game changer

game changer Biden's broken promise on pardoning his son Hunter is raising new questions about his legacyWASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors moved Monday to dismiss the criminal charges against President-elect Donald Trump that accused him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election and to abandon the classified documents case against him, citing longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. The decision by special counsel Jack Smith, who had fiercely sought to hold Trump criminally accountable for his efforts to subvert the 2020 election, represented the end of the federal effort against the former president following his election victory this month despite the election-related cases and multiple other unrelated criminal charges against him and is headed back to the White House. FILE - Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to the media about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023, at an office of the Department of Justice in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) The decision, revealed in court filings, also amounts to a predictable but nonetheless stunning conclusion to criminal cases that had been seen as the most perilous of the multiple legal threats Trump has faced. It reflects the practical consequences of Trump’s victory, ensuring he enters office free from scrutiny over his hoarding of top secret documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Smith’s team emphasized that the move to abandon the prosecutions, in federal courts in Washington and Florida, was not a reflection of their view on the merits of the cases but rather a reflection of their commitment to longstanding department policy. “That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” the prosecutors wrote in Monday’s court filing in the election interference case. The decision was expected after Smith's team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The Justice Department believes Trump can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted. Trump has cast both cases as politically motivated, and had vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. President-elect Donald Trump arrives before the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 in Boca Chica, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Pool via AP) The 2020 election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing the Republican as he vied to reclaim the White House. But it quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House. The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial. The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence they planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of using “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden. ___ 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. 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.” 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.” Associated Press writer Colleen Long contributed to this story. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Tesla Shares Surge in Gaming! The Future of In-Game Investments?

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NEW DELHI: Amidst the mounting tensions between India and Bangladesh due to atrocities against Hindus, some educational institutions in Bangladesh painted the Indian tricolour on the floor and urged students to walk over them. The ISKCON emblem and Israeli flag were also desecrated. The institutions included the Bogura Poly Technic Institute, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka University (Ganit Bhavan) and Noakhali Science and Technology University, “A few educational institutions in Bangladesh saw the desecration of the Indian tricolour, which was painted on the floor and students were urged to walk over them,” Professor Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah told . On Saturday, another Hindu priest Shyam Das Prabhu was arrested in Chittagong. The arrest took place when he went to the jail to meet Chinmoy Das, a monk associated with ISKCON who had been arrested earlier. The bank accounts of 17 ISKCON members in Bangladesh including that of Chinmoy Das were frozen for one month. Meanwhile, the family of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif, who was murdered near the court premises in Chittagong on the day protests against the arrest of Chinmoy Das took place, has filed a case naming 31 individuals and 10-15 unidentified others. Those identified are allegedly Hindus and followers of Chinmoy Das. Amidst these tensions, Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Saturday said they expect to establish a good relationship with India in the context of the changed situation post August 5. “We want to remain optimistic that we would be able to establish a good relationship with India making sure that bilateral interests are protected,” he said.How Sell a Business Quickly and Easily Guide Released for Consumers by IRAEmpireNot only does beer taste great, there are health benefits associated with it, too: expert

The UCLA women’s basketball team is ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press women’s basketball poll for the first time in program history. The Bruins beat defending national champion South Carolina , the previous top team in the polls, on Sunday afternoon to rise from the No. 5 spot. The Gamecocks are now No. 4. UCLA is out to a 5-0 start this season and took down South Carolina 77-62 in a sold-out Pauley Pavilion. The accomplishment marked the first time in program history that the Bruins beat a No. 1 team. It’s the first time South Carolina lost a game in 602 days after a 43-game winning streak and it was the largest loss for South Carolina since March 2019 (15 points). “This means a lot because of the respect we have (for South Carolina),” UCLA head coach Cori Close said after the game. “That being said, we expected to win.” Bruins center Lauren Betts made the Big Ten Basketball Weekly Honor Roll after recording a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds in Sunday’s game. Londynn Jones led UCLA with 15 points and went a perfect 5-for-5 on 3-pointers. UCLA next heads to Honolulu for the Rainbow Wahine Showdown, which begins on Friday against UT Martin. Big Ten Conference play begins on Dec. 8 at Washington.

