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lodibet.com ph (The Center Square) – Homeowners in the market for washers and dryers may have better-performing options to choose from in the near future due to a bill limiting the extent of energy efficiency mandates on laundry appliances passing the U.S. House. The Republican-led House Resolution 1612 , or Liberty in Laundry Act, would prohibit the Secretary of Energy from enforcing energy conservation standards for clothes washers or dryers that “are not cost-effective or technologically feasible.” Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., who introduced the legislation, said the move is a response to the “slew of woke, ‘environmental’ nonsense rulemaking attempts” by the Biden administration and U.S. Department of Energy. “I have spent much of my time in Congress fighting back the federal government’s vast overreach into the lives of hardworking Americans,” Ogles announced after the bill’s passage Tuesday. “Americans should be able to do their laundry in peace without the input of Big Brother.” Earlier this year, the DOE finalized new updated standards for residential clothes washers and dryers which aim to cut costs and pollution. It estimates the regulations will reduce nearly 71 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions–equivalent to the combined annual emissions of nearly 9 million homes–and up to $39 billion on Americans’ energy and water bills over the next 30 years. House Democrats opposed the legislation's passage, saying "absolutely no one" stands to benefit from the law and accused Republicans of trying to curry favor with special interest groups. "H.R. 7673 guts popular energy efficiency standards for laundry machines – standards that save Americans money on their utility bills and reduce dangerous greenhouse gas pollution at the same time," said Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J. "These efficiency standards create certainty for manufacturers and they protect consumers from rising costs. And, in the case of these laundry machine standards, they also reduce water use – a benefit that could greatly aid drought-prone regions around the nation." But the less electricity and water laundry appliances use, the less effectively they tend to perform, according to an Oct. 2024 report by the Institute for Energy Research. “Historically, appliances meeting Energy Department standards have often underperformed and have higher costs,” the report stated. “The Biden-Harris administration is imposing a series of regulations that are raising appliance prices and compromising quality for homeowners.” Unless the bill is signed into law, laundry appliance makers have until March 2028 to comply with the new rules.

Hallmark Channel is ready to deck the halls — and our screens — with plenty of new . From now until the weekend before Christmas Day, we're getting three new holiday movies on the Hallmark Channel, premiering every Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively. Plus, new premieres every Thursday as part of the Hallmark Mysteries' series, and starting in November, new movies streaming every Thursday as part of Hallmark+'s new This week, we're getting Hallmark Mystery's on Thursday, followed by Friday's (featuring a cameo by Donna Kelce!), Saturday brings the sequel to , aptly titled . Sunday closes things out with Keep reading to learn more about these new Hallmark Christmas movies, find out where to watch Hallmark movies without cable and more. An NYC book editor gets the chance to spend a month running a bookstore in a small town, where she meets, and butts heads with, the bookstore's owner's handsome son. Julie Gonalo and Brendan Penny star in which premieres Thursday, Nov. 21 on Hallmark Mystery and will be available to stream on Peacock. Over the holidays, an ER doctor and EMT try to make their relationship work. Sara Canning and Ser'Darius Blain star in , which premieres Friday, Nov. 22 on Hallmark Channel and will stream for three days following its premiere on Peacock. In this sequel to Three Wise Men and a Baby, the story picks up five years later with the Brenner brothers having to step in to take over Thomas's holiday school musical. Paul Campbell, Tyler Hynes, Andrew Walker and Margaret Colin star in , which premieres Saturday, Nov. 23, on Hallmark Channel and will be available to stream on Peacock for three days following its premiere. A newly engaged couple gets put through the wringer when their family decides they need to go to marriage bootcamp over the holidays. Madeleine Arthur, Robert Bazzocchi and Eric Close star in , which premieres this Sunday, Nov. 24 on Hallmark Channel and streaming on Peacock. If you’re already a cable subscriber and are looking for more ways to watch the Hallmark Channel, you should be able to log in with your cable credentials on and tune into a free livestream of the new Christmas movies as they premiere. Don’t have cable? Here’s what we recommend subscribing to if you want the Hallmark Channel: Watch Hallmark Channel DirecTV Entertainment Watch Hallmark Channel Fubo TV Pro Watch the Hallmark Channel Hulu + Live TV Watch Hallmark Channel Frndly TV Watch Hallmark Channel with Sling TV Orange + Lifestyle Extra Sling TV Orange + Lifestyle Extra Watch the Hallmark Channel Philo (Peacock) A $8/month ad-supported Peacock subscription lets you stream select Hallmark holiday movies for three days after they premiere on Hallmark Channel. Plus, you'll get access to thousands of hours of shows and movies, including beloved sitcoms such as and every and select live sports and other events airing on NBC (like this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. For $14/month you can also upgrade to an ad-free subscription which includes live access to your local NBC affiliate (not just during designated sports and events) and the ability to download select titles to watch offline. Hallmark+ is Hallmark's newest streaming platform, featuring all-new holiday movies and exclusive original programming. You can subscribe monthly for $7.99 per month, or annually for $79.99. You can also try the platform out for free first. Premiere times are 8 p.m. ET/PT on the Hallmark Channel unless otherwise noted. Sara Canning, Ser'Darius Blain; cameo by Donna Kelce In the lead-up to Christmas, emergency room doctor Hannah Michaels (Canning) juggles her demanding job and a budding romance with EMT Wes Sullivan (Blain) in Philadelphia. They spend time together as Wes helps her become more acquainted with the sights, sounds, and tastes of Philadelphia, it's clear that they're starting to fall for each other. As the local first responders balance duty with holiday celebrations, they come together to face challenges, support each other and find moments of joy. Paul Campbell, Tyler Hynes, Andrew Walker, Margaret Colin The story begins five years later with the Brenner brothers preparing for another memorable Christmas. In a crazy turn of events, possibly brought on accidentally by the brothers themselves, the director of Luke's (Walker) son Thomas' (Miles Marthaller) school holiday musical steps down. Luke is desperate to make his son's stage dreams come true, so he enlists the help of his brothers, Taylor (Hynes) and Stephan (Campbell). Meanwhile, the trio navigates to meet their mom Barbara's (Colin) new boyfriend and the brothers grapple with their feelings about this relationship. In true Brenner brother fashion, they are all in for a Christmas they will never forget. Madeleine Arthur, Robert Bazzocchi, Eric Close When Celeste (Arthur) gets engaged to Jason (Bazzocchi) after just a few months of dating, her father, and the couple's would-be officiant, Pastor Mark (Close), insists on putting them through a pre-wedding "bootcamp" filled with Christmas-themed challenges. As the couple grows stronger through the festive activities, Celeste considers following her dreams in the fashion industry. Meanwhile, Pastor Mark learns to trust his daughter's choices, leading to a heartwarming holiday season for the whole family. Rachel Boston, Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes, Tanner Novlan, Matthew James Dowden, Max Lloyd-Jones Three adult siblings (Lamothe-Kipnes, Dowden and Lloyd-Jones) return to their childhood home at Christmas to honor their late grandmother's wishes and try to agree on new leadership for the family's company. Enter Annie Merkel (Boston) — also known as Mrs. Miracle — who poses as an estate planner and uses her special brand of Christmas magic to help the family find common ground and rekindle their bonds. As the siblings try to sort things out, Charlotte (Lamothe-Kipnes) also finds herself reconnecting with Austin (Novlan), the manor's caretaker and her first love. Premieres 6 p.m. ET/PT Eva Bourne, Chandler Massey, Katherine Barrell Workaholic lawyer Lucy Miller (Bourne) is celebrating her promotion alone on Christmas Eve when a mysterious rideshare experience transports her back to 1999. Reliving the holiday with her mom, sister and best friend — not to mention her high school crush — Lucy gets a second chance to understand where her relationships went wrong. Will this magical journey help her rewrite her future or leave her destined to be alone? Premieres 8 p.m. ET/PT Ashley Greene, Wes Brown, Danny Pellegrino Rose (Greene) is a Chicago-based interior designer, whose brother Sal (Pellegrino) is responsible for a Christmas charity house flipback in their suburban Ohio hometown. When a budget crisis puts this important project in danger, Rose reluctantly returns during the holidays to try to save the day. Not ready to face the ghosts of her past, Rose plans to get in, get it done, and get out ASAP. But before she knows it, she is face-to-face with Brysen (Brown), her brother's best friend, contractor, and who just so happens to be the bane of Rose's youth. With the help of friends and family, and buoyed by the season of giving, the trio figures out a way to work together for this worthy cause. As Rose works, she discovers unexpected love and deeper purpose along the way. Premieres 6 p.m. ET/PT Meghan Ory, John Reardon Logline: When Beatrice (Ory) reluctantly joins her best friend on a trip to the enchanting Christmasland, she's skeptical of the holiday magic surrounding them. But as she experiences festive traditions and meets a charming stranger named Ethan (Reardon), she begins to question what's real and what's part of the experience. In the end, Christmasland helps Beatrice rediscover hope, love, and the magic of new beginnings. Premieres 8 p.m. ET/PT Hunter King, Tyler Hynes, Ed Begley Jr., Richard Riehle, Diedrich Bader, Christine Ebersole, Megyn Price; cameos by Jenna Bush Hager, Donna Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid and players Trey Smith, Mecole Hardman Jr., Clyde Edwards-Helaire, George Karlaftis Alana Higman (King) is sure that her family's lifelong history as Kansas City Chiefs superfans makes them a frontrunner to win the team's "Fan of the Year" contest. Derrick (Hynes), Director of Fan Engagement, is tasked with evaluating how Alana and her family stack up against the other two finalists. As the pair spends time together, it's clear there's a spark between them but when her grandfather's (Begley Jr.) vintage Chiefs good-luck winter hat goes missing, Alana begins to doubt everything she believed about fate, and destiny and even questions her future with Derrick — unless, that is, a little Christmas magic can throw a Hail Mary. Premieres 6 p.m. ET/PT Kim Matula, Beau Mirchoff, Nichole Sakura Inspired by her father's acclaimed legacy in dog sled racing, Anya (Matula) decides to follow in his footsteps. After his passing, she heads to Finland to participate in the 40th annual Joulurauha