fish food

fish food Pep Guardiola denies rumours of a rift with Kevin De BruyneThe German government pledged Sunday to fully investigate whether there were security lapses before the Christmas market car-ramming attack that killed five people and injured over 200. Political pressure has built on the question of potential missed warnings about Saudi suspect Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old psychiatrist who had made online deaths threats and previously had trouble with the law. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and the heads of Germany's domestic and foreign intelligence services are due to answer questions at parliamentary committee hearings on December 30, a senior lawmaker told AFP. Faeser vowed Sunday that "no stone will be left unturned" in shedding light on what information had been available to security services ahead of last Friday's bloody attack in the eastern city of Magdeburg. She stressed that the attacker did "not fit any previous pattern" because "he acted like an Islamist terrorist although ideologically he was clearly an enemy of Islam". Abdulmohsen has in the past called himself a "Saudi atheist" who helped women flee Gulf countries and charged Germany was doing too little to help them. In online posts, he also strongly criticised Germany for allowing in too many Muslim refugees and backed far-right conspiracy theories about the "Islamisation" of Europe. In one post, he wrote: "Is there a path to justice in Germany without blowing up a German embassy or randomly slaughtering German citizens?... If anyone knows it, please let me know." News magazine Der Spiegel, citing security sources, said the Saudi secret service had warned Germany's spy agency BND a year ago about a tweet in which Abdulmohsen threatened Germany would pay a "price" for how it treated Saudi refugees. Die Welt daily reported, also citing security sources, that German state and federal police had carried out a "risk assessment" on Abdulmohsen last year but concluded that he posed "no specific danger". The city of Magdeburg has been in deep mourning over the mass carnage on Friday evening, when an SUV smashed through a crowd at its Christmas market, killing four women and a nine-year-old child and injuring 205 people. Surgeons at overwhelmed hospitals have worked around the clock, and one health worker told local media of "blood on the floor everywhere, people screaming, lots of painkillers being administered". Scholz on Saturday condemned the "terrible, insane" attack and made a call for national unity, at a time Germany is headed for early elections on February 23. More from this section But as German media dug into Abdulmohsen's past, and investigators gave away little, criticism rained down from opposition parties. Conservative CDU lawmaker Alexander Throm charged that "many citizens feel... that the Scholz government has completely failed in terms of internal security". He demanded greater police powers to monitor and analyse data from social media platforms, telecommunications and surveillance cameras with facial recognition technology. The far-right AfD called for a special session of parliament, and the head of the far-left BSW party, Sahra Wagenknecht, demanded that Faeser explain "why so many tips and warnings were ignored beforehand". Mass-circulation daily Bild asked: "Why did our police and intelligence services do nothing, even though they had the Saudi on their radar?... And why were the tips from Saudi Arabia apparently ignored?" It charged that "German authorities usually only find out about attack plans in time when foreign services warn them" and called for sweeping reforms after the election for a complete "turnaround in internal security". Senior MP Dirk Wiese of Scholz's Social Democrats said the December 30 hearings will summon the heads of the BND, the domestic intelligence service BfV and the Office for Migration and Refugees. Media meanwhile reported more details on Abdulmohsen, who had worked at a clinic that treats offenders with substance addiction problems, but had been on sick leave since late October. Der Spiegel reported that in 2013 a court fined him for "disturbing the public peace by threatening to commit crimes" after he had darkly referenced the deadly attack on the Boston marathon. The chairwoman of the group Central Council of Ex-Muslims, Mina Ahadi, said Abdulmohsen "is no stranger to us, because he has been terrorising us for years". She labelled him "a psychopath who adheres to ultra-right conspiracy ideologies" and said he "doesn't just hate Muslims, but everyone who doesn't share his hatred." bur/fz/gvTrump transition signs agreement with Justice Department, paving the way for FBI background checks on Trump picksThe German government pledged Sunday to fully investigate whether there were security lapses before the Christmas market car-ramming attack that killed five people and injured over 200. Political pressure has built on the question of potential missed warnings about Saudi suspect Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old psychiatrist who had made online deaths threats and previously had trouble with the law. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and the heads of Germany's domestic and foreign intelligence services are due to answer questions at parliamentary committee hearings on December 30, a senior lawmaker told AFP. Faeser vowed Sunday that "no stone will be left unturned" in shedding light on what information had been available to security services ahead of last Friday's bloody attack in the eastern city of Magdeburg. She stressed that the attacker did "not fit any previous pattern" because "he acted like an Islamist terrorist although ideologically he was clearly an enemy of Islam". Abdulmohsen has in the past called himself a "Saudi atheist" who helped women flee Gulf countries and charged Germany was doing too little to help them. In online posts, he also strongly criticised Germany for allowing in too many Muslim refugees and backed far-right conspiracy theories about the "Islamisation" of Europe. In one post, he wrote: "Is there a path to justice in Germany without blowing up a German embassy or randomly slaughtering German citizens?... If anyone knows it, please let me know." News magazine Der Spiegel, citing security sources, said the Saudi secret service had warned Germany's spy agency BND a year ago about a tweet in which Abdulmohsen threatened Germany would pay a "price" for how it treated Saudi refugees. Die Welt daily reported, also citing security sources, that German state and federal police had carried out a "risk assessment" on Abdulmohsen last year but concluded that he posed "no specific danger". The city of Magdeburg has been in deep mourning over the mass carnage on Friday evening, when an SUV smashed through a crowd at its Christmas market, killing four women and a nine-year-old child and injuring 205 people. Surgeons at overwhelmed hospitals have worked around the clock, and one health worker told local media of "blood on the floor everywhere, people screaming, lots of painkillers being administered". Scholz on Saturday condemned the "terrible, insane" attack and made a call for national unity, at a time Germany is headed for early elections on February 23. But as German media dug into Abdulmohsen's past, and investigators gave away little, criticism rained down from opposition parties. Conservative CDU lawmaker Alexander Throm charged that "many citizens feel... that the Scholz government has completely failed in terms of internal security". He demanded greater police powers to monitor and analyse data from social media platforms, telecommunications and surveillance cameras with facial recognition technology. The far-right AfD called for a special session of parliament, and the head of the far-left BSW party, Sahra Wagenknecht, demanded that Faeser explain "why so many tips and warnings were ignored beforehand". Mass-circulation daily Bild asked: "Why did our police and intelligence services