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( MENAFN - Send2Press Newswire) SANTA ANA, Calif., Dec. 13, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) - In a groundbreaking move for the property management and inspection industry, DrBalcony (drbalcony ) introduces its cutting-edge app, a pioneering digital platform designed to revolutionize the balcony inspection process. This innovative tool empowers homeowners, property managers, and Homeowner Associations (HOAs) with a streamlined, intuitive experience, eliminating inefficiencies and redefining how inspections are managed. Image caption: DrBalcony. With a user-friendly interface and advanced features, the DrBalcony App transforms what was once a complex, time-consuming process into one that is seamless and efficient. Users can now obtain instant quotes, create and manage projects, and schedule inspections-all with just a few taps on their devices. “At DrBalcony, we are passionate about reimagining property management through technology,” said Greg, VP of Sales of DrBalcony.“The app reflects our dedication to simplifying inspections while upholding safety and compliance standards. With over 2,500 inspections completed, we're proud to offer a solution that sets a new benchmark for convenience and reliability.” FEATURES THAT SET THE DRBALCONY APP APART The DrBalcony App is tailored to meet the specific needs of California property owners, offering features designed to ensure the integrity of balcony structures while making compliance with state laws like SB 721 and SB 326 more accessible than ever. Learn more: services/ A SOLUTION BACKED BY REAL RESULTS “For years, the balcony inspection process has been frustrating and inefficient,” shared Omid, CEO of DrBalcony.“This app eliminates unnecessary complications. From instant quotes to straightforward scheduling, it's a game-changer.” DOWNLOAD THE DRBALCONY APP TODAY The DrBalcony App is now available for download and marks a significant leap forward in property management. By addressing common pain points in the inspection process, DrBalcony ensures peace of mind for property owners, engineers, and HOAs, all while maintaining safety and compliance with California's strict balcony safety regulations . About DrBalcony: DrBalcony leverages innovative technology to enhance balcony inspection, focusing on efficiency, safety, and customer-centric solutions. With a mission to simplify the complex, DrBalcony has become a trusted name in the balcony inspection industry, ensuring compliance and safety standards are met with ease. Learn more: . Your property's safety has never been simpler-download the DrBalcony App today! News Source: DrBalcony MENAFN13122024004236004055ID1108992078 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. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — Persistent high surf and flooding threats along California’s coast had residents on high alert a day after a major storm was blamed for one man’s death and the partial collapse of a pier , which propelled three people into the Pacific Ocean. The National Weather Service on Christmas Eve warned of dangerous, large-breaking waves of up to 35 feet (10.7 meters). Its latest high surf warning will be in effect until 6 p.m. Tuesday. “Large waves can sweep across the beach without warning, pulling people into the sea from rocks, jetties and beaches,” the weather service said in a Christmas Eve bulletin. In Santa Cruz, where a municipal wharf under construction partially collapsed on Monday, most beaches were cordoned off as they were inundated with high surf and debris. Residents received an alert on their phones Tuesday morning notifying them to “avoid all beaches including coastal overlook areas such as rocks, jetties or cliffs.” It warned powerful waves could sweep entire beaches unexpectedly. Local officials said there could be further damage to the wharf, but no more pieces broke off overnight. The wharf collapsed and fell into the ocean midday Monday, taking three people with it. Two people were rescued by lifeguards and a third swam to safety. No one was seriously injured. Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley said in the weeks and months ahead officials will have to assess long-term solutions for protecting the coastal city from the impacts of climate change . “Hallelujah that no one was hurt in this, which could have been orders of magnitude worse in terms of any injuries to human beings and damage to property onshore and offshore,” he said at a media briefing Tuesday. “But I think we have somewhat of a question mark as we move through time,” he added. “And I don't think we're by ourselves. I think this is what coastal communities around the world are probably dealing with.” The structure was in the middle of a $4 million renovation following destructive storms last winter about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of San Francisco. “It’s a catastrophe for those down at the end of the wharf,” said David Johnston, who was allowed onto the pier on Monday to check on his business, Venture Quest Kayaking. Tony Elliot, the head of the Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation Department, estimated that about 150 feet (45 meters) of the end of the wharf fell into the water. It was immediately evacuated and will remain closed indefinitely. Some of the wharf’s pilings are still in the ocean and remain “serious, serious hazards” to boats, the mayor said. Each piling weighs hundreds of pounds and is being pushed by powerful waves. “You are risking your life, and those of the people that would need to try and save you by getting in or too close to the water,” the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office said on the social platform X. Building inspectors were looking at the rest of the pier’s structural integrity. Some California cities ordered beachfront homes and hotels to evacuate early Monday afternoon as forecasters warned that storm swells would continue to increase throughout the day. In Watsonville along the Monterey Bay, first responders were called to Sunset State Beach, a state park, around 11:30 a.m. Monday for a report of a man trapped under debris. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office believes a large wave pinned him there. The man was pronounced dead at a hospital. The storm’s high surf also likely pulled another man into the Pacific Ocean around noon Monday at Marina State Beach, nearly 13 miles (21 kilometers) south of Watsonville, authorities said. Strong currents and high waves forced searchers to abandon their efforts roughly two hours later as conditions worsened. The man remained missing Monday evening. Further south in Carmel Bay, a man remained missing as of Tuesday afternoon after reports that someone was swept off the rocks into the ocean at Pebble Beach on Monday, local emergency responders said. The U.S. Coast Guard will "transition to a recovery search as ocean conditions improve in the coming days,” officials said in a statement. In a post on X, the National Weather Service office in Portland, Oregon, said, “It will likely go down as some of the highest surf this winter.” Dazio reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Sophie Austin in Sacramento and Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles contributed.

TOMS RIVER, N.J. — Gov. Phil Murphy has asked the Biden administration to put more resources into an investigation of mysterious drone sightings that have been reported in New Jersey and nearby states. Murphy, a Democrat, made the request in a letter Thursday, noting that state and local law enforcement remain “hamstrung” by existing laws and policies in their efforts to successfully counteract any nefarious activity of unmanned aircraft. He posted a copy of the letter on the social media platform X. “This leaves action surrounding the (drones) squarely on the shoulders of the federal government,” Murphy said. “More federal resources are needed to understand what is behind this activity.” Murphy and other officials have repeatedly stressed that there is no evidence that the aircraft pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus. The Pentagon also has said they are not U.S. military drones. The drones have drawn intense public concern and curiosity since residents first reported seeing them last month. Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia said from four to 180 aircraft have been reported to authorities since Nov. 18, appearing from dusk till 11 p.m. The flying objects have been spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, but the number of reported sightings has grown greatly since then. Drones were also spotted in Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and other parts of the Mid-Atlantic region. The FBI, Federal Aviation Administration and other state and federal agencies involved in the investigation have not corroborated any of the reported sightings with electronic detection, and reviews of available images appear to show many of the reported drones are actually manned aircraft. They also say there have been no confirmed sightings in restricted air space. It’s also possible that a single drone has been seen and reported more than once, officials said. Some federal lawmakers have called on the military to “shoot down” the drones. The drones also appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio, according to a state lawmaker who was briefed by the Department of Homeland Security. In one case, a medevac helicopter was unable to pick up a seriously injured car accident victim in Branchburg Township in Somerset County late last month due to drones hovering near the planned landing zone, according to NJ.com . The FAA said Thursday that it does not have a report on this incident. Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use but are subject to local and FAA regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must be FAA certified. Witnesses say the drones they think they have seen in New Jersey appear to be larger than those typically used by hobbyists.In the end, as the last morsel of the pig's head disappeared into their satisfied stomachs, the adventurers looked at each other with gleeful expressions. The joy of successfully securing and savoring the frozen pig's head was a testament to their adventurous spirit and their unwavering dedication to culinary exploration.

The recently retired Andy Murray is going to team up with longtime rival Novak Djokovic as his coach, they both announced Saturday, with plans to prepare for — and work together through — the Australian Open in January. It was a stunning bit of news as tennis moves toward its offseason , a pairing of two of the most successful and popular players in the sport, both of whom are sometimes referred to as members of a so-called Big Four that also included Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal . Djokovic is a 24-time Grand Slam champion who has spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other player in tennis history. Murray won three major trophies and two Olympic singles gold medals and finished 2016 atop the ATP rankings. He ended his playing career after the Paris Summer Games in August. Both men are 37 and were born a week apart in May 1987. They started facing each other as juniors and wound up meeting 36 times as professionals, with Djokovic holding a 25-11 advantage. “We played each other since we were boys — 25 years of being rivals, of pushing each other beyond our limits. We had some of the most epic battles in our sport. They called us game-changers, risk-takers, history-makers,” Djokovic posted on social media over photos and videos from some of their matches. “I thought our story may be over. Turns out, it has one final chapter. It’s time for one of my toughest opponents to step into my corner. Welcome on board, Coach — Andy Murray.” FILE - Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, left, and Britain’s Andy Murray holds their trophy after their final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Sunday, June 5, 2016 in Paris. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File) FILE - Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, left, and Britain’s Andy Murray holds their trophy after their final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Sunday, June 5, 2016 in Paris. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More RELATED COVERAGE Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini lift Italy past Australia and back to the Davis Cup final The man who ended Nadal’s career helps the Netherlands beat Germany to reach the Davis Cup final Rafael Nadal retired after the Davis Cup. It’s a rare team event in tennis Djokovic’s 2024 season is over, and it was not up to his usual, high standards. He didn’t win a Grand Slam trophy ; his only title, though, was meaningful to him: a gold medal for Serbia in singles at the Summer Games. Djokovic has been without a full-time coach since splitting in March from Goran Ivanisevic. “I’m going to be joining Novak’s team in the offseason, helping him to prepare for the Australian Open,” Murray said in a statement released by his management team. “I’m really excited for it and looking forward to spending time on the same side of the net as Novak for a change, helping him to achieve his goals.” Their head-to-head series on tour includes an 11-8 lead for Djokovic in finals, and 8-2 at Grand Slam tournaments. Djokovic beat Murray four times in the Australian Open final alone — in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016. Two of the most important victories of Murray’s career came with Djokovic on the other side of the net. One was in the 2012 U.S. Open final , when Murray claimed his first Grand Slam title. The other was in the 2013 Wimbledon final , when Murray became the first British man in 77 years to win the singles championship at the All England Club. Next year’s Australian Open starts on Jan. 12. ___ AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

As China continues to embrace a new development paradigm focused on domestic circulation and dual circulation, opportunities for economic growth and innovation abound. The country's vast consumer market, rising middle class, and digital transformation present immense potential for businesses and investors. By fostering a conducive business environment, promoting entrepreneurship, and enhancing technological capabilities, China is poised to become a global economic powerhouse in the digital era."Maressa Esquibel is more than just a coach to me," Harlow wrote. "She's a mentor, a friend, and a true visionary. Her wisdom and expertise have been invaluable to my growth as an artist, and I am forever grateful for her support."

One of the key advantages of personal pension plans is the tax benefits they offer. Contributions made to personal pension plans are typically tax-deductible, which means that individuals can reduce their taxable income by contributing to their retirement savings. Additionally, the investment returns generated within a personal pension plan are tax-deferred, allowing individuals to grow their retirement savings more quickly over time.

Trump Aims to End Daylight SavingsOverall, the December Political Bureau Meeting has been interpreted by brokerage firms as a positive development for the markets, with policies exceeding expectations and providing a welcome boost to investor confidence. As investors navigate the ever-changing market landscape, staying informed and adapting investment strategies in line with the latest policy developments will be crucial for maximizing opportunities and achieving long-term investment success.

"Authentic Guarantee, Direct Supply from the Source" - Is the Russian Supermarket Store Selling Genuine Imports or Chinese Manufactured Goods?Turkish Airlines to Begin Operations at The New Terminal One at JFK and Unveil World-Class LoungeRajasthan bypolls: CM Bhajan Lal Sharma's governance credited with BJP's impressive show

There is a tendency to view the emergence of "Trump 2.0" as a wholly unprecedented phenomenon in contemporary politics. Professor Ouyang Hui cautions against this oversight, highlighting historical precedents and global parallels to better contextualize the current political landscape. By situating "Trump 2.0" within a broader historical and comparative framework, we can gain a more nuanced understanding of the forces at play and anticipate potential future trajectories.

AP News Summary at 11:11 a.m. ESTFacebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump's lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution's suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea "absurd." The Manhattan district attorney's office asked Judge Juan M. Merchan to "pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful," Trump's lawyers wrote in a 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump's lawyers filed paperwork this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won't include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn't sentenced and his appeal wasn't resolved because of presidential immunity. People are also reading... OSU football: A prediction gone badly wrong OSU men's basketball: Beavers hope blowout wins pave the way for bigger things Rebuilding the Pac-12 Conference Philomath driver suspected of DUII in Corvallis pileup Corvallis man fatally hit by vehicle in Washington Corvallis police seek grinches who stole Christmas OSU police chief put on leave Corvallis woman accused of hammer attack, break-in in Philomath As I See It: Six reasons why Trump won again Corvallis sued following DUII arrest of diabetic teen Corvallis Samaritan hospital has new CEO OSU police chief put on leave Corvallis middle housing project struggles to achieve liftoff thanks to a sewer pipe Why did Trump win? Election debrief hosted by Corvallis group Albany's Talking Water Gardens goes silent — with no restart date Former President Donald Trump appears May 30 at Manhattan criminal court during jury deliberations in his criminal hush money trial in New York. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney's office declined comment. It's unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump's request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution's suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump's parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution's suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the "ongoing threat" that he'll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. The prosecution's suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they contend. Attorney Todd Blanche listens May 30 as his client Donald Trump speaks at Manhattan criminal court during jury deliberations in his criminal hush money trial in New York. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump tapped for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution's novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to "fabricate" a solution "based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump" who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September "and a hypothetical dead defendant." Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what's already a unique case. "This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding," prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn't "precipitously discard" the "meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers." Prosecutors acknowledged that "presidential immunity requires accommodation" during Trump's impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury's verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Other world leaders don't enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation's wars in Lebanon and Gaza. President-elect Donald Trump attends a Dec. 7 meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Trump has fought for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. Trump's hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith ended his two federal cases, which pertained to Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in each case. Trump was scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November, but following Trump's Nov. 5 election win, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president's sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office. Here are the people Trump picked for key positions so far President-elect Donald Trump Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Pam Bondi, Attorney General Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Labor Secretary Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner, Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. Linda McMahon, Secretary of Education President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Trump Transition FILE - Former Rep. Doug Collins speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Oct. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Tulsi Gabbard, National Intelligence Director Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. John Ratcliffe, Central Intelligence Agency Director Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Kash Patel, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel spent several years as a Justice Department prosecutor before catching the Trump administration’s attention as a staffer on Capitol Hill who helped investigate the Russia probe. Patel called for dramatically reducing the agency’s footprint, a perspective that sets him apart from earlier directors who sought additional resources for the bureau. Though the Justice Department in 2021 halted the practice of secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during leak investigations, Patel said he intends to aggressively hunt down government officials who leak information to reporters. Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Brendan Carr, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Paul Atkins, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation. “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The commission oversees U.S. securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Gensler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, announced last month that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated — Jan. 20, 2025. Atkins began his career as a lawyer and has a long history working in the financial markets sector, both in government and private practice. In the 1990s, he worked on the staffs of two former SEC chairmen, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, 41, is a tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk . He is the founder and CEO of a card-processing company and has collaborated closely with Musk ever since buying his first chartered SpaceX flight. He took contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits. Elise Stefanik, Ambassador to the United Nations Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. Matt Whitaker, Ambassador to NATO President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. David Perdue, Ambassador to China President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to be ambassador to China, saying in a social media post that the former CEO “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and ran unsuccessfully in a primary against Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Perdue pushed Trump's debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for governor. Pete Hoekstra, Ambassador to Canada A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. “In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice. “He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role.” Mike Huckabee, Ambassador to Israel Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Kimberly Guilfoyle, Ambassador to Greece Guilfoyle is a former California prosecutor and television news personality who led the fundraising for Trump's 2020 campaign and became engaged to Don Jr. in 2020. Trump called her “a close friend and ally” and praised her “sharp intellect make her supremely qualified.” Guilfoyle was on stage with the family on election night. “I am so proud of Kimberly. She loves America and she always has wanted to serve the country as an Ambassador. She will be an amazing leader for America First,” Don Jr. posted. The ambassador positions must be approved by the U.S. Senate. Guilfoyle said in a social media post that she was “honored to accept President Trump’s nomination to serve as the next Ambassador to Greece and I look forward to earning the support of the U.S. Senate.” Steven Witkoff, Special Envoy to the Middle East Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Keith Kellogg, Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as National Security Advisor to Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) Mike Waltz, National Security Adviser Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Tom Homan, ‘Border Czar’ Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Rodney Scott, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Rodney Scott led during Trump's first term, and is essentially responsible for protecting the country's borders while facilitating trade and travel. Scott comes to the job firmly from the Border Patrol side of the house. He became an agent in 1992 and spent much of his career in San Diego. When he was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump's policies. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump's hard-line immigration agenda. He appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He's also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Billy Long, Internal Revenue Service commissioner Former Rep. Billy Long represented Missouri in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2023. Since leaving Congress, Trump said, Long “has worked as a Business and Tax advisor, helping Small Businesses navigate the complexities of complying with the IRS Rules and Regulations.” Kelly Loeffler, Small Business Administration administrator Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler was appointed in January 2020 by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and then lost a runoff election a year later. She started a conservative voter registration organization and dived into GOP fundraising, becoming one of the top individual donors and bundlers to Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign. Even before nominating her for agriculture secretary, the president-elect already had tapped Loeffler as co-chair of his inaugural committee. Dr. Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to advise White House on government efficiency Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought, Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Kari Lake, Voice of America Trump says he’s picking Kari Lake as director of Voice of America, installing a staunch loyalist who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor and a Senate seat to head the congressionally funded broadcaster that provides independent news reporting around the world. Lake endeared herself to Trump through her dogmatic commitment to the falsehood that both she and Trump were the victims of election fraud. She has never acknowledged losing the gubernatorial race and called herself the “lawful governor” in her 2023 book, “Unafraid: Just Getting Started.” Additional selections to the incoming White House Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. James Blair, deputy chief of staff Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health Trump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. He promoted the idea of herd immunity during the pandemic, arguing that people at low risk should live normally while building up immunity to COVID-19 through infection. The National Institutes of Health funds medical research through competitive grants to researchers at institutions throughout the nation. NIH also conducts its own research with thousands of scientists working at its labs in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug Administration Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. Makary also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Surgeon General Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor to Fox News. Dr. Dave Weldon, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Weldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed Weldon’s opponent. In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative state after cardiac arrest, should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed. Jamieson Greer, U.S. trade representative Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team. He announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy. Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.” Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. Ron Johnson, Ambassador to Mexico Johnson — not the Republican senator — served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump's first administration. His nomination comes as the president-elect has been threatening tariffs on Mexican imports and the mass deportation of migrants who have arrived to the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson is also a former U.S. Army veteran and was in the Central Intelligence Agency. Tom Barrack, Ambassador to Turkey Barrack, a wealthy financier, met Trump in the 1980s while helping negotiate Trump’s purchase of the renowned Plaza Hotel. He was charged with using his personal access to the former president to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates, but was acquitted of all counts at a federal trial in 2022. Trump called him a “well-respected and experienced voice of reason.” Andrew Ferguson, Federal Trade Commission Ferguson, who is already one of the FTC's five commissioners, will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars worth of corporate acquisitions and suing Amazon and Meta while alleging anticompetitive behavior. “Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “Andrew will be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country’s History.” Jacob Helberg, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment Dan Bishop, deputy director for budget at the Office of Budget and Management Leandro Rizzuto, Ambassador to the Washington-based Organization of American States Dan Newlin, Ambassador to Colombia Peter Lamelas, Ambassador to Argentina Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

