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No secrets as Bucs visit Dave Canales, Panthers for NFC South showdownRajnath Singh lauds efforts of Indian Army training institutesWWE + Netflix? Bela Bajaria Says 'Take a Big Swing'In the final push to defeat Nazi Germany during World War II, Edward Gorski Jr. was trying to shield himself inside a foxhole in the city of Berlin when the 19-year-old Chicagoan was struck by enemy fire. Gorski, a broad-shouldered Army private with a rugged face, was hit with mortar shrapnel after a fellow soldier in a nearby trench lit a fire for warmth, accidentally revealing their position to German forces. It was May 2, 1945, days after Adolf Hitler’s suicide and days before the end of the war in Europe. The shrapnel struck Gorski in the face, and he nearly lost an eye, but he survived to share some wartime stories — including how he earned a Purple Heart for his combat injuries. “He said you’d see bullets flying, especially at night, and you’d hear them zip,” said a son, Scott Gorski, 62, of North Carolina. “He told me as long as you hear them, you’re fine. It’s when you don’t hear the bullet, that’s when you’re hit.” His father died in early 1993 after suffering a massive heart attack in his Westmont home. The retired private security captain had turned 67 one month earlier. Another son, David, said that after his father’s death he put the Purple Heart and other medals in a bank safe-deposit box but eventually lost track of the box after he moved out of state and the bank closed or merged with another institution. The family assumed the contents of the safe-deposit box were gone forever until a recent December day when the Tribune tracked them down to say that their father’s medals, including the Purple Heart, had ended up in the unclaimed property section of the Illinois treasurer’s office. The office had preserved the medals in a Springfield vault since Oct. 30, 2003, when a Darien bank turned them over as contents from an abandoned safe-deposit box. Treasurer Michael Frerichs is the state’s official custodian of unclaimed property, which includes everything from bank accounts and insurance policies to stamps, baseball cards, jewelry and coins. An estimated $2 billion in forgotten cash and stock has been returned to individuals, employers and nonprofits during Frerichs’ three terms, according to his office. Military medals are often difficult to return because the name under which the property was submitted may not correspond to the name of the honoree. A Purple Heart has no engravings that would identify the recipient or the conflict in which it was awarded. And neither the Armed Forces nor the federal government maintains a comprehensive list. The treasurer launched a special effort, “Operation Purple Heart,” in late 2021 to raise awareness about unclaimed medals. The medals awarded to Edward Gorski Jr. ended up in the custody of the state treasurer’s office as unclaimed property after his family lost track of the safety-deposit box where they had been stored. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) On Veterans Day weekend, the Tribune detailed its efforts to help identify the veterans who earned 11 Purple Hearts that sat unclaimed in the treasurer’s vault. After four months of research, the Tribune succeeded in nine of the outstanding cases. Frerichs gave one of the Purple Hearts to a Decatur woman last fall, the 12th he has returned during his time in office. Two more families have filed claims for medals since the Tribune wrote about their cases. But the safe-deposit boxes connected to Gorski and another man, Robert Cawthon, remained a mystery. The Tribune continued digging and, with the help of researchers at the National Archives and Records Administration in St. Louis, unearthed Gorski’s discharge papers from nearly 80 years ago. The documents confirmed he earned the same five military decorations — including the Purple Heart and a blue combat infantryman badge — as those in the treasurer’s vault. Scott and David Gorski said their father was proud of his military service. They hope to honor his wishes by giving the medals to Scott’s oldest son, Shawn, also an Army veteran. Edward Gorski Jr. voluntarily enlisted in the Army in April 1944, months after his 18th birthday. The oldest child of working-class parents, he grew up on Chicago’s North Side near Wrigley Field. Tall and muscular, he and his brothers looked like their own football team, Scott Gorski said. He wasn’t surprised his father volunteered to serve. “He was a man’s man — there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “I remember my dad saying, ‘Scott, the most important thing about it is keeping the battle on their soil, not ours.’ He said, ‘When you have a battle on your soil, you’ve got a lot more casualties and a lot more problems. It just makes sense to bring the fight to them and away from our families.’” Edward Gorski Jr. and his wife, Evelyn, shown at a family wedding in August 1984, married not long after the end of World War II and lived in Westmont. The military records confirm some of Gorski’s stories. The infantryman and his battalion pushed from France through the Rhineland toward Austria, facing brutal cold, sleep deprivation and days of bloody, ruthless fighting. He survived significant combat, including the battle in the German capital of Berlin where he was struck by shrapnel in the face and body. Though he shielded his family from the atrocities he experienced at war, Scott Gorski said his father told him the hardest experiences were the casualties of men in his battalion, including being forced to leave them behind, and when he witnessed the suffering of children. “The biggest thing to him was some of the things he saw with poverty and kids during the war,” Scott Gorski said. “He remembers seeing a child eating grease in the back of a diner ... just scooping grease out of a bin and taking a sugar packet and pouring sugar on it just so he could get it down.” Gorski said his father told him he’d often share his military rations, such as peaches or chocolate bars. There was one story about a lighter moment that still makes Scott Gorski smile. After a relentless night of combat, as Edward Gorski and his fellow soldiers made their way through Austria, they spotted children sledding on a snowy hill. Ignoring his lieutenant’s command to push on, the soldier driving the truck carrying Gorski stopped to allow the men to run up and down the hill, each taking his turn sledding. “All they had seen was nothing but fighting,” the son said. “He said it made them feel normal for a change.” He said her father’s dedication to his country and fellow soldiers is inspiring. “I couldn’t imagine being that age and making those kinds of decisions every moment of the day while just trying to stay alive,” Scott Gorski said. “He said you really got to have guys who are looking out for each other, and obviously they did because he said a lot of his guys made it back. Some obviously didn’t.” As Edward Gorski fought overseas, his girlfriend, Evelyn, worked long hours at a Chicago parachute factory, according to