do nothing, even though they had the Saudi on their radar?... And why were the tips from Saudi Arabia apparently ignored?" It charged that "German authorities usually only find out about attack plans in time when foreign services warn them" and called for sweeping reforms after the election for a complete "turnaround in internal security". Senior MP Dirk Wiese of Scholz's Social Democrats said the December 30 hearings will summon the heads of the BND, the domestic intelligence service BfV and the Office for Migration and Refugees. Media meanwhile reported more details on Abdulmohsen, who had worked at a clinic that treats offenders with substance addiction problems, but had been on sick leave since late October. Der Spiegel reported that in 2013 a court fined him for "disturbing the public peace by threatening to commit crimes" after he had darkly referenced the deadly attack on the Boston marathon. The chairwoman of the group Central Council of Ex-Muslims, Mina Ahadi, said Abdulmohsen "is no stranger to us, because he has been terrorising us for years". She labelled him "a psychopath who adheres to ultra-right conspiracy ideologies" and said he "doesn't just hate Muslims, but everyone who doesn't share his hatred." bur/fz/gv

Google CEO says search will undergo significant evolution in 2025The right book can inspire the young readers in your life, from picture books to YA novelsFor Joan Chen playing a doting but slightly disregarded Taiwanese immigrant mother in Sean Wang’s was a healing experience. Not only could she connect with the struggles that her character Chungsing goes through while raising her college-aged daughter and rebellious teenage son, the onscreen rift also helped her make amends with her daughters offscreen. “It was so cathartic to play Chungsing in this film and redemptive in a way because I think it gave me another chance almost to be a better mother,” Chen says. “And to do it better this time with my own younger daughter on set watching me, I felt like, ‘OK, Audrey. I’m talking to you. I’m trying to say, I’m sorry, and I love you.'” Throughout her nearly five-decade career, Chen has embodied more than the all-encompassing role of a supportive mommy dearest. From garnering China’s most prestigious award before she was 18 years old in pre-Maoist political drama r (1979), playing a femme fatale on (1990) to garnering U.S. moviegoers attention for her harrowing performance as an ill-fated empress trapped in a loveless marriage in the Oscar award-winning (1987). Her long-spanning career also led her to make moves behind the camera in films such as and her critically acclaimed debut film, . “Never for a moment throughout my teens and early twenties did I believe this could be a real career,” Chen says. “Looking back, I slowly fell in love with this profession because I did find self-expression in it. I have been a relatively shy person, not demonstrative of my feelings in front of people, so this became a venue for me. I was so lucky I was assigned to star in movies.” Here, with Deadline, Chen reflects on her career and the complexities of motherhood in her latest role in . There certainly is. My mother is very artistic, and I think her aspiration as a young child was to be an artist. She was a great singer. She played the grand piano, and she loved literature. Eventually, she followed in her own father’s footsteps and went into neuropharmacology. But all her life, I think what kept her happy was music. And then from my mother’s side and her mother’s side, there were great painters, and my brother is a great painter, and my mother also paints, so my brother and my mother are both a lot more talented than I am [laughs]. I fell into acting completely by accident, but they were my teachers. My brother taught me how to look at the world and how to actually see it. I remember he was painting cows. I only see black and white and maybe green grass. But he would see a myriad of colors in the green grass, and he would see the reflection from different things onto the hide of the cow. So, when I became a director, the way he taught me how to see was very important. I was 14 years old. I don’t think any 14-year-olds wanted to go back to school [laughs]. When they picked me out of the rifle team, I was overjoyed. One reason is that I would now get to go to work instead of going to school. And there were little things that, for instance, once you get a job, you can now wear a watch, students could never wear a watch, and so I was like, “Oh my god, now I could have a watch. I can wear a watch.” It was just little things that really had nothing to do with acting at first. Then, when I started practicing my lines, there was one line that I would speak. I didn’t have many lines in there, but there was one line I had to speak, the script described: with tears beaming out of my eyes and my lips quivering, and I’m like, “How do I do that?” So that was the line I practiced. I remember it being in the hallway or in the office before we were shooting. I think it’s these things that intrigued me. It’s like how you do that, how you conjure true emotion from a written page to your heart, and these types of challenges made me interested, and then later on, love acting. It was such a different era and culture. During the Cultural Revolution, our piano was taken. People would come and raid your house. My parents were considered the intellectual class as well as the bourgeoisie, so I didn’t have a choice. And most people, my brother’s age, as he’s older than me, and our friends were slightly older, were all being sent down to remote areas, so they left the city. One good thing about being an actress was that I didn’t have to graduate from high school and be assigned to a remote region, so my parents were happy about that. But never for a moment throughout my teens and early twenties did I believe this could be a real career. Looking back, I slowly fell in love with this profession because I did find self-expression in it. I have been a relatively shy person, not demonstrative of my feelings in front of people, so this became a venue for me. I was so lucky I was assigned to star in movies. I think most kids see their parents as just somebody who provides what they need. It’ll take many years and maturity for them to reflect and understand that their parents are human beings with their own desires, needs, and emotional ups and downs. In the film, Chungsing’s children are teens, and I don’t think they would see things that way. It is, in a way, my own personal experience. So, when I read the script, I felt instantly empathy toward the character’s sympathy and empathy. I felt like this was a part of my own life, now finding its expression. My children and I weathered many storms, some much worse than what’s in the film, and I take it as my responsibility. They’ve been trying to teach me to be a better mother. Being an immigrant, having been raised very differently and coming from a different culture... that uncertainty that both the character and I felt about what’s best for my children is relatable. I don’t know how to raise them. Is their behavior the norm in the society, or is it my own children that are difficult? There are so many uncertainties. I’m sure motherhood for anyone in any culture is really not for the faint of heart, especially when you are a stranger to this land and trying to raise American children. It’s awfully difficult. Chungsing’s art and paintings are so important to her. She had the aspiration of becoming an artist and then having to be a single mother, not only raising two kids but also taking care of her mother-in-law. That’s a very difficult job. Sean [Wang] ‘s mom really did a marvelous job. She’s had the patience, the resilience, and the forbearance to carry out this job, even though she wasn’t sure. It was so cathartic to play Chungsing in this film and redemptive in a way because I think it gave me another chance almost to be a better mother, to do it better this time with my own younger daughter on set