Heavy travel day starts with brief grounding of all American Airlines flightsCEDAR FALLS — Two teams with dream seasons clashed in the Class 4A State Football Championship game on Thursday night at the UNI-Dome. For Pella, it was a chance to grab a fourth and final state title for their legendary head coach Jay McKinstrey who would be coaching in his final game before retiring after the final whistle. For North Polk, they came in as the last standing undefeated team in 4A and were seeking their first-ever state title. The latter would leave the night celebrating as the Comets would end up coming away with a 24-14 victory. There was an energy in the building as play got underway with both defenses came up with stops on their opening possessions before Pella’s Tyson Barnes would pin North Polk with a great punt going out of bounds at the two yard line. The Comets then began to establish what would be a dominate night at the line of scrimmage. North Polk would go 15-plays and 98 yards over eight minutes with quarterback Nathan Feldmann scrambling right before lowering his shoulder and powering in for a 13-yard TD to start the scoring at 7-0 early in the second quarter. Pella would look for an answer and would get into North Polk territory before stalling out and turning it over on downs. North Polk got to work again on offense with their dynamic backfield duo of Feldmann and running back BJ Tate running behind their big offensive line. The Comets would milk the clock and would be faced with a fourth and one at the Pella five yard line late in the half. The Dutch defense has come big in those moments several times this year but were unable to get the stop as Feldmann called his own number and powered into the endzone for a five-yard TD to push the lead to 14-0 at the half. The good news for Pella was they got the ball to start the second half and would have a chance to make it a one-score game again. The big-play Dutch would strike in just three plays as QB Colin Kerndt found Harrison Mullens on a deep post over the middle with Mullens out-running everyone on his way to an 89-yard touchdown to cut the deficit in half at 14-7. North Polk took the ensuing kickoff back to midfield to set up good starting position for them. They would get to work on the ground again and would punch it in just five plays later with Feldmann tallying his third rushing TD of the night. This one was from five yards out and made it 21-7 late in the third quarter. The Dutch needed to answer back again but would stall out in North Polk territory again, turning it over on downs. The Comets took over with a chance to put a dagger in Pella’s title hopes but the relentless Dutch defense would show up with Bailey Shetterly jumping the passing lane on a screen throw by Feldmann with Shetterly racing the other way for a 39-yard pick-six to all of sudden make it one score game again at 21-14 heading to the fourth quarter. “Our guys have found ways to win this year and I appreciate them so much,” Pella head coach Jay McKinstrey said. “They are a group of kids that are an enjoyable group to be around, that are never going to quit and they are going to play to the very end, win or lose.” Just like they did on their first scoring drive, the North Polk offense would embark on a long, time consuming drive that would see them get to the Pella two yard line. But instead of going for it on fourth down, North Polk would attempt a short 21-yard field goal and put it through to cap off their 14-play, 81 yard drive over eight minutes to make it a two score game again 24-14 with just under nine minutes to go. The pressure turned back to Pella as they needed to score quick and get the ball back again. Kerndt and Emmanuel Diers got a couple of good runs to get near midfield but would face another fourth down. Kerndt would escape a sack before unleashing a deep ball up for grabs into traffic where North Polk’s Brady Cathcart would haul it down for an interception. Time was not on the side of the Dutch as they needed to get a stop quick but the North Polk running game continued to cash in first down after first down before running out the clock and claiming their first state title in program history with a 24-14 win. While the celebrations happened on one side of the field, tears and frustration settled in for the green and white as they would fall one game shy of a fourth state title under McKinstrey. The recent trends for North Polk continued as they rushed for over 300 yards for the fourth time in their last five games and held their opponent to 14 points or less and 250 total yards or less for a sixth straight game. Feldmann finished with 149 total yards and three TDs while Tate had 31 carries for 152 yards. For Pella, Kerndt was 10-of-17 passing for 132 yards with one TD and one interception. Outside of the TD pass to Mullens, Pella’s offense was held to 110 yards on 36 plays. Thursday marked the final game for McKinstrey in his Hall of Fame career leading the Dutch. The long-time head coach was grateful to be able to finish his career with a chance to play for a fourth state title in his sixth finals appearance. "How many times do you actually get to win the state championship or even play in this game,” McKinstrey said. “Very few programs get to be here every year. I'm grateful I got to be in here at least once and we got to be here six times playing for the title. I'm so grateful for that and and hopefully that these young men and all the kids we've coached in the past can look back fondly, remember the relationships, remember some things that they've learned from our football program. We’re a pseudo family during the year and that's what I'll miss when it's all said and done here. I'll just miss the players, the coaches and the opportunity to belong to something.” Pella finishes the season with an 11-2 record. PHS 0 0 14 0 - 14 NP 0 14 7 3 - 24 First Quarter Second Quarter NP — Feldmann 13-yard rushing TD. PAT is good (0-7, 10:42) NP — Feldmann 5-yard rushing TD. PAT is good (0-14, 1:13) Third Quarter PHS — Kerndt pass to Mullens for 89-yard TD. PAT is good (7-14, 11:10) NP — Feldmann 5-yard rushing TD. PAT is good (7-21, 8:50) PHS — Shetterly 39-yard interception return for a TD. PAT is good (14-21, 4:53) Fourth Quarter NP — Triplett 21-yard FG (14-24, 8:44) Passing — Kerndt 10/17 132 yards 1 TD 1 INT, Barnes 0/1 Rushing — Diers 11-35, Kerndt 8-32 Receiving — Mullens 1-89 1 TD, Barnes 2-16, Shetterly 2-16, Diers 4-8, Cowman 1-3 Top three tackles — Rhamy 8, Warner 7.5, VanMaanen 6.5 Interceptions — Shetterly 1As the "Monkey Zuo" hairstyle continues to gain popularity and momentum on social media, it is clear that Zhang Zuo and Xiao Hua have struck a chord with audiences around the world. The daring and innovative design has redefined traditional notions of beauty and style, challenging conventional ideas and pushing boundaries. Through their collaboration, Zhang Zuo and Xiao Hua have successfully captured the attention of the fashion world and sparked a new wave of creativity and self-expression.

In a symbolic move to reflect the societal values and concerns of Taiwan, the word "greed" has been elected as the representative word for the year 2024. The decision was made after a thorough consultation process involving linguistic experts, cultural scholars, and members of the public. This choice aims to shed light on the pressing issues of materialism, excess, and unethical behavior that have permeated various aspects of Taiwanese society.

Key Takeaways They say great minds think alike — or maybe they land on similar ideas because they are observing the same world all around them. Every year, as my team and I curate the absolute best books of the year, we discover some themes across the 1000-plus submissions we consider. We call them themes — and they reflect a combination of the cultural zeitgeist of what's happening in business today and the hot topics on the minds of entrepreneurs and business professionals right now. Among books published this year, we read about the importance of calm and overcoming anxiety, climate solutions, putting generosity first, reevaluating the human condition in an age of AI, the power of quiet leadership and many more. Read on to see the trends we spotted and some of our thoughts on how they might be relevant for you as we head into 2025 and beyond. Related: 6 Books to Help You Keep Your New Years Resolution 1. Calming anxiety and burnout After a divisive election year, a rise in anxiety and growing awareness of mental health at work, this year, there has been a slate of books focused on what to do about burnout at work. Some advocated working less, while others focused on productivity hacks . From destressing to conquering anxiety, the idea of calm in work and life became an urgent topic, and this reality was reflected through books aiming to offer desperately needed help. 2. Math mindedness Can math explain the world? This year, math minds took center stage to offer perspectives on everything from how AI actually works to how it powers the most popular games in the world. Geography, geometry, statistics and even models of thinking got the numbers treatment as this group of books put math back into the spotlight and argued that understanding the world, making new friends and shifting our perspective all come down to better understanding math. 3. Good aging If longevity exploded in 2023, then this year offers a correction to books focusing on how we live instead of just techniques for living longer . Alongside the longevity topic, many new books this year shifted to offering insights on how to be old successfully. From loving mid-life to living a wonderous life of purpose, the new theme around aging seems to be enjoying the time you have, whether it lasts a century or less. 4. Rethinking higher education As the workplace shifts and the costs of higher education continue to spark debate, a range of books this year offered either a commentary on the higher education experience or a suggestion for a compelling alternative to the traditional four-year college experience. As more young people consider alternative paths to success, the college question is accelerating and will likely spark much more continuing dissent and conversation over the coming year and beyond. 5. Generosity first Perhaps in response to a world that feels as though it rewards toxicity, several books this year put generosity and the idea of generous leadership front and center. Fostering a friendly team dynamic, maintaining hope instead of becoming cynical and living life by giving more back were all key themes that stood out this year as authors offered a more optimistic prescription for how to live and work that reminded us about the too easily forgotten power of actually caring for one another and why doing it may be the key to prosperity and happiness. 6. Saving humanity Last year, the big theme with AI-focused books was all about designing AI in more human ways and reducing bias or other potential issues with the technology as it gains widespread adoption. This year, that trend continued, but many books took a decidedly more philosophical turn as they pondered human existence in a world ruled by AI. Will we exist or be necessary? Is our demise inevitable? As we live through a new technology age, these questions have received a renewed sense of urgency and attention as many books have helped reimagine what it will mean to be human in an increasingly automated future. Related: 5 Books That Paved My Path to Entrepreneurial Success 7. The female lens For the past several years, there has been a growing number of writers turning their attention to the previously neglected female perspective on many different topics. This year, that feminine lens focused on the history of women on Wall Street, memoirs from female trailblazers like Connie Chung, female-first branding techniques, and the exploration of women's role in creating the crossword puzzle. Along with offering a gendered correction to decades of male-centered perspectives on history, this new range of books provides the stories of previously neglected female heroines from history who deserve to be remembered. 8. Finding purpose T his year, a big topic for many books focused on finding your passion and purpose. Rather than living a rudderless life, people of all ages are seeing reminders of living a life with purpose and leaving a legacy they can be proud of. Whether it was finding your passion or avoiding despair (seasonal, political, environmental or otherwise), these hopeful books offered to help you rediscover your purpose and to live it more intentionally every day. 9. Climate solutionism In past years, many books about global warming and climate change both chronicled the problem as well as aimed to offer legislative or advocacy solutions. This year, a new perspective emerged regarding "solutionism." In other words, many books provided the prescription for us actually to fix some of the human-created global environmental problems. At least this positivity focuses on what to do next instead of dissecting and assigning blame for how we got here. 10. The citizenship imperative After a contentious election season , several books this past year aimed to help Americans rediscover their democracy and what it means to be citizens. From teaching young people about the latter to explaining topics like migration or free speech to more controversial calls to overhaul and rethink the Constitution itself, the idea that we all need to better understand and perhaps reimagine the fundamental beliefs of our government was a timely and urgent focus of many titles this past year. 11. Quiet leadership In what might seem like the ultimate irony, several counterintuitive books this year focused on the quieter side of leadership. From embracing silence to increasing cultural intelligence and focusing on the softer side of management, the conclusion seemed to be that the noisier the world gets, the more effective leaders who buck this trend and embrace their quiet side might actually be. 12. The friendship antidote A year ago, a range of books explored the loneliness epidemic and offered a dire warning of the negative health and emotional effects of isolation. This year, the antidote took the main stage in the form of encouraging people to forge and solidify more friendships. These books offered encouragement, tactics and perhaps most importantly, a reminder that having strong friendships requires investing the time to make them work.Wisconsin 67, Nebraska-Omaha 65Heavy travel day starts with brief grounding of all American Airlines flights

Ding's impressive stat line of 11 field goals made out of 20 attempts underscored his scoring prowess, while his 9 successful free throws out of 10 showcased his accuracy from the charity stripe. Additionally, his 10 rebounds highlighted his versatility and impact on the boards, proving that he is a force to be reckoned with in all aspects of the game.

1500x jili super ace In addition to these macroeconomic policies, the Central Political Bureau also emphasizes the importance of innovation and technological development in driving economic progress. By supporting research and development, fostering entrepreneurship, and promoting the digital economy, the government aims to enhance the country's competitiveness and resilience in the global market.

As one of the most influential figures in the tech industry, Elon Musk's words and actions are closely scrutinized, with his every move carrying significant weight in the public eye. His use of an emoji, rather than a more traditional text response, added an element of mystery and intrigue to the exchange.

UBS looks at key developments that will shape the next stage of this decade

Nebraska football defeats Wisconsin 44-25, securing program’s first bowl game since 2016Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter dies at age 100Barcelona's interest in Son Heung-Min is not only driven by his on-field abilities but also by the potential commercial benefits of signing a player of Asian descent. With a massive fan following in Korea and across Asia, Son's arrival at the Camp Nou could open up new revenue streams for the Catalan club through merchandise sales, sponsorship deals, and increased global exposure. Furthermore, Barcelona's association with a player of Son's stature could help them tap into the growing football market in Asia, where the club has a large and passionate fan base.

It is important for fathers to strike a balance between being involved in their daughters' social lives and respecting their independence. Open communication, mutual trust, and healthy boundaries are essential for fostering a positive father-daughter relationship during the tumultuous teenage years. Fathers can empower their daughters by providing guidance and support while also allowing them the freedom to make their own choices and learn from their experiences.California has not been a swing state in presidential politics since 1992, when it switched from Republican red to Democratic blue while its electoral votes made Bill Clinton the president. But this vast state, far larger in population than No. 2 Texas and almost as large geographically as virtually empty Alaska, turns out to be the nation’s most politically active state. That will play out strongly at home for the next two years, as a field featuring many Democrats and very possibly Republican Chad Bianco, the often vocal sheriff of Riverside County, joust for position while running to replace Democrat Gavin Newsom in the governor’s office. It’s unlikely a GOP hopeful like Bianco can win the office in a state where registered Democratic voters hugely outnumber Republicans, a state which has not put a Republican in statewide office since muscleman actor Arnold Schwarzenegger won reelection in 2006 But as former baseball great Steve Garvey did in this year’s Senate race, a candidate like Bianco could make the 2026 runoff election if he were the sole Republican running in that year’s June primary election. Also like Garvey, Bianco or any other Republican in such a race would almost certainly be little more than a sacrificial lamb. How, then, does California rank as American’s most politically active state, especially when it numbers just 29th in the percentage of eligible voters who actually submit ballots? Turns out money and activism togethere pushed this state to the top of the political activity list in a new study from the WalletHub website, which specializes in demographic trends. Californians were 14th in the percentage of registered voters (as opposed to folks who are eligible) who actually turned out in 2020 and about the same last month, when they decided the fate of 10 statewide ballot propositions and hundreds of local measures. California ranked eighth in total political contributions per voting age citizen, much of the money going to presidential candidates or people running for the House and Senate in other states. Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar got more money from California than any two other states aside from her own. The same for both Democrat Collin Allred and incumbent Republican Ted Cruz in Texas. And so on. Plenty of bucks also went to candidates in the six most hotly contested congressional races in this state, where Republicans won just enough seats to control the House of Representatives for the next two years. But the big propulsion to the top spot in political activity was where Californians ranked in civic engagement. One measure: Among Democrats, more than 12,000 volunteers ponied up their own postage money and their time to write and send anywhere from 100 to 1,000 handwritten postcards apiece to potential voters in swing states where just a few hundred or a few thousand votes had the potential to decide who would be the next president. Add in the top ranking in voter accessibility policies, like sending a mail-in ballot to every registered voter and placing drop boxes in convenient locations in every part of the state. Merely being a swing state because party preference is fairly evenly split was not enough to propel any other state to the top in political engagement. WalletHub found only two of the seven major swing states (Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina) were among the most politically engaged. States like Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and New Jersey were among the top tier in political engagement despite being solidly in the camp of one party or the other. Turnout was affected in a major way this fall by where states ranked in political engagement. The more engaged, the higher the percentage of registered voters actually casting ballots. The exception to this was California, where political engagement and availability of ballots and ballot boxes was high, but turnout overall was nevertheless only about two-thirds, pretty much the same as in 2020, when this state went heavily for Joe Biden over Donald Trump. The bottom line: California’s size did not prevent it from being the most politically engaged state in America. And California voters – with their interstate activism and cash donations, probably did influence some races far beyond this state’s borders. Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com.