David Gorski, 68, who now lives in Wisconsin. “They were sweethearts,” he said. “I bet every night she went to bed wondering if he was all right. My mother put herself to work as much as her body could handle so she wouldn’t think about it.” Edward Gorski returned to Chicago after being honorably discharged in November 1945. He had earned a Purple Heart, a European-African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars, a combat infantryman badge, and the good conduct and World War II victory medals, according to his discharge records. He and Evelyn exchanged vows in a Presbyterian church the following September. David Gorski said his mother had saved her paychecks to help the young couple begin their lives as husband and wife. They started a family on Chicago’s North Side but eventually moved to suburban DuPage County. They lived mostly paycheck to paycheck, with Evelyn staying home to raise their daughter and four sons while working part time selling Avon beauty products. Gorski worked for a while as a welder but eventually switched careers to private security. He worked 13-hour shifts, six days a week, for many years, David Gorski said. Edward Gorski Jr., right, shared a special bond with his grandson Shawn, seen at age 7 at a football game. (Lora Oldham) On some weekends, Gorski took his family on excursions to the Wisconsin Dells, to Springfield or into Chicago for a hot dog at Jimmy’s Red Hots, for a Cubs game or to catch perch at his favorite fishing spot, “the horseshoe” near Montrose Harbor on Lake Michigan. Scott Gorski said his dad “never met a stranger,” at times opening his home to a neighborhood kid in need. His patriotic dad played cards with other veterans at local VFW or American Legion halls and put Scott through scouting, helping troop members earn their safety badges by teaching target practice with rifles he acquired for the task. “There was nothing he wouldn’t sacrifice for us,” his son said. Years later, after he retired, Edward Gorski often babysat his first grandchild, Shawn, who is Scott’s oldest child. Edward and Shawn shared the same birth date, Jan. 9. Shawn Gorski, of Geneva, told the Tribune his grandpa “stepped in” at a crucial time after his parents divorced. Edward took Shawn to fish for bluegills, to play tennis at the courts outside his apartment and for regular trips to Lincoln Park Zoo. He also dutifully attended Shawn’s football games and came along for a trip to Disney World in Florida when Shawn was about 5. “I think he just knew that he needed to be there for me,” said Gorski, 39. Shawn was barely 8 years old when his grandfather died. He still remembers when his mother, Lora Oldham, broke the news to him after he returned home from school. Gorski said he instantly knew his grandfather was gone before his mother spoke the words. Shawn Gorski of Geneva, the first-born grandson of World War II veteran Edward Gorski Jr., also served in the Army. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) At the services, Oldham said, a woman turned to her son and told him: “You were the apple of your grandpa’s eyes.” “And Shawn just started bawling,” she said. “He was always so good to Shawn.” After college, inspired to serve his country after the 9/11 attacks, Shawn Gorski followed in his grandpa’s footsteps and joined the Army. Gorski said he served from 2009 to 2013 as a signal officer in Germany training soldiers on communications before they were deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. He said his grandfather was “my buddy, for sure.” “He was incredibly patient and fun,” Gorski said. “It was literally my rules. He had multiple heart attacks and, I think, he knew he wasn’t going to live long and so just kind of let it be, you know, just enjoyed it.” Edward Gorski had a scar shaped like a half “C” beneath his left eye that served as a daily reminder of what he survived during World War II. He also had his medals, which his son Scott said his father kept in a metal Band-Aid tin in his bedroom nightstand. “I think it meant a lot to him,” the son said. “It showed him he wasn’t going to run from something.” Scott assumed the medals were long lost, not realizing his brother David had put them in a bank after their father’s death. “I set the deposit box up because I wanted to keep them safe for my parents’ oldest grandson,” David said. “My dad expressed when he was alive and Shawn was very young that he wanted them to go to him.” David Gorski moved to central Wisconsin nearly 25 years ago with his mother and eventually lost track of the box. The medals ended up in Illinois’ unclaimed property section in late 2003. The only information the state had was David’s name and a post office box address in Darien. A case in the unclaimed property vault of the Illinois treasurer’s office in Springfield holds 11 Purple Heart medals that were turned over to the state. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) After researching several families with the same Polish moniker and connections to the western suburbs, the Tribune identified the correct Gorski through obituaries, old addresses, military records and other public documents. One of the records confirmed that David Gorski once held a P.O. box with the same address as the one the bank provided. The family didn’t know about the treasurer’s “Operation Purple Heart” campaign. Scott moved to North Carolina the year before his father died. Evelyn, David and an older brother were in Wisconsin. Another brother died in 1995. A sister lived in Florida until recently. Scott Gorski said he plans to file a claim, with David’s help, to get back their father’s medals and give them to Shawn. Edward Gorski is buried at Elm Lawn Memorial Park in Elmhurst. Sadly, his widow died weeks before the Tribune contacted the family with information about her husband’s long-lost medals. Evelyn Gorski, who never remarried, died on Oct. 8 in Wausau, Wisconsin. She was 99. More than 30 years after her husband’s death, she is now buried alongside him. Their shared grave marker includes an emblem of a cross, an open Bible and the words “together forever.” Anyone with information about a Purple Heart return, particularly a safe-deposit box connected to Robert Cawthon, is urged to contact the Illinois treasurer’s office at claimantconnect@illinoistreasurer.gov . For more information, visit https://www.illinoistreasurer.gov/purplehearts/ . cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com
