohio State to handle it individually as well as an offence." Former CFL player Tino Sunseri is Indiana's quarterback coach/co-offensive co-ordinator. Sunseri spent three seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2013-15), winning a Grey Cup as a rookie. Reaching the expanded playoff format in Cignetti's first season is a huge accomplishment for Indiana. But the school reportedly added 31 players via the transfer portal before the 2024 campaign. When asked how he appealed to incoming players, Cignetti said, "It's pretty simple, I win. Google me." Cignetti came to Indiana after posting a 52-9 record over five seasons at James Madison. Rourke said Hoosiers' players draw inspiration from their brash head coach. "Seeing your head coach on a national stage say what he said, 'Google me,' ... that just shows how confident he is in himself and the coaches," Rourke said. "And that just makes us feel like, 'Yeah, we're coming along with you coach.' "As the season went on we were like, 'Yeah, we can do this.'" Rourke suffered a right thumb injury that required surgery in Indiana's 56-7 win over Nebraska on Oct. 19. Fortunately, he missed only one start (31-17 victory over Washington) and returned to throw four TD passes in 47-10 decision over Michigan State on Nov. 2. "My thumb feels 100 per cent now," Rourke said. "It was hard missing that Washington game ... but I knew the team would have my back." It's no surprise Rourke has leaned upon his brother throughout his college tenure. The two are very close and Rourke said he began playing quarterback after watching Nathan do so growing up. Nathan Rourke rejoined the Lions in August after spending time in the NFL with Jacksonville, New England, Atlanta and the New York Giants. "We've been able to talk about ball but (also) life," the junior Rourke said. "Just having someone who's done it, who's been through the college experience, been through the NFL experiences and now the CFL to learn from and also bounce questions off him, it's been quite beneficial to have him in my corner." Rourke has hired an agent — Octagon's Casey Muir — and will work out this off-season in Fort Myers, Fla. As of Wednesday, Rourke said he's not been invited to the NFL combine, which begins Feb. 27 in Indianapolis. "I'd love to get an invite to the combine," he said. "That was one of my goals, honestly, when I got to college, which seems forever ago. "That would be awesome." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2024. Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press

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A major Drug Summit is preparing to deliver their landmark report on how to address drug reform across NSW, with leaders promising there will be “no guard rails” placed on those trying to enact change across the state. Led by former NSW Liberal leader John Brogden and former Labor deputy premier Carmel Tebbutt, the summit began in Griffith and Lismore in November, with the fourth and final session beginning in Sydney on Thursday. NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the report to be produced by Mr Brogden and Ms Tebbutt would not be given any “guard rails”. “They’ve been given no limitations,” Mr Park said. “They’ve been given no set agenda. While there are things that we will agree and not agree on — absolutely — that report will be handed to government in a faithful way. “The government will then, across its portfolios and ministers engage, review and report back, importantly, in a very timely manner.” He said the report will be made public, revealing the summit has “challenged” his own ideas. “It’s challenged my ideas. Each of the days I’ve left ... thinking, ‘What have I learned? What have I been challenged? What do I need to think about going forward?’,” Mr Park said. “And I hope over the next six hours each of you continue in that spirit. “That is how we truly reform, that is how we truly learn. “That is how we truly serve the communities and the people of NSW in a way that we’re all passionate about doing in our respective roles.” He said drug use is an issue that touches the entire community, and one that “seems to invade your entire existence” as a parent “because you see an issue at every corner”. “The young people yesterday reminded me that for them, they don’t always see drug use like that at all,” he said. “They don’t always see that through a frame of problem and problematic behaviour. And I say to those young people, thank you for challenging me.” Mr Park urged young people to “make sure (their) voice is heard to elected members of parliament” at the summit after speaking with some yesterday. “Your voice is critical, because in many ways, you are what we are all here for,” he said, thanking them for attending. He admitted the “issue of drug use (and) misuse” was not foreign to him as a father of two boys. “It’s something I’m living through every day of the week,” Mr Park said. “It’s an issue that I find myself regularly discussing in the true spirit as fathers trying to impart knowledge.” He said he comes to the summit not just as a health minister, but as a dad of a teenager. “So I do have that heavy responsibility of being the health minister, but also that heavy responsibility, trying to do my very, very best for parents and young people out there, navigating a world that was different to mine, but is different for them.” The NSW government has already committed to $9.3m in funding for drug and alcohol treatment services in the Murrumbidgee region, $21m for drug and alcohol services in northern NSW and $235m for alcohol and drug services across NSW. Pill testing is tipped to be one of the biggest hot topics at the summit, with the timing just weeks before Victoria will begin its pill testing trial at Beyond the Valley following the success of similar trials in ACT and Queensland.DEAN McCullough and Ant McPartlin came face-to-face on I'm A Celebrity tonight after fans said they spotted a feud between them. Radio 1 DJ Dean has done several dreaded Bushtucker Trials - therefore spending a lot of time with Ant and Dec. 4 Ant McPartlin came face to face with Dean McCullough again Credit: Erotreme 4 Radio DJ Dean has done several Bushtucker Trials to date Credit: Eroteme 4 Danny and Dean faced another disgusting trial Credit: ITV In tonight's (November 22) episode, Dean and McFly star Danny Jones took on the latest trial, High Street Of Horrors. Shortly after their arrival, Ant acknowledged past tension between the two. He told the celebrity campmate: "Dean, I'm not angry anymore, I'm just disappointed." The trial itself comprised three shops, each containing a number of stars to win for camp. Read more on I'm A Celeb GUT PUNCH I'm A Celeb's Dean in swipe at Ant in awkward moment as he quits another trial Ant’s Wrath Ant McPartlin SLAMS 'useless' Dean McCullough after he loses another trial Overall, the objective was to locate all of them within the allotted time for their shopping spree. The first stop, Grim Grocers had three stars on offer with three minutes to find them. Danny, in his eagerness, tripped over when the klaxon sounded. In their effort, the duo won a total of eight stars for camp altogether. Most read in I’m A Celebrity 2024 'FIGHTER' Tulisa's ex makes surprise admission about her changing face amid heath battles FAMILIAR FACE Maura Higgins breaks her silence on awkwardly sharing a camp with ex’s dad Mum's the word Inside I'm A Celeb star Tulisa's turbulent relationship with mum beaten down I’m A Celeb’s Sam Thompson begs producers to check on 'missing’ campmate At the same time, new additions Reverend Richard Coles and Maura Higgins continued their deceit of the main camp. Arriving before Danny and Dean, they pretended to have already done the trial miserably - winning no stars. Fuming Dean McCullough takes a swipe at Ant in awkward moment after he QUITS another I'm A Celeb Bushtucker Trial Reverend Richard joked: “I’m really consumed with guilt!” A twist after the trial saw Dean go back to the Junkyard with Maura and Reverend Richard. Ant previously addressed the "feud" with Dean during Thursday's episode of ITV2 spin-off show Unpacked. The star admitted he was "annoyed" at the DJ for screaming 'I'm A Celeb' and quitting the task early - and being "unprofessional" in how he dealt with it. He said: "My annoyance came across on screen and it was quite unprofessional and I'm not happy about it." Dec sarcastically responded "I think you hid it quite well, Ant...I think you hid it quite well." Ant went on: "You get to the point when you think 'what are you doing?'" Taking to social media, viewers at home shared their observations. I'm A Celebrity 2024 i'm A Celebrity is back for its 24th series, with a batch of famous faces living in the Aussie jungle. The Sun's Jake Penkethman takes a look at the stars on the show this year.. Coleen Rooney - Arguably the most famous name in the camp, the leading WAG, known for her marriage to Wayne Rooney , has made a grand return to TV as she looks to put the Wagatha Christie scandal behind her. The Sun revealed the mum-of-four had bagged an eye-watering deal worth over £1.5million to be on the show this year making her the highest-paid contestant ever. Tulisa - The popstar and former X Factor judge has made her triumphant TV comeback by signing up to this year's I'm A Celeb after shunning TV shows for many years. Known for being a member of the trio, N-Dubz, Tulisa became a household name back in 2011 when she signed on to replace Cheryl on ITV show The X Factor in a multi-million pound deal. Alan Halsall - The actor, known for playing the long-running role of Tyrone Dobbs on ITV soap opera Coronation Street, was originally signed up to head Down Under last year but an operation threw his scheduled appearance off-course. Now he has become the latest Corrie star to win over both the viewers and his fellow celebrities. Melvin Odoom - The Radio DJ has become a regular face on TV screens after rising to fame with presenting roles on Kiss FM, BBC Radio 1 and 4Music. Melvin has already been for a spin on the Strictly dancefloor and co-hosted The Xtra Factor with Rochelle Humes in 2015 but now he is facing up to his biggest challenge yet - the Aussie jungle . GK Barry - The UK's biggest social media personality, GK, whose real name is Grace Keeling, has transformed her TikTok stardom into a lucrative career. Aside from her popular social media channels, she hosts the weekly podcast, Saving Grace, and regularly appears on ITV talk show, Loose Women. She has even gone on to endorse popular brands such as PrettyLittleThing, KFC and Ann Summers. Dean McCullough - A rising star amongst this year's bunch of celebs , Dean first achieved notability through his radio appearances on Gaydio and BBC Radio 1. He was chosen to join the BBC station permanently in 2021 and has featured prominently ever