race, her father's final race where he fell short of the victory. Following an injury to her lead dog during the qualifying race, Anya finds herself partnered with a new canine companion owned by journalist and former racer Cole (Mirchoff), who aims to pen a story about her journey. Struggling to build trust with her new dog and facing her father's rival, Monty (Páll Sigþór Pálsson), Anya must navigate many challenges as she strives to win the race. Premieres 8 p.m. ET/PT Lacey Chabert, Kristoffer Polaha An archeologist (Chabert) and her ex-husband (Polaha), an expert in ancient Norse languages, are sent to Iceland at Christmastime to search for the legendary treasure of the Yule Lads. When others join in the hunt, the pair find themselves swept into a thrilling adventure as they race to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Ali Skovbye, Derek Klena, Erica Durance Vi (Skovbye), better known as Princess Violet of Wingravia, adores the privileges of being a royal if none of the responsibilities. After being disappointed by Vi one time too many, the Queen (Durance) decides to test her daughter's mettle once and for all and issues an ultimatum: Vi must pass a vigorous leadership boot camp in Colorado or lose the throne to her uncle. At boot camp, Vi and her fellow cadets are put through a rigorous grind under the uncompromising supervision of Captain Ryan Douglas (Klena). Maggie Lawson, Janel Parrish Emily (Lawson) has always dreamed of creating the perfect Christmas, meticulously planning every detail year after year, only to feel like she's falling short. Hoping to bring her family closer together, she makes a wish for a holiday as picture-perfect as the ones she sees in a made-for-TV holiday movie. To her shock, Sugarplum (Parrish), the film's relentlessly optimistic main character, magically steps off the screen to make Emily's wish come true — whether she's ready for it or not. As Sugarplum applies her movie-world rules to real life, Emily gets caught up in the possibility of finally achieving a flawless family Christmas. But when Sugarplum's magical fixes start to backfire one by one, Emily begins to question what an ideal holiday really is. With time running out, Emily and Sugarplum find themselves on a heartwarming adventure — one that might just amount to an entirely different kind of Christmastime perfection. Emily Arlook, Evan Roderick, Barbara Niven Leah Meyer (Arlook) is a bonafide lover of Christmas — the trees, the ornaments, the eggnog! But she has always admired the holiday from afar because she's Jewish. Though her family celebrates Hanukkah, Leah has longed to experience a traditional Christmas. When her boyfriend Graham (Roderick) invites her to spend the holidays with his classic Connecticut family, she eagerly accepts. Excited to dive into the quintessential Christmas she's always dreamed of, Leah quickly discovers that fitting in with Graham's uptight family and his not-so-welcoming mom (Niven) is easier said than done. As holiday traditions clash and awkward moments pile up, it is not quite the cozy Christmas that she expected. Stacey Farber, Daren Kagasoff, Marc Summers One week before Hanukkah, corporate lawyer Tory (Farber) finds herself unexpectedly unemployed and questioning the career she's dedicated years to. As she helps her Bubby prepare for the holiday, she embarks on a quest across Chicago to find the last box of coveted Hanukkah candles. Her search leads her to Rocky's, an old town bar, where she encounters Jay (Kagasoff), a charming doctor from Florida, his grandfather Sam (Summers) and a cast of quirky regulars who make her rethink everything. Torn between keeping her job loss a secret and embracing a newfound sense of belonging, Tory ends up bartending at Rocky's, transforming it into the vibrant "Hanukkah on the Rocks" celebration. Through festive food, drinks, and games, she revitalizes the bar, bonds with Jay, and finds the courage to pursue her true calling. As Tory navigates the holiday, she learns that sometimes a detour can lead you exactly where you're meant to be, lighting the way to a future filled with joy, romance, and self-discovery. Kimberley Sustad, Benjamin Ayres Kate North (Sustad) finds herself reluctantly taking over her father's once-acclaimed and now-struggling Santa School. In the weeks leading up to Christmas and the school's next session, Kate and her new co-worker Dan (Ayres) discover who they believe to be the real Santa Claus, lost and without his memories after his sled steered off course and crashed near the school. They decide to help him remember who he is by inviting him to participate in the intense Santa training program. There's a lot at stake this year with Kate's school needing to best the rival St. Nicholas School or be forced to close their doors, and Nick (Santa Claus) needs to remember who he is, or the fate of Christmas might be at stake. Brooke D'Orsay, John Brotherton A DaySpring movie. Abby Marshall (D'Orsay), once celebrated for her role as an inspirational mother on TV, is finding her real life in shambles after dealing with a scandal. She retreats to a luxury Vermont resort for Christmas only to find herself without a room due to a booking mishap. All the local hotels are booked up due to a rare astronomical event — a beautiful star said to mirror the Star of Bethlehem will appear on Christmas Eve. Thankfully, Abby finds a room at a quaint B&B, owned by Tom Maguire (Brotherton), who is also a high school astronomy teacher. Since his wife's passing, Tom has taken on a lot of extra responsibilities, including running the inn and directing the local church's Christmas pageant. Empathizing with Tom, Abby offers to help with the pageant and various activities around the inn and finds herself enjoying both the projects and Tom's company. Through newfound community, family, and love, Abby discovers that hope sometimes comes in the most unexpected ways. Jessica Lowndes, the winner of Hallmark+'s Finding Mr. Christmas Mia (Lowndes), a meticulous web page editor for the Seattle Tourism Board, finds herself unexpectedly navigating the holidays alone. As the only one working, she's drawn into an unusual encounter when she finds a stray dog. Unsure how to handle the situation, she crosses paths with Max (the to-be-determined winner of Finding Mr. Christmas), a dog shelter owner. Mia agrees to let Max's ailing dog find solace with her newfound companion, in exchange for Max showing her the hidden gems of Seattle. Through their journey together, they both step out of their comfort zones, discovering new perspectives and forming a meaningful connection. Premiere times are 8 p.m. ET/PT on the Hallmark Mystery channel unless otherwise noted below. Julie Gonzalo, Brendan Penny A successful New York City book editor (Gonzalo), who is losing touch with her passion after a few setbacks this year, learns she was chosen to run a bookstore in the small town of Saint Ives for the month of December. While realizing a childhood dream and butting heads with the handsome son (Penny) of the bookstore owners, she comes to realize that her love for bringing out the creativity of others is still her true calling, and untapped talent (and love) can be found anywhere... even in the writings of a cranky business-minded man, especially at Christmas. Heather Hemmens, Marco Grazzini Emily (Hemmens) is always reluctant to return home to her family's animal rescue ranch — but when her mother passes away, her brother Nick requests her help organizing the annual Christmas Carnival. When she arrives, she discovers Nick's friend, Luke (Grazzini), staying at the ranch — and that Luke was once a successful artist who worked with light. Though initially reluctant to collaborate, Emily and Luke work hard to pull off the best, most light-filled carnival the town has ever seen, a healing celebration of Emily's mother's legacy and the magic of Christmas — and along the way feel sparks of romance as radiant as the lights themselves. Erica Cerra, Mark Ghanimé, Vanessa Burghardt, Dorian Giordano Melanie's (Cerra) 17-year-old autistic daughter Jenny (Burghardt) is a senior in high school and looking forward to college. After a bad experience in her junior year, Jenny is not interested in attending her final Christmas dance before graduating. Melanie decides to surprise Jenny by getting involved in the school's planning committee to create a welcoming dance for all students. Meanwhile, Jenny and her friends secretly plan their own party, in part to honor Melanie. Melanie works with Jenny's literature teacher (Ghanimé) on the dance and starts to fall for him while Jenny develops something special with a new classmate (Giordano) at school. When their secrets snowball, however, their plans begin to drive a wedge between the usually tight-knit mother and daughter at the holidays. Mallory Jansen, Dan Jeannotte Maggie (Jansen) has been trying for years to break in as a singer-songwriter. Now faced with the challenges of new apps and social media, Maggie fears she's outdated and unable to compete in a tech-savvy world. While helping her parents on their farm at Christmastime, she meets Archer (Jeannotte), an entrepreneur who has come back to town to spend the holidays alone. Archer is developing large-scale apps and is a tech enthusiast. At first, Maggie blames him for all of her songwriting woes. To her surprise, he encourages her to get back in touch with music that really matters and write from the heart; tech can be used in a supportive role to help her achieve her dreams without replacing the art of songwriting. Archer is dealing with the loss of family, and through her tight family bonds, Maggie helps Archer find ways of moving beyond years of family feuding. In this holiday romance, Maggie and Archer both discover there is merit in preserving the tried and true while making room for new ideas and methods to bring people together and help make dreams come true. Italia Ricci, Michael Xavier Michelle (Ricci) is the dreamer of her family, always brimming with imaginative ideas to make the world a better place. This Christmas, her sister Keri desperately needs a new home, and Michelle hatches a creative plan to help. Starting with just a Christmas stocking, she sets out to trade her way up to something far greater — a house for Keri. While Keri dismisses it as a far-fetched idea, local reporter Dan (Xavier) is intrigued. Assigned to cover Michelle's story, Dan follows her closely, and as her plan gains attention, he starts to see the world through her hopeful eyes. As Michelle and Dan grow closer, so do their feelings for each other. But when it seems her plan has failed and she fears it has ruined her relationship with Keri, Michelle is ready to give up. It's Dan's love and belief in her that reignites hope just when she needs it most. The below films will stream on Hallmark+. Natalie Hall, Alec Santos Tina Mitchell (Hall), a successful business owner, meets a charming guy Michael (Santos), just as her holiday season heats up with the town's Christmas gala and her busy store, All Wrapped Up. When the gala is threatened by a Scrooge-like estate owner planning to sell the venue, rumors begin to threaten Tina and Michael's newfound connection. As Tina works to keep the venue's doors open for the gala, she just might unwrap a new chapter in her life, filled with love and holiday cheer. Kathryn Davis, Nathan Witte Mia (Davis), an accountant at All Wrapped Up, is stunned when local celebrity Beau Cavannagh (Witte), who looks just like her favorite romance novel hero, enters her life. Despite her doubts, Beau, an heir to a wealthy family, proves his feelings for her are real, even as his family disapproves. Mia soon finds herself swept up in a fairytale