Adebayo represented Team USA at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, both times winning gold, and has signed an extension contract with the Miami Heat that will reportedly bring in US$166 million over 3 years The WNBA recently announced Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson, 28, as their unanimous pick for MVP this year. With an average of 26.9 points and 11.8 this season, the forward is only the second player ever in the league to win the title with unanimous votes since the league launched in 1997. {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Las Vegas Aces centre A’ja Wilson celebrates a play against the Chicago Sky during a WNBA basketball game in September, in Las Vegas. Photo: Las Vegas Sun via Associated Press","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/12/24/0632d315-0dd1-41ff-8164-f879946da67c_14283aa7.jpg"} Las Vegas Aces centre A’ja Wilson celebrates a play against the Chicago Sky during a WNBA basketball game in September, in Las Vegas. Photo: Las Vegas Sun via Associated Press While she’ll likely be celebrating her victory with teammates and family, she might also be sharing this career highlight with her rumoured boyfriend, fellow basketball pro Bam Adebayo, 27. Advertisement {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Bam Adebayo is rumoured to be in a relationship with A’ja Wilson. Photo: @bam1of1/Instagram","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/12/24/ad47c190-c2d8-4360-9285-565f56431e50_7390c88c.jpg"} Bam Adebayo is rumoured to be in a relationship with A’ja Wilson. Photo: @bam1of1/Instagram Speculation around the two escalated when a photo was posted on the Miami Heat’s X (formerly Twitter) account. The pic, captioned, “A’random [apostrophe included] photo of Bam on this lovely Sunday,” following the announcement of Wilson’s win, seemed to confirm the ballers’ relationship. In September, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava slipped when asked why Wilson was in attendance at the ceremony when she presented Adebayo with the key to the city. She told reporters that Wilson’s appearance might have “something to do with Bam and the Heat”. {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"A Polaroid of Bam Adebayo taken in September, in Miami, Florida. Photo: Getty Images via AFP","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/12/24/802d5200-ac80-4c10-aeba-5ed62f712297_fea988db.jpg"} A Polaroid of Bam Adebayo taken in September, in Miami, Florida. Photo: Getty Images via AFP Despite these telltale signs of the two’s relationship, the two players neither confirmed nor denied their involvement. Taking home the MVP title for the third time, it could well be that Wilson prefers the spotlight on her performance on the court rather than her personal relationship. With a lucrative contract extension with the Miami Heat, endorsement deals, and running a charitable foundation, Adebayo also has plenty on his plate. So what do we know about him? Bam Adebayo’s humble beginnings {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Bam Adebayo gets his nickname from The Flintstones. Photo: @bam1of1/Instagram","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/12/24/9f634dc7-d667-421e-96f9-063e0c49f8e7_7390c88c.jpg"} Bam Adebayo gets his nickname from The Flintstones. Photo: @bam1of1/InstagramConor McGregor embarked on a social media rampage as he called rape accuser Nikita Hand a "vicious liar" after a civil jury found that the MMA fighter sexually assaulted his accuser in a Dublin hotel in 2018. The 36-year-old was found liable by a jury in the High Court in the Irish capital, as $259,002.55 was awarded to the complainant in the civil trial. The allegations were first made by Ms Hand in 2021, with the verdict eventually delivered after six hours and ten minutes of deliberation from the jury on Nov. 22. This followed an eight-day trial, during which the former UFC champion admitted he had consensual sex with Ms Hand , as well as taking cocaine with her. McGregor having since vowed to appeal against the decision, while it was determined by the jury that a second defendant, James Lawrence, was cleared of any wrongdoing after being accused of assault. McGregor has now taken to social media to give his view on the findings of the civil trial, as posted the following message on Twitter/X: "Justice was served for James Lawrence, yes! Deplorable what they done. Nikita Hand, vicious liar! APPEAL! Every word Conor McGregor rape accuser said outside court after winning assault case Conor McGregor supported by Dee Devlin at court before losing civil court case "Two men falsely accused. One vindicated, the other soon to be! Congrats James Lawrence on absolute exoneration! Twice this heinous accusation was put to you and twice it was shown as FALSE! LIES! "It is absolutely disgraceful what they put you through here. Disgraceful! I look forward to seeing you further vindicate yourself and lambast those responsible in court! We know what happened that night! Everyone present knows, yet it was ignored. Every single statement of persons present on the night was ignored. And they all disputed Nikita’s LIES! "However James they did believe you but just in certain parts for some strange reason. And they apparently did not believe Danielle Kealy at all. Laughable! Also with the damages (60k and 188k, interesting choice of figures it seems they didn’t believe Nikita much either. How could they, her original story was she was gang raped by security and chased from the hotel on foot. "Absolute nonsense. How these lies were accepted, I will never know. A court of feeling and opinion, brainwashed in to people via the mainstream media. Not of fact! The reporting in court a laughing stock to everyone present. As clear as day bias. This is not a court of hard evidence and truth." He added: "It is a kangaroo court of opinions and feelings. We are not done yet. Not by a long shot. No chance. On we fight! Justice and truth will prevail! Appeal! Appeal! Appeal! As well as other. Congrats James! Onwards and upwards!" Speaking after the conclusion of the civil trial, Ms Hand issued a statement as she expressed gratitude for the support she has received during proceedings. She said: "I would like to start off by saying I’m overwhelmed and touched by the support I have received from everybody.” “I want to thank all the women and men out there who have supported me throughout this trial. For every person who reached out to me – a card, a letter, an email, everything – it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Thank you, I really appreciate it so much. Ms Hand added: "I know this has impacted not only my life, my daughter’s, my family and friends tremendously. It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. Now that justice has been served, I can now try and move on and look forward to the future with my family and friends and daughter."