since. He has enjoyed a crossover to ITV over the past year thanks to his guest slots on Big Brother spin-off show, Late & Live. Oti Mabuse - The pro dancer has signed up to her latest TV show after making her way through the biggest programmes on the box. She originally found fame on Strictly Come Dancing but has since branched out into the world of TV judging with appearances on former BBC show The Greatest Dancer as well as her current role on ITV's Dancing On Ice . Danny Jones - The McFly star was drafted into the programme last minute as a replacement for Tommy Fury. Danny is the second member of McFly to enter the jungle , after Dougie Poynter won the show in 2011. He is also considered a rising star on ITV as he's now one of the mentors on their Saturday night talent show, The Voice , along with bandmate Tom Fletcher. Jane Moore - The Loose Women star and The Sun columnist is braving the creepy crawlies this year. The star is ready for a new challenge - having recently split from her husband . It will be Jane's first foray into reality TV with the telly favourite having always said no to reality shows in the past. Barry McGuigan - Former pro boxer Barry is the latest fighting champ to head Down Under following in the footsteps of Tony Bellew and Amir Khan. It comes after a tough few years for Irish star Barry, who lost his daughter Danika to bowel cancer . He told The Late Late Show in 2021: "She was such an intrinsic part of the family that every day we ache." Maura Higgins - The Irish TV beauty first found fame on Love Island where she found a brief connection with dancer Curtis Pritchard . Since then, she has competed on Dancing On Ice as well as hosting the Irish version of the beauty contest, Glow Up. Since last year, she has been working on building up her career in the US by being the social media correspondent and host of Aftersun to accompany Love Island USA. She even guest hosted an episode of the spin-off, Love Island Games, in place of Maya Jama last year. Rev. Richard Coles - Former BBC radio host the Rev Richard Coles is a late arrival on I’m A Celebrity , and he's ready to spill the beans on his former employer. The former Communards and Strictly star , said the BBC did not know its a**e from its elbow last year. An insider said: "Rev Coles will have a variety of tales to tell from his wild days as a pop star in the Eighties, through to performing on Strictly and his later life as a man of the cloth." One wrote on X: “im not angry” “im just disappointed” ant is so fed up with dean." Another added: "dying at how obvious it is that ant cannot stand dean." Read more on the Scottish Sun COMIC'S CASTLE Still Game star takes £150,000 hit to offload luxury £4m Scots castle HITTING THE HIGH NOTES Much-loved pub named best music bar in Scotland While a third commented: "Ant & Dec absolutely despise Dean don’t they #ImACeleb." I'm A Celebrity continues on ITV1 and ITVX. 4 Dean didn't looked impressed Credit: ITV

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The US Treasury has issued a final rule on Executive Order restricting investment in certain Chinese industries AI, semiconductors, and microeletronics are all on the list of restricted investments Move is the latest salvo in tech trade war between US and China The US government has issued new rules looking to restrict outbound investments in China’s high-tech industries. The regulations, managed by the Treasury Department, are expected to require companies to notify the government of investments in sensitive technologies. These sensitive technologies include areas such as artificial intelligence ( AI ), semiconductors, microelectronics, and quantum computing, particularly when these technologies could be used to advance military capabilities. Biden administration focuses on National Security These new rules are not entirely new as they build upon existing restrictions. In October 2022, the US implemented export controls to block China's access to advanced semiconductor technologies, especially those essential for AI development. These export controls came alongside earlier tariff hikes on Chinese imports. The U.S. government has been widening its efforts to curb the transfer of U.S. capital and expertise into China, addressing concerns over national security and military competition. In 2018, the Trump administration initiated tariffs on Chinese goods and began restricting Chinese investments in US technology sectors, citing concerns over "forced technology transfer" and the potential military applications of advanced technologies. Under the Biden administration, this did not change as the U.S. seeks to prevent technology and investments from supporting China’s military modernization, which officials worry could undermine America’s strategic interests. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! The Treasury has been working on these restrictions since mid-2023, when it released initial proposals to potentially ban certain investments in China. The initial proposals drew public feedback from citizens and businesses, helping the department refine the scope of the rules. The finalized regulations , outlined by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Investment Security are expected to strike a balance between protecting U.S. security interests and avoiding unnecessary disruption to commercial relations. “The potential military, intelligence, surveillance, and cyber-enabled applications of these technologies and products pose risks to U.S. national security particularly when developed by a country of concern such as the PRC,” the Treasury Department notification said. Take a look at the best endpoint protection These are the best patch management software Huawei pairs a supercharged SSD with tape storage in response to US export restrictionsShares of Bank of America (BAC) fell over 1% on Monday after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a cease-and-desist order against the lender for failing to timely file suspicious activity reports and correct a previously identified deficiency related to its customer due diligence processes. The OCC said the order also identifies deficiencies in the lender's BSA compliance program's internal controls, governance, independent testing, and training components. The bank has neither admitted nor denied the findings of the OCC. However, a Bank of America representative told Bloomberg in an emailed statement that the bank has been working closely with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency over the past year to improve its anti-money-laundering and sanctions programs. “The work we’ve done so far positions us well to implement the requirements of the consent order.” The OCC order requires the lender to take comprehensive corrective actions to enhance its BSA/anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions compliance programs. This includes hiring an independent consultant to assess these programs and conduct look-back reviews to ensure all suspicious activity was appropriately reported. Following the announcement by OCC, retail sentiment on Stocktwits dipped into the ‘bearish’ territory (44/100) from ‘neutral’ a day ago. Most retail chatter on Stocktwits indicated a negative bias toward the stock. Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares of Bank of America to ‘Equal Weight’ from ‘Overweight’ while raising its price target to $55 from $48, according to The Fly. The brokerage expects a more balanced risk-reward and prefers money centers with a higher skew to capital markets. Meanwhile, shares of BAC have gained over 28% since the beginning of the year. For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<

Dax Harwood Reflects On Anniversary Of FTR vs. Briscoes Match: ‘This Is Why I Started’Dax Harwood Reflects On Anniversary Of FTR vs. Briscoes Match: ‘This Is Why I Started’Bloomerang Clients Raised a Record $56M on GivingTuesday

Why it matters: The success of Intel's upcoming 18A process node is critical to the company's future. After refuting reports of abysmal yield rates, Intel recently confirmed that 18A has reached a crucial milestone in its effort to regain competitiveness against semiconductor rivals Samsung and TSMC. Interim Intel co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus announced that the first engineering samples of hardware manufactured with the company's 18A semiconductor node have been delivered to customers . Her comments aim to reassure industry observers that Intel's foundry business remains on track to compete with TSMC's and Samsung's 3nm and 2nm nodes starting next year. At the Barclays Annual Global Technology Conference, Holthaus and co-CEO David Zinsner discussed Intel's upcoming Panther Lake processors, which will debut the 18A process node upon their expected launch in the second half of 2025. Holthaus revealed that eight foundry customers have powered on ES0 (likely "Engineering Sample 0") chips built on the 18A node, signaling significant progress compared to six months ago. Intel released version 1.0 of the 18A process design kit in July, enabling customers to begin developing chips based on the node. In August, the company confirmed that internal samples of Panther Lake and Clearwater Forest processors, built on the 18A node, successfully powered on and booted Windows with satisfactory performance. The statements made at the Barclays event mark the first confirmation of 18A usage outside of Intel. Also see: What's next for Intel: Split, sell, or shut down the fabs? Semiconductors produced with the 18A node will integrate Intel's new RibbonFET gate-all-around technology and PowerVia power delivery architecture, both designed to improve performance-per-watt and power efficiency. Intel hopes these innovations will help it reenter the race for leadership against the most advanced nodes from TSMC and Samsung. The successful launch of Panther Lake and the 18A node could provide a desperately needed win for Intel. The company has faced significant challenges recently, including the resignation of former CEO Pat Gelsinger following several disappointing quarters. Skepticism about Intel's foundry business persists, with even industry veterans like TSMC founder Morris Chang expressing doubts about its prospects. Intel has also had to address concerns regarding 18A's yield rates , following reports suggesting that nine out of ten chips manufactured on the node were defective. However, when accounting for factors like die size, defects per square centimeter, and the types of products involved, the outlook appears more optimistic. Panther Lake CPUs, targeted at laptops , are expected to feature up to six Cougar Cove performance cores and up to eight Skymount efficiency cores. These processors will also include integrated GPUs based on Intel's third-generation Xe graphics architecture, codenamed Celestial.