Iran on Tuesday denounced what it termed Israel's "brazen admission" of having killed former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year, accusing the country of having carried out a "heinous crime" and defending its missile-strike response. "This brazen admission marks the first time the Israeli regime has openly confessed to its responsibility for this heinous crime," said Iran's ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani in a letter addressed to the UN secretary-general. On Monday, Israel's defense minister Israel Katz acknowledged his country was responsible for the killing, the first time an official admission had been made. Haniyeh, who was seen as leading Hamas's negotiation efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, was killed in a guesthouse in Tehran on July 31, reportedly by an explosive device that had been placed by Israeli operatives weeks before. Until Monday, Israel had never admitted to killing Haniyeh, but Iran and Hamas had attributed the Hamas political leader's death to the nation. In October, Iran said it fired 200 missiles at Israel, an apparent response to the killing. Israel said most of the projectiles were intercepted either by its own air defenses or by allies' air forces. On Tuesday, Iranian UN Ambassador Iravani termed Israel's killing of Haniyeh a "heinous terrorist act," adding that Katz's statement showed Iran was justified in striking Israel in retaliation. "It also reaffirms the legitimacy and legality of Iran's defensive response on 1 October 2024, as well as Iran's consistent position that the occupying and terrorist regime of Israel remains the most serious threat to regional and international peace and security." On September 27, Israel killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a Beirut bombing, which was followed by the killing of Haniyeh's successor Yahya Sinwar on October 16 in Gaza. Israeli officials say Sinwar masterminded the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, which sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed tens of thousands and reduced much of the Palestinian territory to rubble. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world188 jili super ace 。

Race to be next Oakland mayor somewhat stalled as Rep. Barbara Lee makes up her mindGREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Kenyon Giles scored 25 points as UNC Greensboro beat N.C. A&T 67-55 on Saturday. Giles had five rebounds for the Spartans (5-4). Donovan Atwell scored 15 points and added five rebounds. Jalen Breath shot 1 of 6 from the field and 8 for 8 from the line to finish with 10 points, while adding 10 rebounds. The Aggies (3-6) were led by Ryan Forrest, who posted 18 points and eight rebounds. Camian Shell added 15 points for N.C. A&T. Jahnathan Lamothe finished with 13 points and two steals. Atwell scored 11 points in the first half and UNC Greensboro went into the break trailing 36-35. Giles scored 15 points in the second half to help lead UNC Greensboro to a 12-point victory. NEXT UP UNC Greensboro's next game is Saturday against North Florida on the road, and N.C. A&T visits Virginia Tech on Thursday. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by and data from . The Associated Press

'They Had an Ax to Grind': Matt Gaetz Speaks Out About Rough Process That Led Him to Withdraw from AG Consideration

Pakistan denounces U.S. sanctions on its missile program as biased and putting regional peace at riskIntroducing Mujin Co., Ltd.: Redefining Lightweight Steel Structures In The USA Market

Jaland Lowe, Pitt charge past LSU in second half to move to 6-0

Natural gas projects accelerate as Virginia’s energy needs soar

Nonetheless, VideoCardz has obtained screenshots of the Legion Go S, which appears to be the device's final name. Not only have promotional images leaked, but so have various hardware specifications. For instance, the Legion Go S utilises a 1,920 x 1,200-pixel IPS display, although Lenovo will advertise the device with 1080p gaming in mind. Furthermore, its AMD Ryzen Z2 Go APU will combine a quad-core Zen 3 CPU with an RDNA 2-derived integrated GPU (iGPU). The latter will arrive under the Radeon 800M series too, despite apparent similarities with the RDNA 2-based Radeon 680M . In short, the Legion Go S will be less powerful than the existing Legion Go (curr. $469.99 - refurbished on Amazon) . Still, the MicroAid listing suggests that the Legion Go S will start at around €600 (~$624) with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. Potentially, a 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage option could also be in the works; pricing for this SKU has not emerged yet, though. MicroAid & VideoCardz

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Attorneys for Meta shareholders asked a Delaware judge Monday to sanction the company’s former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and fellow Facebook board member and current White House chief of staff Jeff Zients for deleting emails related to the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal , despite being told to preserve such records. The plaintiff attorneys contend that Sandberg and Zients used personal email accounts to communicate about key issues relating to their 2018 shareholder lawsuit that alleged Facebook officers and directors violated both the law and their fiduciary duties in failing for years to protect the privacy of user data. “Although Sandberg and Zients received a litigation hold requiring them to preserve documents from these accounts, they both knowingly and permanently destroyed electronically stored information from such sources,” attorneys said in a court filing. The plaintiffs say the former board members were either “reckless or intentional” in destroying documents, noting that Sandberg deleted communications to and from her Gmail account after only 30 days, even after being notified of the “litigation hold” to preserve documents. Zients never disabled an auto-delete function on his email account, even though he, too, received a litigation hold and consulted with lawyers, they said. RELATED COVERAGE Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO spotlights complex challenge companies face in protecting top brass Meta to build $10 billion AI data center in Louisiana as Elon Musk expands his Tennessee AI facility Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s with world-first law The plaintiffs argue that Sandberg and Zients should be prohibited from testifying about information they sent or received using their personal email accounts. They also say the burden of proof for any affirmative defense they present should be raised to a standard of “clear and convincing evidence,” instead of the lower standard of a “preponderance” of the evidence. Sandberg was deposed last week. Plaintiff attorney Max Huffman said Zients is “busy” and will be deposed in February “after there’s an effective transition in Washington.” Defense attorney Berton Ashman described the email deletions as “unfortunate” but argued that the plaintiffs have not shown that they were prejudiced in any way. “There’s no intent here to destroy relevant or responsive information,” Ashman told Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster, adding that there no “trove of missing emails.” “There’s no grand scheme or suggestion of bad behavior,” he added. Ashman said the vast majority of emails that Sandberg and Zients sent or received using their personal accounts were also received by other individuals at Facebook. He suggested that any emails that may have been deleted have been made available to the plaintiffs from other sources at Facebook. Huffman, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, said Sandberg does not deserve the benefit of the doubt. “She unilaterally controlled what was kept and what was destroyed,” he told the judge. Laster, who is scheduled to preside over a non-jury trial in April, said he wanted to see a transcript of Sandberg’s deposition before ruling on the motion for sanctions. Last year, the judge rejected a defense motion arguing that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the plaintiffs did not first demand that Facebook’s board take legal action before filing litigation themselves. He agreed with the plaintiffs that such a demand would have been futile because of doubts that a majority of the relevant Facebook board members, many with close personal and business ties to Mark Zuckerberg, would be willing to confront the CEO and founder of the company over its privacy failures. Laster noted that, in deciding on a motion to dismiss, he was required to accept the allegations in the complaint as true. The complaint alleges that Facebook officials repeatedly and continually violated a 2012 consent order with the Federal Trade Commission under which Facebook agreed to stop collecting and sharing personal data on platform users and friends without their consent. Facebook later sold user data to commercial partners in direct violation of the consent order and removed disclosures from privacy settings that were required under consent order, the lawsuit alleges. The company’s conduct resulted in significant fines from regulators in Europe and culminated in the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018. That case involved a British political consulting firm hired by Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign that paid a Facebook app developer for the personal information of tens of millions Facebook users. The fallout led to Facebook agreeing to pay unprecedented $5 billion penalty to settle FTC charges that the company violated the 2012 consent order by deceiving users about their ability to protect their personal information.Rupert Murdoch Fails in Bid to Change Family TrustManmohan Singh Death: India’s ‘Reforms’ Man And Politician With A Difference50 jili super ace 。

Wall Street ends flat after the Christmas break

Lawyer says ex-Temple basketball standout Hysier Miller met with NCAA for hours amid gambling probe

Stock indexes drifted to a mixed finish on Wall Street as some heavyweight technology and communications sector stocks offset gains elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1% Thursday, its first loss after three straight gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%. Gains by retailers and health care stocks helped temper the losses. Trading volume was lighter than usual as U.S. markets reopened following the Christmas holiday. The Labor Department reported that U.S. applications for unemployment benefits held steady last week, though continuing claims rose to the highest level in three years. Treasury yields fell in the bond market. On Thursday: The S&P 500 fell 2.45 points, or 0.04%, to 6,037.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28.77 points, or 0.1%, to 43,325.80. The Nasdaq composite fell 10.77 points, or 1%, to 19,764.89. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 20.34 points, or 0.9%, to 2,280.19. For the week: The S&P 500 is up 106.74 points, or 1.80%. The Dow is up 485.54 points, or 1.1%. The Nasdaq is up 447.76 points, or 2.3%. The Russell 2000 is up 37.82 points, or 1.7%. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 1,267.76 points, or 26.6%. The Dow is up 5,636.26, or 15%. The Nasdaq is up 5,009.01 points, or 33.4%. The Russell 2000 is up 253.12 points, or 12.5%.BOSTON (AP) — Two men, including a dual Iranian American citizen, have been arrested on charges that they exported sensitive technology to Iran that was used in a drone attack in Jordan that killed three American troops early this year and injured dozens of other service members, the Justice Department said Monday. The pair were arrested after FBI specialists who analyzed the drone traced the navigation system to an Iranian company operated by one of the defendants, who relied on technology funneled from the U.S. by his alleged co-conspirator, officials said. “We often cite hypothetical risk when we talk about the dangers of American technology getting into dangerous hands,” said U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy, the top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts. “Unfortunately, in this situation, we are not speculating.” The defendants were identified as Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, who prosecutors say works at a Massachusetts-based semiconductor company, and Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, who was arrested Monday in Italy as the Justice Department seeks his extradition to Massachusetts. Prosecutors allege that Abedininajafabadi, who also uses the surname Adedini and operates an Iranian company that manufactures navigation systems for drones, has connections to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. They allege that he conspired with Sadeghi to circumvent American export control laws, including through a front company in Switzerland, and procure sensitive technology into Iran. Both men are charged with export control violations, and Abedini separately faces charges of conspiring to provide material support to Iran. A lawyer for Sadeghi, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was arrested Monday in Massachusetts, did not immediately return an email seeking comment. U.S. officials blamed the January attack on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias that includes Kataib Hezbollah. Three Georgia soldiers — Sgt. William Jerome Rivers of Carrollton, Sgt. Breonna Moffett of Savannah and Sgt. Kennedy Sanders of Waycross — were killed in the Jan. 28 drone attack on a U.S. outpost in northeastern Jordan called Tower 22. In the attack, the one-way attack drone may have been mistaken for a U.S. drone that was expected to return back to the logistics base about the same time and was not shot down. Instead, it crashed into living quarters, killing the three soldiers and injuring more than 40. Tower 22 held about 350 U.S. military personnel at the time. It is strategically located between Jordan and Syria, only 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Iraqi border, and in the months just after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and Israel’s blistering response in Gaza, Iranian-backed militias intensified their attacks on U.S. military locations in the region. Following the attack, the U.S. launched a huge counterstrike against 85 sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Iranian-backed militia and bolstered Tower 22’s defenses. ____ Tucker and Copp reported from Washington. Steve Leblanc, Eric Tucker And Tara Copp, The Associated PressNone

RADFORD, Va. (AP) — Jarvis Moss scored 15 points and Jonas Sirtautas had a go-ahead three-point play in overtime to help Radford hold off Bucknell 74-70 on Sunday night. Sirtautas gave the Highlanders the lead for good with 2:38 left in the extra period. Moss shot 4 of 13 from the field, including 2 for 7 from 3-point range, and went 5 for 6 from the line for the Highlanders (9-2). Josiah Harris scored 12 points and added five rebounds. Achile Spadone led the Bison (4-7) in scoring, finishing with 22 points and two steals. Bucknell also got 19 points and four assists from Josh Bascoe. Noah Williamson had nine points. Bascoe's layup with 12 seconds left forced overtime tied at 59. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .A metaphor for sacrifice for the country and the people

LONDON: A woman who claimed mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor “brutally raped and battered” her in a Dublin hotel penthouse was awarded nearly 250,000 Euros ($257,000) on Friday by a civil court jury in Ireland. Nikita Hand said the Dec. 9, 2018, assault after a night of partying left her heavily bruised and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. McGregor testified that he never forced the woman to do anything against her will and said she fabricated the allegations after the two had consensual sex. His lawyer had called Hand a gold digger. The fighter, once the face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship but now past his prime, shook his head as the jury of eight women and four men found him liable for assault after deliberating about six hours in the High Court in Dublin. He was mobbed by cameras as he left court but did not comment. He later said on the social platform X that he would appeal the verdict and the “modest award.” Hand’s voice cracked and her hands trembled as she read a statement outside the courthouse, saying she would never forget what happened to her but would now be able to move on with her life. She thanked her family, partner, friends, jurors, the judge and all the supporters that had reached out to her online, but particularly her daughter. “She has given me so much strength and courage over the last six years throughout this nightmare to keep on pushing forward for justice,” she said. “I want to show (her) and every other girl and boy that you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you, no matter who the person is, and justice will be served.” The Associated Press generally does not name alleged victims of sexual violence unless they come forward publicly, as Hand has done. Under Irish law, she did not have the anonymity she would have been granted in a criminal proceeding and was named publicly throughout the trial. Her lawyer told jurors that McGregor was angry about a fight he had lost in Las Vegas two months earlier and took it out on his client. “He’s not a man, he’s a coward,” attorney John Gordon said in his closing speech. “A devious coward and you should treat him for what he is.” Gordon said his client never pretended to be a saint and was only looking to have fun when she sent McGregor a message through Instagram after attending a Christmas party. He said Hand knew McGregor socially and that they had grown up in the same area. She said he picked her and a friend up in a car and shared cocaine with them, which McGregor admitted in court, on the way to the Beacon Hotel. Hand said she told McGregor she didn’t want to have sex with him and that she was menstruating. She said she told him “no” as he started kissing her but he eventually pinned her to a bed and she couldn’t move. McGregor put her in a chokehold and later told her, “now you know how I felt in the octagon where I tapped out three times,” referring to a UFC match when he had to admit defeat, she said. Hand had to take several breaks in emotional testimony over three days. She said McGregor threatened to kill her during the encounter and she feared she would never see her young daughter again. Eventually, he let go of her. “I remember saying I was sorry, as I felt that I did something wrong and I wanted to reassure him that I wouldn’t tell anyone so he wouldn’t hurt me again,” she testified. She said she then let him do what he wanted and he had sex with her. A paramedic who examined Hand the next day testified that she had never before seen someone with that intensity of bruising. A doctor told jurors Hand had multiple injuries. Hand said the trauma of the attack had left her unable to work as a hairdresser, she fell behind on her mortgage and had to move out of her house. Police investigated the woman’s complaint but prosecutors declined to bring charges, saying there was insufficient evidence and a conviction was unlikely. McGregor, in his post on X, said he was disappointed jurors didn’t see all the evidence prosecutors had reviewed. He testified that the two had athletic and vigorous sex, but that it was not rough. He said “she never said ‘no’ or stopped” and testified that everything she said was a lie. “It is a full blown lie among many lies,” he said when asked about the chokehold allegation. “How anyone could believe that me, as a prideful person, would highlight my shortcomings.” McGregor’s lawyer told jurors they had to set aside their animus toward the fighter. “You may have an active dislike of him, some of you may even loathe him – there is no point pretending that the situation might be otherwise,” attorney Remy Farrell said. “I’m not asking you to invite him to Sunday brunch.” The defense said the woman never told investigators McGregor threatened her life. They also showed surveillance video in court that they said appeared to show the woman kiss McGregor’s arm and hug him after they left the hotel room. Farrell said she looked “happy, happy, happy.” McGregor said he was “beyond petrified” when first questioned by police and read them a prepared statement. On the advice of his lawyer, he refused to answer more than 100 follow-up questions. The jury ruled against Hand in a case she brought against one of McGregor’s friends, James Lawrence, whom she accused of having sex with her in the hotel without consent.AP Business SummaryBrief at 5:25 p.m. EST

90 jili super ace login Andrej Stojakovic made 11 free throws to help craft a team-high 20 points, freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson had his second consecutive big game off the bench and Cal ran its winning streak to three with an 83-77 nonconference victory over Sacramento State on Sunday afternoon in Berkeley, Calif. Wilkinson finished with 16 points and Rytis Petraitis 13 for the Golden Bears (5-1), whose only loss this season was at Vanderbilt. Jacob Holt went for a season-high 25 points for the Hornets (1-4), who dropped their fourth straight after a season-opening win over Cal State Maritime. Seeking a fourth straight home win, Cal led by as many as 12 points in the first half and 40-33 at halftime before Sacramento State rallied. The Hornets used a 14-5 burst out of the gate following the intermission to grab a 47-45 lead. Julian Vaughns had a 3-pointer and three-point play in the run. But Cal dominated pretty much the rest of the game, taking the lead for good on a Petraitis 3-pointer with 14:50 remaining. Stojakovic, a transfer from rival Stanford, went 11-for-15 at the foul line en route to his third 20-point game of the young season. Cal outscored Sacramento State 26-17 on free throws to more than account for the margin of victory. Coming off a 23-point explosion in his first extended action of the season, Wilkinson hit five of his 10 shots Sunday. The Golden Bears outshot the Hornets 47.2 percent to 43.1 percent. Joshua Ola-Joseph contributed 10 points and six rebounds, Mady Sissoko also had 10 points and Petraitis found time for a team-high five assists. Holt complemented his 25 points with a game-high eight rebounds. He made four 3-pointers, as did Vaughns en route to 18 points, helping Sacramento State outscore Cal 30-21 from beyond the arc. EJ Neal added 16 points for the Hornets, while Emil Skytta tied for game-high assist honors with five to go with seven points. --Field Level Media