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Capuski/E+ via Getty Images Overview SoundHound AI ( NASDAQ: SOUN ) has always been a potential Home Run in the nascent AI application industry. I wrote a previous article, Sound Hound AI: Too Many Inconsistencies To Consider Buying , with a Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, but may initiate a beneficial Long position through a purchase of the stock, or the purchase of call options or similar derivatives in SOUN over the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Sensex ends in green, Adani Ports top gainerManchester United Football Club is to cut the funding it provides to its charitable arm as part of a purge of costs being overseen by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, its newest billionaire shareholder. Sky News has learnt that the Premier League club plans to inform the Manchester United Foundation that it intends to curb the benefits it provides - which totalled close to £1m last year - from 2025 onwards. Sources close to the situation said a substantial element of the support given to the Foundation by the club would be axed, although Old Trafford insiders insisted on Sunday that it would still provide "significant" support to the charitable wing. A decision is said to have been made by the club's leadership to proceed with the cuts, with the Foundation expected to be informed about the scale of the reductions in the coming weeks. In 2023, the club paid the MU Foundation nearly £175,000 for charity services, which include managing the distribution of signed merchandise to individuals raising funds for charitable causes. Manchester United also provided gifts in kind amounting to £665,000 last year, which were understood to include use of the Old Trafford pitch and other facilities, alongside free club merchandise and the use of back-office services such as the club's IT capabilities. The MU Foundation works in local communities around Manchester and Salford to engage with underprivileged and marginalised people. Its projects include Street Reds, which is targeted at 8- to 18-year-olds, and Primary Reds, which works in school classrooms with 5- to 11-year-olds. It also organises hospital visits to support children with life-threatening illnesses. Read more from Money: Starmer throws down gauntlet to watchdogs with growth edict Shoppers complain about Easter eggs already on shelves Searchlight shines on £140m funding package for insurer Wefox The disclosure about the latest target of cost-cutting by Sir Jim's Ineos Sports group, which now owns close to a 29% stake of Manchester United, comes just a day after The Sun revealed that an association set up to facilitate relations between former players, would see its club funding axed. A similar move has been made in relation to funding for the club's disabled fans' group, while hundreds of full-time staff have been made redundant in recent months and costs have been slashed across most areas of its operations. People close to the club anticipate further cost-cutting measures being introduced as soon as next month. One club source said it remained "proud of the work carried out by the Manchester United Foundation to increase opportunities for vulnerable young people across Greater Manchester". "All areas of club expenditure are being reviewed due to ongoing losses. "However, significant support for the Foundation will continue." Sir Jim has injected $300m of his multibillion pound fortune into Manchester United, although it will need to raise substantially more than that to fund redevelopments to Old Trafford or a new stadium. Last year, the club, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, lost more than £110m, with sizeable interest payments totalling tens of millions of pounds annually required to service its debt burden. The men's first team has seen an alarming run of results under Ruben Amorim, who was appointed to succeed Erik Ten Hag in the autumn. Follow our channel and never miss an update United have lost three of their last four matches - the exception being a derby win away at Manchester City - and lie 14th in the Premier League table. Mr Amorim has acknowledged that he could face the same fate as Mr Ten Hag unless results improve. Be the first to get Breaking News Install the Sky News app for free Dan Ashworth, who was brought in from Newcastle United FC as sporting director in the summer, left after just five months. Manchester United declined to comment formally on the proposed cuts to the funding of its charitable arm.
By BILL BARROW, Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023 , spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors . He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners . He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian , would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn’t long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” The Carters and a “Peanut Brigade” of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015 . “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” ___ Former Associated Press journalist Alex Sanz contributed to this report.Katie Holmes celebrates a 'light in my life' with heartwarming photo: 'I love you very much'
OTTAWA - Peter Anholt tried to keep things light as he emerged from one of the elevators at Canada's hotel. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support. Starting at $14.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website. or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! OTTAWA - Peter Anholt tried to keep things light as he emerged from one of the elevators at Canada's hotel. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? OTTAWA – Peter Anholt tried to keep things light as he emerged from one of the elevators at Canada’s hotel. The temperature had been turned way up on the veteran hockey executive and the country’s under-20 program after a stunning upset some 12 hours earlier. “You only want to talk to me when things are bad, eh?” Anholt joked to reporters Saturday morning. Canada head coach Dave Cameron speaks to his players during third period IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship preliminary round action against Latvia in Ottawa on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick “Is that how this works?” That is indeed what happens when a powerhouse with a record 20 gold medals expected to roll over an opponent suffers one of its worst all-time defeats at the tournament. Canada was embarrassed on home soil 3-2 by Latvia — a country it had thumped by a combined 41-4 score across four previous meetings — in a shocking shootout Friday. Coming off a disastrous fifth-place finish last year in Sweden and having talked a lot about upping their compete level and preparation, the Canadians looked disjointed for long stretches against the plucky, hard-working Latvians. The power play finally clicked late in the third period, but stands at 1-for-7 through two games, while the top line of Easton Cowan, Calum Ritchie and Bradly Nadeau has yet to translate its pre-tournament chemistry into success in the spotlight. “We’re certainly trying to problem solve, but not throw the baby out with the bath water,” said Anholt, who heads the world junior setup. “We’ve got to be really careful.” Canada, which picked up a solid 4-0 victory over Finland to open its tournament Thursday, had plenty of offensive zone time and directed 57 shots at Latvian goaltender Linards Feldbergs. Included in that total, however, were far too many one-and-done efforts from the perimeter with little traffic in front. There were, of course, desperate spurts — especially late in regulation and in 3-on-3 overtime — but not nearly enough for a roster peppered with first-round NHL draft picks and top prospects. “We played really, really hard,” Anholt said in defending his players. “We controlled the puck lots. We created some chances. Their goalie was really good and they defended really good ... 