GDIN Successfully Supports Establishment of 10 New Joint Ventures in 2024 AloneNoneCEO killer suspect: golden boy who soured on US health system

Hoop Hogs stock-risers: Collaboration fuels comeback, resiliency, three-point shooting, turnovers-to-transition-scoring

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey gambling regulators have handed out $40,000 in fines to two sportsbooks and a tech company for violations that included taking bets on unauthorized events, and on games that had already ended. In information made public Monday, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement fined DraftKings $20,000. It also levied $10,000 fines on Rush Street Interactive NJ and the sports betting technology company Kambi. According to documents released by the state, Rush Street accepted 16 bets worth $1,523 in Nov. 2021 on a college basketball game between the University of North Carolina-Asheville and Tennessee Tech University after the game had already concluded with a UNC victory. Kambi told the enforcement division that a trader had failed to manually remove that game from its betting markets, saying it had stopped receiving messages from its own sports data provider due to a network connectivity error. Kambi said it has updated its guidelines and retrained its traders to prevent a recurrence. Kambi, which is based in Malta, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday. Rush Street declined comment, and DraftKings had no immediate comment Monday. DraftKings stopped using Kambi in 2021. In March 2022 Rush Street took seven bets totaling just under $2,900 on three Magic City Jai Alai games after the results were already known. Kambi told the division it experienced a connectivity issue that allowed the bets to be accepted after the games were over. An explanation of what Kambi did to address the situation was blacked out in documents released by the division. A month earlier Rush Street took 13 wagers worth $8,150 with pre-match odds on a Professional Golf Association match after the event had already begun. In this case, Kambi told the division a newly hired trader failed to enter the correct closing time time for bets on the event. The trader and a supervisor underwent retraining. DraftKings was fined for taking bets on unapproved events including Russian basketball for nine months in 2020 and 2021. It eventually voided over $61,000 in bets and returned the money to customers after being directed to do so by the state. In this case, Kambi told the division it misidentified this particular Russian basketball league as one that was approved for wagering in New Jersey. DraftKings told the state it did not catch the error, either. In 2020, DraftKings accepted 484 wagers on unapproved table tennis matches. Kambi incorrectly enabled the events for wagering without conditions required by the state, the division said. In Feb. 2022, the division said DraftKings took pre-season NFL bets involving specific players but did not give the state specific information on what information was to be included in the bets, drawing 182 wagers worth nearly $7,000 that were later voided and refunded to customers. Follow Wayne Parry on X at

CEO killer suspect: golden boy who soured on US health system

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a new chapter for Syria can begin that's free of terrorism and suffering for its people. In a social media post on X on Sunday, Trudeau said the fall of the Assad dictatorship "ends decades of brutal oppression." Syrian President Bashar Assad fled the country on Sunday and is now reported to be in Moscow, bringing to a dramatic close his nearly 14-year struggle to hold onto control as his country fragmented in a brutal civil war. The toppling of Assad comes after opposition forces entered the Syrian capital of Damascus, ending half a century of rule by his family. Trudeau said Canada is monitoring the transition closely, and he urged "order, stability, and respect for human rights." Ottawa is urging Canadians to avoid all travel to Syria and to consider leaving the country if it's safe to do so. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told a news conference on Sunday that Assad "was a puppet for the tyrants of Tehran." "He has carried out genocides against the Sunni people in his own country, and now he appears to have been toppled," Poilievre said in Ottawa. Poilievre said it's unknown who will replace Assad, adding it isn't Canada's fight and that he doesn't believe Canada should get involved. "We should stand with our allies, including Israel, against the terrorists. We should focus on protecting our own country." Ottawa describes the security situation as volatile, and said the Damascus and Aleppo airports as well as some border crossings are closed. An updated travel advisory from the Canadian government warns people to avoid the Middle Eastern country due to what it calls "ongoing armed conflict, terrorism, criminality, arbitrary detention, torture and forced disappearance." Canada has urged its citizens to leave Syria since November 2011, and its embassy in Damascus suspended its operations in 2012. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2024. — With files from The Associated Press. The Canadian PressStock Market Symbols GIB (NYSE) GIB.A ( TSX ) cgi.com/newsroom Merger strengthens CGI's position with Fortune 500 clients in St. Louis , Atlanta , Minneapolis , Chicago , Columbus , Dallas and New York ST. LOUIS, Mo. , Dec. 11, 2024 /CNW/ - CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) today announced the signature of an equity purchase agreement to merge operations with Daugherty, a St. Louis -based professional services firm specializing in artificial intelligence, data analytics, strategic IT consulting, and business advisory services for Fortune 500 clients in the financial services, healthcare, communications, retail and manufacturing sectors. The merger of operations brings more than 1,100 talented consultants to CGI, further strengthening the company's presence in multiple key U.S. growth markets, including St. Louis , Atlanta , Minneapolis , Chicago , Columbus , Dallas and New York . The parties entered into a purchase agreement on November 29, 2024 , and the transaction is expected to close in December 2024 , subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. For 39 years, Daugherty has been committed to driving innovation, growth and customer satisfaction while making a positive difference in the community. For CGI, the merger with Daugherty establishes significant combined geographic presence in targeted U.S. markets, deepens industry expertise and enhances strategic advisory services with offerings around digital engagement, technology modernization, cloud transformation, and FinOps and sustainability. The merger with CGI enables Daugherty clients to retain local relationships and expertise while gaining access to CGI's global capabilities, network of delivery centers, and breadth of end-to-end services and solutions. Daugherty has consistently been named as the Largest IT Consulting Firm by the St. Louis Business Journal along with several top workplace recognitions across its metro markets and a 'top five in the nation' distinction in 2024 for the Top Workplaces USA . "At the heart of our strategic vision is a dual commitment: to our clients and our teammates," said Ron Daugherty , Daugherty President and CEO. "We're forging a path with CGI that expands global capabilities, creates meaningful professional opportunities, and amplifies our collective potential to drive innovation and positive change in our communities." Giving back to the communities in which CGI and Daugherty live and work is also a shared commitment, as evidenced by CGI's commitment to support of The Daugherty Foundation which will provide access to education, mentorship and career opportunities for young people and underrepresented groups in technology. "The combined strength of Daugherty and CGI creates additional value for clients through deep industry insight and technology expertise, with a strong commitment and proven history of delivering trusted business outcomes," said Vijay Srinivasan , CGI President of U.S. Commercial and State Government operations. "CGI and Daugherty are a great cultural fit as both companies share a strong commitment to their people and communities, a dedication to management fundamentals and a passion for excellence in execution for clients." In the U.S., CGI has operations across 80 offices which are organized through a metro market proximity model and supported by the depth of the company's international presence, range of services, and insights to deliver value locally. About CGI Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 90,250 consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2024 reported revenue is $14.68 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com . View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cgi-expands-operations-in-multiple-us-metro-markets-with-daugherty-302329421.html SOURCE CGI Inc.

ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023 , spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to 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 repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors . He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners . He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian , would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn’t long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” The Carters and a “Peanut Brigade” of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015 . “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” Former Associated Press journalist Alex Sanz contributed to this report.

