fortune ox game

fortune ox game The Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers both have won four in a row and eight of their last 10 games. One Pacific Division power will continue its ascent at the other's expense on Saturday afternoon when they meet in Edmonton. Ivan Barbashev scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season -- and the first in overtime of his career -- to lead Vegas to an inspiring 3-2 win in Winnipeg on Thursday night. Barbashev also had three assists in the Golden Knights' 4-2 victory over the Oilers on Nov. 6 and scored the lone goal in a 1-0 triumph over Edmonton on Dec. 3. Keegan Kolesar, who is from Brandon, Manitoba, scored in a homecoming of sorts to help Vegas complete its rally over Winnipeg an improve to 8-1-2 in its last 11 road games. "(We were) able to tie it up, then go down again, we stayed with it right to the very end," Kolesar said. "We didn't let it waver in any way in our play, played right to the whistle and we were able to come up two points." The Knights likely have goaltender Adin Hill to thank for that. Hill made 18 saves on Thursday night to improve to 11-2-2 in his last 15 starts. That includes turning aside 27 shots in the first encounter against the Oilers and all 28 he faced in the rematch earlier this month. Hill once again will be tasked with slowing down superstars Leon Draisaitl and captain Connor McDavid. Draisaitl scored a goal and set up three others while McDavid notched two assists in Edmonton's 7-1 romp over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. To be fair, 13 of the Oilers' 18 skaters picked up at least one point in the lopsided victory. "Everyone was really good, but Leon really was at another level," Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said of Draisaitl, who has 10 points (four goals, six assists) during a four-game point streak. "His two linemates really helped out, (Vasily Podkolzin) and (Kasperi) Kapanen. Those three have been playing well. But Leon in the last week or so has been on top of his game." McDavid hasn't been too shabby in his own right. The three-time Hart Trophy recipient also is riding a four-game points streak (two goals, seven assists) and has dented the scoresheet in 13 of his last 15 games. Edmonton could be without workhorse defenseman Evan Bouchard on Saturday after he exited with nearly 3 1/2 minutes remaining in the third period following a hard hit from rugged Ryan Hartman. Bouchard, who was in a vulnerable position, collided head-first with the net before crashing into the end boards. "We'll fly home and get it checked out," Knoblauch said. "Hopefully it's something minor." Per Daily Faceoff, Bouchard was seen sporting a "slight limp postgame and (had) soreness but otherwise seemed to avoid the worst of it." Bouchard has played in all 29 games this season and has missed just two contests in the previous three campaigns. --Field Level MediaCHICAGO — In the days after the presidential election, Sadie Perez began carrying pepper spray with her around campus. Her mom also ordered her and her sister a self-defense kit that included keychain spikes, a hidden knife key and a personal alarm. It’s a response to an emboldened fringe of right-wing “manosphere” influencers who have seized on Republican Donald Trump’s presidential win to justify and amplify misogynistic derision and threats online. Many have appropriated a 1960s abortion rights rallying cry, declaring “Your body, my choice” at women online and on college campuses. For many women, the words represent a worrying harbinger of what might lie ahead as some men perceive the election results as a rebuke of reproductive rights and women’s rights. “The fact that I feel like I have to carry around pepper spray like this is sad,” said Perez, a 19-year-old political science student in Wisconsin. “Women want and deserve to feel safe.” Isabelle Frances-Wright, director of technology and society at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think tank focusing on polarization and extremism, said she had seen a “very large uptick in a number of types of misogynistic rhetoric immediately after the election,” including some “extremely violent misogyny.” “I think many progressive women have been shocked by how quickly and aggressively this rhetoric has gained traction,” she said. Related Story: Misogynistic Slogan Spreads Rapidly Online and Offline The phrase “Your body, my choice” has been largely attributed to a post on the social platform X from Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and far-right internet personality who dined at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida two years ago. In statements responding to criticism of that event, Trump said he had “never met and knew nothing about” Fuentes before he arrived. Mary Ruth Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law, said the phrase transforms the iconic abortion rights slogan into an attack on women’s right to autonomy and a personal threat. “The implication is that men should have control over or access to sex with women,” said Ziegler, a reproductive rights expert. Fuentes’ post had 35 million views on X within 24 hours, according to a report by Frances-Wright’s think tank, and the phrase spread rapidly to other social media platforms. Women on TikTok have reported seeing it inundate their comment sections. The slogan also has made its way offline with boys chanting it in middle schools or men directing it at women on college campuses, according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue report and social media reports. One mother said her daughter heard the phrase on her college campus three times, the report said. School districts in Wisconsin and Minnesota have sent notices about the language to parents. T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase were pulled off Amazon. Perez said she has seen men respond to shared Snapchat stories for their college class with “Your body, my choice.” “It makes me feel disgusted and infringed upon,” she said. “... It feels like going backwards.” Related Story: Spike in Online Attacks and Threats Against Women Misogynistic attacks have been part of the social media landscape for years. But Frances-Wright and others who track online extremism and disinformation said language glorifying violence against women or celebrating the possibility of their rights being stripped away has spiked since the election. Online declarations for women to “Get back in the kitchen” or to “Repeal the 19th,” a reference to the constitutional amendment that gave women the right to vote, have spread rapidly. In the days surrounding the election, the extremism think tank found that the top 10 posts on X calling for repeal of the 19th Amendment received more than 4 million views collectively. A man holding a sign with the words “Women Are Property” sparked an outcry at Texas State University. The man was not a student, faculty or staff, and was escorted off campus, according to the university’s president. The university is “exploring potential legal responses,” he said. Anonymous rape threats have been left on