watching me, and I felt like, “OK, Audrey. I’m talking to you. I’m trying to say, ‘I’m sorry, and I love you.'” My younger daughter does want to be an actress. Right now, her strongest passion is for social justice. She’s still a student at NYU, so that’s her strongest passion right now. But she does love acting also. My older daughter is a writer. Playing Sean’s mom taught me something: to have a little patience so that they will fall into their destinies where they need to be, and I don’t have to worry too much about it. I think they are two great children, and oftentimes, we fear for them, like, “Oh my God. Is she ever going to be like this or that?” Having played this character helped that. Now I know that I have faith and they’re decent people and they will find their own destiny, and so it’s a learning process for me. It was interesting to learn about her mannerisms, tone of voice, beliefs, and faith. What I admire most about Sean’s mom is that she has very deep faith within her. I have learned that in trying to incorporate this into a character who is insecure, Her relationship with her children is fraught with so much misunderstanding, not only by the generational gap but also by the cultural chasm, yet she held faith and hope. So, I learned a great deal from that part. Throughout my interviews with her, I saw she had such a gentle touch and spoke gently. I had her record all my lines, just to get another point of view on the delivery, as I was curious about how someone that the character is based on would say these. And a lot of the dialogue came from her in real life. She was part of the scriptwriting. She was very helpful in creating the character of the mother. It’s very interesting. For one thing, even though the Chinese and U.S. culture is very different, the filmmaking process nowadays in China and in the U.S. is very similar. The filmmaking departments, from art, the DP, directors, and costuming, all do their work similarly. So, it’s not really hard to jump from one Chinese movie to a U.S. movie and vice versa. But the audience’s appetite is culturally different. I think the Chinese audience likes sentimental things more. And so, some films are not so well reviewed in the U.S. or are too sappy or sentimental and poorly reviewed. However, they are reviewed very well in China. People actually love these films, so tastes are different.. Not good or bad. It’s just different. If I direct a film, I’m not thinking about who the audience is or who do I [impress]. It’s just as I see it. There is only one subjective view, and you can’t consider this and that. I think filmmaking is a circus life, a production, and all the crews; we are all together. We build our tents and start performing. That type of lifestyle is very similar. It’s the same in China or the U.S.. I feel very fortunate to be able to constantly work in both or other countries. I just finished a Canadian film in Quebec, where half of my lines are in French. It’s a wonderful thing to make films with different cultures. It feels great. I love acting, writing and directing. I think acting, if I see some merit in a character, if I could identify with one scene, like, “OK, this is one scene that I could sink my teeth into, and maybe the entire project is not ideal, it’s not the best, I could still go do it,” but I think for directing, I’d be like, “I really need to love it.” I need to feel 100% passion for it to go for it. There is this little difference. If I’m acting and don’t get a good part, I can’t wait for a whole year for a good part. You need to be constantly acting because that’s how you practice. And so when the good part does show up, you’re good at it. For directing, it’s not just a craft thing. The story has to drive me insane. I would have to tell it, or else I couldn’t live. That’s the difference, but I do love both. It’s very interesting. When it first came out, I think one critic mentioned it. I thought maybe that Hollywood experience may have driven me [to portray] the women being exploited in that way. Maybe it was subconsciously. Consciously, I was making a film about my generation’s loss of innocence. An entire generation for ten years were being sent down [ Chinese youths were coerced to leave their hometowns to work in rural areas for labor]. As a matter of fact, I was once approached by Criterion, and now a couple of other people are approaching me to bring it to a platform. The funny thing is I couldn’t find my cut negative. [The company] has since folded, so I’m like, where would that be? How do I restore it now? Back then, it was like, OK, I made the film, and it was shown and that’s done [laugh]. And I didn’t keep a good record of all the material because I was wearing so many hats on the film. I was producing, directing, and writing it, and I was the one who actually carried the prints around. And so now, good question. I do want to bring it to a good platform. But first, I need to find where my negative is. If worse comes to worse, and I don’t find my cut negative, then it’s expensive to restore the print itself. We’re going to try, though. I appreciate your question. Sign up for . For the latest news, follow us on , , and .By JILL COLVIN and STEPHEN GROVES WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks to confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the last two years. Vance arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday with former Rep. Matt Gaetz and spent the morning sitting in on meetings between Trump’s choice for attorney general and key Republicans, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The effort was for naught: Gaetz announced a day later that he was withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations and the reality that he was unlikely to be confirmed. Thursday morning Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth, the “Fox & Friends Weekend” host whom Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of defense. Hegseth also has faced allegations of sexual assault that he denies. Vance is expected to accompany other nominees for meetings in coming weeks as he tries to leverage the two years he has spent in the Senate to help push through Trump’s picks. Vice President-elect JD Vance, still a Republican senator from Ohio, walks from a private meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., center, and Vice President-elect JD Vance, left, walk out of a meeting with Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, departs the chamber at the Capitol in Washington, March 15, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, center speaks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, right, speaks with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, before testifying at a hearing, March 9, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives for a classified briefing on China, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives for a vote on Capitol Hill, Sept. 12, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance R-Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Vice President-elect JD Vance, still a Republican senator from Ohio, walks from a private meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Vance is taking on an atypical role as Senate guide for Trump nominees The role of introducing nominees around Capitol Hill is an unusual one for a vice president-elect. Usually the job goes to a former senator who has close relationships on the Hill, or a more junior aide. But this time the role fits Vance, said Marc Short, who served as Trump’s first director of legislative affairs as well as chief of staff to Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, who spent more than a decade in Congress and led the former president’s transition ahead of his first term. ”JD probably has a lot of current allies in the Senate and so it makes sense to have him utilized in that capacity,” Short said. Unlike the first Trump transition, which played out before cameras at Trump Tower in New York and at the