99 times out of 100 we win that game.” Hoping for a big response Sunday against Germany before meeting the United States on New Year’s Eve to tie a bow on round-robin action in Group A, Canada will have to push ahead minus one of its best players. Star defenceman Matthew Schaefer was injured Friday and is done for the tournament after he slammed into Latvia’s net and skated off favouring his left shoulder area. “Tough blow for the kid,” Anholt said. “The way he plays the game, he plays it at such a high speed.” Cowan, a Toronto Maple Leafs first-round selection, said Canada remains confident despite Friday’s ugly result in the nation’s capital. “We’re good,” said the 19-year-old from Mount Brydges, Ont. “Everyone’s lost a hockey game before.” But not like that — or to that opponent on that stage. “Bit of a (crappy) feeling,” said Nadeau, a Carolina Hurricanes prospect from St-Francois-de-Madawaska, N.B. “We all know what this group is capable of. Losing that game is not our standard. “We’ll bounce back.” Some corners of social media exploded following the Latvian debacle, with heavy criticism directed at head coach Dave Cameron and the team’s overall roster construction. “We’re not really worried about it,” defenceman and Ottawa native Oliver Book, who like Cowan is back from last year’s team, said of the outside noise. “We know we didn’t play well.” Canada appears poised to mix things up against the Germans. Vancouver Canucks prospect Sawyer Mynio of Kamloops, B.C., is set draw in for Schaefer, while Anholt indicated there’s a good chance forward Carson Rehkopf will get his first crack at the 2025 tournament as a returnee. The 19-year-old Seattle Kraken second-round pick from Vaughan, Ont., has scored a combined 78 goals over his last 97 regular-season and playoff games in the Ontario Hockey League. “Great player,” Cowan said. “He finds ways.” Anholt said taking a big-picture approach is key in challenging moments. “Let’s not panic,” he said. “The world hasn’t fallen in. It’s hard, but we’ll learn from it.” It’s something Canada will have to do under intense scrutiny. “People are gonna love you and people are gonna hate you,” said Cowan, who has a goal an assist through two games. “Gotta keep doing you.” Anholt, who was also at the helm 12 months ago when Canada never got in gear, isn’t getting 2024 vibes from this year’s group. “Not even in any way, shape or form,” he said. “We’ve just got to take care of business.” They get a first shot at redemption Sunday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 28, 2024. Advertisement AdvertisementHuman rights organisation Amnesty International on Wednesday demanded a transparent investigation of the state’s “deadly crackdown” to disperse PTI supporters from Islamabad’s D-Chowk where they had gathered for the party’s high-stakes protest. More than 10,000 protesters surged into the city on the weekend, defying a ban on public gatherings and a lockdown to skirmish with 20,000 security forces enlisted to turn them back, AFP reported. As PTI supporters inched towards the heavily barricaded D-Chowk late on Tuesday, the police and security forces employed intense teargas shelling to disperse the protesters. After a day of clashes between security forces and protesters in the city’s Red Zone ended in the party leadership’s hasty retreat , the PTI announced in the early hours of Wednesday that it was calling off its planned protest sit-in “for the time being”. What we know so far: Overnight, security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters wielding sticks and slingshots, as roadblocks were set ablaze. By early Wednesday, AFP staff saw the main thoroughfare towards Islamabad’s government enclave cleared of crowds, and security forces in riot gear being bussed away from the area. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement they had “bravely repulsed the protesters”. The PTI harshly criticised the interior minister for his statements and blamed him for the alleged violence against its supporters, claiming multiple deaths. Condemning the violence, Amnesty issued a statement in a post on X, saying: “Yet again, protesters in Pakistan have faced a brutal and lethal crackdown shrouded in a callous opacity by the authorities. “Urgent and transparent investigation is needed into the deadly crackdown on protesters.” Babu Ram Pant, deputy regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International, said that the escalation of violence, shutdown of mobile internet services, mass detentions and “alarming rhetoric” against PTI protesters by the authorities spoke of a “pattern of intolerance” for the right to freedom of peaceful assembly throughout the country, adding that similar clampdowns were witnessed earlier this year against Baloch and Pakhtun protesters. “Disturbing reports and testimonies regarding the unlawful use of force, including lethal ammunition, against protesters, during a government-enforced communication blackout, are emerging from yesterday. Continued restrictions on reporting by media and independent observers have made it difficult to verify the number of casualties and raise urgent questions about accountability for human rights abuses. “Amnesty International calls for a prompt, thorough, impartial, effective and transparent investigation into the deaths and injuries of protesters as well as the unlawful use of force, including lethal and less-lethal weapons, by security personnel. Authorities must also immediately release all protesters detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly,” the statement quoted him as saying. Earlier this morning, the heavily fortified Red Zone was empty of protesters but several of their vehicles were left behind, including the remains of a truck from which former first lady Bushra Bibi had been leading the protests that appeared charred by flames, according to Reuters witnesses. Women and children collect recyclables from the burnt truck used by Bushra Bibi, after security forces launched a raid on PTI supporters who had stormed the capital demanding his release on Tuesday, in Islamabad on Nov 27, 2024. — Reuters A rally truck used by Bushra Bibi burns near the red zone after a protest to demand Imran Khan’s release, in Islamabad on Nov 27, 2024. — AFP As PTI supporters faced off with security personnel across the federal capital on Tuesday, with both sides using tear gas and rubber bullets, at least two were killed and over 60 were injured during clashes. The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) confirmed the death of two civilians and injuries to around 60 persons, including security personnel. At least three injured policemen and 10 civilians were also shifted to Polyclinic for treatment. A total of six lives were lost in the three days of protests, which included a policeman and three Rangers officials who perished in a vehicular accident , officials and hospital sources said. View this post on Instagram In its press release , which announced the suspension of its protest, the PTI claimed that “dozens” of its workers were shot at directly and killed, of which it said it had the details of eight