romance that's straight out of her dreams. Ashley Newbrough, Torrance Coombs Lily (Newbrough), the marketing guru of All Wrapped Up, believes the universe guides us to our destiny and it appears that it's guiding her toward a celebrity realtor. However, when she feels an unexpected spark with journalist Sean Whitlock (Coombs) during an interview, her heart starts to question everything. As her chemistry with Sean grows, Lily begins to wonder if he's the true match she's been waiting for all along. Cindy Busby, Jake Epstein Olivia (Busby), the gift-wrapping expert at All Wrapped Up, makes a delivery to a remote cabin only to find her ex-boyfriend Benjamin (Epstein) on the other side of the door. After the pair have a minor spat, an unexpected storm traps them together. Neither of them is happy to be forced to spend time together. However, as talk turns to shared memories, old feelings and warmth begin to resurface and they are left wondering if it's possible to get it right a second time. Jonathan Bennett, Annabelle Bourke, Corey Cott, Sarah Dugdale, Shannon Kook, Vincent Rodriguez III In 1951, a doctor (Cott) wants to make the holiday special for his worried wife (Bourke) before he is shipped out to serve in Korea, but when she suffers a minor fracture to her arm, his carefully planned-out Christmas Eve plans are upended. In 2003, a newly married couple (Dugdale and Kook) who are always in agreement about everything hosts two sets of in-laws for Christmas Eve for the first time and find that they may not have had as much in common as they thought they did. And in 2024, a couple (Bennett and Rodriguez III) tries to arrange special Christmas surprises for each other but keeping them a secret may be harder than they thought. Benjamin Ayres, Catherine Bell, James Denton, Erica Durance, Julie Gonzalo, Ryan Rottman In 1960, Eli (Ayres) and Penny (Durance) take in Eli's curmudgeonly father, Walter (Serge Houde), and are forced to navigate some tricky family waters to get through the holidays while also working on a Christmas-themed time capsule for son Alex's school project. In 1998, we see Regina (Bell) and Nelson's (Denton) first meeting: stuck together when a blizzard strands Nelson in Regina's home on Christmas Eve. In 2015, Jessie (Gonazlo) faces a big challenge while planning her sister's last-minute Christmas Eve wedding — the officiant is Tim (Rottman), her high school sweetheart, whom she hasn't seen in almost 20 years. John Brotherton, Erin Cahill, Brooke D'Orsay, Chelsea Hobbs, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Sam Page, Matt Dusk In 1966, single guy David's (Hollingsworth) plans for a simple Christmas are dashed when his neighbor Stephanie (Hobbs) arrives with news that she won a contest to have Tommy Saunders' (Dusk) Christmas Eve TV special broadcast live from her house — but used his address. In 1981, John (Brotherton) and Lizzie (Cahill) learn that this will be their last Christmas on Cherry Lane after John receives a job offer in Michigan and Lizzie finds out she's pregnant. In 2000, best friends Matt (Page) and Rebecca (D'Orsay) find unexpected feelings developing as they try to find out who is behind a series of Christmas-themed random acts of kindness.Ottawa Senators could be without star goalie Linus Ullmark for rest of road trip( MENAFN - IANS) New Delhi, Dec 28 (IANS) An advisory has been issued by the Delhi Traffic Police urging people to avoid taking several major routes on roads in the national capital, ahead of the funeral of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday The traffic advisory outlines restrictions and diversions on major routes in New Delhi, urging the public to instead use public transport to help ease congestion. "The dignitaries of many foreign countries and other VIPs/VVIPS and the general public will visit Nigambodh Ghat on the occasion of the state funeral of late Dr Manmohan Singh, Former PM of India on December 28, 2024," Delhi Traffic Police said in its advisory on Friday. According to the advisory, diversion points include Raja Ram Kohli Marg, Rajghat Red Light, Signature Bridge, and Yudhister Setu. Traffic restrictions, regulations, and diversion may be imposed on Ring Road (Mahatma Gandhi Marg), Nishad Raj Marg, Boulevard Road, SPM Marg, Lothian Road, and Netaji Subhash Marg from 7 a.m. onwards, likely till 3 p.m. The advisory advises people to avoid the mentioned roads and stretches, as well as the area where the procession will take place. Commuters going to Old Delhi Railway Station, ISBT, Red Fort, Chandni Chowk, and Tis Hazari Court are advised to leave with sufficient time to accommodate possible delays on the route. It is also recommended to use public transport to reduce road congestion. Vehicles should only be parked in designated parking lots; roadside parking should be avoided as it obstructs the normal flow of traffic. In case any unusual or unidentified object or person is noticed in suspicious circumstances, the public is urged to report it to the Police, they added. The last rites of Dr Manmohan Singh are to be performed at Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday noon. "Dr Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister passed away at 9:51 p.m. on December 26, 2024, at AllMS Hospital, New Delhi. It has been decided by the government that a State funeral will be accorded to Dr Manmohan Singh. The funeral will take place at 11:45 a.m. on December 28, 2024, at Nigambodh Ghat, New Delhi. The Ministry of Defence is requested to make arrangements for a State funeral with full military honours," the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said. Dr Manmohan Singh passed away at AIIMS, Delhi, on Thursday at the age of 92 due to age-related medical conditions. He had a sudden loss of consciousness at home after which he was rushed to the hospital. Dr Singh's political career spanned several decades, with notable positions including Finance Minister from 1991 to 1996, during which he spearheaded economic reforms that transformed India's economy. He served as the 13th Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014, succeeding Atal Bihari Vajpayee. His tenure is particularly remembered for his steady leadership during economic crises and his contributions to modernising India's economy. After his second term, Dr Singh retired from public life, having led India through a period of unprecedented growth and international recognition. He was succeeded by Narendra Modi in 2014 after the Congress-led UPA lost the general elections. MENAFN27122024000231011071ID1109036081 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. 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Nathan Cleary’s bizarre diet change secret stuns fansArsenal up to second after Kai Havertz goal sees off struggling IpswichJohnson & Johnson JNJ , the iconic healthcare giant known for its stable dividends and defensive appeal, has entered a bearish technical pattern: the Death Cross . This occurs when the stock's 50-day moving average falls below its 200-day moving average, signaling potential downside. Chart created using Benzinga Pro JNJ Stock Chart: Bearish Signals Abound JNJ stock, at $145.58, is below critical moving averages across the board. Its 20-day ($144.97), 50-day ($154.24) and 200-day ($154.66) moving averages suggest the trend is firmly bearish. With a MACD of a negative 2.72 and a Relative Strength Index of 36.84, the technical setup doesn't inspire confidence. The one silver lining? JNJ stock's eight-day simple moving average of $144.97 is slightly below its current price, flashing a rare bullish signal amid the gloom. Read Also: FDA Rejects Johnson & Johnson’s Injectable Version Of Approved Drug For Lung Cancer Johnson & Johnson’s Strategic Moves In Dermatology While the charts tell one story, Johnson & Johnson's business narrative points to another. The company recently inked a licensing deal with Kaken Pharmaceutical for KP-723, a promising candidate targeting atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as eczema. With plans to launch a phase I study in 2025, Johnson & Johnson is positioning itself to address significant unmet needs in autoimmune and allergic diseases. This move aligns with the company's strategic focus on differentiated mechanisms of action in dermatology. Johnson & Johnson's acquisitions in 2024 also bolstered its dermatology pipeline, emphasizing innovative treatments for AD and other immune-mediated conditions. Dividend Reliability Meets Bearish Momentum Johnson & Johnson's long-standing reputation as a dividend aristocrat—boasting 60+ years of consistent payouts—continues to provide a safety net for investors. With ample liquidity, low leverage, and robust free cash flow, the company's dividend sustainability remains solid even in the face of technical bearishness. The Verdict The Death Cross may cast a shadow over Johnson & Johnson stock's short-term outlook, but its commitment to growth, innovation, and reliable dividends underscores its long-term appeal. Investors should weigh JNJ stock’s bearish technical indicators against the company's strategic moves in dermatology and its history of weathering market storms. As Johnson & Johnson looks to tackle eczema and diversify its portfolio, the stock may be down but far from out. For now, the Death Cross is a storm cloud on the horizon—but every storm eventually passes. Read Next: Top 7 Blue-Chip Stocks With The Best Return Potential Going Into 2025 Photo by Tada Images via Shutterstock . © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Sempra Named Among Newsweek's 'Most Responsible Companies'Musk heads to US Congress to discuss slashing government costs

Moo Deng , the baby pygmy hippo who stole hearts around the globe this year , has gained a high-profile supporter: Canadian cryptocurrency magnate Vitalik Buterin. Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum , donated 10,000,000 baht (about $293,000) to the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand, becoming Moo Deng’s “adoptive father” through the zoo’s Wildlife Sponsorship Program. The 5-month-old hippo, a star attraction at the Chonburi province zoo, now has a benefactor helping improve her habitat and support the zoo’s broader initiatives. “I very much look forward to seeing Moo Deng live long and prosper,” Buterin wrote in a letter to the zoo’s director, according to the Strait Times . The contribution came after Buterin visited Moo Deng’s enclosure last month, where he was impressed by the zoo’s dedication to animal welfare and education. His donation will fund upgrades to Moo Deng’s enclosure and other enhancements to the zoo. “I was particularly excited to hear your plans for improvements to the zoo itself, especially the proposal for upgrades to the Pygmy Hippopotamus habitat,” Buterin wrote. “I am delighted to accept your invitation to be Moo Deng’s adoptive father while she grows up and to donate to the zoo in her name.” The zoo expressed its gratitude on Facebook, saying, “We look forward to working with you over the next two years for the benefit of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo community and all our visitors!” Buterin’s gesture also serves as a tribute to Thailand, which hosted the Ethereum community’s Devcon Sea blockchain conference in November. “What better way to do that [say thank you] than through a Christmas present to someone who is dear to all Thai people, Moo Deng, and who has become one of the most unexpected and important Thai celebrities on the world stage,” Buterin shared. Moo Deng, born on 10 July 2024 at Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo, has become an internet sensation due to her playful antics and endearing appearance. Her name, meaning “bouncy pork” in Thai, was selected through a public poll, aligning with the culinary-themed names of her siblings, Moo Toon (stewed pork) and Moo Waan (sweet pork). The zoo’s social media posts featuring Moo Deng have attracted millions of fans worldwide, significantly increasing visitor numbers. On weekends, attendance has surged from approximately 3,000 to over 10,000 visitors, with many traveling long distances to see her. Moo Deng’s popularity has even inspired various forms of fan engagement, including memes, artwork, and merchandise. Notably, a bakery in Bangkok created cakes modeled after her likeness , which were described as “too cute to eat.” However, the influx of visitors has raised concerns about Moo Deng’s well-being. Reports have emerged of visitors throwing water and objects at her to elicit reactions, prompting zoo officials to implement measures such as limiting viewing times to five minutes per group and installing surveillance cameras to monitor behavior. In response to her rapid rise to fame, the zoo has initiated efforts to trademark “Moo Deng the hippo” to prevent unauthorized commercialization and ensure that merchandise proceeds support the zoo’s operations and animal welfare programs.Bitcoin, ether, dogecoin – Chalmers says the future may be crypto