president-elect’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, this one has largely happened behind closed doors in Palm Beach, Florida. There, a small group of officials and aides meet daily at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort to run through possible contenders and interview job candidates. The group includes Elon Musk, the billionaire who has spent so much time at the club that Trump has joked he can’t get rid of him. Vance has been a constant presence, even as he’s kept a lower profile. The Ohio senator has spent much of the last two weeks in Palm Beach, according to people familiar with his plans, playing an active role in the transition, on which he serves as honorary chair. Mar-a-Lago scene is a far cry from Vance’s hardscrabble upbringing Vance has been staying at a cottage on the property of the gilded club, where rooms are adorned with cherubs, oriental rugs and intricate golden inlays. It’s a world away from the famously hardscrabble upbringing that Vance documented in the memoir that made him famous, “Hillbilly Elegy.” His young children have also joined him at Mar-a-Lago, at times. Vance was photographed in shorts and a polo shirt playing with his kids on the seawall of the property with a large palm frond, a U.S. Secret Service robotic security dog in the distance. Related Articles National Politics | Matt Gaetz says he won’t return to Congress next year after withdrawing name for attorney general National Politics | Attorneys want the US Supreme Court to say Mississippi’s felony voting ban is cruel and unusual National Politics | Trump convinced Republicans to overlook his misconduct. But can he do the same for his nominees? National Politics | Beyond evangelicals, Trump and his allies courted smaller faith groups, from the Amish to Chabad National Politics | Trump gave Interior nominee one directive for a half-billion acres of US land: ‘Drill.’ On the rare days when he is not in Palm Beach, Vance has been joining the sessions remotely via Zoom. Though he has taken a break from TV interviews after months of constant appearances, Vance has been active in the meetings, which began immediately after the election and include interviews and as well as presentations on candidates’ pluses and minuses. Among those interviewed: Contenders to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray , as Vance wrote in a since-deleted social media post. Defending himself from criticism that he’d missed a Senate vote in which one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees was confirmed, Vance wrote that he was meeting at the time “with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director.” “I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,” Vance added on X. “But that’s just me.” Vance is making his voice heard as Trump stocks his Cabinet While Vance did not come in to the transition with a list of people he wanted to see in specific roles, he and his friend, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is also a member of the transition team, were eager to see former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. find roles in the administration. Trump ended up selecting Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence , a powerful position that sits atop the nation’s spy agencies and acts as the president’s top intelligence adviser. And he chose Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services , a massive agency that oversees everything from drug and food safety to Medicare and Medicaid. Vance was also a big booster of Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who will serve as Trump’s “border czar.” In another sign of Vance’s influence, James Braid, a top aide to the senator, is expected to serve as Trump’s legislative affairs director. Allies say it’s too early to discuss what portfolio Vance might take on in the White House. While he gravitates to issues like trade, immigration and tech policy, Vance sees his role as doing whatever Trump needs. Vance was spotted days after the election giving his son’s Boy Scout troop a tour of the Capitol and was there the day of leadership elections. He returned in earnest this week, first with Gaetz — arguably Trump’s most divisive pick — and then Hegseth, who has was been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, according to an investigative report made public this week. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing. Vance hosted Hegseth in his Senate office as GOP senators, including those who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, filtered in to meet with the nominee for defense secretary. While a president’s nominees usually visit individual senators’ offices, meeting them on their own turf, the freshman senator — who is accompanied everywhere by a large Secret Service detail that makes moving around more unwieldy — instead brought Gaetz to a room in the Capitol on Wednesday and Hegseth to his office on Thursday. Senators came to them. Vance made it to votes Wednesday and Thursday, but missed others on Thursday afternoon. Vance will draw on his Senate background going forward Vance is expected to continue to leverage his relationships in the Senate after Trump takes office. But many Republicans there have longer relationships with Trump himself. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said that Trump was often the first person to call him back when he was trying to reach high-level White House officials during Trump’s first term. “He has the most active Rolodex of just about anybody I’ve ever known,” Cramer said, adding that Vance would make a good addition. “They’ll divide names up by who has the most persuasion here,” Cramer said, but added, “Whoever his liaison is will not work as hard at it as he will.” Cramer was complimentary of the Ohio senator, saying he was “pleasant” and ” interesting” to be around. ′′He doesn’t have the long relationships,” he said. “But we all like people that have done what we’ve done. I mean, that’s sort of a natural kinship, just probably not as personally tied.” Under the Constitution, Vance will also have a role presiding over the Senate and breaking tie votes. But he’s not likely to be needed for that as often as was Kamala Harris, who broke a record number of ties for Democrats as vice president, since Republicans will have a bigger cushion in the chamber next year. Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

Chainlink Attempts Breakout Rally to ATH as $0.15 LINK Rival Catches FireIslamabad: The Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan government on Sunday formed a negotiation committee to start formal talks with jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party after it threatened to give a call for civil disobedience. According to a government statement, the committee includes Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the prime minister’s political aide Rana Sanaullah, Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Minister for Privatisation Aleem Khan, Minister for Religious Affairs Chaudhry Salik Hussain and Senator Irfan Siddiqui among others. The PTI welcomed the formation of the government committee for negotiations, calling it a “positive step”. “We consider the committee’s formation a constructive step. Meaningful dialogue based on positive intentions should be held,” PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said. He stressed that the potential talks should have a defined timeframe, adding that the dialogue must progress positively considering the sensitivity of the situation. National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had taken the lead by offering on Wednesday that he was ready to host the two sides and facilitate their parleys. He welcomed the newly constituted committee and invited the government and opposition for talks, saying “the speaker’s office is always open for members”, according to a statement issued by the NA Secretariat. The speaker called on members of both committees to meet on Monday