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The American Legion Mourns Passing of President CarterThe Nanooks were at the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for their final showings until the new year. They fell in the opening round to the University of Connecticut before bouncing back in the third-place game against Ferris State University. Saturday: Huskies run past Nanooks, 4-1 Saturday began the invitational, as Alaska was paired against UConn. The Huskies scored three consecutive goals, thanks mainly to power play efficiency, seeing them take a 4-1 win. Two goals in the opening period helped the Huskies start fast. Ethan Whitcomb and Jake Richard were the contributors, guiding Connecticut to a 2-0 lead. Their momentum rolled over into the second period, where they found their third unanswered in the opening seconds. Their first and third tallies both came on the power play, as special teams provided a key spark early on. The run was answered by Chase Dafoe, who gave the Nanooks their first score of the night, making it 3-1 near the halfway mark of the second. Assists were credited to Haden Kruse and Caelum Dick. Their scoring efforts ended there, as they wouldn’t produce another before the close of the game. Jake Percival added on for the Huskies to push the deficit to its final margin of 4-1. UAF put up a competitive effort in terms of shots produced, as their 28 slightly trailed the Huskies’ 33. The biggest gap came in converting on the power play, as they went 0-5 compared to 2-4. The trio of Dafoe, Kruse and Dick were the only players to register a point in the loss. Eight different skaters did so for the Huskies. For goalkeeping, Nicholas Grabko finished with four goals allowed on 27 shots faced. He finished with 23 saves and a .852 save percentage. The result put Alaska in the third-place game, where they matched up against the Ferris State University Bulldogs, who fell to the University of Wisconsin in the opening round by a score of 8-0. Sunday: Nanooks rebound for convincing win over Bulldogs The Nanooks bounced back against Ferris State the following night with a 4-1 to claim third place at the event. This time around, they got off to a strong start, as a power play goal from Matt Hubbarde started the scoring with Matt Koethe doubling the lead later in the frame. UAF held a 2-0 lead with just under 10 minutes played. The Bulldogs continued to be blanked in the second period, as the Nanooks kept them off the board. They added on another in their favor, with Dafoe netting his second score at the Face-Off to make it a 3-0 game with a shorthanded score. Both teams traded goals in the third period, with Ferris State initially shrinking the deficit thanks to Logan Heroux before Matt Rickard put the puck into an empty net for the final score of 4-1. UAF held the advantage in the shot total at 36-27 and went 1-6 on the power play compared to Ferris State’s 1-8. Goalkeeper Lassi Lehti made 22 saves on 23 shots faced, seeing him tally a .957 save percentage in the win. Up next, the Nanooks are on the road to the University of Minnesota Duluth for two games on Jan. 3 and 4 before returning home against Simon Fraser University on Jan. 10-11.

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LONDON (AP) — Barely a month after quitting international rugby , former England prop Joe Marler has brought forward his retirement plans and will end his time in the sport completely this week. Marler’s last match will be for Harlequins, his team since 2009, at home to Bristol in the English league on Friday. The 34-year-old Marler had indicated he would continue playing club rugby until the end of the season. He has made 285 appearances for Harlequins since arriving in 2009 and retires with two English league winners medals. “The time has come to finally jump off the rollercoaster and walk away from this beautifully brutal game,” he said Wednesday. The charismatic Marler announced on Nov. 3 that his 95-cap test career was over, days after he left England’s camp ahead of the November internationals because of personal reasons. He had baited New Zealand in the build-up to England’s first autumn test match by criticizing the Haka, stating on social media that it is “ridiculous” and “needs binning.” He later apologized for the comments. ___ AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023 , spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to 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 repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors . He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners . He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian , would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn’t long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” The Carters and a “Peanut Brigade” of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015 . “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” Former Associated Press journalist Alex Sanz contributed to this report.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reacted to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's announcement about the use of an Oreshnik medium-range missile against Ukraine. Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter) Quote: "Today, Putin has admitted taking the second step this year towards escalating and expanding this war. A new ballistic missile was used. Putin struck our city of Dnipro – one of the largest cities in Ukraine. This is a clear and severe escalation in the scale and brutality of this war - a cynical violation of the UN Charter by Russia. Let me emphasise: this is already Russia’s second step towards escalation this year. The first such step was involving North Korea in the war against Ukraine with a contingent of at least 11,000 soldiers." Details: The president said that Putin has taken both of these steps while ignoring global calls to avoid escalation. "He disregards calls from China, Brazil, European countries, the US and other countries," Zelenskyy stated. The president also recalled that Ukraine has used long-range weapons before, which is not a new development. Quote: "And we have every right to do so under international law. Our right to self-defence is the same as that of any other nation. When Russian missiles hit our cities, when Iranian-made Shahed drones attack Ukraine every night, when a North Korean contingent is deployed on our border, Putin is not only prolonging the war—he is spitting in the face of those in the world who genuinely want peace to be restored. The world must respond. Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world. Putin is very sensitive to such reactions. He is testing you, dear partners. It is clear to everyone who the sole culprit of this war is – who started it on 24 February and who continues to pour all resources into its continuation. He must be stopped. A lack of tough reactions to Russia’s actions sends a message that such behaviour is acceptable. This is what Putin is doing." Support UP or become our patron !Researcher’s Indian citizenship questioned over his RTI query

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Letter: Seniors want solutions, not excusesTweet Facebook Mail A baby toy sold across Kmart and Target stores nationally has been pulled off the shelves over fears of choking. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recalled the Anko Soft Activity Ball, which is a multicoloured soft play ball with rattles on two sides. The ACCC has warned that the product should be kept away from children due to the risks of "serious injury or death from choking". READ MORE: Teenager cornered and stabbed by carload of people while walking on Melbourne road Anko Soft Activity Ball, which is a multicoloured soft play ball with rattles on two sides. (Nine) "The affected batch of products may not comply with the mandatory standard for toys for children up to and including 36 months of age," the recall said. "The plastic dome containing the small balls can separate from the product creating small parts." "There is a risk of serious injury or death from choking if young children put the small balls in their mouth." Customers are advised to "stop using the product immediately" and keep it out of reach of children. The product was sold from August 3 to October 18 at Kmart and Target stores. The Australian Product Number is 9341110379350. Customers should return the product to the place of purchase for a refund. DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP : Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play .

Fans are questioning Nicole Kidman’s claim that a well-known meme of the actress seemingly celebrating her divorce from Tom Cruise was taken out of context . Kidman, 57, recently addressed the famous photo while speaking to British GQ , telling the magazine she was not celebrating her 2001 split from Cruise, 62, but rather filming a scene for an unnamed movie. “That was from a film, that wasn’t real life,” she insisted. “I know that image!” The picture was believed to have been taken in 2001 while the Oscar winner was leaving her lawyer’s office after settling her divorce from her “Eyes Wide Shut” co-star . In it, she strutted down a sunny sidewalk with her eyes closed and her arms raised in relief. However, Kidman said the widely believed scenario was “not true.” While the “Babygirl” star denied it had anything to do with Cruise, she notably did not specify which movie she was referring to, leading social media sleuths to do some digging of their own. However, most fans did not find any evidence of Kidman wearing a similar outfit — a sheer patterned top and green capris — in any of her films. “ok I just did a deep dive on this and not only does she not specify which movie it was, none of her legions of fans even have a hypothesis as to which movie it could have been. so I feel comfortable concluding that she’s lying and it really is a post-divorce paparazzi shot,” one X user wrote Monday in a post that has garnered more than 1 million views. “I can’t remember a movie where she went totally barefaced AND wigless?” another replied, to which a third added, “Also what movie would call for her to be dressed in those sneakers with that outfit??” “I looked it up too and gave up cause none of the movies she’s in during 2001 even match this vibe 😭,” a fourth chimed in. However, others defended Kidman, arguing that it could have been from a “scene that was cut.” “It’s gotta be a lie, but I do enjoy the idea (as the only possible alternative I can think of) that the photos are from unused footage from when she was supposed to do In the Cut lol,” one user wrote, referencing the star’s 2003 psychological thriller. “Y’all are weird there are plenty of movies that people try to get made that never see the light of day,” someone else posted. Kidman’s reps did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment. Kidman wed Cruise in 1990, and they separated 11 years later. During their marriage, the couple adopted two kids : daughter Isabella, now 31, and son Connor, now 29 , both of whom have followed in their famous father’s footsteps and joined the Church of Scientology . The “Perfect Couple” star rarely talks about her adult children or her marriage to the “Top Gun” star. Kidman moved on with Keith Urban in 2005, and they wed the following year. She and the country singer, 57, have two daughters: Sunday, 16, and Faith, 13.