and listed their purported names. The PTI said it was “not a military or armed party and neither does it consider itself to be willing to have its citizens slaughtered by state murderers”. Highlighting that its supporters cleared “all difficulties, obstacles, violence, savage barbarism” to reach D-Chowk but “would not allow the bodies of its citizens to pile up”. View this post on Instagram According to the press release, the PTI had a “long history peaceful political struggle and kept blocking the way of the government plan to pile up bodies since November 24”. The party also stated the dates of previous protests since its 2022 ouster where it said it “failed each of the government’s attempts to drench every peaceful protest in blood” — three from 2022 and four from 2023. While calling off the protest, the PTI also reaffirmed its intention to “keep struggling” for “ haqeeqi azadi ” (actual freedom). The PTI paid tribute to citizens and its workers for coming to Islamabad from all across the country for the protest, as well as overseas Pakistanis who heeded its call for global protests. It further said it was immensely grateful to the residents of Islamabad and Rawalpindi for the hospitality they offered to the party convoys. The PTI also shared a photo of a “list of injured persons in Federal Government Polyclinic, Islamabad” on November 26 “during political protest”, which listed the details of 26 people with “gunshot” wounds and two others who succumbed to their injuries. The two men who died were aged 20 and 24 years, according to the list, while those injured were aged between 19 and 50 years and belonged to mostly KP, with a few from the federal capital. The PTI called the document a “partial list of those admitted to a single hospital in Islamabad”. PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja issued a video message and similarly alleged that “at least 20 people were martyred”, adding that the party had the “complete evidence” available for eight dead and it would make the data for the others available too. He further alleged that hospital data and records in Islamabad were being tampered and manipulated with doctors told to not provide the data to families. “Straight firing was carried out ... they were live bullets and people lost their lives. Shells were directly fired at people which caused deaths,” Raja claimed. The PTI official said that it would be a “complete lie” for anyone to deny that no firing was carried out by law enforcement agencies, adding that the party would pursue and file cases against all those involved. In a separate post earlier today, the PTI said a “massacre has unfolded in Pakistan at the hands of security forces”. It accused the armed security forces of launching a “violent assault on peaceful PTI protesters in Islamabad, firing live rounds with the intent to kill as many people as possible”. It went on to compare last night’s clashes to the violence in East Pakistan in 1971. “The rulers have learned nothing from history and are prepared to destroy the country to cling to their illegitimate power,” the post went on to say. “With hundreds dead and countless injured, the interior minister’s threat to kill and then the declaration of ‘victory’ over slaughtered innocents is enough evidence of the regime’s inhumanity.” PTI called on the international community to condemn the “atrocity and the erosion of democracy and humanity in Pakistan”, as well as take action against it. Meanwhile, after fleeing from the site of the Islamabad protest, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur resurfaced in Mansehra, where he assured his party workers that the “sit-in is still ongoing”. Addressing a press conference in the afternoon in Mansehra, CM Gandapur said that it would not end till PTI founder Imran Khan ordered so. “People have died in this protest, we must pray for them,” the chief minister said during the press conference held at the residence of KP Speaker Babar Saleem Swati. View this post on Instagram “We have been targets of violence,” he said, lamenting that the PTI was not permitted to protest whenever it sought to. “When we gave the protest call, we said this would be peaceful. Imran Khan said we will go to D-Chowk peacefully and we will not go ahead of D-Chowk where we are not permitted. “[Imran] Khan sahib gave this call, and he said this protest will continue until I call it off,” CM Gandapur highlighted. The chief minister remarked, “It is not necessary that every sit-in has people in it.” “Unfortunately, our party has been cracked down upon, our mandate has been stolen. Our leader is in jail, our leader’s wife was thrown in jail,” Gandapur said, referring to Imran and Bushra, who was recently freed on bail after nine months in jail. “We were going peacefully, talking peacefully, and in the end, the govt came in our path and inflicted violence on us. Why were bullets rained down on us?” the KP CM asked. Terming the planned sit-in a “revolution”, the chief minister said: “If you try and stop it, people will come through other means.” Speaking alongside Gandapur, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan alleged there was “an attack with a murderous intent” on Gandapur and Bushra Bibi at D-Chowk, where they were leading their convoy. “We are a democratic and peaceful party. We were shot at, which I gravely condemn,” the MNA said. Ayub also called for an investigation into the deaths of two policemen and three Rangers personnel. He claimed “rescuing” five policemen from Pathargarh in Islamabad. “We are not unjust but others are unjust to us in return,” he lamented. Bushra Bibi, CM Gandapur and Ayub were set to address an “emergency” press conference at 11am today, according to Taimur Saleem Swati, senior vice president of PTI’s Hazara chapter. However, when the two men finally addressed the media, the former first lady was not seen alongside them. Gandapur’s announcement came after the PTI called off the protest. A press release shared by the party on its official X account read: “In view of the government’s brutality and the government’s plan to turn the capital into a slaughterhouse for unarmed citizens, [we] announce the suspension of the peaceful protest for the time being.” It added that future plan of action would be announced “in light of the directions” of its incarcerated founder Imran Khan after the party’s political and core committees presented their “analyses of the state brutality” to him. The statement, issued by the party spokesperson, condemned the alleged “killing” and “terror and brutality against peaceful protesters in the name of an operation”. The party appealed to Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi to take suo motu notice of the alleged “brutal murder of martyred [party] workers” and order legal action against the prime minister and interior minister as well as Islamabad and Punjab police chiefs for “attempt to murder”. “We will chalk out the new strategy later after proper consultation, Mohammad Asim, PTI’s Peshawar president, told Reuters . He said that Bushra Bibi as well as CM Gandapur had returned “safely” to KP from