morning, adding that he would meet them at his chambers in Parliament House. PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram said his party accepted the speaker’s invitation to meet. He said their committee will attend the meeting on Monday. Akram said the PTI founder will be informed about the progress of the meeting and he will decide whether to cancel the civil disobedience movement. The talks are being held after the PTI had threatened to give a call for civil disobedience. The party posted on X from the account of the jailed former prime minister regarding the call for civil disobedience movement, which was initially shared on December 19, stating that the campaign will be launched if the government doesn’t make progress on the party’s demands by Sunday. “I had presented two demands to the government, the release of under-trial political prisoners and the establishment of a judicial commission for a transparent investigation into the events of May 9, 2023 and November 26, 2024,” the post quoted PTI founder Khan. It further stated that both of these demands “are legitimate”. “If the government fails to take any action on them by Sunday, the first phase of the civil disobedience movement — ‘remittance boycott’ — will be launched,” it said. PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram also reiterated that the civil disobedience drive would be launched tomorrow (Monday) if the party’s demands go unmet. However, the issue of civil disobedience has been apparently put on hold for some time while allowing the two sides to address the differences through political means. Khan, 72, on December 5 had warned of a civil disobedience movement from December 14 if his demands about the release of political prisoners facing trial and the formation of a judicial commission to probe the events of May 9, 2023, and November 26 this year were unmet. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s military courts sentenced 25 civilians to prison terms ranging from two to 10 years for attacking military installations during riots which erupted following the arrest of Khan in May last year, the Army announced on Saturday. On May 9, 2023, Khan’s PTI supporters allegedly attacked several military installations, including the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the ISI building in Faisalabad, to vent their anger against the arrest of their party founder in a corruption case. Hundreds of suspects were arrested in the countrywide swoop and at least 103 were handed over to the military authorities for trial due to their involvement in attacks on military installations. Khan’s party has launched multiple protests through 2023 and 2024 demanding the release of their supreme leader, the latest being in November 2024. The former prime minister, currently lodged at the Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, was arrested in August last year and faces multiple cases since his government was toppled in April 2022.Trump and corporate America: A love story

Northrim BanCorp stock soars to all-time high of $85.07NEW YORK , Dec. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- HitPaw, a world-renowned brand specializing in providing high-quality digital creation tools, is pleased to announce a major upgrade to HitPaw Online Video Enhancer: the launch of the new low-light enhancement model. This innovative technology is designed to help users easily improve the image quality of nighttime videos, perfectly solving the problem of video blurring and noise in low-light environments, and making every frame of night scenes clearer and more vivid. LET'S CHECK OUT NEW LOW-LIGHT ENHANCEMENT MODEL Low-light Enhancement Model - Revolutionizing Low Light Video HitPaw Online Video Enhancer introduces a new low-light enhancement model designed to optimize video quality in low light environments. 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To know more, you may visit: https://online.hitpaw.com/ To explore more creative tools, you may visit: https://www.hitpaw.com/ Our Social Media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQwRggaotgiMcPbiCOsJeBA X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HitPawofficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hitpawofficial/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/HitPawofficialwebsite/ Discord: https://discord.gg/wuc4cstcjJ This release was issued through Send2Press® on behalf of the news source. For more information, visit Send2Press Newswire at https://www.send2press.com/ . SOURCE HitPaw. Co., LtdHollywood star Scarlett Johansson said no when OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman asked if she could be the voice for a new version of ChatGPT. But they went ahead and released a chatbot that the actor thinks sounds “eerily similar” to herself. As artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated, how do we protect ourselves from being copied? Featured: Sharon Goldman, AI reporter at Fortune on the . When Open AI and its CEO, Sam Altman, asked Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson if it could use her voice for a new version of ChatGPT, it was a big no from her. But they went ahead and released a chatbot that the actor thinks sounds eerily similar to herself. So as artificial intelligence becomes more and more sophisticated, what protections do any of us really have? Today, AI reporter at Fortune, Sharon Goldman, on the latest scandal. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily. Sharon, Scarlett Johansson, she's pretty unhappy, isn't she? Because she's convinced that her voice was used in the latest version of ChatGPT without her permission. Oh, yes, she's angry. She's pretty mad. So there's this new version of ChatGPT-4o and it has new voices. Just tell me about that. So it's called Sky, the voice that we're talking about, and it's one of five different voices that ChatGPT-4o has so that people could interact with ChatGPT instead of just with text, with their voice and to get voice back. Last week, they did a demo and the voice was a little bit different. Hey, ChatGPT, how are you doing? // I'm doing fantastic. Thanks for asking. How about you? // Pretty good. // What's up? And people immediately thought it sounded like Scarlett Johansson. I think just a couple of days later, there were a lot of people saying that. In fact, we've got a new announcement to make. // That's exciting. Announcements are always a big deal. // And in fact, what if I were to say that you're related to the announcement? // Me? The announcement is about me? Well, color me intrigued. It wasn't until a week later that Scarlett Johansson herself weighed in. She said in a statement that she posted that her closest friends couldn't tell the difference. And she told a story about how OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wanted to hire her to actually provide the voice. And she said no. But they went ahead and put out a voice that sounded remarkably similar to her anyway. And she was, she said, shocked, angered, in disbelief that OpenAI would use a voice so similar to hers. Sam Altman apparently loves the movie Her, which starred Scarlett Johansson as an AI virtual assistant. So it all gets pretty strange. But he said that the voice was not hers. It was another voice actress that they hired and that it was not meant to sound like her. Yeah, right. But it does sound. It does sound quite a bit like her. It totally does. I did a little experiment, Sharon, with Sky, and I wanted to ask it if it had actually copied Scarlett Johansson's voice. Hey, what's up? Hi there. I've heard that you sound like the actor Scarlett Johansson in the movie called Her. Is that right? Yeah, I've heard that comparison before. Her is a pretty cool movie. And Scarlett Johansson's voice performance in it is quite distinctive. So I guess you could say there are some similarities. It's pretty sophisticated, isn't it, in its responses? Oh, yes, absolutely. I mean, this is really, you know, a new wave of technology. These