In the 1979 disaster movie “The China Syndrome”, a design flaw at a nuclear power plant threatens a catastrophic meltdown in which the reactor core will burn all the way through to the other side of the earth. Investors in Chinese equities have lately been enduring a China Syndrome of their own. Over the last three-and-a-half years, the benchmark CSI 300 Index has lost nearly a third of its value, even as the S&P 500 Index .SPX basket of leading U.S. stocks has soared to new all-time highs. With Donald Trump set to return to the White House backed by a Republican-controlled Congress, should investors brace for Chinese stocks to shrivel further – or is now the moment to take a contrarian view? It is not hard to find reasons to steer clear. Having averaged 9% a year in the two decades leading up to 2019, China’s economic growth rate has roughly halved since 2020. Even in the boom times, the link between equity returns and growth was weak. But the cracks run much deeper than that. China’s investment-led growth model, funded by successive waves of credit expansion, appears to have run out of steam while leaving the economy loaded with sky-high debts. The country’s once-booming real estate sector has succumbed to an epic bust, shrinking the value of most households’ main asset and stranding local government finances. Meanwhile, broad measures of domestic Chinese prices have been sliding for more than two years, completing a toxic circle and raising the spectre of debt-deflation. No wonder the bears say its economy is structurally impaired. Yet alongside these well-known handicaps, investors in the People’s Republic benefit from some equally notable tailwinds. It is the world’s second-largest economy, it is the undisputed leader in global manufacturing and trade, and – according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute – the global champion in research and innovation in no fewer than 57 of 64 critical technologies. Indeed, the European Union is now considering asking Chinese companies to transfer technology in return for subsidies, the Financial Times reported this week. Financially, meanwhile, China is the world’s largest external creditor economy, with an excess of foreign assets over liabilities of some $4.3 trillion. Its annual current account surplus has dipped below $100 billion only once in the last two decades and added a cool $250 billion last year. Such economic and financial fundamentals give the Chinese authorities a degree of flexibility over economic policy that few other governments can match. China bulls can take further heart from valuation and sentiment. Even after a 25% jump since authorities in Beijing announced monetary stimulus measures in mid-September, the CSI 300 Index still trades at just over 15 times earnings. India’s BSE Sensex Index .BSESN trades at 22 times, while the S&P 500 Index is valued at a multiple of 27. It’s only four years since the planned $37 billion initial public offering of Jack Ma’s Ant Financial attracted orders of $3 trillion from prospective investors – equivalent to nearly 3% cent of global GDP at the time – shortly before regulators cancelled the offering. Investors evidently weren’t too bothered by the Middle Kingdom’s structural challenges back then. If ever there were a case of prices making opinions, China’s boosters argue, this is it. Yet even if technical considerations make a short-term punt look tempting, the case for the People’s Republic as a longer-term investment is a trickier matter. The GOP clean sweep in Washington ironically makes it more likely that the world’s two superpowers will be able to strike an economic deal. That’s because on its central contentious issue – China’s management of its exchange rate – the incentives of both sides are increasingly aligned. An agreement under which Beijing agrees to revalue the yuan against the dollar in return for averting an all-out trade war would meet the key demand of Trump and his advisers for an end to what they see as an artificial currency advantage which has brought American manufacturing to its knees. Such a deal – call it a “Mar-a-Lago Accord”, after the Plaza Accord which saw U.S. trade partners agreed to devalue the dollar in the mid-1980s – would also align with China’s reluctance to reflate its economy through demand-side stimulus, in favour of attempting a more controlled recovery via a supply-side transition to new drivers of growth built on more advanced industry and technology. It would support China’s long-held ambitions for the yuan’s emergence as a genuine international reserve currency as well. For Chinese equities, such a détente might sound like unequivocal good news. It would be anything but. While it would free China’s stock markets from their current burden of geopolitical risk, it would imprison them in Beijing’s deflationary restructuring strategy instead. Absent the looser monetary conditions and higher inflation that a weaker currency would permit, corporate and local government balance sheets would have to sweat off their excessive debts over time. Growth in corporate revenue and earnings would suffer a prolonged slowdown until the economy had worked out its imbalances. Such a scenario would not disappoint all investors. A strong-yuan, sound-money strategy would be music to the ears of holders of Chinese bonds. Well-targeted venture capital investments in China’s industrial upgrading, meanwhile, could pay off handsomely. But for asset allocators exposed to most constituents of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, the period after a “Mar-a-Lago Accord” would be a long, hard slog. There is of course an alternative possibility. China might opt to ditch its controlled approach and plump for radical reflation instead. That would require a devaluation of the yuan, killing any currency accord. Such a volte-face would supercharge Chinese stock markets – at least in local currency terms. But the resulting disruption to global trade and capital flows would almost certainly be extreme. In that scenario, equity investors well beyond China will need to don their radiation suits as well. “Today, only a handful of people know what it means...” warned the original movie poster for “The China Syndrome” of the meltdown at the heart of its plot, “Soon you will know”. Source: Reuters (Editing by Peter Thal Larsen and Streisand Neto)Lukman's leadership on the field has been pivotal in Atlanta's success. His strong defensive capabilities, tactical awareness, and ability to read the game have been instrumental in keeping opposing teams at bay. As a key player in Atlanta's defense, Lukman sets the tone for the team's performance and inspires his teammates to strive for excellence.

In conclusion, the recent surge in the China Golden Dragon Index, coupled with the strong confidence of foreign investors in Chinese assets, underscores the growing stature of China as a key player in the global financial markets. With its thriving tech and innovation sectors, resilient economic fundamentals, and supportive policy environment, China continues to attract capital inflows and investor attention, positioning the country as a strategic investment destination for both domestic and international investors alike.Not so intelligent after all

As the years went by, the detrimental effects of the man's betel nut consumption began to manifest themselves in alarming ways. His teeth became stained and decayed, his gums inflamed, and his breath perpetually reeking of betel nut. However, it was the recent incident of facial mutilation that truly shocked and horrified those who knew him.

Resignation roulette won’t move Democrats forward

Moreover, the expansion of value-added tax invoice issuance in the service sector, including industries like information technology, finance, and healthcare, reflects the resilience and adaptability of these sectors in the face of economic challenges. This diversification of economic activity is essential for ensuring sustainable growth and reducing vulnerabilities to external shocks.Enhancing the scratch resistance of PC/ABS materials: Applications and advantages of Silicone Anti-scratch MasterbatchWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump's supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump's movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump's Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.

This feature makes it easier to enjoy films in their original language while following the story accurately. But how to create them to watch a movie on Mac? You can do this easily using Edimakor. Keep on reading to get a detailed guide. What is a Bilingual Subtitle? Bilingual subtitles present on-screen dialogue in two languages simultaneously, with one language typically displayed above or beside the other. This format is handy for language learners, bilingual viewers, and those who appreciate movies in their original language while still benefiting from a translation. Language learners benefit significantly from this arrangement, as it allows them to absorb new phrases in real time while observing nuances in sentence structure and colloquial expressions. Additionally, bilingual subtitles enhance comprehension for audiences unfamiliar with the movie's original language, bridging language barriers and making the film's content more accessible. In essence, bilingual subtitles create a dynamic viewing experience that merges language learning, accessibility, and a deeper appreciation for the art of storytelling. How to Add Bilingual Subtitles to Downloaded Movies on Mac using Edimakor AI ? Edimakor AI is a powerful tool designed to create, translate, and synchronize subtitles with movies and videos. Its AI-driven technology enables automatic transcription and language translation, making it easy to create subtitles, even in multiple languages. Edimakor also supports bilingual subtitles, which are perfect for audiences who want to enjoy movies with translations in two languages simultaneously. From accurate transcription to seamless timing synchronization, Edimakor AI makes subtitle creation accessible for everyone, including those who need customized subtitle formatting and dual-language support. Before that, don't forget to learn how to download movies on Mac. Key features include: Quickly and accurately transcribes audio to text. Generates subtitles in two...Victors Home Solutions recognized as 2024 Roofing Contractor of the Year

One key reason for Arsenal's struggles in open play could be attributed to their lack of creativity and fluidity in the final third. The team often looks disjointed and lacks cohesion when trying to penetrate the opposition defense. The absence of a natural playmaker or a clinical finisher has been evident, with Arsenal often lacking the cutting edge required to unlock stubborn defenses.By GRAHAM DUNBAR | Associated Press GENEVA — FIFA has signed Netflix to a United States broadcast deal for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil plus the 2031 edition that could be played in the U.S. The deal announced Friday is the most significant FIFA has signed with a streaming service for a major tournament. The value was not given, though international competitions in women’s soccer have struggled to draw high-value offers. RELATED: ‘ Why did we even start doing this?: Santa Clara officials say 2026 FIFA World Cup is ‘highly likely’ to be a money loser World Cups are typically broadcast on free-to-air public networks to reach the biggest audiences, and the last women’s edition in 2023 earned FIFA less than 10% of the men’s 2022 World Cup. FIFA president Gianni Infantino had publicly criticized public broadcasters , especially in Europe, for undervaluing offers to broadcast the 2023 tournament that was played in Australia and New Zealand. That tournament was broadcast by Fox in the U.S. “This agreement sends a strong message about the real value of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the global women’s game,” Infantino said Friday in a statement. FIFA will likely use the Netflix deal to drive talks with European broadcasters that likely will be hardball negotiations. Soccer finance expert Kieran Maguire, a co-host of The Price of Football podcast, suggested the deal was “a bit of a gamble” for FIFA and “saber-rattling” by Infantino. “(Netflix) get experience of football broadcasting, FIFA can say, ‘we are now partnering with a blue chip organization, so watch out you nasty Europeans,’” Maguire, an academic at the University of Liverpool, said in a telephone interview. FIFA and Infantino also want to raise the price of broadcast deals to help fund increased prize money and close the gender pay gap on the men’s World Cup. At the men’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the 32 team federations shared $440 million in prize money. For the women’s 2023 tournament , FIFA had a $152 million total fund for prize money, contributions to teams’ preparation costs and payments to players’ clubs. In FIFA’s financial accounts for 2023 , the soccer body reported total broadcasting revenue of $244 million. In the year of the men’s 2022 World Cup it was almost $2.9 billion. The next Women’s World Cup will be a 32-team, 64-game tournament in 2027, played in Brazil from June 24-July 25. The U.S. originally bid jointly with Mexico. The 2031 host has not been decided, though the U.S. likely will bid for a tournament which FIFA is expected to try to expand to 48 teams. That would match the size of the 104-game format of the men’s World Cup that debuts in 2026 in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup after the U.S. won the two previous titles — in France in 2019 and Canada in 2015. “Bringing this iconic tournament to Netflix isn’t just about streaming matches,” its chief content officer Bela Bajaria said, “it’s also about celebrating the players, the culture and the passion driving the global rise of women’s sport.” Netflix dipped into live sports last month with more than 60 million households watching a heavily hyped boxing match between retired heavyweight legend Mike Tyson and social media personality Jake Paul. Some viewers reported streaming problems , however. Related Articles Sports | Lionel Messi’s Bay Area debut headlines Earthquakes’ 2025 schedule Sports | Longtime captain departs as Earthquakes’ roster shakeup continues Sports | Bay FC trades former captain Loera to Utah, names Potter permanent sporting director Sports | Earthquakes add three players in trade with New England as Arena reshapes roster Sports | San Jose to host United States women’s national soccer team for Olympic gold-medal rematch in April 2025 More than 25 million viewers in the U.S. watched the 2015 World Cup final, a 5-2 win over Japan, played in Vancouver, Canada, in a time zone similarly favorable to Brazil. Netflix also will broadcast two NFL games on Christmas Day: the Kansas City Chiefs at the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens at the Houston Texans. That’s part of a three-year deal announced in May. FIFA tried to sign Apple+ to an exclusive global deal to broadcast the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup which is being played in 11 U.S. cities next June and July. Broadcast networks showed little interest in the FIFA club event that will now be broadcast for free on streaming service DAZN, which is building closer business ties to Saudi Arabia. Ahead of the next Women’s World Cup, Netflix will “produce exclusive documentary series in the lead-up to both tournaments, spotlighting the world’s top players, their journeys and the global growth of women’s football,” FIFA said. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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ATLANTA , Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cousins Properties Incorporated (the "Company" or "Cousins") (NYSE:CUZ) announced today that its operating partnership, Cousins Properties LP (the "Operating Partnership"), has priced an offering of $400 million aggregate principal amount of 5.375% senior unsecured notes due 2032 at 99.463% of the principal amount. The offering is expected to close on December 17, 2024 , subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Cousins intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund a portion of the purchase price of 601 West 2nd Street, also known as Sail Tower, an 804,000 square foot trophy lifestyle office property in Austin (the "Sail Tower Acquisition"), and the remainder to repay borrowings under its credit facility and for general corporate purposes. In the event the Sail Tower Acquisition is not completed, Cousins will use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition and development of office properties, other opportunistic investments and the repayment of debt. The notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by the Company. J.P. Morgan, Truist Securities, US Bancorp, BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley, PNC Capital Markets LLC, TD Securities and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as joint book-running managers. A shelf registration statement relating to these securities is effective with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering may be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York , 10179, Attention: Investment Grade Syndicate Desk, 3rd Floor, telephone collect at 1-212-834-4533; Truist Securities, Inc., Attention: Prospectus Department, 303 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308, telephone: 800-685-4786, or e-mail: TruistSecurities.prospectus@Truist.com ; or U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc., Attention: High Grade Syndicate, 214 North Tryon Street, 26th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202, or by telephone at: (877) 558-2607. Electronic copies of these documents are also available from the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov . This press release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell the notes, nor shall it constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. About Cousins Properties Cousins Properties is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT"). The Company, based in Atlanta, GA and acting through the Operating Partnership, primarily invests in Class A office buildings located in high growth Sun Belt markets. Founded in 1958, Cousins creates shareholder value through its extensive expertise in the development, acquisition, leasing, and management of high-quality real estate assets. The Company has a comprehensive strategy in place based on a simple platform, trophy assets, and opportunistic investments. Forward-Looking Statements Certain matters contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws and are subject to uncertainties and risks, as itemized in Item 1A included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and in the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended June 30, 2024 and September 30, 2024 . These forward-looking statements include information about the Company's possible or assumed future results of the business and the Company's financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, plans, and objectives. They also include, among other things, statements regarding subjects that are forward-looking by their nature, such as: guidance and underlying assumptions; business and financial strategy; future debt financings; future acquisitions and dispositions of operating assets or joint venture interests; future acquisitions and dispositions of land, including ground leases; future acquisitions of investments in real estate debt; future development and redevelopment opportunities; future issuances and repurchases of common stock, limited partnership units, or preferred stock; future distributions; projected capital expenditures; market and industry trends; future occupancy or volume and velocity of leasing activity; entry into new markets, changes in existing market concentrations, or exits from existing markets; future changes in interest rates and liquidity of capital markets; and all statements that address operating performance, events, investments, or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future — including statements relating to creating value for stockholders. Any forward-looking statements are based upon management's beliefs, assumptions, and expectations of our future performance, taking into account information that is currently available. These beliefs, assumptions, and expectations may change as a result of possible events or factors, not all of which are known. If a change occurs, our business, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. Actual results may vary from forward-looking statements due to, but not limited to, the following: the availability and terms of capital and our ability to obtain and maintain financing arrangements on terms favorable to us or at all; the ability to refinance or repay indebtedness as it matures; any changes to our credit rating; the failure of purchase, sale, or other contracts to ultimately close; the failure to achieve anticipated benefits from acquisitions, developments, investments, or dispositions; the effect of common stock or operating partnership unit issuances, including those undertaken on a forward basis, which may negatively affect the market price of our common stock; the availability of buyers and pricing with respect to the disposition of assets; changes in national and local economic conditions, the real estate industry, and the commercial real estate markets in which we operate (including supply and demand changes), particularly in Atlanta , Austin , Tampa , Charlotte , Phoenix , Dallas , and Nashville , including the impact of high unemployment, volatility in the public equity and debt markets, and international economic and other conditions; threatened terrorist attacks or sociopolitical unrest such as political instability, civil unrest, armed hostilities, or political activism, which may result in a disruption of day-to-day building operations; changes to our strategy in regard to our real estate assets may require impairment to be recognized; leasing risks, including the ability to obtain new tenants or renew expiring tenants, the ability to lease newly-developed and/or recently acquired space, the failure of a tenant to commence or complete tenant improvements on schedule or to occupy leased space, and the risk of declining leasing rates; changes in the preferences of our tenants brought about by the desire for co-working arrangements, trends toward utilizing less office space per employee, and the effect of employees working remotely; any adverse change in the financial condition or liquidity of one or more of our tenants or borrowers under our real estate debt investments; volatility in interest rates (including the impact upon the effectiveness of forward interest rate contract arrangements) and insurance rates; inflation; competition from other developers or investors; the risks associated with real estate developments (such as zoning approval, receipt of required permits, construction delays, cost overruns, and leasing risk); supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and increased construction costs; risks associated with security breaches through cyberattacks, cyber intrusions or otherwise, as well as other significant disruptions of our information technology networks and related systems, which support our operations and our buildings; changes in senior management, changes in the Company's board of directors, and the loss of key personnel; the potential liability for uninsured losses, condemnation, or environmental issues; the potential liability for a failure to meet regulatory requirements, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and similar laws or the impact of any investigation regarding the same; the financial condition and liquidity of, or disputes with, joint venture partners; any failure to comply with debt covenants under debt instruments and credit agreements; any failure to continue to qualify for taxation as a real estate investment trust or meet regulatory requirements; potential changes to state, local, or federal regulations applicable to our business; material changes in dividend rates on common shares or other securities or the ability to pay those dividends; potential changes to the tax laws impacting real estate investment trusts and real estate in general; risks associated with climate change and severe weather events, as well as the regulatory efforts intended to reduce the effects of climate changes and investor and public perception of our efforts to respond to the same; the impact of newly adopted accounting principles on our accounting policies and on period-to-period comparisons of financial results; risks associated with possible federal, state, local, or property tax audits; and those additional risks and environmental or other factors discussed in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the Company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company cannot guarantee the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and the Company does not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contacts Roni Imbeaux Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations 404-407-1104 rimbeaux@cousins.com View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cousins-properties-announces-pricing-of-senior-notes-offering-302330787.html SOURCE Cousins PropertiesD ear Cathy: I saw the article in your column about the 14-year-old feral cat who was trapped, fixed and left to live outdoors. They mentioned the cat injured a back paw, which made me wonder why they didn’t try to make her an indoor cat where she would be safer. In 2011, we trapped a wild-born feral in our neighborhood, Sox. After getting her fixed and microchipped, we kept her in a half bath with a window for five months, spending time with her daily. It took years for her to trust us, but she eventually became a happy, content indoor cat, even bonding with two of our other cats. We moved across the country with Sox and four other pets, making stops to ensure they were comfortable. Sox remained cautious in our new home but eventually started exploring the house and stopped hiding. She would flop on her back, purr and show us just how happy she had become. She never did want us to touch her or pick her up, though. Sadly, we lost Sox in December 2022 to kidney disease and hypothyroidism. She was so ill at the end that I was able to pick her up for the first time and hold her. We miss her terribly, but we’re grateful for the wonderful life she had with us. — Ken, Las Vegas Dear Ken: Unfortunately, not all feral cats can transition to indoor life as well as Sox did. Cats have a much smaller socialization window than dogs, and if they miss that critical period, they may never adjust to living indoors. Some ferals become severely stressed or fearful in confinement, to the point where their quality of life suffers. In these cases, caretakers often make the tough decision to let them live outdoors. Injuries like the one described in the column are heartbreaking reminders of the risks and challenges outdoor cats face. It also underscores the importance of spaying and neutering pets to reduce the number of unwanted cats left to fend for themselves on the streets. Dear Cathy: My dog, Oliver, is about 2 years old. We’ve had him for a year. He was a stray captured by a Washington, D.C., animal shelter, who was fostered, neutered, vaccinated and operated on for a urinary tract issue. He was later adopted by a family whose “first” dog didn’t want a “little brother.” When we brought him home, his anxiety was understandably high, and he barked aggressively at new faces and visitors. Over time, this behavior has improved — his barking is now less aggressive and shorter. He approaches, backs up and barks a little more but calms down after a few minutes and becomes the friendly, quiet Oliver we love. He’s a terrier mix with a DNA profile showing a mix of about 15 breeds, including bully breeds and husky. He’s a small to medium-size dog. Any suggestions on how to build his confidence when greeting visitors? — Oliver’s Mom, Washington, D.C. Dear Oliver’s Mom: One way to help Oliver feel more secure is to practice controlled greetings. Start with familiar friends. When they arrive, have them enter quietly, avoid direct eye contact and let Oliver approach on his terms. Reward calm behavior with treats and praise, reinforcing that visitors are positive experiences. To strengthen these associations, guests may also offer him a favorite treat or toy upon arrival. The goal is to get Oliver to see new faces as opportunities for fun and rewards, not threats. Pair that with teaching him to sit when new people arrive, since dogs have a more difficult time barking when they are sitting. For extra support, tools like an anxiety wrap, pheromone collar or over-the-counter calming chews can help soothe Oliver and set the stage for success. Puzzle toys filled with high-value treats, reserved specifically for when guests arrive, can also redirect his energy. With consistency and by celebrating small wins, his greeting behavior will likely improve as he builds confidence and learns he is safe. Cathy M. Rosenthal is an author and pet expert. Email her at cathy@petpundit.com . Please include your name, city and state. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