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arrives in Bermuda, on 2024 Joint Ministerial Council, meets with St. George’s Prep PTA, on Govt Mortgage Guarantee Programme, on climate change report, donate groceries to families, assembly & award ceremony and to compete in 2024 Optimist World are some of the stories in this morning’s [Nov 30] . The Bernews Morning Newsflash includes an overview of the latest Bermuda news, the local weather forecast for today, local stock report, our photo of the day, as well as a look at news headlines from around the world. In addition to being available each morning on the website, the Newsflash is designed to suit your favourite social media network, so is also available directly on the main feed, our channel, and our account. : , ,AP Trending SummaryBrief at 2:28 p.m. EST

Health In Tech Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering

La Serna, Glendora, Rio Hondo Prep, Pasadena, El Rancho, San Gabriel and Pioneer will play later this week in CIF Southern Section football championship games. Subscribe to continue reading this article. Already subscribed? To login in, click here.

NoneGENEVA: Countries trying to negotiate a global agreement on handling future pandemics began an extra week of talks Monday (Dec 2), with the WHO chief insisting the end was in sight. The talks at the World Health Organization's headquarters in Geneva opened three years on from the decision to draft a new accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, taken in the heat of the COVID-19 crisis. "You should be proud of what you have achieved in the past three years and you should also be confident that the end is in sight. It's closer than you think," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told negotiators for the UN health agency's 194 member states. "I believe that you can finalise the pending issues before the end of this year," he added. Concluding an international agreement in little over three years would be exceptionally fast, given the typical glacial pace of striking treaties. While countries agree on the broad scope of what they want, the fine details remain in contention. "For the pandemic agreement to be meaningful, you need provisions of strong prevention, for continued preparedness, and for robust, resilient and equitable response," warned Tedros. "An imbalanced pandemic agreement is not an agreement." SENSE OF URGENCY The one-week session was scheduled as an add-on to the 12th round of negotiations, which lasted from November 4 to 15. Monday's talks focused on research and development, sustainable financing, and transfer of technology and know-how for producing pandemic-related health products. It also tackled the heart of the agreement: a proposed pathogen access and benefit-sharing system. On Friday, countries will take stock and decide if they have made sufficient progress to call a special session of the World Health Assembly to adopt a finalised agreement. A special session of the WHO's top decision-making body takes 35 days to arrange. The body is notably mindful of Donald Trump's return to the US presidency on January 20. Trump is hostile towards the WHO. In his first term, he began pulling the United States out of the organisation, accusing it of being a puppet of China. Talks co-chair Precious Matsoso expressed hope that this week would "resolve most of the issues". Co-chair Anne-Claire Amprou called it a "crucial week for the advancement of our work", and urged countries to work in a pragmatic, flexible and realistic manner. "This is becoming urgent," she added. "GET THIS DONE" A key fault-line in the negotiations lies between Western nations with major pharmaceutical industry sectors, and poorer countries who do not want to be sidelined when the next pandemic strikes. The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations said they wanted a pandemic agreement that enabled the private sector to innovate and respond effectively to future pandemics. But UK-based charity Oxfam said countries were facing a critical question: "Do you want an agreement that seriously and practically protects the health and economy of everybody on the planet, or do you want to protect the financial health of pharmaceutical companies?" The Panel for a Global Public Health Convention said the accord should serve as a baseline for action against pandemic threats, concluding: "We just urge you to keep it up and please get this done."Bengaluru has cemented its position as one of India’s leading office rental markets, with a 5.3% CAGR over 12 years. The city ranks third for rental growth among major tier-1 cities, according to the 2024 IIMB-CRE Matrix CPRI report. Bengaluru: Bengaluru has reinforced its status as one of India’s top cities in the office rental market, posting a solid 12-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.3 per cent. This places the city third in terms of rental growth among major tier-1 cities, according to the newly released IIMB-CRE Matrix Commercial Property Rental Index (CPRI) for 2024. 3.6% growth in India’s office rental market India’s first commercial property rental index, developed by the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) in collaboration with CRE Matrix, reveals that average effective rentals across key cities have grown by 3.6% based on a five-year CAGR. The index, which leverages over a decade of transactional data, offers detailed insights into rental trends across 10 major cities, representing 90% of Grade A and A+ office space. The index, a joint effort between the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) and CRE Matrix, provides an in-depth analysis of rental trends across India’s office real estate sector. Drawing from actual lease transaction data, the report highlights Grade A and A+ office properties in 10 major cities, with Bengaluru playing a pivotal role due to its large share of the country’s premium office stock. Key growth drivers in Bengaluru’s office rental market Bengaluru’s office rental market has exhibited remarkable consistency, with rents rising in 44 out of the past 50 quarters which is the highest among all other tier-1 cities. Key areas like Whitefield, South Bengaluru, and the Outer Ring Road have emerged as top performers, reflecting the city’s steady growth across various macro-markets. Localities with highest prominence Prominent contributors to Bengaluru’s growth include the Whitefield, South Bengaluru, and Central Business District regions. The city also witnessed its most significant quarterly increase of 4 per cent in the third quarter of 2013, signaling strong market performance. Click for more latest Bengaluru news . Also get top headlines and latest news from India and around the world at News9. Harsh Trivedi, working as a Senior Sub Editor at TV9 Network primarily covers news updates from 8 major cosmopolitan cities. Harsh is a language agnostic journalist who is committed to ethical, credible, factual and responsible journalism through his research-driven stories. He talks about ‘Free Press’ and its significance for a free and functional democracy. In his 4.5-year-long TV & Digital journalism journey, Harsh is experienced in covering politics, crime & sports for some of the country’s leading media outlets including Network 18, ITV - NewsX, and The Free Press Journal, with an added experience of on-ground coverage from Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh during the 2023-Five State Vidhan Sabha Elections.

Ogun trains automotive artisans on CNG conversion, maintenance

Salesforce, Marvell Technology, And Kroger Report As Earnings Season Slowing To A CrawlTeachers are allowed to use audiobooks to teach GCSE English. Literacy charities claim playing recorded stories during lessons can be “the key to unlocking ”. But critics fear their use risks lowering standards and damaging reading abilities. Primary and secondary schools in England, Wales and Scotland are allowed to play audiobooks in the classroom, where their use is at the discretion of individual teachers. On Monday, it emerged that one black GCSE pupil, 16, had to sit through his classmates’ laughter and stares when an audiobook version of played aloud the slur “n----r” uncensored during an English lesson. The book will be removed from the GCSE curriculum in Wales in September because of its use of the term. On online forums, teachers claim to have played audiobooks in the classroom when they are unwell, to limit disruption and because it can be “exhausting... to read in an emphatic and performative way while managing a class”. Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, told The Telegraph that the use of audiobooks was “saddening”. “It’s dehumanising a crucial relationship between teacher and pupil,” he said. “The foundation stone of learning is personal contact between pupil and teacher so if a machine is taking over, you are removing that. “It won’t make children better readers. It may be useful on occasion. In the 1950s we used to listen to the radio from time to time and that was an aid to learning. “But in the love of reading. Kids are increasingly captured by technology and if you have technology reading to them as well, it makes them even more captured. “It’s a sort of literacy cocaine, this stuff, because it provides more of what they already have too much of, when what they haven’t got enough of is human contact.” The National Literacy Trust (NLT) argues that in playing audiobooks in lessons, which it says teachers should do “regularly”. “Not only can students access stories that may be beyond their reading level, but they can hear them in a range of exciting voices and accents, and understand expressions and nuances not always clear from printed books,” it tells teachers in a “top tips for using audiobooks in the classroom” resource. But research conducted by the charity in 2023 indicates that a majority of under 18s prefer to “hear stories directly from adults including parents or carers [59.7 per cent] and teachers or librarians [53.4 per cent]” rather than audiobooks. Barrington Stoke, the dyslexia-friendly publisher, says that audiobooks are useful because reading can be “difficult” when children are first learning. “Hearing a story being read – whether it’s via audiobooks or someone reading to you – frees up students’ minds to imagine and to empathise, helping them to step inside a book,” the company wrote in a 2023 article for the BookTrust, the children’s reading charity. A spokesman for the Department for Education (DfE) said: “High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and maths, is a key part of our Plan for Change to ensure every child can achieve and thrive. “Teachers should encourage pupils to develop reading habits by listening to, discussing, and reading a wide range of literature.” A spokesman for the Welsh government said: “Schools have the flexibility to use a range of different approaches in the classroom. We do not prescribe a particular approach to audiobooks, and it is up to schools to determine how they teach particular texts. “We would encourage practitioners to use approaches that actively engage learners, giving them opportunities to ask questions and critically respond to material.” A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “In Scotland, teachers are able to use a range of different learning tools including, where appropriate, audiobooks.”

Former Virginia guard Jalen Warley is transferring to Gonzaga, according to several reports Monday. Gonzaga appeared to confirm the transfer by reposting the news on social media. Warley, who has 96 college games (58 starts) under his belt, will use a redshirt this year and spend 2025-26 in Spokane, Wash. Warley played three seasons at Florida State before transferring to Virginia before the 2024-25 season. He was allowed to enter the transfer portal again following the surprise retirement of coach Tony Bennett just three weeks before the season. With the Seminoles, Warley averaged 6.0 points, 2.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. His junior year was his best, as he put up 7.5 points, 2.8 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game over 33 appearances (32 starts). --Field Level Media