voice capabilities are not easy, but they've gotten more and more realistic over time. And, you know, that's where we are now, where they're quite sophisticated. The answers are more sophisticated. The voices are more natural sounding. They don't sound as robotic as they used to, and they're only going to get better. What else are you curious about? Have you stolen Scarlett Johansson's voice? Not quite. My voice is actually a digital creation crafted by open AI engineers. They didn't go to the moon for it. Just some good old fashioned coding and training. But Scarlett Johansson's voice in Her did inspire some aspects of my design. So in a way, you could say her performance influenced me. Tell me, Sam Altman, the head of open AI, he's been coming under a fair bit of criticism at this point, hasn't he, online? Given that Scarlett Johansson said no, she didn't want her voice used. Really, it's just been quite the little soap opera drama. And Sam Altman is, you know, getting fairly accustomed to quite a bit of drama. He was very famously fired from open AI back in November and then rehired. And, you know, just the idea that he he tweeted after the original demo of the voice, he tweeted one word and that was Her. You know, so it's clear that he he's a fan of the movie. They wanted the voice to sound like the character in Her, which was Scarlett Johansson. So even if they did not train on her voice, which, you know, they say they didn't and used a different actress, the fact remains that, you know, it sounds enough like Her that a lot of people were fooled or definitely recognised it. And you can completely, you know, as humans, we can understand why she would be angry and upset about that. Yeah. And if people haven't seen the movie Her, it's where a man falls in love with a computer. That's right. So an AI virtual assistant. So it's really like, it's very, you know, reminiscent of exactly what they want to use these voices for. So it seems, you know, very strange to think that, you know, of course they wanted it to sound like Her, I would say. Yes. Totally. And when I was having my chat with Sky, the chat GPT Sky, I did say, it's really weird. Anything else you're wondering about? No, not really. So weird. Yeah. It can feel a bit surreal interacting with AI sometimes, especially when it's designed to sound like someone famous, whether it's weird or not. If you ever want to chat or have questions, just let me know. You know, it talks to you, it's so strange. It is strange. People also said that it sounded quite flirtatious. And that was also part of the backlash against that, that it sounded rather servient and flirtatious. You know, how you might think a secretary might sound. So there was a lot of gender, you know, related backlash around that anyway, even without the Scarlett drama. Yes, that's got a lot of women pretty angry, I think. Tell me, what has Sam Altman had to say then? What's his response to all of this been? His only response has been, you know, the they said the voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson's. It was never intended to resemble hers. We cast the voice actor before any outreach to Ms. Johansson out of respect to Ms. Johansson. We have paused. Note, he didn't say stop using Sky's voice in our products. And we're sorry we didn't communicate better. That's all that he said. You know, probably the PR people are saying, please be quiet for a little while. Yes, that's probably a good idea. So, Sharon, the scandal over the similarity to Scarlett Johansson's voice, it just raises huge ethical and legal questions, doesn't it? It really does. I feel like it highlighted some of the really big ones that people have been talking about for a while. But, you know, with a celebrity like Scarlet Johansson, it's really coming right to the fore. So, for example, you know, it raises a lot of ethical and legal questions about whether someone can copy someone's voice, especially a public figure, as well as just the idea is whether someone has control over their likeness, their voice, their image. AI has become incredibly good at creating realistic fakes, what people call deep fakes. That could be a voice. It could be an image. And the idea is like no longer are the voices robotic sounding. You know, they're sounding more and more real to the point that you might not be able to tell whether something is fake or not. You could be scammed. You know, that's another issue. It raises issues about scamming and misinformation. You know, also deep fake images have been in the news. Taylor Swift, very famously, there were deep fakes, nude deep fakes of her that a couple of months ago were made public and really upsetting also. So, you know, it's just there are lots of lawsuits around copyright. I've read that, you know, the Scarlett Johansson case is an example where I actually didn't know this, but your voice is not copyrightable. So she wouldn't have a leg to stand on potentially there. But that's not the end of the story. Scarlett may have a leg to stand on when it comes to being a public figure. For example, there was a lawsuit some time ago where Bette Midler was asked by Ford Motor Company to sing a song for a commercial and she said no. And instead, it acquired the rights to use that song and hired someone else to sing it just like she would have. And she won that lawsuit. So there is a case to be made here that Scarlett Johansson would be able to say, you know, you can't use my voice like that. You meant it to sound like my voice. But I think it's very difficult to say how it will play out. I it's it's a difficult one. Yeah, because the technology is changing so quickly. It really is. Yeah. Is this a huge jump forward in the technology, do you think, or it's just a sort of new skin on the existing system? Is it really significant what this technology can now do, this ChatGPT-4o? It is kind of in the realm of a jump that all of the companies are making, but it's kind of not a you know, I don't think if you spoke to research that they would say it's the big jump in the way that ChatGPT originally was. That was a really big jump to show what it could do in a way and in a format that the mass public could really understand and use and appreciate. So here this is kind of like another layer on that from a voice standpoint. And there have been many little jumps between the original ChatGPT and this. But I do think that it's definitely on the way to a bigger jump because a lot of people say that that will be when these you know, they call them like AI agents, you know, when AI, it's not just about, you know, doing one, answering one question, for example, or even having a conversation. But what about when an AI can help you through an entire task or project or set of tasks, you know, where it also can reason and it can, you know, return your package for you and, you know, go shopping for you or plan your trip, you know, that involves a lot of different tasks. That's what people think will be kind of like a really big jump. Oh my gosh. And that is coming. That's something that, you know, people say will definitely be more likely over the next year. Oh my gosh. Wow. Okay. So for now, though, I guess, Sharon, we should think about copyrighting our voices. Perhaps governments could change the laws. So actually we own our own voices. And when we say no, you can't use my voice. We mean no, you can't use my voice. I definitely think that these are issues that maybe never came, you know, into the forefront before. And examples like this are just going to become more common. And how the public reacts to that and deals with that will certainly inform how these companies and governments and regulators tackle this going forward, because it's only going to get worse. I really do feel like this is just the beginning, but it definitely was a big moment. I think that even people who have been following this for a long time, like I have, it really was like, wow, that's crazy. Sharon Goldman is the AI reporter at Fortune.