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GLASTONBURY fans are crossing their fingers that a massive rock band will play a secret set at the mega music festival. Supporters of the English rock band Muse are convinced they will take to the stage when the festival returns in June next year. Advertisement 7 Glastonbury fans think they have worked out who might play a secret set next year Credit: Getty 7 It is hoped Muse might do a 'ChurnUps' style set Credit: PA:Press Association 7 Muse is fronted by Matt Bellamy Credit: PA:Press Association Muse fans are hoping for another 'ChurnUps' type billing, with the group being revealed as the mystery set. Last year, US rock band the Foo Fighters made a surprise appearance as the Friday night headline act. The band, fronted by Dave Grohl , was only named as The ChurnUps on the billing beforehand, so their set came as a huge shock. Piecing together clues, music fans are now hoping Muse - fronted Matt Bellamy - might pull the identical stunt next summer. Advertisement READ MORE ON GLASTONBURY Glasto my gosh Glastonbury fans convinced reformed noughties rockers will play festival One wrote on Reddit: "A secret ChurnUps type set? They've gotta play somewhere, right. "Doing a bunch of EU festivals, with nothing announced for the UK yet. "Most other major festivals all announced their line-ups already. Either they're at Glasto or they're just not playing in the UK!" Chiming in, someone else said: "Well we had Coldplay this year, Arctic Monkeys last year so it’s definitely Muse’s turn again next year before it goes back around to Arctic Monkeys again for the next one." Advertisement Most read in Music I'M SHAKIN' Major US rock star announces huge Scottish show RIDE WIT ME US rap star announces Scots show with major hip hop special guests SCOT MY FIRST RODEO! Popular music festival coming to three Scots cities for first time RUNNING FREE Iron Maiden star quits band after 42 years - replacement hinted amid farewell And a third added: "It seems probable. If you see their social media they share a lot of their Glastonbury performances videos." Rumours are flying left, right and centre about next year's Glastonbury Festival line-up. Olivia Rodrigo set to headline Glastonbury 2025 as bookmakers halt bets There has also been chat that rock group Creed may play the festival for the first time, while whispers are rife that Olivia Rodrigo could headline. Olivia is already set to headline BST Hyde Park on June 27 - which puts her in the country at the same time as Glastonbury. Advertisement "That's our Saturday Pyramid headliner then," one convinced fan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Sir Rod Stewart WILL be taking to the stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset next year. Rod, 79, said he will perform in the Sunday Legends slot. Confirming the news on social media, he said: "I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that I’ll be playing @glastofest 2025! Advertisement "After all these years, I’m proud and ready and more than able to take the stage again to pleasure and titillate my friends at Glastonbury in June. I’ll see you there!" Glastonbury 2025 - rumoured acts THE Glastonbury line-up hasn't been confirmed - despite the fact tickets for the 2025 event sold out in minutes. Here are some rumoured acts. Basement Jaxx sparked speculation they will be playing at Worthy Fam after leaving a "Glastonbury shaped gap" in their latest tour schedule. It came after the hit duo announced their first live shows in 10 years - with gig-goers calling out a key "clue" in the order of their concert dates. Yet acts including Olivia Rodrigo , Harry Styles, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Eminem are rumoured to be in the mix. Canadian songstress Alanis Morrisette and Simple Minds have also been tipped to take to the stage. The event will run from Wednesday, June 25 to Sunday June 29 for 2025. Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis also shared her delight at the news. She said: "Bringing Sir Rod Stewart back for the Sunday afternoon slot on the Pyramid Stage is everything we could wish for. "What a way to bow out with the final legends slot before we take a fallow year. We cannot wait." Advertisement Rod's daughter Ruby has now sparked rumours that he could be joined by two of his fellow legendary musicians on stage. Read more on the Scottish Sun WHITE XMAS Scots to wake up to 60cm of snow on Christmas as blizzard to blanket country 'vicious circle' I live in Scotland's benefits hotspot -I've only worked 4 years of my life In a recent picture shared to Rod's Instagram, he was smiling alongside Rolling Stones musician Ronnie Wood and The Small Faces and The Who drummer Kenney Jones. Commenting below, Ruby sparked the Glastonbury trio rumour as she wrote: "Glasto reunion?" 7 The Foo Fighters had been billed as The ChurnUps when they made a surprise appearance at Glastonbury 2023 Credit: PA Advertisement 7 Sir Rod Stewart has confirmed he will be performing in the Legends slot next year 7 It has been rumoured that rock group Creed might reform 7 Olivia Rodrego has also sparked whispers as she will be in London at the same time as Glastonbury Festival

Supercars Champion Brown Hunts NZ Single Seater WinsProvides 2000 A15 Hydro Bitcoin mining machines in initial order Continues global expansion with addition of new customer SINGAPORE , Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Canaan Inc. (NASDAQ: CAN ) ("Canaan" or the "Company"), a leading high-performance computing solutions provider, today announced that Canaan Creative Global Pte. Ltd. ("CCG"), a wholly owned Singapore subsidiary of the Company, has entered into a purchase agreement with AGM Group Holdings Inc. ("AGMH"), an integrated technology company specializing in fintech software services and production of high-performance hardware and computing equipment, for its Avalon A15 HydU 370T ("A15 Hydro") mining machines. As part of the agreement, Canaan will initially provide 2,000 Bitcoin mining machines to AGMH. The Company has also agreed to provide its customer with an option to acquire approximately 30,000 additional BTC mining units, potentially providing AGMH with a combined power capacity not exceeding 300 megawatts. The Avalon Miner A15 Hydro enhances the miner's performance and lifespan while reducing energy consumption and noise pollution, aligning with Canaan's ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) strategy. About Canaan Inc. Established in 2013, Canaan Inc. (NASDAQ: CAN ), is a technology company focusing on ASIC high-performance computing chip design, chip research and development, computing equipment production, and software services. Canaan has extensive experience in chip design and streamlined production in the ASIC field. In 2013, Canaan's founding team shipped to its customers the world's first batch of mining machines incorporating ASIC technology in bitcoin 's history under the brand name Avalon. In 2019, Canaan completed its initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market. To learn more about Canaan, please visit https://www.canaan.io/ . Safe Harbor Statement This announcement contains forward−looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward−looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as Canaan Inc.'s strategic and operational plans, contain forward−looking statements. Canaan Inc. may also make written or oral forward−looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on Forms 20−F and 6−K, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Canaan Inc.'s beliefs and expectations, are forward−looking statements. Forward−looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward−looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's goals and strategies; the Company's future business development, financial condition and results of operations; the expected growth of the bitcoin industry and the price of bitcoin ; the Company's expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its products, especially its bitcoin mining machines; the Company's expectations regarding maintaining and strengthening its relationships with production partners and customers; the Company's investment plans and strategies, fluctuations in the Company's quarterly operating results; competition in its industry; and relevant government policies and regulations relating to the Company and cryptocurrency . Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and Canaan Inc. does not undertake any obligation to update any forward−looking statement, except as required under applicable law. Investor Relations Contacts Canaan Inc. Xi Zhang Email: [email protected] ICR, LLC. Robin Yang Tel: +1 (347) 396-3281 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Canaan Inc.

BOULDER, Colo. — A 72-year-old lifelong Colorado fan with end-stage kidney failure waited to the side of the field in his wheelchair for Travis Hunter and the rest of the Buffaloes. One by one, players strolled over and signed a football for Riley Rhoades, his face lighting up with each signature. Standing close by and taking in the scene was Jeremy Bloom. He's become a wish facilitator for older adults. Bloom, the former Colorado wide receiver and Olympic freestyle skier, started the Wish of a Lifetime foundation in 2008, which has made thousands of aspirations turn into reality for older adults. The list of granted wishes range from taking veterans back to the beaches of Normandy to helping late-in-life authors publish a book. He's staged concerts for musicians, assisted some in daredevil feats such as jumping out of an airplane and even lined up a meeting between an Olympic medalist and former President Barack Obama. For Rhoades, his wish was simply to return to Folsom Field again, the place where he used to have season tickets but hasn't attended a game since 2004. "Everybody has somebody in their life —a grandparent, friend, neighbor — at that age where you wish you had more resources to help," said Bloom, whose college career was cut short two decades ago when the NCAA denied his reinstatement to play football and still ski professionally after receiving endorsement money to fuel his Olympic dreams. "Nothing can compare to seeing someone else's eyes light up because you helped make their dream come true." The foundation is a tribute to his grandparents. But the concept began to take root when he was a teenager. He was in Japan for a World Cup freestyle skiing competition when a woman tried to hop on a crowded bus. There was no room, but everyone in front rose from their seats to make space. That stuck with him, along with seeing these acts of kindness for older adults all over Europe and Asia as he traveled. An idea formed — bring that same level of appreciation to the United States, with a wish-granting element. Bloom's organization has been a charitable affiliate of AARP since 2020. It was the yearning of Rhoades that brought the two of them to Folsom Field last weekend. Rhoades, who had season tickets at Colorado for 27 years, wanted to see the Buffaloes in person after watching the team's resurgence on television. A few years ago, Rhoades, who was born with spina bifida, was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure. Being among the 54,646 fans Saturday stirred up plenty of emotions for Rhoades, as he watched the 16th-ranked Buffaloes (8-2, 6-1 Big 12, No. 16 CFP) beat Utah. Colorado remains in the race for not only a conference title but a spot in the College Football Playoff. "It's just great to be back here again," Rhoades said as he pointed out the section where he used to watch games. "It's just ... so cool." For Bloom, the success that coach Deion Sanders has brought to the program means more reunions with teammates as they pass through town. "I've been through many years where nobody comes to visit," Bloom said. "It's fun that Boulder has become the epicenter of college football." Leading the way for Colorado this season have been quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Hunter, who's the Heisman Trophy frontrunner. But what particularly pleases Bloom is that Sanders, Hunter and the rest of college football players are able to finally profit through name, image and likeness. In his day, Bloom got caught in the NCAA crosshairs for wanting to play both sports and to have sponsors in one (skiing) so he could fund his Olympic aspirations. How time have changed. "I'm just really grateful that this generation of athletes gets to monetize their skills and ability," said Bloom, who finished sixth in moguls at the 2006 Winter Games in Italy. "It's the right thing." He's thrown his passion into fulfilling wishes such as learning ballet, riding in a Formula 1 pace car or taking a flight in a fighter jet. He's also helped reconnect families and friends, including a reunion for a trio of centenarian sisters who hadn't seen each other in more than a decade. This granted wish has stuck with Bloom: A person in Alabama wasn't able to travel after being diagnosed with end-of-life emphysema. So he asked for postcards to be sent, just to learn what made someone's town so special. He received 2,000 postcards from 26 different countries. "There's no end to the things that they've done for us in the world," Bloom said of older adults. "We're one of the organizations that reminds them that their dreams still do matter and that we still appreciate them and we cherish them." Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!None

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The Twins have tendered contracts or agreed to terms with all of their arbitration-eligible players — a group of 11 — that includes some of their top names ahead of Friday night’s 7 p.m. deadline. ADVERTISEMENT Pitchers Griffin Jax, Jhoan Duran, Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan were tendered contracts for the 2025 season, as were catcher Ryan Jeffers, infielder Royce Lewis, outfielder Trevor Larnach and utilityman Willi Castro. The Twins will need to come to contract terms with those players later this offseason to avoid arbitration. They’ve already done so with a trio of relievers, agreeing with Brock Stewart, Michael Tonkin and Justin Topa. Alex Kirilloff was also eligible for arbitration, but the first baseman/outfielder retired earlier this offseason due to an injury history that plagued him throughout the course of his major league career. The Twins made two roster moves earlier in the week as well, adding prospects Marco Raya and Travis Adams to the 40-man roster to protect them ahead of next month’s Rule 5 Draft. ADVERTISEMENT ______________________________________________________ This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers. Learn more about the news services FCC uses here .White House releases national strategy to combat Islamophobia

Today's fortune: Dec. 30, 2024 Published: 30 Dec. 2024, 07:00 Read what today holds in store for you under the 12 signs of the zodiac, each represented by an animal. Our astrologer Cho Ku-moon explores saju (the four pillars of destiny) and geomancy for your prospects on wealth, health and love while offering advice on the direction of your luck and fortune. Check the year of your birth for today’s prediction. Monday, Dec. 30, 2024 (Nov. 30 on the lunar calendar) Rat Wealth: fair Health: good Love: joyful Lucky direction: west 1936: Familiarity brings comfort. 1948: Treasure traditions and the old ways. 1960: Like good wine, people and experiences age well. 1972: The old is often better than the new. 1984: Sync your actions with your superiors. 1996: Work might teach you valuable lessons. Ox Wealth: average Health: average Love: understanding Lucky direction: east 1937: Experience might turn into wisdom. 1949: The morning may be more productive than the afternoon. 1961: Focus on planning rather than execution. 1973: Speak less and listen more. 1985: A chance to start something new may arise. 1997: Keep going — don’t give up. Tiger Wealth: excellent Health: strong Love: united Lucky direction: east 1938: Family bonds run deep. 1950: More is often better. 1962: Opportunities may arise where they are most needed. 1974: Harmony is the key to success. 1986: Teamwork will be more effective than solo efforts. 1998: Conversations may lead to mutual understanding. Rabbit Wealth: average Health: average Love: jealous Lucky direction: north 1939: Keep things simple. 1951: Let go of attachments and obsessions. 1963: Avoid phrases like “Back in my day...” 1975: Don’t wield authority irresponsibly. 1987: Learn from other people's strengths. 1999: Laziness leads directly to failure. Dragon Wealth: average Health: average Love: forgiving Lucky direction: west 1940: Instincts may guide you well. 1952: Strive to understand the younger generation. 1964: Accept suggestions and make them your own. 1976: Pinpoint the key focus areas in your work. 1988: Grasp the core of what others are saying. 2000: Think from the other person’s perspective. Snake Wealth: spending Health: cautious Love: fleeting Lucky direction: north 1941: Don’t dwell on past mistakes. 1953: Avoid being stuck in old ways. 1965: Maintain your current progress. 1977: Control your schedule instead of letting time control you. 1989: Nothing comes for free — be prepared to give. 2001: Expect little and you won’t be disappointed. Horse Wealth: fair Health: good Love: happy Lucky direction: south 1942: Aging is about becoming complete, not growing old. 1954: Joy and fulfillment might fill your day. 1966: Luck might favor you. 1978: Every day is the best day. 1990: Happiness might permeate your life. 2002: Cherish the small but sure sources of joy. Sheep Wealth: fair Health: good Love: joyful Lucky direction: west 1943: Age doesn’t define you. 1955: Pursue the things you’ve always wanted to do. 1967: Gains may outweigh losses. 1979: Choose gifts that are genuinely useful for the recipient. 1991: You may receive a gift or experience something meaningful. 2003: Embrace a spirit of adventure and boldness. Monkey Wealth: fair Health: good Love: social Lucky direction: east 1944: Connect with relatives or exchange greetings. 1956: You may give or receive gifts. 1968: A productive or meaningful day with acquaintances. 1980: Use past experiences to shape your future. 1992: Gatherings or meetings may arise. 2004: Look forward to enjoyable interactions. Rooster Wealth: fair Health: good Love: joyful Lucky direction: east 1945: People are your assets. 1957: Everything you see might seem appealing today. 1969: Your hard work may start bearing fruit. 1981: Expect valuable insights or uplifting moments. 1993: Opportunities may spark enthusiasm and hope. 2005: A profitable idea or venture might arise. Dog Wealth: average Health: average Love: passionate Lucky direction: south 1946: Avoid meddling and trust others to handle their tasks. 1958: Handle your responsibilities personally. 1970: Confidence is good, but avoid overcommitting. 1982: Passion is a gift. 1994: Approach challenges with sharp focus and determination. 2006: Youth is a privilege. Pig Wealth: average Health: average Love: romantic Lucky direction: west 1935: A day full of kindness and connection. 1947: Giving and receiving affection defines the day. 1959: Compliments and kind words can work wonders. 1971: Prioritize your family above all else. 1983: People or things might capture your heart today. 1995: A perfect day for romance or new love. 2007: Cupid’s arrow may strike.