the TikTok videos of women denouncing the election results. And on the far-flung reaches of the web, 4chan forums have called for “rape squads” and the adoption of policies in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a dystopian book and TV series depicting the dehumanization and brutalization of women. “What was scary here was how quickly this also manifested in offline threats,” Frances-Wright said, emphasizing that online discourse can have real-world impacts. Previous violent rhetoric on 4chan has been connected to racially motivated and antisemitic attacks, including a 2022 shooting by a white supremacist in Buffalo that killed 10 people. Anti-Asian hate incidents also rose as politicians, including Trump, used words such as “Chinese virus” to describe the COVID-19 pandemic. And Trump’s language targeting Muslims and immigrants in his first campaign correlated with spikes in hate speech and attacks on these groups, Frances-Wright said. The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism reported similar rhetoric, with “numerous violent misogynistic trends” gaining traction on right-wing platforms such 4chan and spreading to more mainstream ones such as X since the election. Related Story: Throughout the presidential race, Trump’s campaign leaned on conservative podcasts and tailored messaging toward disaffected young men. As Trump took the stage at the Republican National Convention over the summer, the song “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” by James Brown blared from the speakers. One of several factors to his success this election was modestly boosting his support among men, a shift concentrated among younger voters, according to AP VoteCast, survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide. But Trump also won support from 44% of women age 18 to 44, according to AP VoteCast. To some men, Trump’s return to the White House is seen as a vindication, gender and politics experts said. For many young women, the election felt like a referendum on women’s rights and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss felt like a rejection of their own rights and autonomy. “For some of these men, Trump’s victory represents a chance to reclaim a place in society that they think they are losing around these traditional gender roles,” Frances-Wright said. None of the current online rhetoric is being amplified by Trump or anyone in his immediate orbit. But Trump has a long history of insulting women, and the spike in such language comes after he ran a campaign that was centered on masculinity and repeatedly attacked Harris over her race and gender. His allies and surrogates also used misogynistic language about Harris throughout the campaign. “With Trump’s victory, many of these men felt like they were heard, they were victorious. They feel that they have potentially a supporter in the White House,” said Dana Brown, executive director of the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics. Brown said some young men feel they’re victims of discrimination and have expressed mounting resentment for successes of the women’s rights movement, including #MeToo. The tension also has been influenced by socioeconomic struggles. As women become the majority on college campuses and many professional industries see increasing gender diversity, it has “led to young men scapegoating women and girls, falsely claiming it’s their fault they’re not getting into college anymore as opposed to looking inward,” Brown said. Perez, the political science student, said she and her sister have been leaning on each other, their mother and other women in their lives to feel safer amid the online vitriol. They text each other to make sure they got home safely. They have girls’ nights to celebrate wins, including a female majority in student government at their campus in the University of Wisconsin system. “I want to encourage my friends and the women in my life to use their voices to call out this rhetoric and to not let fear take over,” she said.

Stormont minister Maurice Morrow told an official he would not raise the issue with the Northern Ireland Executive, despite similar measures being considered in England and Wales. A file on planning arrangements for the jubilee celebrations reveals a series of civil service correspondences on how Northern Ireland would mark the occasion. It includes a letter sent on January 11 2001 from an official in the Office of the First Minister/Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) to the Department of Social Development, advising that a committee had been set up in London to consider a programme of celebrations. The correspondence says: “One of the issues the committee is currently considering is the possibility of deregulating liquor licensing laws during the golden jubilee celebrations on the same lines as the arrangements made for the millennium. “It is felt that the golden jubilee bank holiday on Monday 3 June 2002 is likely to be an occasion on which many public houses and similar licensed premises would wish to stay open beyond normal closing time.” The letter said a paper had been prepared on the issue of extending opening hours. It adds: “You will note that paragraph seven of the paper indicates that the devolved administrations ‘would need to consider deregulation separately within their own jurisdictions’. “I thought that you would wish to be aware that this issue is receiving active consideration for England and Wales and to consider whether anything needs to be done for Northern Ireland.” Some months later a “progress report” was sent between officials in OFMDFM, which again raised the issue of licensing laws. It says: “I spoke to Gordon Gibson, DSD, about Terry Smith’s letter of 12 January 2001 about licensing laws: the matter was put to their minister Maurice Morrow (DUP) who indicated that he would not be asking the NIE (Northern Ireland Executive) to approve any change to current licensing laws in NI to allow for either 24 hour opening (as at the millennium) nor a blanket approval for extended opening hours as is being considered in GB. “In both cases, primary legislation would be required here and would necessitate consultation and the minister has ruled out any consultation process.” The correspondence says individual licensees could still apply for an extension to opening hours on an ad hoc basis, adding “there the matter rests”. It goes on: “DSD await further pronouncements from the Home Office and Gibson and I have agreed to notify each other of any developments we become aware of and he will copy me to any (existing) relevant papers. “Ministers may well come under pressure in due course for a relaxation and/or parity with GB.” The document concludes “That’s it so far...making haste slowly?” Emails sent between officials in the department the same month said that lord lieutenants in Northern Ireland had been approached about local events to mark the jubilee. One message says: “Lord lieutenants have not shown any enthusiasm for encouraging GJ celebrations at a local level. “Lady Carswell in particular believes that it would be difficult for LLs to encourage such activities without appearing political.”TLTI events get municipal designation