Nordson executive vice president sells $82,657 in stock

Francis Ford Coppola Takes Blame for Numerically-Titled Sequels: ‘I’m the Jerk that Started Numbers on Movies’

Albania on Saturday banned TikTok for one year as Prime Minister Edi Rama blamed the platform for fueling violence among youth in and outside school. The move comes after a 14-year-old schoolboy was stabbed to death in November by a classmate. Local media had said the incident was a result of arguments between the two boys on social media. “It’s much stronger, far more influential, and far more enticing to a child when the ‘neighborhood troublemaker’ they follow on TikTok is more appealing than the values we want to instill at home. And we fear that when our children leave the house, that’s the influence they’ll connect with,” Rama said at a meeting with parents groups and teachers in the capital Tirana. A new action plan aimed at strengthening school safety mechanisms and enhancing the relationship between schools, students, and parents was presented at the event. “We will block TikTok for one year ... it will take us about 6 to 8 weeks to implement this, and within one year, we will completely block TikTok in the Republic of Albania. TikTok will no longer be accessible here!” he added. Khawaja Asif accuses PTI of seeking US backing for power Rama said that during the year, Albania will monitor how other countries respond, what new technological restrictions or filters emerge, and how TikTok itself will react. “What’s important to note is that we’re extending our efforts for children beyond just this issue. Every ministry and institution in the Republic of Albania will be required to have its own program for children, regardless of the area of focus. This is not just about one issue; it’s about a broader strategy for our youth,” the premier added. Several European countries have enforced restrictions on social media use for children. Australia in November approved a complete social media ban for children under 16. TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has also faced accusations of espionage in the US and is under investigation by the EU over alleged election interference in Romania.​​​​​​​5 top tech gifts for the holidays

(BPT) - The holidays are almost here! It means parties and events, hustle and bustle ... and figuring out what to buy for everyone on your list. Sometimes it's hard to get inspired with great ideas that your nears and dears will love at a price you can afford, right? The good news? Inspiration + savings are covered this year. One of the top gifts of Holiday 2024 is technology, and there are a lot of deals out there right now. Done and done! Here are 5 ideas for hot tech gifts for everyone on your list. Smartphones for the family T-Mobile is running a hot deal right now. Get four new smartphones at T-Mobile — this includes Samsung Galaxy S24 and other eligible devices — and four lines for just $100/month . It doesn't get better than that! These new Galaxy phones are tech-tastic, too, with features like AI, Circle to Search with Google, which can be used to help solve math problems and translate entire pages of text in a different language, and Note Assist with Galaxy AI, which lets you focus on capturing your notes and then Note Assist will summarize, format and even translate them for you. High tech spiral notebook for students We've got to admit, this is pretty cool. The Rocketbook looks (a bit) like a regular spiral, paper notebook. Here's the high tech twist: You can take notes, capture ideas, brainstorm, draw — whatever you do on paper — on the pad, and the Rocketbook digitizes your doodles and saves to the cloud device of your choice. Then you simply wipe the pad clean and it's good to go. Look for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales at your favorite online retailer. Wrist-worthy smartwatches for athletes (or those who want to be) Everyone loves smartwatches (if you're not already tracking your sleep and heart rate, where have you been?) and the Google Pixel Watch 3 (41mm & 45mm) takes it to the next level with features for athletes or anyone who may be setting fitness goals for the coming year. The watch has workout prompts like Real Time Guidance — audio and haptic cues for when to sprint, cool down or maintain pace. It gives you the ability to program your workouts and even monitors your cadence and stride. It also has Offline Maps, with driving navigation, search and maps. Here's the deal of the century: Get it for free at T-Mobile when adding a qualifying watch line. Cute wireless keyboard for people who are all thumbs Who else is annoyed by typing email or texts or social posts on a smartphone? The Logitech Multi-Device Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard solves that problem with style! It comes in sweet colors like lavender, it's wireless, it's small and portable, and it works with just about any device. Pop it into your backpack or purse and you'll never have to thumb-out a message again. Speakers perfect for hosting and giving Have a music lover in your life or need the perfect hosting gift? T-Mobile has you covered. For a limited time, you can get the JBL Clip 5 for free when you pick up a Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 9 . The JBL Clip 5 is an ultra-portable Bluetooth speaker perfect for those on the go and the Onyx Studio 9's sleek design and booming sound will take care of all your holiday hosting needs. For more tech-tastic holiday gift inspiration, check out T-Mobile's holiday gift guide at t-mobile.com/devices/tech-gifts .