TODAY host Hoda Kotb has dropped a huge clue she's reunited with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman. The couple, who share daughters Haley, seven, and Hope, five, split in 2022 after eight years together, though have remained on good terms. It looks like the exes will be spending Christmas together as Hoda has hung a stocking for him on her mantelpiece inside her new family home in the suburbs, just months after she moved out of New York City. She captioned a snap on Instagram from inside her house: "It’s all happening! Merry Everything!!" Six festive stockings have been put out in total - one for Hoda and her daughters, one for Joel, whose reads 'Dad', while the remaining two are for her sister, Hala, and mom, who is nicknamed Tata. Hoda's followers loved the decorative interior, with one writing: "So happy for you and your family! Merry Christmas !!" READ MORE ON HODA KOTB Another said: "Home sweet home... dreams come true." A third wrote: "Wishing a Merry Christmas to you and those beautiful girls of yours! Wishing you peace this season and a house full of love." While a Hoda, 60, and Joel, 65, reunion would no doubt go down a treat, the duo could just be doing what's right for their girls this Christmas to make it as special as possible. We recently revealed how Hoda was ready to start dating again. Most read in Daytime TV An insider said: "She wants a boyfriend, she wants to be able to date, she wants to have that in her life." Last week, Hoda gave fans insight into her daughters' Christmas wish lists. Appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers, she said: "They want makeup, but what is that about? That is not happening. What are we talking about? All these little kids, like young kids, 7, 8, 9, are into skincare and stuff. But we don't have that in my house. That's a big no. "They asked Santa for magic sets. They like magic sets. They like American Girl dolls... They're into anything with bubbles." Next month, Hoda will say goodbye to The Today Show after six years as co-anchor alongside Savannah Guthrie . Craig Melvin will step into her formidable shoes as she says goodbye to focus on spending more time with her girls. Speaking on her Making Space podcast, Hoda explained: “It’s funny. When I was mentioning here that I was going to leave the Today show , one of our producers came upstairs in the makeup room, and she said, ‘I want to say something to you.’ She goes, ‘My mother walking me to school every day was the best memory I’ve ever had.’ “And all I want to do is walk my kids to school. And it’s the simplest thing, with a cup of coffee, walking your kids to school. But all the little things, you get to see growth.” The single mom had a perspective shift last year when Hope was hospitalized in a "scary crisis" that left her in intensive care for close to a week. A source recently told us: "When Hope was sick and hospitalized, everything changed for her with her views on work." Hoda was in her fifties when she became a mom with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman , 65 , and she's well aware of how quickly the years are passing. “Obviously I had my kiddos late in life," she said. "I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have. I we only have a finite amount of time.” Read More on The US SunSAN SALVADOR (AP) — Sin estudios técnicos sobre el impacto ambiental y pese a la oposición de diversos sectores, entre ellos la Iglesia Católica, el Congreso salvadoreño aprobó el lunes la Ley General de Minería Metálica, una propuesta del presidente Nayib Bukele que asegura transformará El Salvador, generando riqueza y “miles de empleos de calidad”. Los diputados del partido oficialista Nuevas Ideas y sus aliados además derogaron la Ley de Prohibición de la Minería Metálica emitida el 29 de marzo de 2017, que en esa fecha convirtió a El Salvador en el primer país en el mundo en prohibir la minería de metales. Después de prolongados debates y expresiones de diversos sectores, liderados por la Iglesia Católica, el Congreso de esa época consideró esa actividad como una amenaza ambiental debido a la excesiva demanda de agua que exige y al drenaje de metales pesados y de desechos tóxicos como mercurio y cianuro. Sin embargo, recientemente el presidente Bukele se pronunció a favor de la minería de oro y calificó de absurda una prohibición para la extracción de metales por ser una amenaza ambiental. RELATED COVERAGE Justin Trudeau no hará anuncios sobre su futuro durante las fiestas de fin de año, dice fuente Fabio Ochoa, excapo del Cártel de Medellín, regresa deportado a Colombia tras purgar pena en EEUU La antigua familia real griega expresa “profunda emoción” al recuperar la ciudadanía Al mismo tiempo, aseguró que la minería en El Salvador sería “moderna y sostenible” y cuidaría el medio ambiente. Bukele destacó a través de las redes sociales que toda la riqueza potencial en oro que existe en El Salvador podría equivaler a “3 billones de dólares”, que, según sus cálculos, representa 8.800% del Producto Interno Bruto nacional, que cerró en 2023 en 34.015 millones de dólares. La Ley General de Minería Metálica aprobada con los votos de 57 de los 60 diputados del Congreso, habilita al Estado como único responsable de explorar, extraer y procesar minerales en el territorio nacional, eliminando la necesidad de concesiones legislativas. Los tres diputados de oposición votaron en contra. Señala que las sociedades de economía mixta podrán tener participación en la explotación, donde el Estado tendrá participación accionaria y podrán “explorar, extraer y procesar las riquezas naturales del país.”. Además, se prohíbe el uso de mercurio en las actividades mineras y la exclusión de ciertas zonas sensibles, como áreas de recarga hídrica y reservas naturales. La ley incluye multas desde 100 salarios mínimos — en El Salvador, ese monto es de 365 dólares mensuales—por incumplimiento de la ley y en el caso de infracciones graves, se podrá imponer multas de 501 salarios a 1.000 salarios mínimos y “eso aunando a que todo aquel beneficio de que se obtenga de las actividades irregulares regrese al Estado”. Desde el anunció de Bukele, organizaciones ambientalistas y la Conferencia Episcopal de El Salvador, encabezada por el arzobispo José Luis Escobar Alas, expresaron su desacuerdo e instaron al presidente Bukele a escuchar el clamor popular y dar marcha atrás. El principal jerarca de la Iglesia católica en El Salvador enfatizó que la minería metálica tendría “consecuencias irreversibles” para el medio ambiente y la población salvadoreña, subrayando que los recursos hídricos del país, especialmente el río Lempa, el más grande del país, están en grave riesgo de contaminación por sustancias químicas como cianuro, arsénico y mercurio, utilizados en la extracción de metales. La Conferencia Episcopal también subrayó que la minería no representa una solución viable para la economía. “Estamos a favor del desarrollo, pero el desarrollo no puede ir en contra de la vida y la salud de las personas. El Salvador necesita buscar alternativas económicas sostenibles que beneficien a todos, sin poner en riesgo nuestra casa común”, señaló en un comunicado. Por su parte Organizaciones como la Mesa Nacional Frente a la Minería Metálica y la Alianza Centroamericana Frente a la Minería han encabezado las protestas, alertando sobre los riesgos sociales, ambientales y económicos de la actividad minera. Según estas organizaciones, la minería metálica podría desplazar a comunidades rurales, afectar los derechos de propiedad y generar una crisis hídrica que comprometería la calidad de vida de millones de salvadoreños. Mientras se discutía la propuesta de Bukele, más de un centenar de personas de organizaciones ambientalistas marcharon hacia el Congreso para exigir que no derogara la Ley de Prohibición de Minería Metálica, pero efectivos de Unidad de Mantenimiento del Orden (UMO) de la policía colocaron barricadas para impedirles el paso “Nos está dando contaminación a nuestras aguas, a nuestros territorios, desplazamientos, eso nos está regalando, muerte, un 23 de diciembre de 2024”, expresó Adalberto Blanco, de la Mesa Permanente de Gestión de Riesgo. Entretanto, una encuesta del Instituto de Opinión Pública (IUDOP) de la Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (UCA) presentado el lunes, revela que el 59.2% de la población nacional considera que El Salvador no es un país apropiado para la minería. La directora del IUDOP, Laura Andrade, señaló además que los datos precisan que 61 de cada 100 salvadoreños consideran que la minería metálica en el país provocaría un impacto negativo al medio ambiente.

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Today in Delaware County history, Dec. 29Mumbai: The day of results are here as counting of votes for Maharashtra elections takes place on Saturday, November 23. At stake is the future of the two grand alliances, the Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA), in the state. Maharashtra witnessed massive political upheaval in the last 5 years which changed the political dynamics in the state. This is also the first time that six major political parties are in the fray due to the split in the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Voting in Maharashtra was held on Tuesday (November 20) and the state witnessed a voting percentage of around 65%, which is higher than the previous election. Both the alliances have claimed that the increased voting percentage will benefit them. The results on Saturday will decide and dictate whether the state is braced for another 5 years of political volatility or much needed stability. Mahayuti: Counting Big On Ladki Bahin & Projects The Mahayuti government, consisting of BJP, Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar led NCP is counting big on the Ladki Bahin scheme (minimum support programme for women) to storm back to power in the 288-members' assembly. The BJP is fighting on 152 seats whereas the Shiv Sena is contesting on 80 seats and the Ajit Pawar NCP fielded contestants on 52 seats. The Mahayuti left 4 seats for other alliance partners. MVA: The Quest To Wrest Original Tag The Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA), comprising of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), is fighting the election battle in the hope of winning people's mandate not just to win power but also seek validation as the original Sena and NCP party after the split in the parties. In the MVA, Congress managed to get 101 seats and Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray bargained and fought on 96 seats and NCP led by Sharad Pawar fielded candidates on 87 seats. Important seats and candidates Fate of several veterans and high-profile first-timers will get decided as the counting of voting takes place on Saturday and the results are declared. Aaditya Thackeray of Shiv Sena UBT faces a stiff challenge from Sandeep Deshpande of MNS and Shiv Sena's Milind Deora. In Mahim, Raj Thackeray's son Amit Thackeray is making his political debut and is up against Sada Sarvankar of Shiv Sena and Mahesh Sawant of Sena UBT. Eknath Shinde is contesting from Panch Pakhdi and Ajit Pawar from Baramati. Devendra Fadnavis is contesting from Nagpur South West and Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole is fighting from Sakoli seat.

President-elect Donald Trump's repeated support for TikTok has sparked speculation about potential solutions to prevent the app's impending ban in the United States, though the path forward remains unclear. "We got to keep this sucker around for a little while," Trump told supporters on Sunday, just days after meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in Florida. Trump, who credits the wildly popular platform with delivering him a large young user base, opposes banning TikTok partly because he believes it would primarily benefit Meta, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company behind Instagram and Facebook. The situation is complex, according to University of Richmond School of Law professor Carl Tobias, given the various potential solutions and Trump's unpredictable nature. Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation, signed by President Joe Biden in April, that would block TikTok from US app stores and web hosting services unless Beijing-based ByteDance sells its stake by January 19. US officials and lawmakers grew wary of the potential for the Chinese government to influence ByteDance or access the data of TikTok's American users. Even with Trump's decisive election victory and incoming Republican-led Congress, acquiescing to the president-elect's desire and preventing the ban faces significant hurdles. The law enjoyed rare bipartisan support in a divided Washington, making its outright repeal through a vote in Congress politically unlikely even with Trump's influence over Republicans. The Supreme Court may offer the clearest path forward. TikTok has appealed to the nation's highest court, arguing the law violates First Amendment rights to free speech. The court, which is dominated by Trump-aligned conservatives, will hear the case on January 10, just nine days before the ban takes effect. This follows a lower appeals court's unanimous decision to uphold the law in December. Another possibility, according to Tobias, is that a Trump-led Department of Justice could determine ByteDance has addressed the law's national security concerns. However, such a move would likely be seen as caving to China by Congress and others. The final option is ByteDance selling to a non-Chinese buyer, though the company has consistently refused this possibility. With 170 million monthly active users, acquiring TikTok's US operations would require substantial resources. As president, Trump could extend the ban deadline by 90 days to facilitate a transaction. Few potential buyers have emerged, with major tech companies likely deterred by antitrust concerns. Former Trump Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin, who runs a private equity fund backed by Japan's SoftBank Group and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, has expressed interest. During a recent event with Trump, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son pledged to invest $100 billion in the US economy, though specific investments weren't detailed. Other contenders include US real estate billionaire Frank McCourt, who aims to make social media safer through his Project Liberty organization. Elon Musk, given his proximity to Trump and ownership of X, could also have a role to play, as he has expressed plans to transform the text-focused platform into something more like TikTok. A senior Republican lawmaker recently suggested Trump might orchestrate a "deal of the century" satisfying both US concerns and ByteDance's interests. The chairman of the US House committee on China, John Moolenaar, told Fox News Digital that once ByteDance accepts it must comply with US law, the situation could progress rapidly. Any agreement would need Beijing's approval, with US-China relations expected to remain tense during Trump's upcoming term. This isn't the first attempt to resolve TikTok's US status. In 2020, Trump also threatened a ban unless ByteDance sold its US operations. While Oracle and Walmart reached a preliminary agreement with ByteDance for ownership stakes, legal challenges and the transition to the Biden administration prevented the deal's completion. arp/mlmNew Agent Tokenization Platform Simplifies Decentralized Finance ( DeFi ) and Empowers Users to Build and Manage Intelligent, Autonomous Agents GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands , Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- IQ , the developer of AI/blockchain decentralized technology, today announced its Agent Tokenization Platform (ATP). ATP allows users to create tokenized agents that can operate autonomously. IQ's ATP introduces agents that are sovereign blockchain entities, capable of true autonomy. Unlike previous models, ATP agents operate independently, owning assets, performing on-chain actions, and continuously enhancing their capabilities through tokenized ecosystems. The market for AI agent tokens has exploded in recent months reaching a total of $8 billion in market cap in December. However the first phase of AI agent tokens has not yet fully realized their potential for independent operation, as they primarily serve as tools or extensions rather than autonomous entities. While they demonstrate innovation in tokenization and decentralized ecosystems, these agents often remain reliant on centralized oversight or narrowly defined functions. This allows ATP to address the significant gap in DeFi participation despite a substantial number of cryptocurrency holders worldwide. With over 600 million cryptocurrency holders, only 7 million are currently engaged in DeFi activities. By enabling seamless, conversational interactions, ATP streamlines intricate blockchain processes, allowing users to perform sophisticated DeFi tasks with straightforward prompts. For example, tasks that once required five or more steps across multiple platforms can now be accomplished in a single prompt through these new AI agents that can be launched on ATP. Users can co-own these agents by trading their tokens through the platform and unlock additional features as the value of the token increases. " DeFi has the potential to reshape financial systems globally, but its complexity limits mass adoption," said Navin Vethanayagam , Chief Brain of IQ. "With ATP, we're building a platform where builders can create autonomous agents that are capable of simplifying DeFi with simple conversational UIs. Unlike other agent tokenization platforms which have excelled in entertainment, ATP is laser focused on letting users create and manage transformative autonomous DeFi AI superagents." ATP represents a significant advancement in blockchain accessibility by integrating conversational AI with sovereignty and advanced blockchain features. The platform's superagent capabilities enable the analysis of vast data points across assets, chains, and yield strategies, offering customized solutions for users with varying levels of expertise. These agents can autonomously own assets and perform on-chain actions, unlocking new avenues for innovation across decentralized ecosystems. Platform Features and Applications: Agent Deployment: ATP allows the transformation of AI models into autonomous agents for diverse applications, ranging from DeFi operations to content creation. Tokenization & Growth: Users can tokenize agents to create networks of co-owners that support development and share in success. Agents can manage a portion of their tokens and interact with DeFi autonomously. Decentralized Sovereignty: ATP agents function independently without control by a single entity, ensuring sustained resilience and fostering innovation across the blockchain. Powered by IQ tokens, ATP integrates governance participation and deflationary mechanisms to reduce token supply and reward stakeholders, further creating ecosystem-wide value. The IQ token powers ATP, driving its governance, liquidity, utility, and growth: Governance : IQ token holders, through staking in hiIQ, participate in governance decisions that shape the development of ATP and BrainDAO. Deflationary Design : Platform fees paid in IQ are partially burned to reduce supply, while the remainder is distributed as staking rewards. Liquidity Pairing : Every agent launched on ATP pairs with the IQ token, linking all agents to the IQ token ecosystem and driving demand. IQ is showcasing the potential of the ATP by transforming its flagship AI products into tokenized agents. IQ GPT : Currently serving over 2 million users across 100+ crypto communities, IQ GPT has established itself as a leading AI for blockchain knowledge through IQGPT.com . In 2025, IQ GPT will relaunch as a tokenized agent with its own independent token. This transformation introduces tokenomics that enable direct community governance, allowing users to influence the agent's direction and share in its success. Sophia : Developed by BrainDAO, Sophia is an AI editor designed for IQ.wiki , the largest blockchain encyclopedia. Integrated with ATP, Sophia will revolutionize content creation by introducing tokenized incentives, rewarding contributors for curating and expanding blockchain knowledge while fostering collaboration within the community. This interconnected model ensures that the growth of ATP directly benefits IQ token holders while fostering a thriving ecosystem. The IQ ATP is initially launching on the Fraxtal blockchain. The Fraxtal team is developing a novel AIVM with Proof of Inference consensus system in exclusive collaboration with IQ to make any AI agent deployed to the blockchain become fully autonomous and sovereign with no single party in control of the agent, a world first. This AIVM technology will initially only be available to AI agents launched on ATP. "Integrating IQ's ATP into Frax's ecosystem instantly makes DeFi more intuitive, while opening it up to millions more users," said Sam Kazemian , founder and CEO of Frax. "We're eliminating the gap between complexity and accessibility, setting the stage to onboard the next billion users to crypto ." About IQ IQ is building the next generation of decentralized technology, combining AI and blockchain to empower users and projects alike. As the connector and launcher for tokenized agents, Agent Tokenization Platform (ATP) provides the foundation for creating intelligent, autonomous agents that reshape industries, foster vibrant communities, and unlock new opportunities in DeFi and beyond. For more information, please visit IQ.wiki on the Web , X , Discord , or Facebook . All registered trademarks and product identifiers belong to their respective corporate entities. Any other trademarks or product names referenced here are also owned exclusively by their relevant companies. Our discussion may include predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking. While these forward-looking statements represent our current judgment on what the future holds, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect our opinions only as of the date of this presentation. Please keep in mind that we are not obligating ourselves to revise or publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events. IQ Media Contact: Gary Bird FortyThree, Inc. [email protected] 831.888.9011 SOURCE IQ