DUP minister rejected suggestion licensing laws could be relaxed for jubilee

MILWAUKEE, Dec. 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brady Corporation BRC ("Company") announced that shareholders of the Company's Class B Common Voting Stock have voted unanimously in favor of the election of the director nominees to a one-year term at the Company's annual meeting of shareholders held today in Milwaukee. Elected to the Brady Corporation Board of Directors are: Patrick W. Allender, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (Retired), Danaher Corporation Dr. David S. Bem, Vice President of Science and Technology and Chief Technology Officer, PPG Industries, Inc. Dr. Elizabeth P. Bruno, President, Brady Education Foundation Joanne Collins Smee, Executive Vice President and President of the Americas (Retired), Xerox Corporation Deidre E. Cusack, Executive Vice President of Global Products & Solutions (Retired), Dematic Christopher M. Hix, Chief Financial Officer (Retired), Enovis Corporation Vineet Nargolwala, President, CEO and a director, Allegro MicroSystems, Inc. Bradley C. Richardson, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (Retired), Avient Corporation Dr. Michelle E. Williams, Global Group President (Retired), Altuglas International, an affiliate of Arkema S.A. Russell R. Shaller, President and Chief Executive Officer, Brady Corporation. At the Board of Directors meeting on December 3, 2024, the Board declared a dividend to shareholders of the Company's Class A Common Stock of $0.24 per share, payable on January 31, 2025, to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 10, 2025. Brady Corporation is an international manufacturer and marketer of complete solutions that identify and protect people, products and places. Brady's products help customers increase safety, security, productivity and performance and include high-performance labels, signs, safety devices, printing systems and software. Founded in 1914, the Company has a diverse customer base in electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, medical, aerospace and a variety of other industries. Brady is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and as of July 31, 2024, employed approximately 5,700 people in its worldwide businesses. Brady's fiscal 2024 sales were approximately $1.34 billion. Brady stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BRC. More information is available on the Internet at www.bradyid.com . For More Information Contact: Investor Contact: Ann Thornton (414) 438-6887 Media Contact: Kate Venne (414) 438-5176 © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

APM Terminals Celebrates the Women of Khalifa bin Salman PortThe Perry County Literacy Council (PCLC) currently is in great need of donations and volunteers to continue supporting the growing demand for services. Whether individuals or businesses can contribute financially or offer time to tutor, assist with office tasks, or help with fundraising, the support is essential in helping the organization fulfill its mission. Donations can be made directly through the PCLC website, and volunteers can apply by contacting the office to find out how their skills can be put to use in the impactful community service. The community’s generosity can make a direct difference in the lives of individuals striving for a better future. The PCLC began in the early 1980s with a small group of concerned community members, and over the past four decades it has grown into a vital resource for many residents of Perry County. The organization was born out of a shared concern about illiteracy when Dale Lesperance approached Lane Partner, seeking a solution to the lack of educational opportunities. With a $100 grant from the New Bloomfield Civic Club, they organized a Laubach Literacy training event for a small group of 10-12 people, using books loaned from the Juniata County Literacy Council. The organization started simply, without a formal structure, but local churches and clubs helped spread the word, and volunteer tutors worked with students one-on-one. The first year, they worked with only a handful of people, meeting in Father Larry’s house at St. Bernard Catholic Church. That informal start laid the foundation for what would become a much larger operation. By 1984, after securing a $25,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), the PCLC moved into the basement of the Newport Public Library. At that point, the organization hired its first executive director, Wendy Lindstrom, and began to expand its offerings, including high school equivalency instruction. In 1993, a major shift occurred when Carol Steiner took over as executive director. Steiner’s priorities included integrating computer literacy into PCLC’s programs and significantly increasing fundraising efforts. At that time, Anne Chappelka, a new arrival to Perry County, became deeply involved in the organization and eventually joined the board, where she remained an active volunteer until her passing in 2021. Tragedy struck in 1997 when Steiner died in a car accident. Chappelka, serving as the board president, stepped in as acting director until a permanent replacement could be found. With help from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which had strong respect for Steiner, PCLC was able to continue its operations while searching for a new leader. By 2000, the organization had outgrown its library basement and moved to a new facility on Market Street in Newport. In 2003, the Newport School District made a significant decision to allow PCLC to use its facilities as a GED test site, an arrangement that benefited many adults in the community who previously had to travel to Harrisburg Area Community College to take tests. When Executive Director Susan Risner retired in 2007, Kathleen Bentley, a former special education teacher, took over. Bentley brought a wealth of experience to the organization, and her approach focused on treating each individual with dignity and compassion. Bentley’s time at PCLC saw the organization expand its services further, with a new location on South Fifth Street offering more space for workforce training and other resources. She established partnerships with various agencies, including Perry Apex Services Unlimited (PASU), which provided transportation to help people access PCLC services. Bentley also launched a scholarship fund that paid for at least half the cost of GED testing. Bentley’s work highlighted the profound need for basic services like identification documents, which many residents lacked. Through her efforts, PCLC helped individuals obtain essential documents like photo IDs, birth certificates and social security cards. In 2010, a social work office was established, and Bentley used grants to provide other crucial services such as childcare for students’ children and emergency food and gas cards. In December 2021, Bentley retired, and Leslie Heimbaugh, who had been with the organization since 2009, took over as executive