Islamabad. The late-night retreat by the PTI leadership, including Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and CM Gandapur, came after the latter was heard telling the protesters “to go home, have dinner and return tomorrow”. Meanwhile, the Islamabad police chief said the law enforcement agencies had arrested nearly 1,000 protesters after crowds were evicted from the federal capital in a sweeping security crackdown. Addressing a press conference, Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ali Nasir Rizvi said 954 protesters were arrested between Sunday and Tuesday by law enforcement agencies when the crowds came within 1.6 kilometres of the government enclave. He said that 610 of the arrests were made “only on Tuesday alone”. “We will not tolerate any terrorist activity,” Rizvi said. “How can you call it a protest when law enforcement personnel are fired upon, or when public property is damaged? “This is not protest ... this is terrorism and terrorism is a form of crime,” the IGP said. He warned that the protesters and those who “instigated” them would be booked. According to the IGP, the demonstrators wielded “every kind of weapon” during the rally. “They were armed with AK47s, they had pistols, every kind of 7.62mm weapon and sniper rifles,” he said, adding that protesters used tear gas and slingshots to attack law enforcement personnel. The IGP added that over 200 vehicles were impounded by police, while 39 weapons were seized, including Kalashnikovs, pistols and 12-bore weapons. “These terrorists brought them and used them on police,” Rizvi said. “Seventy-one law enforcement officers were injured over the last three days, with 52 of them injured only yesterday,” he said. “Of those 52, 27 have suffered firearm injuries.” Meanwhile, a statement from the Punjab police issued on the X account of state broadcaster PTV said 22 vehicles were damaged while over 170 personnel were injured and one dead. Meanwhile, addressing a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lamented that the damages from the PTI rally inflicted a daily loss of Rs190 billion to the national exchequer. “This is hurting exports ... containers bound for Karachi port are being used to block roads,” the PM said. “There is no more unforgivable crime than damaging the country for personal gain.” He added that life in the twin cities had ground to a standstill. “Businesses were closed, factory owners were worried and labourers were unable to afford meals,” he said. The PM added that as a result of the PTI descending on the capital, the stock market plunged, causing further economic loss. “The stock market exceeded 99,000 points three days ago, a historic milestone,” Shehbaz said. “Within a day, it plummeted by 4,000 points, but once peace was restored, it rose above 99,000 once more.” He added that investments only went “where there is peace”, branding the protesters “enemies of Pakistan’s development” due to the impact of the rally on the country’s economy. The prime minister reiterated that the government needed to make harsh decisions to save the state and maintain Pakistan’s progress and prosperity. “We cannot spend all of our energy trying to stop these miscreants,” he said, referring to the PTI and their supporters. “Either we make these choices or deal with these sit-ins daily.” He said he would not allow the state’s efforts to revive the economy go to waste due to civil and social disturbance. “I will not let this happen. I want to make it very clear,” he warned. View this post on Instagram Separately, in another instance of apparent reservations among the PTI, former KP minister Shaukat Yousafzai questioned why the party’s central leadership was “not seen” at the much-touted protest. “No one from our central leadership was there,” Yousafzai, the party’s KP secretary general, told Dawn.com . PTI leader Shaukat Yousafzai speaks in a video statement. — via Umar Bacha “Where did our leadership disappear? Where were Barrister Gohar, Salman Akram Raja and [Sher Afzal] Marwat?” he asked. “The people who call themselves leaders, where were they? I only saw Ali Amin Gandapur, Asad Qaiser, Omar Ayub and Ali [...]. The other leadership was not seen, why was that?” The PTI leader also said it was a “mistake” to term the protest a “final call”. “We are politicians, we must pay attention to the mistakes we make. This [protest] should not have been called final call.” Yousafzai also questioned why “there was no dialogue” with the government, taking aim at why Bushra’s decisions regarding the protest were heeded. Referring to KP government spokesperson Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif’s statements of Imran agreeing to the government’s offer of an alternative protest venue, he wondered: “Why was this not followed? Who stopped it?” “Gandapur was made a sacrificial goat. He had pressure from the workers and the party,” the PTI leader told Dawn.com . “Now the question arises that Bushra Bibi didn’t have any authority. Yes, she is Imran’s wife, she has a lot of love for him. But the party’s decisions should have been made by the party,” he added, referring to Saif saying that the PTI founder’s wife had not agreed to the venue proposal. “Why did they sideline the party’s old workers and leadership?” the PTI leader asked, stressing that party supporters came on Imran’s call, not someone else’s. “If someone said Bushra wasn’t listening to them, then she should have been removed from the party. Why cause all this chaos in the party?” Yousafzai asked, terming it “cruelty” with the PTI and Imran. “We are political people, who stopped us from doing dialogue? Who decided not to go to Sangjani, and why? All these questions are what the workers will ask, and we will have to give answers,” he asserted. “But what did we do? We caused the party so much loss. We just abandoned our workers.” Policemen fire tear gas shells to disperse PTI supporters during a protest demanding the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, at the Red Zone area in Islamabad on Nov 26, 2024. — AFP While Yousafzai acknowledged that the party needed to “review our own mistakes”, he also decried the “cruelty that the government inflicted, which is not something secret”, comparing it to the Israeli administration. Nevertheless, the ex-minister also hailed that “people showed up in such large numbers and braved hardships to reach D-Chowk” to support the PTI. “There was a one-sided crackdown on the people. Political culture has been ruined,” he said. Speaking about the deaths of policemen and Rangers, Yousafzai said he was “disheartened about those who were martyred from both sides”. “Now they (the government) are saying they have cleaned Islamabad. No, you have hurt people, you have killed people. You have lost even when you have won,” the PTI leader quipped. “We will definitely reflect on our mistakes and make our party stand again. God-willing, we will struggle again,” Yousafzai said, urging workers to be united. Similarly, Imran’s sister Aleema Khanum also heaped criticism on those leading the main convoy. “Why was the sound and light on the container shut early