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Dossier's "Ambery Vanilla" perfume any fans of YSL's $95 bottle of Black Opium will want to snap up, FAST. This compelling, subtly layered blend of mandarin, vanilla, pink pepper, jasmine, and cedarwood is a beautiful all-seasons signature scent that reviewers can't stop raving about — especially because it has such great staying power throughout the day. Dossier is a small business that specializes in alternative, affordable perfumes — check out the rest of their options on their Amazon storefront ! Promising review: "Gorgeous scent! I love perfumes, and I’m super picky. I either love or return. This scent is gorgeous. Smells a bit sweet but not overly sweet, not super vanilla, just a hint of it with sophistication. Very soft and sultry. I applied moisturizer (thin, thin layer of Vaseline) and then sprayed perfume. It stayed on my skin for probably over eight hours. I checked my sweater the next day you could easily smell it on my sweater. Definitely worth the money." — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $29+ (available in two sizes). 6. A pack of instant cold-stirred foam caramel iced lattes so you can get all that delicious, decadent ~froth~ you love so much right from the comfort of your own home. Considering the price of a fancy bev these days, this is a STEAL at a buck per drink. All you need to do to create the foam is stir it with a spoon, but reviewers note it gets an even BIGGER froth with a cheap hand frother ! Promising review: "I was presently surprised by the taste, the latte foam, and how easy it is! This product is awesome!! If you are looking for a great tasting latte at home, this really is perfect." — Kathleen Suarez Get a pack of six from Amazon for $6.97 (available in three flavors). 7. E.l.f's brand new Lash XTNDR Tubing Mascara , a GODSEND for anyone with thin or fragile lashes. This uses lightweight ~tubing~ technology to wrap around lashes and give them a natural-looking, smudge-proof extension so good it almost looks fake. The real boon, though, is how easily the "tubes" slide off in clean, easy swipes at the end of the day when you're washing your face — absolutely no smudging, over-scrubbing, or special eye makeup removal products required. Check out a TikTok of the E.l.f. tubing mascara in action. I am not a new human to the tubing mascara game, and in fact readily spent $26 on the famous OG blend from Blinc every time it needed replacing . I didn't even love it for the length half as much as the fact that tubing mascara like this genuinely never smudges, but can I just say — regardless of price, the E.l.f. tubing mascara formula blows all the others I've tried out of the water. It gives me way more length and volume than other brands, slides on so much more easily, stays put ALL day, and never, ever smudges. My favorite part, though, is how gently and easily it comes off with soap and water. In the past, other mascara removals have felt rough on my lashes, but this comes off so fast that I'm like ??? was I even wearing mascara a minute ago?? Anyway, I hesitate even writing this review because I want to gatekeep the hell out of this before it sells out, but the world needed to know. I'm a big fan of the brown shade (which is what I'm wearing above!), but it also comes in black and soft black. Get it from Amazon for $7 (available in three shades). 8. A set of satin pillowcases that not only have a cooling effect, but are soft on your skin and create less friction for your hair so it won't get as tangled while you sleep. Promising review: "My hair has never been better! I got this because of TikTok and it has done wonders for my hair. My hair isn’t frizzy or dull looking when I get up in the morning." — Aaron Key Get a set of two from Amazon for $9.99 (available in 37 colors and five sizes). 9. A reviewer-beloved santal rosé candle that blends the scent of rose blossom with earthy sandalwood, making it so reminiscent of a rose garden that every time you light it, you'll think you got teleported to the English countryside. La Jolie Muse is a small business that specializes in candles and home fragrances. Promising review: "Beautiful scent. What a beautiful mix — the sandalwood gives it depth. It’s not too sweet or floral, but definitely rose — just right. My husband likes it, too." — Cd Get it from Amazon for $19.99 (available in six other scents). 10. A set of affordable lavender shower steamers so you can have a dose of ~calm~ to cap off a long day of capitalism and help your poor overworked brain getting into de-stressing mode. Read more about aromatherapy and stress and tension at Johns Hopkins . Promising review : "Hubby bought these for me because I work full time and just decided to go back to school full time, and he figured I'd be a little stressed, haha . They all smell wonderful, they work great, they'll definitely help me calm down, especially during exam time at school or budget season at work." — Tyleena Gloeker Get a set of six from Amazon for $12.99 (available in three styles). 11. A set of delightfully ~~tingly~~ self-heating soothing foot masks made with Epsom salts, lavender, and peppermint perfect for anyone whose recent step count is "too many." Nothing like a lil' self-care on those aching feet to lift your spirits! Check out a TikTok of the foot masks in action. I'm a long-ish distance runner, and these were certainly an interesting experience for my feet! You slide them on and, after a few minutes, feel a tingling, mildly burning (in a good way) sensation. It doesn't quite numb your feet, but it relaxes them. I kept them on for 30 minutes and then toweled my feet off, and the tingling sensation slowly faded over the next 30 minutes. After that, my feet felt very refreshed and relaxed at a time of day when they're usually aching from all the miles I put in. The whole thing was a mess-free, easy process, and I will definitely keep them on hand for longer run days! Promising review: "Very soothing. My husband and l used these on our European vacation, and they definitely felt good on our feet!" — KS2018 Get a set of three pairs from Amazon for $11.97 . 12. A set of wineglass charcuterie toppers to make you the ultimate host of wine and cheese nights ... *or* just an elite experience curating your own snack-and-vino vibe at home. (Friday night cheese is the most sacred cheese of all.) Promising review : "These are so cute! I hosted a wine tasting at my house and the coasters fit into many different wine glasses. I had about three to four fairly decent size chocolates on top. These were a hit and everyone thought they were in a nice restaurant with the setup!!" — Melanie M. Get a set of four from Amazon for $9.99 (also available in a set of eight). 13. And an ultimate "girl dinner" plate — okay, technically a cheeseboard, but HEAR ME OUT. This labeled board is the *gremlin's kiss* perfect size for a human who wants to curl up with a Netflix rom-com alone and eat sharp cheddar cheese, Ritz crackers, and stuffed olives on a Friday night. Bonus: it's blank on the other side if you want to flip it over and use it for entertaining! Promising review : "Perfect. The charcuterie board looks exactly like the picture. I am very happy with it." — Joetta Adgate Get it from Amazon for $14.53. 14. A pair of dainty feathered velvet house slippers to make you feel like the main character of a black and white Hollywood film descending the stairs to your star-crossed lover in the dead of the night (when really you're just groping around in the dark for the Cheez-Its box). Reviewers say that if you're in between sizes, you should size up! Promising review: "I love these slippers so much! It took a little time to get the feathers to fluff up, but they did, and now it's gre at. The slippers are so warm and comfortable that I want to wear them all the time. The memory foam insole has been holding up well to daily wear, and these keep my toes toasty warm." — skm_pdx Get it from Amazon for $21.98+ (available in women's sizes 5–12 and 12 colors). 15. A pair of classic round polarized sunglasses so you can have the elevated look of Ray-Bans without the constant fear of losing $300 sunglasses somewhere because you got distracted squinting at a meme on Instagram. Promising review: "Sojos have been my number one choice of sunnies for years now. Even if Ray-Bans were this price, I’d still choose Sojos. They are high end quality without the price tag, lightweight yet durable, truly polarized, fashionable, comfortable, the list goes on! They are the best of the best, don’t hesitate, just buy them!" — maggie Get it from Amazon for $12.73 (available in eight styles). 16. A chic structured toiletry organizer with a "window" so you can look inside and easily access whatever you need on the go. Reviewers especially love how the structure of it stops items like beauty products or medications from getting crushed inside (and that it's a heck of a lot cheaper than the $100 Truffle Clarity version). Reviewers also use this for "emergency kits" for their car! Promising review : "Best Amazon purchase in awhile. The bag is TSA-compliant which was the most important thing for me, but it is also well made, very sturdy, and the shape of it makes it easy to organize my liquids by laying them down rather than forcing them all to stand up. Even the packaging was beautiful. 10/10 would recommend." — RZ Get it from Amazon for $17.99+ (available in seven sizes and seven colors). 17. A set of breathable bamboo socks for an understated, sophisticated vibe that still keeps your feet as comfy as they deserve. 'Tis the season to give your sock drawer the chic makeover it deserves. Promising review : "Absolute game-changer in the sock department! These socks are incredibly soft, thanks to their bamboo fabric, which feels luxurious against the skin. The mini crew length is perfect for wearing with sneakers or low-cut shoes, providing just the right amount of coverage without being too bulky. I love how breathable and moisture-wicking they are, keeping my feet cool and dry throughout the day. Plus, the reinforced heel and toe add durability, ensuring these socks hold up wash after wash." — Len Get a set of three from Amazon for $14.99 (also available in sets of two and five). 18. An affordable luxury hand soap with a rich lather that comes in the most wonderfully soothing scents like eucalyptus + aloe, coconut + sandalwood, and lavender. The cozy but sophisticated FLEX of having this in the bathroom when friends come over!! Promising review : "I’m curating a cute look for my bathroom and saw this product at a local salon. It inspired me to try it and I love it! It have a very old world look with a modern pinch. The smell is great I do not find this soap irritating to anyone and I have eczema/psoriasis." — Jasmine D. Get it from Amazon for $12.98 (available in four scents and multipacks). 19. A pair of ~dreamlux~ leggings made with an oh-so-buttery soft material reviewers compare to Lululemon's Align ... but WAY cheaper. If you're looking for a reliably squatproof, comfy, compressive legging, look no further than these. I bought these on Prime Day, which is the only day I will buy leggings because I hate wearing leggings with a burning passion. My "I'm not like other girls" bit is that for some reason, I am always comfier in jeans than leggings. BUT NOT THESE!!! They slide on. The fabric is so lightweight and breathable that it feels like a whisper. The band is so deceptively comfortable that sometimes I'm like, "Am I still wearing them??" I use them to run outdoors because that is the only circumstance I'll wear a legging, and I'm happy to report after several washes, they are durable and compressive enough to withstand workouts. They would be excellent for lounging if I weren't wired in this odd anti-legging way. I have already bought two more pairs and made my friends buy them, too. Promising review: "Super comfy. I usually don’t write reviews, I tried this first before buying Lulu, and these are the most comfortable leggings for every day and even for workouts. Highly recommended!" — Criselle Johnson Get them from Amazon for $29 (available in women's sizes XXS–XXL, two inseams, and 21 styles). 20. And a set of butterluxe faux matte leather leggings you'll want to stock up on for fall and winter. Not only are these high-waisted, ultra comfortable, and elevated, but they're wayyyy more affordable than other competing leggings with the same look. Promising review: "They look like leather. These yoga pants look great on. They have a sheen that makes them look leather-like, but they are very stretchy and comfortable, like a second skin. I've washed them (hand wash/gentle cycle) and they still look great. I highly recommend." — listenhere Get it from Amazon for $32 (available in women's sizes XXS–XL and 11 colors). 21. A classic herringbone necklace so close in style to the Tiffany HardWear version that you might blink and mistake it for the real thing (imagine being able to drop 13,000 human dollars on a necklace though, MY STARS). Promising review: "I’ve been thinking about purchasing the Tiffany version of this necklace, but when I saw this one, I decided to purchase it. So glad I did. It is beautiful and very substantial. When I first put it on, couldn’t believe the weight, in a good way. Feels and looks expensive, and the color of the gold is perfect, in my opinion; not too yellow or orangey. Love, love, love this necklace!!!" — FAXA10 Get it from Amazon for $20.99 (available in five styles). 22. A pair of wireless over-the-ear headphones crafted to look like AirPods Max, so you can still enjoy the comfort and chic style of their iconic headphones without shelling out hundreds of dollars. These feature premium cushion padding, a built-in mic with the ability to take calls, 10 hours of playtime per charge, and surprisingly decent noise blocking for the price. iJoy is a small business that specializes in headphones and tech accessories. I own a pair of these and because I'm vain as heck and need to own all things pink, but I was decently surprised by how well they muffle noise! I feel like these are ideal for people who still want to hear some of the world around them (read: parents, people working in open offices), but still want to listen to their tunes comfortably . The charge on these goes for at least four hours (I haven't tried it beyond that yet), and the Bluetooth connects to my devices super easily. Excellent pair of headphones for the price point. Promising review : "These headphones surprised me. I thought they were not going to be as great because of how cheap they are, but the bass is amazing! The noise cancellation is so good that I can’t hear anything. The volume is loud and sound quality is a win , and just how I like it. Very snug and comfy, recommend! Thanks TikTok, lol :)." — Chevelle Revero Get it from Amazon for $15.99+ (available in five colors). 23. A decorative rainbow window film that says, "Yes, I want my privacy, but I also want to be extremely glamorous about it." Not only does this refract beautiful rainbows in your space, but reviewers mention that it's handy for pet owners whose dogs love to bark at things outside, and that they also used them to outfit the sunroofs of their cars to prevent glare. Promising review: "I had no privacy in the evenings and was looking for an alternative solution that was not only effective but that would look good, too. After putting these up, I finally have some really effective privacy. It's so nice without everybody being able to see into my windows whenever they please at night. The amazing amount of rainbow effect that happens during the daytime when the sunlight streams through is so neat! My place is flooded with rainbows everywhere. It is better than I pictured!" — Sally Skeleton Get it from Amazon for $5.94+ (available in eight sizes) 24. A stackable oval gem ring so gorgeous and well-made that reviewers use it as a temporary wedding ring when they're traveling. Psst — people love stacking it with other high quality Pavoi rings ! TBH, I bought this ring after seeing it blow up on TikTok, and I love it. I wear it every single day, and I've gotten SO many compliments on it — friends are always stunned when I tell them how cheap it is! I've been wearing it for months now without any wear and tear that a quick cleaning won't fix. Pictures don't do it justice; it really does ✨gleam✨ like real jewels. (Bonus: I use this as a fake wedding ring when I travel to encourage humans to leave me alone, lolololol.) Get it from Amazon for $14.95+ (available in three plates and sizes 5–10). 25. A chic wax melt warmer that blends so seamlessly with the rest of your decor that it will give a vibe of ~quiet luxury~. Promising review : "It warmed up really quick and looks nice in my laundry room! It’s small enough to hide and still make a big impact on the area it was in! It’s sturdy and easy to use. The wax I have in here smells amazing!" — Cassandra Get it from Amazon for $12.99+ (available in nine styles). 26. A set of luxe, reviewer-beloved Le Gushe "24K Gold" under-eye masks so you can *truly* pamper yourself — these soothing (ridiculously pretty??) masks are infused with hyaluronic acid, collagen, and aloe to help hydrate and refresh the dark circles and puffiness under your eyes. The self-care vibes are *immaculate*. Promising review: "I have used these a few times and they have been fine. However, the other day I hadn’t slept well and had some bags under my eyes. These little miracles suddenly were amazing! After twenty minutes, my eyes looked less sunken and tired and more natural in color with the right amount of puffiness. I even forgot about them for six months so imagine my surprise that they were still good to go and worked perfectly. They leave my skin feeling smooth and happy ." — Angela I Get 15 pairs from Amazon for $9.95 . 27. A marble board wire cheese cutter to serve as half decor, half kitchen tool, and 100% the biggest hit at any wine and cheese night when you let guests slice their own cheese with it. Check out a TikTok of the cheese slicer in action. Promising review: "My mother-in-law had purchased one last year, and I tried hers at Christmas and fell in love with how easy it was to use. We have a lot of get-togethers with friends, and cheese is a staple appetizer in our house. So, I purchased my own and have been using it weekly since. It cuts easily and it's mostly easy to clean. Sometimes cheese gets stuck in the crack, but some scrubbing with a small brush usually does the trick." — Jessica Get it from Amazon for $18.05 (available in two colors). 28. A set of autumnal, artisan-crafted two-tone appetizer plates so elegant and lovely that "girl dinner" will feel like "queen dinner." Roro is a small business that specializes in ceramic homeware goods. Promising review: "Beautiful plates, glossy and handmade. I was looking for these kind of plates for my food photography. Happy with the purchase." — Atul Get a set of two from Amazon for $12.30 . Psst — snag them in other colors and sizes on Roro's Amazon storefront ! 29. A nine-pair set of hypoallergenic golden hoop earrings because sometimes you have to get the outfit vibe just! right!!! which means mixing things up from your usual go-to hoops (bless their overworked hearts). This gives you plenty of affordable, chic options so you can try out a different set every day of the week. Promising review: "I'm picky when it comes to jewelry and love these. They haven't tarnished on me at all or hurt my ears, and the gold color isn't tacky looking. Love the variety and you can't beat the pricing. Also, a great gift!" — Marisa Get a set of nine from Amazon for $15.99 (also available in silver and rose gold). 30. An ultra soft ribbed bodycon maxi dress so close to the Skims version that your bank account will do a double-take when it sees how little you paid for it. It's a showstopping piece on its own, but just *imagine* how many chic outfits you can use this as a base layer. Promising reviews: "I never write reviews... BUT BUY THIS DRESS! So stretchy, so soft, just like the Skims dress but way cheaper. It works for maternity too!!! I’ve never felt more confident!!! YOU NEED THIS DRESS!!!!" — Lucas and Allie Get it from Amazon for $36.99 (available in women's sizes XXS–XXL and in nine colors). 31. A set of espresso martini mix packets that make this cocktail staple a little TOO easy to recreate at home — all you need to do is add vodka (or tequila) and water, and BOOM. That's that you espresso. (Bonus: these only have 30mg of caffeine, as opposed to 60mg to 120mg of a typical one!) Craftmix is a small business that specializes in instant drink mixers. Promising review: "The closest thing to creating a drink from scratch as you can get! Tried the variety pack and the espresso martini mix, and it was a hit with folks, and most couldn't believe it when I told them it came from a packet . Especially if you're thinking of hosting or making drinks in batches, Craftmix is a real timesaver. Would definitely recommend and plan on repurchasing for future get-togethers!" — Kenneth Walfred Fojas Get a pack of 12 from Amazon for $16.99 (available in 13 other flavors and a variety pack). 32. A set of quirky ceramic mini espresso cups so cute that from the moment you start sipping from them, it'll be like one touch and they brand new'd it for you ✨. Promising review: "These espresso cups are the cutest. They are very different and unique. I was scared about the handle being hard to hold, but it is just fine." — Sandra Vehabovic Get a set of two from Amazon for $13.99 (available in 10 styles and in packs of four). 33. An oh-so-sweet hummingbird lamp with three brightness levels and a touch sensor that reviewers love using as a reading light, a wind-down light, or a nursery light. Bonus: it also functions as an aroma diffuser if you add 3–4 drops of essential oil to the top of its head. Promising review: "I literally have no idea why I bought this. It was a suggested item and looked interesting so I was like 'lol okay.' I can’t believe how much I like it LOL . It looks and feels much nicer than you’d think and the battery lasts forever. It has three shades of light and it’s extremely bright." — K Get it from Amazon for $16.99 (clip the $3 off coupon on the product page for this price). 34. A cross-hatch tissue holder you can plop over a standard tissue box for that *decor's kiss* perfect touch that shows just how thoughtfully a room's vibe was curated. (Psst — fans of Bottega Veneta will note that the crosshatch is very similar to their signature look.) Promising review: "This product is exactly what I was hoping for. It’s great quality. Looks so chic. Such a nice way to dress up a household necessity. Definitely worth it." — Kaylee Get it from Amazon for $6.99+ (available in three sizes and 13 colors). 35. A set of itty bitty vintage-inspired spoons that are just BEGGING to be used for all your coffee, tea, dessert, and yogurt needs. (Is it just me, or do we all have an Emotional Support Tiny Spoon?) Promising review : "The perfect little coffee spoons on my coffee bar! They go with my modern vintage thrifted decor and make me smile. 🥰" — Lindsey Get a set of six from Amazon for $5.88 . 36. A set of transparent sticky notes reviewers love not just for the aesthetic, but because it makes it easier to leave notes in books and study guides without interrupting the ~flow~ of the text. Promising review: "For someone who is a big note-taker, these are perfect. Durable, easy, and not to mention aesthetically pleasing! Definitely will be purchasing more!" — penny Get a pack of 50 sheets from Amazon for $5.99 (available in eight colors). 37. A sophisticated, airtight ribbed storage canister you can use to elevate everything from coffee grounds to laundry beads to cotton balls — the sky is your very chic limit. Promising review: "These are so versatile. Right now I have different teas in them, but in the fall I have other ideas. The size is perfect for me. The quality is great and the lids fit well. The material is glass glass with wooden like lids." — Darlene Hohn Get it from Amazon for $12.99+ (available in two shapes and two sizes). Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Abbott Laboratories stock underperforms Monday when compared to competitorsKU launches first of its kind AI, data science program