director. Heimbaugh initially joined PCLC as a part-time office manager and quickly became involved in fundraising and supporting students. She served as an administrative assistant and development officer before being asked to take on the executive director role in 2017. However, that meant she’d need to earn a bachelor’s degree, which she did by completing a degree in communications from Central Penn College at age 58, even becoming the valedictorian of her class. Heimbaugh’s deep commitment to the work of PCLC is reflected in her passion for the students and families the organization serves. “It’s such a privilege that people trust us to help them through some of the roughest times in their lives,” she said. “It’s simultaneously the most joyful and toughest work I’ve ever done.” Heimbaugh is particularly moved by the resilience of students who, despite facing enormous challenges in their lives, continue to pursue their educational goals. She acknowledges the importance of offering second chances. “PCLC is all about second, third, and sometimes even fourth chances. We never judge anyone who needs to walk away and return when conditions are more favorable for their success.” The range of services offered by PCLC is extensive, with a primary focus on adult education and GED preparation, as well as English as a Second Language (ESL) programs. Heimbaugh pointed out that the number of ESL students has been growing rapidly, with all students legally residing in the U.S. or holding refugee status. In addition to the educational services, PCLC provides an array of support services, including help with obtaining vital documents, emergency food and gas cards, childcare for students’ children, free tax preparation for low-income residents, and assistance with healthcare connections. As an official Pennsylvania CareerLink, PCLC helps individuals connect with employment and training opportunities, especially for youth and adults who need job readiness support. The Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, which co-locates with PCLC, provides services to Perry County residents with disabilities. Merakey, another organization that shares space, runs programs for adults with mental health challenges, including advocacy, recovery and psychiatric rehabilitation. RECOMMENDED • pennlive .com Mid-Penn boys basketball returning stat leaders: Points, 3-pointers, rebounds, blocks, steals Nov. 27, 2024, 5:00 a.m. How to watch ‘Yellowstone,’ season five, part two with a FREE live stream, time, channel Nov. 24, 2024, 6:00 p.m. Heimbaugh highlighted the importance of their partnerships with other local organizations. “We rely on the support of a vast network of partnerships. We listen to what our clients need, take care of what we can, and offer a ‘warm hand-off’ to one of our partners.” The impact of PCLC’s work is evident in the stories of individuals it serves. Heimbaugh shared an example of a student who came to the organization with the hope that a pair of steel-toed boots could help secure a job. PCLC was able to provide the necessary support, and the individual eventually found employment. PCLC continues to serve residents not only from Perry County but also from neighboring areas such as upper Dauphin and eastern Juniata counties. As Heimbaugh put it, “The people we serve are just like you and me — they want the same things we do—love, safety, security, education, a home, and family.” Many of the students and clients face significant obstacles in their lives, but PCLC’s mission is to help them overcome those barriers and achieve their goals, one step at a time.LUQUE, Paraguay (AP) — Sake is perhaps more Japanese than the world-famous sushi. It's brewed in centuries-old mountaintop warehouses, savored in the country’s pub-like izakayas, poured during weddings and served slightly chilled for special toasts. The smooth rice wine that plays a crucial role in Japan's culinary traditions was enshrined on Wednesday by UNESCO on its list of the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity." At a meeting in Luque, Paraguay, members of UNESCO’s committee for safeguarding humanity's cultural heritage voted to recognize 45 cultural practices and products around the world, including Brazilian white cheese, Caribbean cassava bread and Palestinian olive oil soap. Unlike UNESCO’s World Heritage List, which includes sites considered important to humanity like the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Intangible Cultural Heritage designation names products and practices of different cultures that are deserving of recognition. A Japanese delegation welcomed the announcement in Luque. “Sake is considered a divine gift and is essential for social and cultural events in Japan,” Kano Takehiro, the Japanese ambassador to UNESCO, told The Associated Press. The basic ingredients of sake are few: rice, water, yeast and koji, a rice mold, which breaks down the starches into fermentable sugars like malting does in beer production. The whole two-monthlong process of steaming, stirring, fermenting and pressing can be grueling. The rice — which wields tremendous marketing power as part of Japan's broader cultural identity — is key to the alcoholic brew. For a product to be categorized Japanese sake, the rice must be Japanese. The UNESCO recognition, the delegation said, captured more than the craft knowledge of making high-quality sake. It also honored a tradition dating back some 1,000 years — sake makes a cameo in Japan’s famous 11th century novel, “The Tale of Genji,” as the drink of choice in the refined Heian court. Now, officials hope to restore sake's image as Japan's premier alcoholic drink even as the younger drinkers in the country switch to imported wine or domestic beer and whiskey. “It means a lot to Japan and to the Japanese,” Takehiro said of the UNESCO designation. "This will help to renew interest in traditional sake elaboration.” Also, Japanese breweries have expressed hope that the listing could give a little lift to the country's export economy as the popularity of sake booms around the world and in the United States amid heightened interest in Japanese cuisine. Sake exports, mostly to the U.S. and China, now rake in over $265 million a year, according to the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association, a trade group. Japan's delegation appeared ready to celebrate on Wednesday — in classic Japanese style. After the announcement, Takehiro raised a cypress box full of sake to toast the alcoholic brew and cultural rite. The Associated Press

The Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers both have won four in a row and eight of their last 10 games. One Pacific Division power will continue its ascent at the other's expense on Saturday afternoon when they meet in Edmonton. Ivan Barbashev scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season -- and the first in overtime of his career -- to lead Vegas to an inspiring 3-2 win in Winnipeg on Thursday night. Barbashev also had three assists in the Golden Knights' 4-2 victory over the Oilers on Nov. 6 and scored the lone goal in a 1-0 triumph over Edmonton on Dec. 3. Keegan Kolesar, who is from Brandon, Manitoba, scored in a homecoming of sorts to help Vegas complete its rally over Winnipeg an improve to 8-1-2 in its last 11 road games. "(We were) able to tie it up, then go down again, we stayed with it right to the very end," Kolesar said. "We didn't let it waver in any way in our play, played right to the whistle and we were able to come up two points." The Knights likely have goaltender Adin Hill to thank for that. Hill made 18 saves on Thursday night to improve to 11-2-2 in his last 15 starts. That includes turning aside 27 shots in the first encounter against the Oilers and all 28 he faced in the rematch earlier this month. Hill once again will be tasked with slowing down superstars Leon Draisaitl and captain Connor McDavid. Draisaitl scored a goal and set up three others while McDavid notched two assists in Edmonton's 7-1 romp over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. To be fair, 13 of the Oilers' 18 skaters picked up at least one point in the lopsided victory. "Everyone was really good, but Leon really was at another level," Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said of Draisaitl, who has 10 points (four goals, six assists) during a four-game point streak. "His two linemates really helped out, (Vasily Podkolzin) and (Kasperi) Kapanen. Those three have been playing well. But Leon in the last week or so has been on top of his game." McDavid hasn't been too shabby in his own right. The three-time Hart Trophy recipient also is riding a four-game points streak (two goals, seven assists) and has dented the scoresheet in 13 of his last 15 games. Edmonton could be without workhorse defenseman Evan Bouchard on Saturday after he exited with nearly 3 1/2 minutes remaining in the third period following a hard hit from rugged Ryan Hartman. Bouchard, who was in a vulnerable position, collided head-first with the net before crashing into the end boards. "We'll fly home and get it checked out," Knoblauch said. "Hopefully it's something minor." Per Daily Faceoff, Bouchard was seen sporting a "slight limp postgame and (had) soreness but otherwise seemed to avoid the worst of it." Bouchard has played in all 29 games this season and has missed just two contests in the previous three campaigns. --Field Level Media

To The New York Times, it was a standard journalistic practice done in the name of fairness — asking someone involved in a story for comment. To the mother of the nominee for secretary of defense, it constituted a threat. On Wednesday, Pete Hegseth's mother accused the Times of making “threats” by calling about its story on an email she had sent to her son six years earlier that criticized his treatment of women. Penelope Hegseth sought and received an interview on Fox News Channel to support her son, whose confirmation chances are threatened by a series of damaging stories about his personal conduct. At one point, she said she wanted to directly tell President-elect Trump that her son “is not that man he was seven years ago.” She also called the Times “despicable” and attacked a basic tenet of journalism: giving someone the chance to speak for a story about actions that could be seen in a negative light. The Times' story, published Saturday , quoted from a private email that Penelope Hegseth sent to her son in 2018 while he was in the midst of divorcing his second wife. She criticized his character and treatment of women, suggesting that he get some help. “I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego,” she wrote to her offspring. “You are that man (and have been for many years).” She told the Times for its story that she had sent the email in a moment of anger and followed it up two hours later with an apology. She disavows its content now. When the Times called her for comment on the story, Hegseth told Fox News that, at first, she did not respond. She said she perceived the calls as a threat — “they say unless you make a statement we will publish it as is and I think that's a despicable way to treat anyone,” she said. “I don't think a lot of people know that's the way they operate,” she said, speaking about the story. She accused the newspaper of being in it "for the money. And they don't care who they hurt, families, children. I don't believe that's the right way to do things.” Charles Stadtlander, a spokesman for the Times, said Hegseth's claim “is flatly untrue,” and she was in no way threatened. “The Times did what it always does in reporting out a story, simply reaching out and asking for a comment, which we included,” he said. Such a call is the opposite of a threat — it's an attempt to be fair, said Tom Rosenstiel, a University of Maryland professor and co-author of “Elements of Journalism: What News People Should Know and What the Public Should Expect.” “She's basically saying that brake lights are a threat because they alert you that the car ahead of you is about to stop," he said. But many Americans would perceive that call as a threat, or certainly as rude and a violation of privacy, said Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the conservative Media Research Center. “She didn't write that email to be on the front page of The New York Times,” he said. A secondary question is the newsworthiness of publishing the content of the private email, one that Hegseth said she almost immediately regretted sending and doesn't reflect how she perceives her son. Graham suggested that the newspaper wouldn't do the same for the nominee of a Democratic president-elect. “The New York Times is out to destroy these nominees,” he said. In its initial story, the Times wrote that it had obtained a copy of the email “from another person with ties to the Hegseth family.” “This was a piece of independently reported journalism published in the name of public awareness of the nominee to lead the largest department in the federal government,” Stadtlander said. “We stand behind it completely.” In many circumstances, an email from a mother to her son would be considered a private matter and out of bounds to a news organization, Rosenstiel said. But in this case, Hegseth, a former Fox News weekend host chosen by Trump to lead the Pentagon, has built himself into a public figure and is up for a very important job — and one that leads the military, which involves waging war and in which character is considered a fundamental trait. “It makes this news, honestly,” Stadtlander said. The Times wrote about Penelope Hegseth's Fox interview on Wednesday, leading with her saying her son “was not the same man he was in 2018 when she fired off an email accusing him of routinely abusing women and lacking decency and character.” There was some question about whether Hegseth would appear for an interview at his former network on Wednesday, after CNN's Kaitlan Collins posted on X the night before that “multiple people” said that was expected. A Fox News representative said that no such interview had been scheduled, and the nominee was on Capitol Hill meeting with senators. He has faced a flurry of other damaging reports, including stories about a sexual assault allegation reported to police in 2017. No charges were filed then, and Hegseth said the relationship was consensual. The New Yorker magazine wrote about reports of financial mismanagement , sexist behavior and excessive drinking when Hegseth ran a veterans' organization, and NBC News wrote about people at Fox News concerned about his alcohol use. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