evening? As a result, in total darkness, there were no instructions or any guidance available for the people on the ground. “We pleaded all evening for the light and sound on the container to be turned on, but there was no response by the people giving instructions,” she said in a post on X. Meanwhile, data services, after remaining suspended for four days , were restored in various areas of Islamabad — including Red Zone and Bani Gala — as well as Rawalpindi, Dawn.com correspondents reported. The internet services were “restored at 7am”, PTA Chairman (retired) Major General Hafeezur Rehman confirmed to Dawn.com . Containers can be seen near D-Chowk in Islamabad on the morning of Nov 27, 2024. — Umar Bacha Rangers personnel can be seen on duty in Islamabad, on Nov 27, 2024. — Umar Bacha A Dawn.com correspondent at the site in the morning reported there was no public at D-Chowk but police and other security personnel were present. According to the Associated Press of Pakistan , business activities were resuming in the federal capital, with the district administration’s cleanup efforts underway. While containers blocking various roads in the city had been removed, APP said, the removal of containers from Murree Road, which was sealed off for three days due to the protests, was in progress. All motorways were reopened for traffic, including routes between Islamabad and Lahore, the report noted. A Dawn.com correspondent also confirmed that containers were being removed from the road connecting Islamabad to Rawalpindi. Public transport and bus stations had been reopened as well, the correspondent added. On the other hand, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar refuted the PTI’s allegations of security forces shooting at its protesters. State-run Radio Pakistan quoted Tarar as saying no firing was carried out on PTI protesters and there were no fatalities among them. During a visit to the D-Chowk and Jinnah Avenue in Islamabad overnight, he said that while the protesters were dispersed, there was no state firing involved. The minister said PTI protesters had damaged public property, referring to the deserted vehicles left behind by the protesters. He criticised CM Gandapur and Bushra for fleeing after “making big claims”. Speaking to the media, he claimed that the PTI convoys “crashed their own vehicles into each other” in a hurry to flee the scene. He described the protesters as leaving behind their shoes and clothes while fleeing. The minister further said that forensics would be carried out of “documents that got burned in the container” being used by the PTI, implying it was done on purpose. City administration tows away a burnt truck used by the PTI during its protest, after security forces launched a raid on PTI supporters who had stormed the capital a day ago, in Islamabad on Nov 27, 2024. — Umar Bacha “The interior minister was constantly monitoring. That the right time would come and then we would deal with them,” Tarar said, asserting that the government did not want bloodshed. Taking a jibe at Imran terming the protest a “final call”, Tarar dismissed it as nothing more than “a missed call”, the APP reported. In a separate televised statement , echoing Naqvi’s stance from yesterday, asserted that there were “no concessions and no talks under any circumstances” with the PTI. Amid the tense political atmosphere, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) called for “political introspection”, demanding that the government and the PTI “enter a purposeful political dialogue”. “HRCP demands that the government and the opposition, the PTI, immediately enter a purposeful political dialogue, both on the floor of the house and between different political parties,” it said in a statement . “It is high time that they agree on a peaceful way forward instead of whipping up the emotions of their respective political workers and bringing the country to a standstill, particularly in Islamabad and Punjab, violating others’ freedom of movement and livelihood in the process,” the group stressed. HRCP called for “political introspection” for all sides, saying it was “deeply disturbing” that the loss of life in protests and rallies “has been of little concern for any of our political actors”. “Whether law enforcers or political workers, any casualty must be unacceptable for all,” it stated, adding that the group shared the grief of those who lost family members in “violent protests and through the unwarranted use of force by the authorities”. Michael Kugelman, South Asia Institute director at The Wilson Center, said on X that “Pakistan’s protests had no winners”. Anger towards the establishment has increased over the crackdown, he said, while at the same time, PTI was forced to retreat. “Pakistan on the whole is burdened by a worsening confrontation that distracts from [economic and] security crises,” Kugelman highlighted. The analyst, in a separate post , pointed out a “problematic disconnect” between Imran and the rest of the PTI leadership. “[Imran] Khan mobilised and galvanised. He said, fight to the end. And then PTI’s other leaders angered the base for not showing up or abandoning the cause,” he noted. “Today the gulf between Khan and the rest of the PTI leadership came into sharp relief.” The PTI’s protest, which the government was determined to foil with force, was originally scheduled to be staged on November 24 . However, the party’s convoys took a breather on Sunday night as PTI leaders said they were in “ no hurry ” to reach the federal capital for their ‘do or die’ protest. The PTI protesters, some of them employing industrial fans to counter tear gas, crossed Islamabad’s Toll Plaza on Monday night as the government vowed to not spare those behind a cop’s death in “violence of miscreants”. As PTI workers from across the country attempted to defy arrests, baton charges and tear gas to participate in the agitation, around 800 PTI leaders and supporters were arrested from across Punjab as well as in and near Islamabad on Sunday. In an update, capital police officials told Dawn that during the ongoing protests, over 500 local PTI leaders and workers have been arrested in Islamabad. On Tuesday, the Pakistan Army was called into Islamabad to “deal with miscreants”, state-run Radio Pakistan reported . Shortly after, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said three Rangers personnel and a Punjab policeman lost their lives on Monday, in what he said was an “attack by miscreants”. A stalemate in reported talks between the PTI and the government had continued , with PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan saying the government had “not made any contact” with the party and Naqvi similarly ruling out any negotiations with the party. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had ruled that PTI’s planned protest was unlawful and had directed the government to take all necessary measures to maintain law and order in Islamabad without disrupting public life, particularly as the Belarusian president’s arrival coincided with the protest. Additional input from Reuters, AFP and Tahir Naseer.