Holiday gift ideas for the movie lover, from bios and books to a status toteSyrian insurgents reach the capital's suburbs. Worried residents flee and stock up on supplies BEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria is gaining speed with news that they have reached the suburbs of the capital of Damascus. The government on Saturday was forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country. The rebels’ moves around Damascus were reported by an opposition war monitor and a rebel commander. They came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including two provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions. The factions are by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. An archbishop's knock formally restores Notre Dame to life as winds howl and heads of state look on PARIS (AP) — France’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral has formally reopened its doors for the first time since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark in 2019. The five-year restoration is widely seen as a boost for French President Emmanuel Macron, who championed the ambitious timeline, and brings a welcome respite from his domestic political woes. World leaders, dignitaries, and worshippers gathered on Saturday evening for the celebrations under the cathedral's soaring arches. The celebration was attended by 1,500 dignitaries, including President-elect Donald Trump, Britain’s Prince William, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. For Catholics, Notre Dame’s rector said the cathedral “carries the enveloping presence of the Virgin Mary, a maternal and embracing presence.′′ Trump is welcomed by Macron to Paris with presidential pomp and joined by Zelenskyy for their talks PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed Donald Trump to Paris with a full a dose of presidential pomp. And they held a hastically-arranged meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a day that's mixing pageantry with attention to pressing global problems. The president-elect's visit to France is part of a global a celebration of the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral five years after a devastating fire. Macron and other European leaders are trying to win Trump’s favor and persuade him to maintain support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion. Trump isn't back in office but he's already pushing his agenda and negotiating with world leaders NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is making threats, traveling abroad, and negotiating with world leaders. He has more than a month-and-a-half to go before he’s sworn in for a second term. But the president-elect is already moving aggressively to not only fill his Cabinet and outline policy goals, but also to try to achieve his priorities. In recent days, Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, two of the country’s largest trading partners. That led to emergency calls and a visit. And he's warned of “ALL HELL TO PAY” if Hamas doesn't release the hostages still being held captive in Gaza. South Korea's president avoids an impeachment attempt over short-lived martial law SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol has avoided an opposition-led attempt to impeach him over his short-lived imposition of martial law. Most of Yoon's ruling party lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote Saturday to deny a two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers. The scrapping of the motion is expected to intensify protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea. A survey suggests a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment. Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative People Power Party. But the party also apparently fears losing the presidency to liberals. Days after gunman killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO, police push to ID him and FBI offers reward NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly four days after the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, police still do not know the gunman’s name or whereabouts or have a motive for the killing. But they have made some progress in their investigation into Wednesday's killing of the leader of the largest U.S. health insurer, including that the gunman likely left New York City on a bus soon after fleeing the scene. The also found that the gunman left something behind: a backpack that was discovered in Central Park. Police are working with the FBI, which on Friday night announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. UnitedHealthcare CEO's shooting opens a door for many to vent frustrations over insurance The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare's CEO has opened the door for many people to vent their frustrations and anger over the insurance industry. The feelings of exasperation, anger, resentment, and helplessness toward insurers aren’t new. But the shooting and the headlines around it have unleashed a new wave of patients sharing such sentiments and personal stories of interactions with insurance companies. Conversations at dinner tables, office water coolers, social gatherings and on social media have pivoted to the topic. Many say they hope the new amplified voices can bring about change for companies often accused of valuing profits over people. 100-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor recalls confusion and chaos during Japanese bombing 83 years ago PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — The bombing of Pearl Harbor 83 years ago launched the United States into World War II. Two survivors are planning to return to the Hawaii military base on Saturday for a remembrance ceremony on the attack's anniversary. They are each over 100 years old. They will join active-duty troops, veterans and members of the public for a remembrance ceremony hosted by the Navy and the National Park Service. A third survivor was planning to join them but had to cancel due to health issues. The bombing killed more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen. An explosion destroys an apartment block in a Dutch city, killing at least 3 and injuring others THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An explosion and fire has rocked a neighborhood in the Dutch city of The Hague, killing three people and injuring other people and destroying several apartments. The cause of the disaster is unclear. Emergency authorities said four people were rescued from the rubble and taken to the hospital. The mayor said rescuers were no longer looking for survivors but for eventual bodies, but could not specify how many people might still be unaccounted for. Residents of the northeastern neighborhood of Mariahoeve in The Hague heard a huge bang and screams before dawn. Dutch authorities have deployed a specialized urban search and rescue team to find victims. How 'Mufasa' rose with Aaron Pierre and Blue Ivy's voices along with new Lin-Manuel Miranda music SAN DIEGO (AP) — When Aaron Pierre was cast as Mufasa, the weight of following in the late James Earl Jones’ legendary footsteps was enough to rattle any actor. But instead of letting the pressure roar too loudly, he harnessed his nerves to breathe fresh life into his young lion character. Pierre found parallels between himself and his character while filming his leading role in “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which opens in theaters Dec. 20. He took the reigns as the new voice of Mufasa after Jones played the iconic King Mufasa in both the 1994 and 2019 versions of Disney’s “The Lion King.” The prequel offers a fresh exploration into Mufasa’s origin story.

Ruud van Nistelrooy has been appointed manager of Leicester City. ENGLAND-- Newly-appointed manager Ruud van Nistelrooy is aiming to bring a sense of positivity to Leicester City and quickly make an impression on the Premier League club's players, as he looks to ensure that they remain in the English top flight. The former Manchester United striker was appointed on Friday to replace Steve Cooper and will need to hit the ground running, with the 16th-placed club hovering just point above the relegation zone after three straight league defeats. Asked if the players needed to be picked up, Van Nistelrooy told reporters: "That is what needed to be done. Sunday was the first time that I was here. Was it yesterday? It feels longer. "I had a meeting with the players and it was the first thing to address," added the Dutchman, speaking ahead of a home match against West Ham United on Tuesday. "The situation we're in, the challenge that we face, and what's necessary to get out of that situation. "In two days it's difficult to make a lot of changes, but we have started to make changes in the style of play, training sessions, structure, little by little starting to build a foundation of a highly motivated team who can compete in this league." Leicester have a tough run of fixtures coming up in December including matches against Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle United, Liverpool and Manchester City. MARESCA INFLUENCE Leicester enjoyed a stunning Premier League title success in 2016 but were relegated in 2023 before coming straight back up under Enzo Maresca, who then left to join Chelsea. Van Nistelrooy said Maresca, who he played with at Malaga, played a key role in him taking the Leicester job. "You're curious about the people who work there and Enzo, being a great friend and former teammate, he was the first one to call," he added. "What better information could I get? When we played against each other in the Premier League - when I was Manchester United interim boss against Chelsea - half an hour we spoke. "I didn't know yet about Leicester but we spoke about it and he was already very positive (after managing them). That only got better when I spoke to him. I have to say he was absolutely right, according to first impressions." Van Nistelrooy, who started his coaching career at PSV Eindhoven in 2022, last month left his role as an interim coach at United, where he led the side to three victories and a draw in all competitions. The 48-year-old said his short stint in charge of the Manchester club worked wonders for his profile, adding: "What happened after the games and the amount of interest all of a sudden was there for me and the options which came along. "I was astonished by it. It was four games, I managed a full season at PSV, won a cup and the charity shield. I'd been in coaching with the Under-19s and the national team. "I never got this reaction from the football world. I was happy with that. I was then able to talk to different parties and make a decision."

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he will nominate former White House aide Brooke Rollins to be his agriculture secretary, the last of his picks to lead executive agencies and another choice from within his established circle of advisers and allies. The nomination must be confirmed by the Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans when Trump takes office Jan. 20. Then-President Donald Trump looks to Brooke Rollins, president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, as she speaks during a Jan. 11, 2018, prison reform roundtable in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Rollins would succeed Tom Vilsack , President Joe Biden’s agriculture secretary who oversees the sprawling agency that controls policies, regulations and aid programs related to farming, forestry, ranching, food quality and nutrition. Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as his former domestic policy chief. She is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. Rollins, 52, previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Brooke Rollins, assistant to the president and director of the Domestic Policy Council at the time, speaks during a May 18, 2020, meeting with restaurant industry executives about the coronavirus response in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. Rollins’ pick completes Trump’s selection of the heads of executive branch departments, just two and a half weeks after the former president won the White House once again. Several other picks that are traditionally Cabinet-level remain, including U.S. Trade Representative and head of the small business administration. Trump didn’t offer many specifics about his agriculture policies during the campaign, but farmers could be affected if he carries out his pledge to impose widespread tariffs. During the first Trump administration, countries like China responded to Trump’s tariffs by imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports like the corn and soybeans routinely sold overseas. Trump countered by offering massive multibillion-dollar aid to farmers to help them weather the trade war. President Abraham Lincoln founded the USDA in 1862, when about half of all Americans lived on farms. The USDA oversees multiple support programs for farmers; animal and plant health; and the safety of meat, poultry and eggs that anchor the nation’s food supply. Its federal nutrition programs provide food to low-income people, pregnant women and young children. And the agency sets standards for school meals. Brooke Rollins speaks at an Oct. 27 campaign rally for then-Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has vowed to strip ultraprocessed foods from school lunches and to stop allowing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beneficiaries from using food stamps to buy soda, candy or other so-called junk foods. But it would be the USDA, not HHS, that would be responsible for enacting those changes. In addition, HHS and USDA will work together to finalize the 2025-2030 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. They are due late next year, with guidance for healthy diets and standards for federal nutrition programs. ___ Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writers Josh Funk and JoNel Aleccia contributed to this report. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump's first administration, and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee's election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign. In a statement, Trump called McGinley “a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda, while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement.” Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.On August 29, 2024, Scaled Composites (a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman ) drew the attention of many when it revealed it had successfully first flown its new advanced Model 437. Only this autonomous vehicle had a cockpit and a pilot. The remarkable success, affordability, and rapid development of autonomous drones coupled with the United States Air Force apparently having second thoughts about the sixth-generation NGAD fighter , raises questions about whether the F-35 will be the US Air Force's last manned fighter jet . Why build optionally manned aircraft It's becoming increasingly obvious that a major part of future US air power will be Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) (also known as loyal wingman drones). The Air Force plans to purchase around 1,000 CCAs and have two autonomous aircraft with each manned fighter. This program is showing so much promise that it may be part of the reason why the Air Force is seemingly getting cold feet on the massively expensive manned component of the NGAD sixth-generation fighter program. However, the line between manned and unmanned systems is being increasingly blurred. Not only is the Air Force demonstrating (through the VEMON and other projects) that combat-coded F-16s can be competitively flown autonomously, but sixth-generation platforms like the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider and the Temptest/GCAP are also planned to be optionally manned . The Model 437 Vanguard advanced autonomous combat aircraft can be flown autonomously or with a pilot. Northrop Grumman sees these aircraft as both manned and unmanned in the future. Having a pilot adds a number of advantages - it can significantly speed up design and testing while also providing more flexibility for how the aircraft is used after it enters service. A disadvantage is that the space used for a cockpit can't be used for other systems. Having a pilot tends to increase the size of the aircraft, which drives up the cost. "Put simply, it's just a lot easier to test an aircraft with a person actually piloting it" - Alex Hollings from Sandboxx News While autonomous vehicles are proving to be remarkably good at performing various limited-scope activities, there are still many more complex missions that they can't perform - or would just be better with a pilot at the helm. This is why even the B-21 Raider strategic bomber is set to be optionally manned. Two prototype drones have now been selected for Increment 1 of the CCA program to complement the US's next generation of military aircraft. What the Model 437 Vanguard is Northrop Grumman is rapidly developing the Model 437 as a way to increase Air Force mass and project airpower well into the 21st century. The Model 437 grew out of the earlier Model 401 and is built to explore a multi-mission, low-cost, attritable aircraft. Measured by manned aircraft, the Air Force is shrinking and is expected to continue shrinking for the foreseeable future . The only viable way to reverse this trend and restore mass is with advanced autonomous drones like the Vanguard. Example of advanced autonomous aircraft: Northrop Grumman's Model 437 Vanguard Anduril's Fury General Atomic's XQ-67A/Gambit series Boeing's MQ-28 Ghost Bat Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie The Model 437 Vanguard is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney 535 engine, providing 3,400 pounds of thrust, and has a payload of up to 2,000 pounds (including internal weapons bay space able to accommodate two AIM-120s). Scaled Composites writes , " After completion of envelope expansion, the M437 Vanguard will have a range of approximately 3000 nautical miles and an endurance of 6 hours. " It has an identical wingspan and length (both 41 feet). Northrop Grumman Scaled Composites' Model 437 Vanguard Pilot: 1 (optionally manned) Endurance: up to 6 hours Payload: up to 2,000 lbs First flight: August 29, 2024 Thrust: 3,400 pounds Powerplant: 1x Pratt & Whitney 535 engine There are several test missions ahead of the experimental unmanned air vehicle. Developed quickly and digitally Compared to new manned fighter jet designs, the Model 437's development is fast. Like the B-21 Raider (which has also been developed rapidly), much of the design work was done digitally with advanced digital engineering tools. Northrop Grumman states , " Northrop Grumman's fully digital engineering ecosystem reduces engineering rework, accelerates schedule, and saves costs for customers on future aircraft programs ." "Scaled Composites leveraged extensive experience in rapid design, fabrication, and test of experimental aircraft to develop the Model 437 Vanguard as a platform to demonstrate Northrop Grumman’s digitally engineered wings. This included a clean sheet aircraft design, aerodynamic and structural analysis, fuselage and empennage fabrication, aircraft assembly, systems integration, and ground and flight test execution." - Scaled Composites Northrop Grumman claims to have reduced the changes needed to go from the design on a sheet of paper to an actual flyable aircraft from the typical 15-20% to just 1%. This represents a new chapter in the US industry's ability to quickly develop new aircraft designs. Bringing down the costs With the rapid development and use of digital technology, Northrop Grumman is able to bring down the costs of its aircraft. Northrop has previously said it will be able to build the Model 437 for as little as $5-6 million per unit. That is incredibly cheap for a low-observable advanced aircraft (e.g., the non-stealthy MQ-9 Reaper costs around $30 million each). The aircraft is also being built with 3D-printed components. These savings are also being seen on the B-21 Raider. While the Raiders are set to be some of the most expensive military planes ever built (unadjusted for inflation), the program is currently on time and under budget .

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