LUQUE, Paraguay (AP) — Sake is perhaps more Japanese than the world-famous sushi. It's brewed in centuries-old mountaintop warehouses, savored in the country’s pub-like izakayas, poured during weddings and served slightly chilled for special toasts. The smooth rice wine that plays a crucial role in Japan's culinary traditions was enshrined on Wednesday by UNESCO on its list of the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity." At a meeting in Luque, Paraguay, members of UNESCO’s committee for safeguarding humanity's cultural heritage voted to recognize 45 cultural practices and products around the world, including Brazilian white cheese, Caribbean cassava bread and Palestinian olive oil soap. Unlike UNESCO’s World Heritage List, which includes sites considered important to humanity like the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Intangible Cultural Heritage designation names products and practices of different cultures that are deserving of recognition. A Japanese delegation welcomed the announcement in Luque. “Sake is considered a divine gift and is essential for social and cultural events in Japan,” Kano Takehiro, the Japanese ambassador to UNESCO, told The Associated Press. The basic ingredients of sake are few: rice, water, yeast and koji, a rice mold, which breaks down the starches into fermentable sugars like malting does in beer production. The whole two-monthlong process of steaming, stirring, fermenting and pressing can be grueling. The rice — which wields tremendous marketing power as part of Japan's broader cultural identity — is key to the alcoholic brew. For a product to be categorized Japanese sake, the rice must be Japanese. The UNESCO recognition, the delegation said, captured more than the craft knowledge of making high-quality sake. It also honored a tradition dating back some 1,000 years — sake makes a cameo in Japan’s famous 11th century novel, “The Tale of Genji,” as the drink of choice in the refined Heian court. Now, officials hope to restore sake's image as Japan's premier alcoholic drink even as the younger drinkers in the country switch to imported wine or domestic beer and whiskey. “It means a lot to Japan and to the Japanese,” Takehiro said of the UNESCO designation. "This will help to renew interest in traditional sake elaboration.” Also, Japanese breweries have expressed hope that the listing could give a little lift to the country's export economy as the popularity of sake booms around the world and in the United States amid heightened interest in Japanese cuisine. Sake exports, mostly to the U.S. and China, now rake in over $265 million a year, according to the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association, a trade group. Japan's delegation appeared ready to celebrate on Wednesday — in classic Japanese style. After the announcement, Takehiro raised a cypress box full of sake to toast the alcoholic brew and cultural rite. The Associated PressA video posted to social media by a Texas lieutenant in the Department of Public Safety shows a young girl at the U.S.-Mexico border standing alone. She has traveled from El Salvador, and holds just a Post-It note with a phone number on it. "How old are you?" a trooper asks. The girl holds up two fingers. A second video posted by the same lieutenant shows 60 migrant children who journeyed by themselves to the U.S. arriving in Eagle Pass, Texas. Another image shows an accused smuggler running across the border with a 5-year-old in his arms, reportedly paid to bring the girl to her mother already in the states. The Texas Department of Public Safety, under Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, openly supports President-elect Donald Trump's push to dramatically tighten immigration. Lt. Chris Olivarez began posting photos and videos of child migrants around the time Tom Homan, Trump's point-person on the border, visited Eagle Pass. "I guarantee some are in forced labor, some are in sex trades," Homan said. "We're going to save those children." RELATED STORY | Trump announces former acting ICE Director Tom Homan as new 'border czar' The arrival of unaccompanied minors is not a new phenomenon. Thousands have journeyed across the Mexican border each year, including during the first Trump term, according to a Scripps News review of data from the Department of Health and Human Services. The flow of unaccompanied minors, however, reached record highs during the first years of the Biden administration, as undocumented immigration soared. The numbers have fallen since 2022 but remain elevated today. The federal government tries to quickly place child migrants with a sponsor already in the country, usually a parent or other close family member. The sponsor pledges to care for the minor while ensuring they go through immigration proceedings. However, it is an approach that does not always work. RELATED STORY | Trump's mass deportation plan targets specific groups of immigrants A 2023 joint investigation by Scripps News and the Center for Public Integrity found many children end up disappearing from their sponsor homes. Thousands of unaccompanied minors run away, some winding up in dangerous illegal child labor jobs, or worse. "They've simply vanished into a dark underworld of sex and drug trafficking, forced labor, gang activity and crime," said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-California, during a November congressional hearing. McClintock and other Republicans say the Department of Health and Human Services is to blame for failing to properly vet sponsors. A 2023 report by a Florida grand jury obtained by Scripps News found some sponsor addresses were in fact empty lots or a strip club. One address listed 44 kids assigned to it. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra says they are doing the best they can with a limited budget. "What we don't do is short-change the vetting process," Becerra said at a November hearing on Capitol Hill. "We make sure that we follow best practices in the child welfare field. "We do background checks on every individual," he added. RELATED STORY | The struggle to locate migrant children missing from US homes Just how many migrant children have disappeared from their sponsors is in dispute. Becerra says a frequently cited estimate of 85,000 missing kids is too high and doesn't account for many children who are safe but just not reachable by HHS officials who make three attempts to contact them. "They may be at school, they may be at a doctor's appointment, they may not have a phone working anymore," Becerra said. Homan and the rest of the Trump administration have not yet laid out what their policy will be for those children who make the perilous journey to the U.S. alone.