The world is more fractured by conflicts and misunderstandings than it was a few years, if not decades, ago. At the same time, the act of storytelling has acted as a bridge of healing and unity. Stories come in myriad forms and carry the weight of our pasts, aspirations, and humanity. Creative expression ranges from literature and art to theatre and music. It has the power to transform these stories into bridges that connect communities. The word now used widely is reconciliation for this process. Stories are a fundamental aspect in human nature. They help us make sense of the world. They force us to preserve cultural heritage. Above all, they convey values across generations. It’s a different case in divided societies, where stories become tools of exclusion with divisive narratives. Reconciliation begins when individuals and groups challenge these dominant stories and start giving voice to marginalised perspectives. Consider the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa, established after the end of apartheid. The commission invited victims and perpetrators of violence to share their stories. It generated a national narrative that acknowledged pain and sought justice. Archbishop Desmond Tutu described this process as revealing the truth to lay the foundation for healing. The TRC may have a fair share of hiccups, but the Commission demonstrated how storytelling can confront uncomfortable truths and sow the seeds of reconciliation. Medium for Reconciliation Creative expression amplifies the power of storytelling. How so? Creative expression involves engaging emotions, stimulating empathy, and transcending linguistic and cultural barriers. Art, literature, theatre, and music allow individuals to convey complex emotions and perspectives that may be difficult to articulate in conventional discourse. The Write to Reconcile project is a case in point that exemplifies how literature could contribute to reconciliation. Initiated in the aftermath of the civil war, this initiative brought together writers from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds to craft stories reflecting their experiences and aspirations. These narratives range from the pain of displacement to the search for common ground. The end product offers readers a nuanced understanding of complex post-war realities. For instance, stories from the project highlight shared struggles. It could be a mother’s grief over a missing child at times irrespective of whether she’s Tamil or Sinhalese. Such literature challenges stereotypes and humanises the other, making reconciliation a tangible possibility. Bridging Divides Visual arts have similarly played a milestone role in reconciliation efforts worldwide. In post-genocide Rwanda, the Murambi Memorial transformed a former school into a space for reflection and remembrance. Through photographs, sculptures, and installations, the memorial confronts visitors with the horrors of the past while advocating for unity and peace. The Colombo Art Biennale has served as a platform for artists to explore themes of identity, memory, and coexistence. One notable work featured fragments of letters from individuals affected by the war, stitched together to form a montage. This symbolic act of mending was meant to convey the power of creative expression to heal. Theatre offers a participatory avenue for reconciliation. In Northern Ireland, the Derry Playhouse launched Theatre of Witness, a programme that brought together former combatants, survivors, and witnesses of violence to perform their stories. The participants stepped into each other’s shoes to experience catharsis and develop empathy for opposing viewpoints. Ruwanthi de Chickera’s plays have also tackled themes of division and healing. Her work Walking Path critiques societal fragmentation and prompts audiences to reflect on their role in shaping a more inclusive society. Harmonizing Differences Music, with its universal appeal, has been a unifying force in reconciliation. After the Bosnian War, the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra resumed performances, to bring together musicians from different ethnic groups. Their concerts became symbols of hope and resilience, demonstrating that harmony in music could inspire harmony in society. The National Youth Orchestra unites young musicians from across the country. Collaborative performances encourage camaraderie and mutual respect. It goes on to say how music can bridge divides and nurture reconciliation. Creative expression holds potential for reconciliation, but it is not without challenges. The act of telling stories can reopen old wounds, particularly if not handled sensitively. Not all stories lead to reconciliation. Some may worsen grievances. The political and social context also influences the impact of creative initiatives. Artistes and writers may face censorship or backlash in polarised environments. Whether inclusivity—where all voices, especially those of marginalised communities, are represented— is in effect is another concern. How is it possible to overcome these concerns? Community-based projects allow individuals to share their stories in familiar and supportive environments. Programmes like Write to Reconcile exemplify how grassroots efforts can complement national reconciliation policies. Schools and universities already incorporate storytelling, art, and theatre into curricula. Early exposure to diverse perspectives can cultivate a generation committed to coexistence. Funding is another pathway. Providing funding, training, and platforms for creative practitioners guarantees sustainable reconciliation efforts. Governments and non-governmental organizations can work in collaboration in this regard. Joint initiatives that bring together individuals from diverse backgrounds encourage dialogue and mutual understanding. These projects should prioritise inclusivity and representation. The stories we carry define, and represent, who we are and how we connect with others. Creative expression is the most beautiful pathway in a divided society. It shows us the path.(CNN) — When President Donald Trump was searching for a new FBI Director after firing James Comey in 2017, he wanted among other things someone who looked the part of America’s top law enforcement official. Christopher Wray, a 50-year-old Yale-trained lawyer, was at the top of the list thanks to his conservative credentials as a leading partner at one of the nation’s biggest law firms and experience running the criminal division in George W. Bush’s Justice Department. For Trump, who has always placed emphasis on people looking the part for their jobs, Wray’s square-jawed serious demeanor helped seal the deal, people close to the process told CNN at the time. Soon after he became director, however, Trump began grousing that Wray wasn’t doing enough TV, people briefed on the matter said. Trump’s view was that the FBI director should be seen publicly supporting the president, who was in the middle of the Russia investigation into his campaign. Years later, in the spring of 2022, Trump sent Wray a handwritten letter, according to one person familiar with the note, congratulating him on his recent appearance on “60 Minutes” in which Wray discussed Chinese espionage efforts directed at the US. What Trump didn’t know at the time was that the FBI was beginning a criminal investigation, based on a referral from the National Archives, into his decision to hoard classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The FBI court-authorized search of Mar-a-Lago that August led to a grand jury indictment against Trump — and ended any chance of Wray keeping his job in Trump’s second term. “He invaded my home,” Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this week, lambasting the director he chose . “He invaded Mar-a-Lago.” As Trump prepares to replace Wray with Kash Patel, a MAGA acolyte who has joined the president-elect in vowing to use the Justice Department to target political adversaries, Wray’s departure marks a clear end to a decadeslong era of independence for the FBI. When he first hired Wray, Trump’s expectations of unbridled fealty, a loyalty standard that Comey has said Trump also asked him to meet, were a sharp departure from the culture of the modern FBI, which has assiduously cultivated its independence since the Watergate scandal and the abuses of the 48-year reign of J. Edgar Hoover. It’s an independence that has irritated almost every president through the years. Compared to Comey, whose frequent media appearances caused some of the bureau’s problems, Wray preferred to keep a lower profile and avoided the press. That was not the type of director Trump was anticipating, according to senior administration officials. That mismatch in expectations helped create a tightrope Wray tried to walk during Trump’s first term, as he limited his direct interactions with Trump while focusing on priorities that were important to the administration. Wray is “an ideal person to run the FBI because he recognizes it’s a non-partisan job and he has the respect of the troops,” said a former Justice Department official who helped push for Wray’s hiring. While Trump and Republicans rail against the so-called weaponization of the bureau, the former official said, “Kash Patel is exactly what Trump says he doesn’t want in an FBI director: someone who is going to weaponize the FBI.” Wray’s tenure under Trump was punctuated by periods of significant tension. Unhappy about the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and eventually their failure to support his claims of fraud in the 2020 election, Trump would often lash out at Justice officials, including at times at Wray. At least twice, Wray told aides that he was prepared to resign over Trump’s demands, according to a former US official briefed on the matter. “A couple times, it got to where he said ‘I’m not going to do that,’ and he was persuaded to stay,” the former US official said. A current senior FBI official said that employees are frustrated that some of the attacks against the bureau and Wray were for decisions by their bosses at the Justice Department, which the FBI sometimes disagreed with. Early in the Biden administration, for example, the Justice Department issued a memo suggesting parents protesting at school boards over Covid measures could be investigated if they made threats. The FBI distanced itself from the memo, which never produced any actual investigations. But the damage was done, and Republican lawmakers continue to cite the issue as an example of overreach. The pressures on Wray came into clear view in June 2020, days after riots erupted across the country following the police killing of George Floyd. Wray, along with Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Bill Barr, stood in the FBI’s command center in downtown Washington, DC. After riots swelled around the city, a few blocks away a fire was set in the basement of historic St. John’s Church as protesters gathered in Lafayette Square outside the White House. Barr took charge of the law enforcement response and ordered 150 FBI agents into the square to clear protestors that night, according to a person present, despite some agents raising concerns that FBI agents aren’t trained to do crowd control, noting the risk that an agent or a protester could be killed. The decision was made and agents were deployed to patrol the streets of Washington. Wray later apologized to agents, noting that orders weren’t coming from him or even Barr, but from Trump, according to the person present at the command post. Days later Wray spoke at a press conference alongside Barr and for the first time appeared to endorse the idea that Antifa was behind the violence, something Trump had been insistent on despite a lack of evidence to support his claims. “We’re seeing people who are exploiting this situation to pursue violent extremist agendas,” Wray said. “Anarchists like Antifa and other agitators. These individuals have set out to sow discord and upheaval rather than join in the righteous pursuit of equality and justice.” Inside the bureau, some officials were surprised that Wray had come to echo Trump and Barr’s claims about Antifa. But Wray’s words, temporarily at least, served to help bolster Trump’s confidence that Wray and the FBI were doing what he wanted. Months later at a congressional hearing, Wray told lawmakers that Antifa was an ideology, not a group, prompting criticism from Republicans. At the bureau, where Comey was well-liked as director, Wray’s arrival in 2017 was a sharp turn. But it was a welcome one for employees who hoped that a more understated director would lower the political heat on the bureau and refocus attention on its national security and criminal enforcement missions. Visibly uncomfortable in large crowds, Wray has a political gift in smaller gatherings, particularly rank-and-file employees who rarely get face time with the director, current and former FBI officials said. When he spoke to graduating classes of new agents at the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia, Wray often compared the teamwork aspect of being an FBI agent to being on a rowing team, invoking his own time as a Yale crew team member. For each graduating class, Wray would eat lunch at the cafeteria with six to eight students who were viewed as leaders of their class, a former FBI agent who admires Wray told CNN. Like he did for all his meetings or when he was a trial attorney, Wray was known to prepare before even small gatherings at the academy. “He’s not a guy who works on emotion, he is very tactical, very prepared,” the former agent said. Former senior FBI officials said that while Wray didn’t like to speak publicly in the media, he was good at building relationships with local law enforcement agencies and with private sector companies that the FBI needs for its national security and counter-terrorism efforts. He often insisted to speak directly to current and former employees struggling with bereavement or health issues, notably former FBI employees suffering from post-9-11 illnesses. Every time a police officer was killed on duty anywhere in the US, Wray made calls to their family or police chiefs. “I cannot tell you how many deathbed calls he has made,” the former US official said. After Trump announced his intention last month to replace Wray with Patel, Wray wrestled with how to leave the bureau he had helmed for nearly eight years. He struggled with whether it was better for the FBI and its tradition of independence to stay and be fired, or to leave before Trump’s arrival to save the bureau from further attacks, people close to his thinking said. Ultimately Wray decided to announce his plans to resign to hundreds of FBI employees at the Washington, DC, headquarters, saying he would leave before Trump took office. His speech tacitly acknowledged the political headwinds the FBI will face under the new presidency. Wray also took the time during the speech to highlight the accomplishments by his agents throughout his years there, from thwarting terror plots to stopping cyber-attacks on US infrastructure and hospitals, fentanyl seizures and rescuing children from predators. “An awful lot of people are alive today because of your tireless efforts ,” Way told the audience. “As daunting as all that may sound, I’ve got enormous confidence in you and your ability to continue to meet the threats coming over the horizon.” Under Wray, the FBI stopped numerous foreign hacking operations from countries like China and Russia, alleged Iranian plots to kill current and former government officials, and opened up the largest investigation in FBI history, charging more than 1500 people in connection to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack. Still, none of it was enough to save Wray, whose tenure ends the same way as Comey’s – with Trump angry about being investigated by what he sees as his own FBI. The-CNN-Wire TM & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

Four things to do before heading off on holidays: Best life hacks for 2025Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Yet another stowaway managed to board a major airline’s plane – renewing serious questions and concerns about airport safety during the busiest travel season of the year. This time, a stowaway tried to hitch a ride on Delta Air Lines Flight 487 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Christmas Eve. The unticketed passenger was discovered while the plane was still taxiing out for takeoff to Honolulu, Delta Air Lines told CNN. The Transportation Security Administration and the Port of Seattle confirmed the incident to CNN. The incident came less than a month after another stowaway boarded a Delta airplane Thanksgiving week. That unticketed passenger made it all the way from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Paris before she was eventually arrested . 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Meet the powerful rancher seemingly inspiring the 'Yellowstone' legend Delta Air Lines planes are seen parked at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on June 19, 2024, in Seattle, Washington. And on Christmas Eve, a body was found in a wheel well of a United Airlines plane shortly after it traveled from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and landed in Maui. Hiding in a plane’s wheel well is the most common method used by stowaways , the Federal Aviation Administration said. Stowaways often get crushed when the landing gear retracts, and oxygen levels plummet as a plane reaches higher altitudes. In the Seattle incident, the stowaway went through a TSA security checkpoint the evening before the flight but wasn’t holding a boarding pass, an airport spokesperson told CNN. The next day, the person “gained access to the loading bridge without a scanned ticket at the gate,” airport media relations manager Perry Cooper said. Once the person was discovered, the Airbus A321neo returned to the gate to remove the unticketed passenger, Delta said. Port of Seattle police officers were dispatched to gate B1 at the airport around 1:05 p.m. for “a report of a suspicious circumstance” on the Delta flight. The person “ran out” of the aircraft before officers arrived, Cooper told CNN Friday. “The aircraft returned to the terminal and the subject departed the aircraft,” the Port of Seattle said. “With the help of video surveillance, POSPD were able to locate the subject in a terminal restroom. The subject was arrested for criminal trespass.” The unticketed passenger didn’t have any prohibited items, the TSA told CNN. “The aircraft was swept by K9 as well as all areas in the terminal accessed by the subject,” the Port of Seattle said. “The aircraft was deplaned and all passengers were escorted by TSA to return to the security checkpoint for rescreening.” CNN has reached out to the Port of Seattle for additional comment. Delta said the flight was delayed by two hours and 15 minutes. After the rescreening, it continued to Honolulu at 3 p.m. “As there are no matters more important than safety and security, Delta people followed procedures to have an unticketed passenger removed from the flight and then apprehended,” the Atlanta-based airline said in a statement. “We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travels and thank them for their patience and cooperation.” TSA said it “takes any incidents that occur at any of our checkpoints nationwide seriously. TSA will independently review the circumstances of this incident at our travel document checker station at Seattle/Tacoma International.” United, Apple rolling out new way to track lost luggage with AirTags By Alexandra Skores, CNN How the person got through airport security is a question many want answered. There are a number of factors at play, according to former commercial airline pilot and aviation analyst, John Nance. “There are multiple causes that come into this, and they probably involve not only a bit of lackadaisical inattention,” Nance told CNN affiliate KING . “It may be training, it may be compliance, but it’s probably all of that.” It’s “embarrassing” for this situation to happen twice to the same airline and TSA, according to former Department of Homeland Security official Keith Jeffries, who was federal security director when he left the DHS in 2022. In his 20 years working with DHS and the TSA, Jeffries said he’s seen these situations multiple times. “It has happened before. It will happen again until they continue to strengthen that vulnerability,” Jeffries said. “The fact that it happened to the same airline, of course, couldn’t be more embarrassing, especially back-to-back, and during the holiday season, when there’s an extra alertness associated with the large holiday season,” Jeffries added. During the holidays, Jeffries explained, there’s typically more staffing at the airports being “extra vigilant.” TSA, airlines and airports have even more people present to ensure things like this don’t fall through the cracks, making these cases “even more concerning,” he said. If there is a “silver lining,” Jeffries said, it’s that Delta did catch the stowaway during the taxi, and they didn’t make it to Hawaii. The stowaway also didn’t have prohibited items when scanned through TSA, which is another plus, he said. “Everybody’s going to have to work together; TSA and the airlines on how they can strengthen both of those vulnerabilities, and in some cases, even work with the airport,” he said. Congress will likely scrutinize these incidents, Nance added. “But there will be no one paying more attention than the airlines themselves,” he said. ___ CNN’s Holly Yan, Pete Muntean, Amanda Musa and Nicole Chavez contributed to this report. 4 tips to help you experience exceptional cruise dining | PennyWise podcast Nat CardonaLee Media Studio PHOTOS: The top images of 2024 Elise Mertens, of Belgium, serves against Naomi Osaka, of Japan, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, on March 11, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) An adult periodical cicada sheds its nymphal skin on May 11, 2024, in Cincinnati. There are two large compound eyes, which are used to visually perceive the world around them, and three small, jewel-like, simple eyes called ocelli at center. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents after an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Cairo Consort prepares for a race in the paddock at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., before the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race on May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) Pope Francis gestures during an annual gathering of pro-family organizations at the Auditorium della Conciliazione, in Rome, on May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) A member of the Seattle Mariners tosses a ball against a wall during drills at spring training baseball workouts, on Feb. 15, 2024, in Peoria, Ariz. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Models wait backstage for a show to start during China Fashion Week in Beijing on March 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Emerald miner Janeth Paez stands inside the tunnel of an informal mine near the town of Coscuez, Colombia, on Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) Assistants react as members of "Castellers de Vilafranca" try to form a "Castell" or human tower, during the 29th Human Tower Competition in Tarragona, Spain, on Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump attends the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, on July 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) With tears streaming down her face, a supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris applauds as Harris delivers a concession speech on Nov. 6, 2024, after losing the 2024 presidential election, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. 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(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Jewish ultra-Orthodox men dressed in costumes celebrate the Jewish festival of Purim in Bnei Brak, Israel, on March 24, 2024. The holiday commemorates the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Book of Esther. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Druze clergymen attend the funeral of some of the 12 children and teens killed in a rocket strike by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah at a soccer field at the village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) People take cover next to a public bomb shelter as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from Lebanon, in Safed, northern Israel, on Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) Sloane Stephens of the U.S. signs autographs after defeating Daria Kasatkina of Russia in their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte) The container ship Dali rests against the wreckage of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge on the Patapsco River, on March 27, 2024, as seen from Pasadena, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) A girl waits in the family home of the late Ousmane Sylla, who died by suicide inside one of Italy's migrant detention centers, ahead of his body's arrival in Conakry, Guinea, on April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu) Yulia Navalnaya, center, widow of Alexey Navalny, stands in a queue with other voters at a polling station near the Russian embassy in Berlin on March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) Alicia Keys performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) People walk through a part of the Amazon River that shows signs of drought in Santa Sofia, on the outskirts of Leticia, Colombia, on Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) A fisherman casts his fishing line into the Mediterranean Sea from a rocky area along the coastline in Beirut, Lebanon, on July 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) People mourn over the flagged-covered coffin of Israeli soldier Sgt. Amitai Alon, killed by a Hezbollah drone attack, during his funeral near Ramot Naftali, Israel, on Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) Children shake hands before they play a chess game at The Soga Chess Club of the internally displaced persons camp in Kanyaruchinya, Democratic Republic of Congo, on July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) A young man watches the ball after diving while playing soccer on a dusty field in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Feb. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) A voter fills out a ballot during general elections in Nkandla, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa, on May 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) A resident wades through a flooded street following heavy rains from typhoon Toraji in Ilagan City, Isabela province, northern Philippines, on Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Noel Celis) Erin Young holds her adopted daughter Gianna Young, as she prays the "Patriotic Rosary" for the consecration of the nation and Donald Trump around a bonfire at their home in Sunbury, Ohio, the night before the U.S. election, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. The conservative Catholic family lives their anti-abortion beliefs through adoption, foster-parenting and raising their children to believe in the sanctity of life. They're also committed to teaching their children about political candidates they see as aligned with their beliefs. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) A mural of former Argentine first lady María Eva Duarte de Perón, better known as Eva Perón, or Evita, depicting her with a saint's halo, adorns a wall inside the Peron Peron restaurant in the San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) In this photo taken with a long exposure, people look at the northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, in the night sky on May 10, 2024, in Estacada, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) A girl plays a jump rope game at a school housing residents displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on May 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) People fish next to drainage that flows into the Paraguay River in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Jan. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz) A mother coaxes her daughter into trying a spoonful of rice at a school turned into a makeshift shelter for people displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on May 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) A man sits inside a concrete pipe meant for municipal use after his shelter was swept away by the flooding Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) People gather in front of destroyed buildings hit by an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, on Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) A cosplayer dressed as Deadpool attends a Comic-Con convention in Panama City on Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Athletes compete during the men's 10km marathon swimming competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, on Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) A cleric holds up his son as he celebrates Iran's missile strike against Israel during an anti-Israeli protest at Felestin (Palestine) Square in Tehran, Iran, on Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) A pod of Beluga whales swim through the Churchill River near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, on Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel) A person carrying a handgun and a sign depicting Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump stands outside the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Atmaram, who goes by one name and was found living on the street a day earlier, eats breakfast at Saint Hardyal Educational and Orphans Welfare Society, a home for the aged and unwanted, on April 12, 2024, in New Delhi, India. (AP Photo/David Goldman) People help Liudmila, 85, board a bus after their evacuation from Vovchansk, Ukraine, on May 12, 2024. Her husband was killed in their house during a Russian airstrike on the city. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Prisoners reach out from their cell for bread at lunchtime at the Juan de la Vega prison in Emboscada, Paraguay, on July 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) Members of the water safety team move into the impact zone on a jet ski to rescue a surfer under a rainbow during a training day ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics surfing competition in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, on July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) Children play with the ropes of a ship docked on a beach in Parika, Guyana, on June 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) Lava flows from a volcanic eruption that started on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco di Marco) Actors make final adjustments to their costumes before the start of Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, on Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) Christophe Chavilinga, 90, suffering from mpox, waits for treatment at a clinic in Munigi, eastern Congo, on Aug. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Two men in Russian Cossack uniforms pose for a selfie with the Historical Museum in the background after visiting the mausoleum of the Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, marking the 154th anniversary of his birth, in Moscow's Red Square, on April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) A fisherman carries his catch of the day to market in Manta, Ecuador, on Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa) Ama Pipe, from Britain, center, receives the baton from teammate Lina Nielsen in a women's 4 X 400 meters relay heat during the World Athletics Indoor Championships at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, on March 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) Ultra-Orthodox Jews look at part of an intercepted ballistic missile that fell in the desert near the city of Arad, Israel, on April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/ Ohad Zwigenberg) Margarita Salazar, 82, wipes sweat from her forehead in her home during an extreme heat wave in Veracruz, Mexico, on June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez) People drive along a road littered with fallen power lines after the passing of Hurricane Rafael in San Antonio de los Banos, Cuba, on Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) Palestinian activist Khairi Hanoon walks with the Palestinian flag on a damaged road following an Israeli army raid in Tulkarem, West Bank, on Sept. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed) A polar bear and a cub search for scraps in a large pile of bowhead whale bones left from the village's subsistence hunting at the end of an unused airstrip near the village of Kaktovik, Alaska, on Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Vero Almarche, right, hugs her neighbor Maria Munoz, who was born in the house where they are photographed and which was destroyed by flooding in Masanasa, Valencia, Spain, on Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Wearing a device that measures his energy consumption, Israel Amputee Football Team player Ben Maman, left, fights for the ball with a young soccer player from a local team during a practice session in Ramat Gan, Israel, on April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) First-graders attend the traditional ceremony for the first day of school in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Fans interfere with a foul ball caught by Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts during the first inning in Game 4 of the baseball World Series against the New York Yankees, on Oct. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump prepares to walk on stage for a campaign rally at Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich., on Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Passengers in the back of a taxi film themselves as they leave the Eiffel Tower, decorated with the Olympic rings ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, on July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Emergency personnel carry a 4-year-old girl who was rescued from her collapsed house after heavy rains in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, on March 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) A worker inspects the permanent foundations being constructed on the coral reef for a judging tower to be used during the Olympic Games surf competition in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia, on Jan. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce kisses Taylor Swift after the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Chiefs won 25-22. (AP Photo/John Locher) An American flag is mounted on a fence at a farm on U.S. Highway 20 during a blizzard near Galva, Iowa, on Jan. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Revelers lie in a pool of squashed tomatoes during the annual "Tomatina" tomato fight fiesta, in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, on Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz) Orthodox nuns wait to take part in a procession marking 250 years since the remains of Saint Dimitrie Bassarabov, patron saint of the Romanian capital, were brought to Romania, in Bucharest, on July 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) A gaucho, or South American cowboy, bathes a horse during the Criolla Week rodeo festival, in Montevideo, Uruguay, on March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) A man transports an electronic voting machine on a pony as election officials walk to a polling booth in a remote mountain area on the eve of the first round of voting in the six-week long national election at Dessa village in Doda district, Jammu and Kashmir, India, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand) Monuwara Begum and another woman return from a polling station across the Brahmaputra river on the eve of the second phase of India's national election in Sandahkhaiti, a floating island village in the Brahmaputra River in Assam, India, on April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath) Members of the Abu Sinjar family mourn their relatives killed in an Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at their house in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Jan. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair) Israeli students watch a virtual tour of the concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau at the Testimony House, a Holocaust museum in Nir Galim, Israel, on the eve of Israel's annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Kenya Wildlife Service rangers and capture team pull a sedated black rhino from the water in Nairobi National Park, Kenya, on Jan. 16, 2024, as part of a rhino relocation project to move 21 of the critically endangered beasts hundreds of miles to a new home. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga) Buildings cover Gardi Sugdub Island, part of San Blas archipelago off Panama's Caribbean coast, on May 25, 2024. Due to rising sea levels, about 300 Guna Indigenous families are relocating to new homes, built by the government, on the mainland. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) A supporter of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump waits for the start of his campaign rally in Doral, Fla., on July 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's DOGE time at the U.S. Capitol. Billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy arrived Thursday on Capitol Hill meeting with legislators behind closed doors about President-elect Donald Trump's plans to “dismantle” the federal government. Trump tapped the two business titans to head his Department of Government Efficiency , tasked with firing federal workers , cutting government programs and slashing federal regulations — all part of what he calls his "Save America" agenda for a second term in the White House. “We're going to see a lot of change around here in Washington,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson , as Musk, with a small child on his shoulders, breezed by and into the private meeting. Washington has seen this before, with ambitious efforts to reduce the size and scope of the federal government that historically have run into resistance when the public is confronted with cuts to trusted programs that millions of Americans depend on for jobs, health care, military security and everyday needs. But this time Trump is staffing his administration with battle-tested architects of sweeping proposals, some outlined in Project 2025 , to severely reduce and reshape the government. Musk and Ramaswamy said they plan to work alongside the White House's Office of Management and Budget, headed by Trump's nominee Russ Vought, a mastermind of past cuts . “DOGE has a historic opportunity for structural reductions in the federal government,” Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal . “We are prepared for the onslaught.” The duo, invited for what Johnson called a “brainstorming” session as they begin this “journey” together, face a first test in private with House and Senate lawmakers — some eager to hear what they have in mind. “I am fired up to go out and do something,” said Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., who joined with Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, in launching what they are calling the DOGE caucus in the House, with more than 50 Republicans and two Democratic members. Bean said the DOGE caucus will unveil an email tip line where people can report wasteful spending. He also envisions a scoreboard of sorts that people can view on a website showing “how many positions we’ve cut, agencies we’ve cut, what the actual number is.” In the Senate, Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa and Rick Scott, R-Fla., have launched a similar caucus. “I think that’ll be a great start to the whole process,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who will chair a House Oversight subcommittee in the new year as part of “building the bridge between Congress and DOGE.” While neither Musk nor Ramaswamy have much public service experience, they bring track records in private business — Musk's operations have vast government contracts — and enthusiasm for Trump's agenda, having campaigned alongside him in the final stretch of the election. The world's richest man, Musk poured millions into a get-out-the-vote effort to help the former president return to the White House. He is known politically for having transformed the popular social media site formerly known as Twitter into X, a platform embraced by Trump's MAGA enthusiasts. Despite its name, the Department of Government Efficiency is neither a department nor part of the government, which frees Musk and Ramaswamy from having to go through the typical ethics and background checks required for federal employment. They said they will not be paid for their work. One good-government group has said that DOGE, as a presidential advisory panel, should be expected to adhere to traditional practices of transparency, equal representation and public input — as happened with similar advisory entities from the Reagan to the Obama administrations. The Federal Advisory Committee Act “is designed expressly for situations like this," wrote Lisa Gilbert and Robert Weissman, the co-chairs of Public Citizen in a letter to the Trump transition team. "If the government is going to turn to unelected and politically unaccountable persons to make recommendations as grand as $2 trillion in budget cuts, it must ensure those recommendations come from a balanced and transparent process not rigged to benefit insiders.” The nation's $6 trillion federal budget routinely runs a deficit, which this year ran $1.8 trillion, a historic high, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It has not been balanced since the Clinton administration more than two decades ago. Republicans generally blame what they see as exorbitant spending for the deficit, while Democrats point to tax cuts enacted under Republican presidents Trump and George W. Bush as the major driver. Receipts last year as a percentage of gross domestic product came in just below the average for the past 50 years, while outlays were equal to 23.4% of GDP, compared to the 50-year average of 21.1% Some of the biggest increases in spending last year occurred with politically popular programs that lawmakers will be reticent to touch. For example, spending on Social Security benefits went up 8%, Medicare outlays increased 9%, spending on defense went up 7% and spending on veterans health care rose 14%, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said he would like to see Musk testify before the House Armed Services Committee on the “bloated defense budget.” “I’d like to see Elon recommend some cuts. Let’s have him testify,” Khanna said. He said he’s open to hearing proposals on non-defense spending, but was skeptical. “If they find waste, maybe, but in terms of big numbers, I mean, no one is going to allow for cutting education funding for special needs kids and for low-income schools, or for cutting Social Security and Medicare,” Khanna said. “If they want to do that, they’re going to hand us a landslide in 2026.”Tech Triumph! Here’s Why HPE is Surging

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Drake Maye’s arrival in New England coincided with a wholesale reset for the Patriots franchise following the departure of coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Mac Jones this past offseason. In his eight starts since assuming the reins from veteran Jacoby Brissett, the rookie quarterback has provided encouraging examples of what the Patriots’ revamped front office saw in selecting him third overall in the draft last April. While the Patriots enter their bye week with a 3-10 record and just 2-6 with Maye as the starter, both the coaching staff and his teammates feel they have a quarterback they can build around going forward. “I’m just trying to take it one day at a time, one game at a time,” Maye said this week. “I’m trying to learn from negative experiences or negative plays, learn from turnovers, learn from sacks that I take and see if I can get the ball out and do something better. That’s probably the biggest thing. "Hopefully, the work that we’re putting in and the product that we’re putting out can lead to some positive plays and some positive wins down the road.” Maye is coming off his best statistical performance of the season, completing a season best 80% of his passes (24 of 30) for a season-high 238 yards and a touchdown in New England’s 25-24 loss to Indianapolis. He also had a 41-yard run, showing off a running ability that has him averaging 9.1 yards per carry – best among quarterbacks who have played at least nine games. Maye did have one interception off a tipped ball, but showed his best command of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt’s scheme to date, spreading the ball around to six different players and consistently getting the Patriots into the red zone. The rub is that the Patriots were just 2 of 6 once they got there, including four trips inside the 10-yard line that yielded only one TD. Lackluster play in the red zone has been a hindrance for a unit that ranks 30th in the NFL in scoring touchdowns inside the 20. Maye said it will be one of his main focal points over the final four games. “It’s tough to go out like that,” Maye said. “You can’t win games going four drives in the red zone that end in field goals. We’ve got to focus in on that. I think that’s been an emphasis of improvement for this offense. We know you have to score touchdowns to win in this league.” Though coach Jerod Mayo agrees there is room for improvement for Maye, he also pointed out that the pieces around him need to do a better job supporting him as well. He pointed specifically to the offensive line, singling out rookie left guard Layden Robinson and rookie tackle Caedan Wallace, as well as fellow lineman and 2022 first-round pick Cole Strange, who is working his way back from a knee injury. “You need a guy like Layden Robinson to show what he can do. We need a guy like Cole Strange before the end of the season to see what he can do,” Mayo said. “You can use Caedan in that same bucket. We need to see what the receivers can do and what they’re going to look like going forward, and that’s the hard part for me. You want to win right now, but at the same time, I think it would be a disservice to go to the end of the season and not know exactly what we have.” That’s not lost on Robinson, who wants to play better for his quarterback who he said has grown exponentially as a leader since earning the starting job. “He always has that confidence about him and you know how he takes control of the huddle,” Robinson said. “He gets in there, and he’s like, ‘All right, let’s go to work,’ basically. We rally behind him.” Results aside, Van Pelt said there are no regrets about initially waiting to elevate Maye to the starting job. “Absolutely not. I think we had the plan going into place, and I think that it’s showing now that that was a good decision for us,” Van Pelt said. “Would he be as developed had he started the first game? Maybe. Could’ve gone the other way as well. I stated in the spring, this is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. "This is about a career, franchise quarterback, and we’re trying to develop him in the right way. And I feel like we did it that way.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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French President Emmanuel Macron will appoint a new prime minister in the coming days whose top priority will be getting a 2025 budget adopted by parliament, he said on Thursday after the government was toppled by lawmakers. Michel Barnier, a veteran conservative, became the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history when he resigned on Thursday after parliament voted him out over his fiscal plans, barely three months after he was appointed. In a televised address to the nation, Macron said he would name a successor to Barnier “in the coming days.” “The priority will be the budget,” Macron said. A special law to roll over the 2024 budget and avoid any gap will be put forward by mid-December. Then the new government will prepare a full budget early next year, in particular to account for inflation, for a vote by parliament. Macron, whose ill-fated decision to call a snap ballot in June delivered a much-divided parliament, denied he was responsible for the political crisis. The president, who represents a centrist party, said the far-right and left-wing parties united in an “anti-republican front” to create “a mess” by ousting Barnier. Macron has been weakened by the crisis but resisted calls by some in the opposition for him to resign. He reaffirmed that he will stay in office until his term ends in May 2027. “The mandate you have given me is for five years and I will fulfil it until the very end,” he said. In a 10-minute speech, he added that the new government should represent a variety of parties willing to take part in it or at least agree not to censure it. He did not say which ones. Meanwhile, Macron has asked Barnier and his government to stay in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed. FISCAL DEFICIT, DIVIDED PARLIAMENT It was unclear if a new government will be in place before a ceremony on Saturday to reopen Notre-Dame Cathedral, which has been renovated after a devastating fire. World leaders including U.S. President-elect Donald Trump are expected to attend. Macron cited the rebuilding of the Gothic cathedral and successful Paris Olympics over the summer as evidence that France can deliver. “They are proof that we can do great things. We can do the impossible,” he said. “The world admires us for that.” Macron had lunch on Thursday with Francois Bayrou, whose name has been cited by French media as a possible successor to Barnier, Le Parisien newspaper reported. An aide to Bayrou did not respond to a request for comment. Any new prime minister will face the same challenge of dealing with a fractured parliament that Barnier did, notably passing a budget at a time when France needs to rein in its public finances. French bonds and stocks rallied on Thursday on what some traders said was profit-taking following the widely expected outcome of parliament’s no-confidence vote that ousted Barnier. But the relief rally is unlikely to last, given the scale of political uncertainty. “Until potential new elections, ongoing political uncertainty is likely to keep the risk premium on French assets elevated,” SocGen analysts said in a note. The earliest possible date for a parliamentary election would be in July. The fall of France’s government leaves the country without a clear path towards reducing its fiscal deficit, and the most likely outcome is less belt-tightening than previously planned, credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s said.says winning the Stanley Cup — as he did in guiding the — hasn’t changed him. There’s a feeling of accomplishment, he’s not sitting on his laurels. His will to win is the same. The desire to be better — especially as a coach — remains. “We’re all in this business to win, that’s the ultimate goal,” said Berube. “We’re in the business because we like doing it. Whether you’re a coach, player, whatever you are, it’s a lifestyle and it’s a job. And winning is obviously very important.” Berube is one of the very few coaches — just nine are active — who know what it’s like to win the Stanley Cup. “You’re in a club that nobody talks about, but it’s really exclusive,” said , who won the Cup in 2020 and 2021. “There’s a calmness that comes with that.” was the latest addition to the club. He found peace of mind finally putting it together in Florida after going Cup-less in his first 25 seasons behind benches in Hartford, Carolina, Toronto and Winnipeg. “What an incredible time,” says Maurice. “You get to keep that. You don’t walk around all day thinking about that stuff. But every once in a while you get this surprise or reminder and you get this 30-second warm bath that you slip into about how nice that was last year and how amazing that was.” Paul Maurice is finally a champion. 💪 Berube was pursued by the Leafs to replace Sheldon Keefe because of his Stanley Cup experience. He was an interim replacement coach when he took the Blues helm in late 2018, taking them from a bottom-feeder to the very top. “It was the honesty and accountability that he has. He holds everyone to a standard,” Nashville forward Ryan O’Reilly, then the captain of the Blues, said of Berube. “He’s not afraid to let you know when you’re not going (well). I think that’s just so important. “Every team is different. I know for that team, he’s what we needed. We needed that guidance and someone to tell us to play hard. And it all worked out well.” Kevin McGran writes about why the Leafs’ recent play is cause for concern before getting into this week’s power rankings. Kevin McGran writes about why the Leafs’ recent play is cause for concern before getting into this week’s power rankings. Berube wants this Leafs team to play more like that Blues team. Be physical. Attack the net to the point of playing dump-and-chase hockey. That’s off-brand for the likes of Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander. But they’re adapting. “He’s not taking the sticks out of his top players hands and saying, ‘don’t make plays,’” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said of Berube. “That’s not what he wants. He wants his team to have an identity. And that’s a north, direct mentality of getting pucks in deep, pucks to the net and let the skill take over after that. He knows he has skilled players. At the same time, he definitely wants an identity into his team.” Berube is part of that club of coaches with that winning gravitas. Maybe that’s why he has doubled down on his approach to what he believes works. If it worked then, it will probably work now. That’s not always the case, because in truth it’s rare for any coach to win the Stanley Cup with two different teams. Scotty Bowman is the last to do it, and he did it with three teams: Montreal (four times starting in 1976), Pittsburgh (1992) and Detroit (three times ending in 2002.) Before him, you have to go back a long way: Dick Irvin won with the Maple Leafs in 1932, then with the Canadiens in 1944, ‘46 and ‘53. Tommy Gorman did in back-to-back seasons with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1934 and the Montreal Maroons in 1935. A second Cup hasn’t followed John Tortorella since he won in 2004 with Tampa, or Peter Laviolette, who won in Carolina in 2006, or Dan Bylsma, who won in Pittsburgh in 2009. It’s not like they’ve lost their competitive edge just because they’ve already won it all one season, because they’re right back at it the next. “Every year you get a puzzle. You’ve got to try to solve it,” says Maurice. “You lose a couple of games in a row, and nothing has changed. You’re just in a bad mood all the time. You can’t wait for the next game to start. You’ve got to fix it.” The remaining active Cup-winning coaches are with the same team: Bruce Cassidy (2023 with Vegas) Jared Bednar (2022, Colorado) and Mike Sullivan (2016 and 2015 with Pittsburgh). Success leads to accolades and more challenges. Sullivan will coach Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-off in February, while Cooper will guide Team Canada. But hockey has a way of keeping them humble. “I hope it didn’t change me,” says Cooper. “I hope I’m the same guy who I was in game one of coaching this league and the same guy at game 900. But inside there’s such a sense of relief when you win the Stanley Cup. And I know that’s not a glamorous word, but it truly is. The Leafs are winning with elite goaltending and the NHL’s best two-way forward in Mitch Marner. And Auston Matthews hasn’t even gotten going yet. The Leafs are winning with elite goaltending and the NHL’s best two-way forward in Mitch Marner. And Auston Matthews hasn’t even gotten going yet. “Do I look at the world differently? No, but I’m less stressed, I’ll tell you that.” Berube doesn’t appear stressed either. He exudes confidence behind the Leafs bench. He’s getting more confident behind the microphone and in the spotlight that comes with coaching in Toronto. “I don’t think about it that much,” Berube said of his Stanley Cup victory. “When you do win, that’s a great feeling because winning is very difficult. You always remember that. “Does it change me? I don’t think it changes me that much. Does it make you a better coach? I don’t know. You’re always trying to get better as a coach. I think you’re always learning and talking to people about new things and different ways to approach players and how to handle certain situations.”