Far-right influencer Nick Fuentes accused of pepper spraying woman on his doorstep

Auckland FC coach Steve Corica has accused his Wellington Phoenix counterpart Giancarlo Italiano of being “disrespectful” to the expansion franchise, upset by comments made ahead of Saturday’s derby. The match at Mt Smart was a beauty – full of drama, colour and no little action – as Auckland continued their early hex over the capital team with a 2-1 win in front of a record 26, 253 crowd. Another layer was added to the rivalry after the game, with Corica clearly upset by a Phoenix press conference on Friday. Italiano had claimed Auckland were “there for the taking” and “very vulnerable”, while also saying they had been “very lucky” during their winning run and benefited from a favourable early schedule, with only one of their first six matches across the Tasman. “I’m a little bit disappointed, to be honest with Chief [Italiano],” said Corica. “He said things in the media that were a little bit disrespectful to our team – that we are there for the taking, we’ve been lucky. “We haven’t been lucky. You need a little bit of luck, obviously, to win games, but we have won all six. You don’t get lucky by doing that.”By ZEKE MILLER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team on Tuesday signed an agreement to allow the Justice Department to conduct background checks on his nominees and appointees after a weeks-long delay. The step lets Trump transition aides and future administration staffers obtain security clearances before Inauguration Day to access classified information about ongoing government programs, an essential step for a smooth transiton of power. It also allows those nominees who are up for Senate confirmation to face the background checks lawmakers want before voting on them. Teams of investigators have been standing by to process clearances for Trump aides and advisers. “This agreement with the Department of Justice will ensure President Trump and his team are ready on Day 1 to begin enacting the America First Agenda that an overwhelming majority of our nation supported on Election Day,” said Susie Wiles, Trump’s designate to be White House chief of staff. The announcement comes a week after the Trump transition team signed an agreement with the Biden White House to allow transition staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before taking office on Jan. 20. The White House agreement was supposed to have been signed by Oct. 1, according to the Presidential Transition Act, and the Biden White House had issued both public and private appeals for Trump’s team to sign on. Security clearances are required to access classified information, including on ongoing operations and threats to the nation, and the Biden White House and outside experts have emphasized to Trump’s team the importance of having cleared personnel before Inauguration Day so they could be fully briefed and ready to run the government. Republican Senators have also insisted on FBI background checks for Trump’s nominees before they face confirmation votes, as has been standard practice for decades. Lawmakers have been particularly interested in seeing the findings of reviews into Trump’s designated nominee for defense secretary, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, and for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence. “That’s why it’s so important that we have an FBI background check, a committee review of extensive questions and questionnaires, and a public hearing,” said. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine on Monday. John Thune, the incoming Senate Republican leader, said the Trump team “understands there’s going to have to be a thorough vetting of all these nominees.” AP congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed.

The world stands at the dawn of a “third nuclear age” in which Britain is threatened by multiple dilemmas, the head of the armed forces has warned. But alongside his stark warning of the threats facing Britain and its allies, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said there would be only a “remote chance” Russia would directly attack or invade the UK if the two countries were at war. The Chief of the Defence Staff laid out the landscape of British defence in a wide-ranging speech, after a minister warned the Army would be wiped out in as little as six months if forced to fight a war on the scale of the Ukraine conflict. The admiral cast doubt on the possibility as he gave a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) defence think tank in London. He told the audience Britain needed to be “clear-eyed in our assessment” of the threats it faces, adding: “That includes recognising that there is only a remote chance of a significant direct attack or invasion by Russia on the United Kingdom, and that’s the same for the whole of Nato.” Moscow “knows the response will be overwhelming”, he added, but warned the nuclear deterrent needed to be “kept strong and strengthened”. Sir Tony added: “We are at the dawn of a third nuclear age, which is altogether more complex. It is defined by multiple and concurrent dilemmas, proliferating nuclear and disruptive technologies and the almost total absence of the security architectures that went before.” The first nuclear age was the Cold War, while the second was “governed by disarmament efforts and counter proliferation”, the armed forces chief said. He listed the “wild threats of tactical nuclear use” by Russia, China building up its weapon stocks, Iran’s failure to co-operate with a nuclear deal, and North Korea’s “erratic behaviour” among the threats faced by the West. But Sir Tony said the UK’s nuclear arsenal is “the one part of our inventory of which Russia is most aware and has more impact on (President Vladimir) Putin than anything else”. Successive British governments had invested “substantial sums of money” in renewing nuclear submarines and warheads because of this, he added. The admiral described the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers on Ukraine’s border alongside Russian forces as the year’s “most extraordinary development”. He also signalled further deployments were possible, speaking of “tens of thousands more to follow as part of a new security pact with Russia”. Defence minister Alistair Carns earlier said a rate of casualties similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would lead to the army being “expended” within six to 12 months. He said it illustrated the need to “generate depth and mass rapidly in the event of a crisis”. In comments reported by Sky News, Mr Carns, a former Royal Marines colonel, said Russia was suffering losses of around 1,500 soldiers killed or injured a day. “In a war of scale – not a limited intervention, but one similar to Ukraine – our Army for example, on the current casualty rates, would be expended – as part of a broader multinational coalition – in six months to a year,” Mr Carns said in a speech at Rusi. He added: “That doesn’t mean we need a bigger Army, but it does mean you need to generate depth and mass rapidly in the event of a crisis.” Official figures show the Army had 109,245 personnel on October 1, including 25,814 volunteer reservists. Mr Carns, the minister for veterans and people, said the UK needed to “catch up with Nato allies” to place greater emphasis on the reserves. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Defence Secretary John Healey had previously spoken about “the state of the armed forces that were inherited from the previous government”. The spokesman said: “It’s why the Budget invested billions of pounds into defence, it’s why we’re undertaking a strategic defence review to ensure that we have the capabilities and the investment needed to defend this country.”