The European Union will demand Sir Keir Starmer gives EU fishermen access to British waters and accept ECJ legal rulings in exchange for a new Brexit trade deal, a report has said. Brussels wants Britain to hand over legal decisions and judgements to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for an improved trading relationship. A blueprint seen by The Times is reported to say Sir Keir would have to guarantee EU fishermen access to UK waters and "effectively" undo Britain's marine protections. The document will be presented to a council of European ministers next week, according to the same publication ahead of formal trade talks set to start in 2025. As a start, Britain must accept the "status quo" on fishing before talks can begin, with the same level of catch allowances and access for EU boats. Another EU demand includes the dismantling of the UK's marine protection policy, amid French-led opposition. The document also says Starmer has to agree to drag all existing and new EU laws on food and agriculture onto the UK's statute books and for Britain to submit to ECJ rulings over EU law. According to The Times , the document states: "Member states are open to considering an agreement with the UK that would remove the SPS border between Great Britain and the Union on condition that there is full alignment to the Union acquis, and the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the EU is preserved for the interpretation of Union law". SPS stands for sanitary and phytosanitary. It is a term used to describe animal and plant goods, which under the existing EU-UK trade deal require extra certificates and licences. Brussels will also push for changes to freedom of movement with a youth mobility scheme, which had been rejected by the Labour Government over concerns about its impact on Britain's net migration. Sir Keir has ruled out a return to the EU's single market, customs union and freedom of movement, but he wants a new veterinary deal to reduce border checks. He also wants mutual recognition for some professional qualifications. Among the Prime Minister's many overseas visits since entering Downing Street in July, he has visited Paris, Berlin, Dublin and Rome as part of a charm offensive ahead of next year's talks. The first of a series of regular UK-EU leader summits is due to take place early next year. Sir Keir and European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, have already agreed to strengthen cooperation. Formal talks on the UK's existing Brexit deal with the bloc are due to begin in 2025. The Department for Business and Trade has been approached for comment.

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These were Juan Soto’s numbers in 2024: 41 home runs, 109 RBIs, a .288 batting average. Keep doing that over the next 15 years and he’ll be making roughly $1.2 million for every home run, $467,890 for every RBI, or $307,229 for every hit. (All of those figures are pre-tax, of course.) Soto’s $765 million, 15-year agreement with the New York Mets — the richest contract in terms of total value to a player in U.S. major sports history, a massive move by billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen — provides a chance to look at the numbers in some very silly ways. He’ll make $314,815 per game. Based on his numbers this season, he’ll get $671,053 for every extra-base hit, or $46322 every time he swings the bat no matter if he misses, hits a tapper back to the mound or has Mr. Met celebrating in the stands after driving one out at Citi Field. Of course, that’s assuming Soto remains as healthy and productive as he was in 2024. If he misses significant time, those rates just go up. “Thank you Uncle Steve,” Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo wrote on social media. Some of the numbers around the sports world, when broken down by accomplishment, are simply eye-popping in this era. (These examples are based on current earnings, not taking into account restructurings or any other potential changes.): MLB | Blake Snell, Dodgers: The two-time Cy Young winner will earn about $65 million in 2025, most of which is a signing bonus that comes his way in January. He’s never made more than 32 starts in a season. If he makes 32 starts in 2025, he’d be getting (when factoring in the signing bonus) $2,031,250 per game. For comparison’s sake, Detroit’s Tarik Skubal made $2.65 million for the entire 2024 season — and won a Cy Young award. MLB | Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers: His record $700 million deal is no longer a record because of the Soto deal, but Ohtani still holds the mark for average total value at $70 million a year. The only member of baseball’s 50-50 club (54 homers, 59 stolen bases in 2024) would — at this past season’s rate — be making $619,469 every time he hits one out or steals a base. NFL | Dak Prescott, Cowboys: It’s unfair to break down his stats this year because he’s hurt, but Prescott’s current deal is worth an average of $60 million a season. Based on his career average, that means over the lifetime of his current contract with Dallas, the quarterback gets $13,680 for every passing yard. NFL | Quarterbacks in general: The per-game numbers in the NFL for starting quarterbacks are wild. Patrick Mahomes’ current $450 million contract isn’t even at the top of the cash-per-game standings: Prescott gets about $3.5 million for every Dallas regular season game, while Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Green Bay’s Jordan Love are around $3.25 million per game. NBA | Stephen Curry, Warriors: At nearly $56 million this season, Curry leads the NBA salary race (for this year, anyway). The NBA’s all-time 3-point king is earning about $680,000 per game in 2024-25; if he was paid by the 3-pointer only, he’d be getting about $161,908 every time he makes one of those this season for Golden State. NBA | Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, Celtics: Brown is starting a five-year deal worth around $285 million, and Tatum will start a five-year deal next year worth around $314 million. At those rates, Boston would be paying their two best players (at their current scoring paces) around $27,406 for every point scored. To compare — Larry Bird, for his career, made about $1,100 per point. NHL | Leon Draisaitl, Oilers: He’ll start a contract next year with Edmonton that will pay him an average of $14 million a season over eight seasons. At his current rate of scoring, he’d be earning roughly $119,393 for every goal or assist over that span. NHL | Igor Shesterkin, Rangers: Shesterkin just got the richest extension for a goalie at $92 million over eight years. At his current averages, every time he makes a save for New York, he’ll be earning $5,084. MLS | Lionel Messi, Inter Miami: Based just on his MLS guaranteed salary, Messi got just over $1 million per goal this season ($20.4 million, 20 goals). His full deal with Inter Miami is worth at least $150 million for 21⁄2 years — Messi made $229 every second he was on the field in the 2024 regular season. Golf | Scottie Scheffler, PGA: Scheffler’s official earnings in 2024 were $29,228,357 (plus an Olympic gold medal, which is priceless). And that doesn’t include $34,037,500 million in bonuses and unofficial earnings, including $25 million for winning the FedEx Cup. Add it all up, and that meant the world’s No. 1 player earned about $11,243 per shot he took this season. Get local news delivered to your inbox!None

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Efforts to reduce the nation’s persistently high maternal mortality rates involve state panels of experts that investigate and learn from each mother’s death. The panels — called maternal mortality review committees — usually work quietly out of the public eye, but that’s not been the case recently in three states with strict abortion laws. Georgia dismissed all members of its committee in November after information about deaths being reviewed leaked to the news organization ProPublica. Days later, The Washington Post reported that Texas’ committee won’t review cases from 2022 and 2023, the first two years after the state banned nearly all abortions. In Idaho, the state let its panel disband in 2023 only to reinstate it this year. “They’ve become more of a lightning rod than they were before,” said epidemiologist Michael Kramer, director of the Center for Rural Health and Health Disparities at Mercer University in Georgia. Here’s what these committees do and what might happen next: “Maternal mortality review committees are important because they are the most comprehensive source of information about maternal mortality that we have,” said David Goodman, who leads the maternal mortality prevention team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The panels review deaths that occur during pregnancy or within a year after it ends, whether related to the pregnancy or not. Causes of death can range from hemorrhage during childbirth to drug overdoses to traffic accidents. The goal, Kramer said, is to examine maternal deaths and help “decide what we can do about them.” All states, a few cities and Puerto Rico have these committees. Their membership varies and may include OB-GYNs, maternal-fetal medicine doctors, nurses, midwives, mental and public health experts and members of patient advocacy groups. Most have representatives from several areas of expertise, which the CDC recommends. How members are selected also varies; people may apply, submit letters of interest or be invited to serve. The selection shouldn’t be politically motivated, Kramer said, because “if there’s a systematic exclusion of certain data or certain perspectives” it’s difficult to truly understand what’s happening. The panels work with state vital statistics offices and epidemiologists to identify deaths associated with pregnancy by examining death certificates and looking for a pregnancy checkbox or a related cause of death. They also may search for links to birth and fetal death records, or delve into hospital discharge data, media reports and obituaries. Once they identify cases, they collect as much information as possible, such as prenatal care records, hospital and social service records, autopsy reports and interviews with family members. Professional “abstractors” distill all this into case narratives, which committee members pore over. Most use a standardized review process developed by the CDC — and all panels can get help and guidance from the agency. They consider questions such as: Was the death pregnancy- related? What was the underlying cause? Was it preventable? What factors contributed? States generally have privacy rules that protect committee members and people who provide information on the deaths. The groups then issue public reports that don’t name mothers or hospitals but include overall findings, trends and recommendations. Some come out a couple of years or more after the deaths. Across the nation in 2023, Goodman said, 151 recommendations from those reports were implemented by communities, hospitals, medical professionals and policymakers. Georgia will rebuild its committee through a new application process, the state public health commissioner said. Texas’ committee has been reviewing 2021 deaths and will start on 2024 cases at its next meeting, Texas Department of State Health Services spokesperson Lara Anton said. “Reviewing cases is a lengthy process and legislators have asked for more recent data. Starting the next review cycle with 2024 cases will allow us to provide that in the next report,” Anton said, adding that maternal and child health epidemiologists will continue to analyze and publish data for 2022 and 2023. In Idaho, the reconstituted review committee now falls under the state board of medicine, which licenses doctors, instead of the state’s health and welfare department. It will operate like it always has, said Bob McLaughlin, spokesperson for the medical board. Members met for the first time in November and plan to issue a report by Jan. 31. Because the legislature wanted the most up-to-date information, McLaughlin said the first report will cover only 2023 cases, and the group will review 2022 deaths next. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Australia’s sharemarket is likely to open lower after a sell-off in the world’s largest technology companies hit US stocks in the final stretch of a stellar year. Futures are pointing to a drop of 0.35 per cent, or 29 points, on Monday morning across the local bourse, to 8228, as traders take stock of a pullback in the US last week. Nasdaq, one of the “Magnificent Seven” companies, bore the brunt of last week’s selling. Credit: Bloomberg In the US, during a session of slim trading volume – which tends to amplify moves – the S&P 500 lost 1.1 per cent and the Nasdaq 100 slipped 1.4 per cent. While every major industry succumbed to Friday’s slide, tech megacaps bore the brunt of the selling. That’s after a torrid surge in which the group of companies dubbed the “Magnificent Seven” accounted for more than half of the US equity benchmark’s gains in 2024. “I think Santa has already come. Have you seen the performance this year?” said Kenny Polcari from financial advising firm SlateStone Wealth. “[This] week is another holiday-shortened week, volumes will be light, moves will be exaggerated. Don’t make any major investing decisions this week.” Steve Sosnick, from Interactive Brokers said while the market was in holiday season, he had fielded more inquiries than expected. “The best I can figure out is that there are large accounts, pension funds and the like, who need to rebalance their holdings before year-end,” he said. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 trimmed last week’s gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.8 per cent on Friday. A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” sank 2 per cent, led by losses in Tesla and Nvidia. The Russell 2000 index of small caps dropped 1.6 per cent. The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose 4 basis points to 4.62 per cent. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index wavered. Funds tied to several of the major themes that have driven markets and fund flows over the past three years stumbled during the week ending Christmas Day, according to data compiled by EPFR. Redemptions from cryptocurrency funds hit a record high while technology sector funds extended their longest outflow streak since the first week of 2023, the firm said. This year’s rally in US equities has driven the expectations for stocks so high that it may turn out to be the biggest hurdle for further gains in the new year. And the bar is even higher for tech stocks, given their massive surge in 2024. A Bloomberg Intelligence analysis recently found that analysts estimate a nearly 30 per cent earnings growth for the sector next year, but tech’s market-cap share of the S&P 500 index implies closer to 40 per cent growth expectations may be embedded in the stocks. “The market’s largest companies and other related technology darlings are still being awarded significant premiums,” said Jason Pride and Michael Reynolds at Glenmede. “Excessive valuations leave room for downside if earnings fail to meet expectations. Market concentration should reward efforts to regularly diversify portfolios.” Bloomberg The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon .