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Walt Disney World has released a photo of singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves during her recent visit to the Magic Kingdom, which was her first time at the resort, she said. Musgraves, who posed with Minnie Mouse near Cinderella Castle, was in Central Florida for a concert at the Kia Center in downtown Orlando last week. She talked about her Disney World visit during the show, saying that her favorite attraction was Seven Dwarfs Mine Train , a roller coaster in Fantasyland. Disney also posted a video interview with Musgraves on social media, in which she was posted several rapid-fire questions, including “which bear are you trading outfits with?” in reference to this year’s Country Bear Musical Jamboree makeover. She opted for the look of the trio Bunny, Bubbles and Beulah. “They’re kind of fierce,” she said. Asked for her favorite things about Disney parks, she replied “The joy, the merch, the snacks, the cleanliness. ... So clean.” She also was asked about her favorite Disney snacks. “Gaston. ... I mean, the Beast before he turned into man,” Musgraves quipped. “I’m just kidding. Churros.” Musgraves has won seven Grammy Awards. Her Deeper Well tour had 30 dates since September, including stops in Orlando, Tampa and Hollywood, Florida. It will pick up next year in Arizona. dbevil@orlandosentinel.comAP Trending SummaryBrief at 4:49 p.m. EST
6 Dieng: Unconvincing attempt to kick clear for Leeds first goal but was let down by defence. Made some good saves after. 5 Dijksteel: Struggled to build on Burnley display. Got caught out behind a couple of times in first half. 6 Edmundson: Made a couple of crucial blocks. It was down the flanks Leeds caused most problems. 6 Clarke: Like Edmundson, did OK considering he had next to no protection from midfield in front. 4 Borges: Nightmare first half when he couldn’t get to grips to James. Improved after the break but poor performance. 5 Hackney: Leeds just found it too easy to play through Boro midfield in first half. Had a good 15 minute spell in the second half but the Boro missed Morris’ bite. 4 Barlaser : Sloppy pass to gift James a chance after just three minutes set the tone. Never settled. Gave the ball away far too often. 6 Doak : Boro didn’t get him in the game in the first half. Better after the break and involved in move that led to equaliser. Had big chance at 1-1. 5 Azaz : Didn’t influence the game in the first half. Better in the second half when he started knitting things together but way short of his best. 5 McGree: Better after the break but anonymous in the first half and didn’t protect the struggling Borges. Gave the ball away for second Leeds goal. 6 Latte Lath: Worked hard in the first half when he was feeding on scraps. Frustrating night for the striker. Substitutes: Burgzorg (for McGree, 81): N/A Conway (for Azaz, 83): N/A Subs not used: Brynn, Jones, Ayling, Gilbert, Howson, Hamilton, Conway, McCormick LEEDS UNITED: Meslier 8, Byram 7 (Ampadu, 85), Rodon 7, Struijk (c) 7, Wober 7, Tanaka 7, Rothwell 7 (Guilavogui, 93) Gnonto 7 (Piroe, 69, James 8 (Schmidt, 93), Aaronson 8, Joseph 6 (Solomon, 69) Subs not used : Darlow, Crew, Ramazani, Bamford Man of the Match : James. Boro couldn’t cope with the Leeds winger, who caused problems throughout and scored decisive second goal.None
The Liberal government is pulling out the federal wallet to put more money into people’s pockets over the holidays, but its recently announced affordability measures create winners and losers. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Thursday that the federal government will remove the goods and services tax on a slew of items for two months, starting Dec. 14. But in provinces where the provincial and federal sales taxes are blended together into a harmonized sales tax, Canadians will get a larger break. The federal government also plans to send $250 cheques to Canadians who were working in 2023 and earned up to $150,000. That means Canadians who were not working in 2023, including those who were receiving social assistance or were in retirement, will not be sent a cheque in April. In the House of Commons on Friday, NDP MP Peter Julian called the government out for not including Canadians with fixed incomes. “Why are Liberals excluding seniors and people with disabilities from the real help they need this holiday season? Why won’t Liberals help them, too?” Julian asked during question period. At a news conference on Friday, Trudeau said that the federal government has already stepped up to help the most vulnerable Canadians and that it is now time to give a hand to workers. “Over the past number of years, we have been extraordinarily present in helping the most vulnerable Canadians,” Trudeau said, mentioning the boost to old-age security for seniors aged 75 and older and the Canada Child Benefit. “But as I travel across the country, I do regularly hear from working Canadians who are having trouble making ends meet, but saying, ‘look, I don’t have kids. I’m not a senior yet, and I’m facing challenges.’” The GST break, which is expected to cost the federal government $1.6 billion, will apply to a number of items including children’s clothing and shoes, toys, diapers, restaurant meals and beer and wine. It also applies to Christmas trees — both natural and artificial — along with a variety of snack foods and beverages, and video game consoles. Meanwhile, 18.7 million people will receive a check this spring, costing the government about $4.7 billion.
Greene Mountain Lake dam at risk of failure
Unwrap the latest AI features with Amazon Fire TabletsSyria’s prime minister said that most cabinet ministers were back at work on Monday after rebels overthrew President Bashar Assad. However, some state workers failed to return to their jobs and a United Nations official said the country’s public sector had come “to a complete and abrupt halt”. Meanwhile, streams of refugees crossed back into Syria from neighbouring countries, hoping for a more peaceful future and looking for relatives who disappeared during Mr Assad’s brutal rule. There were already signs of the difficulties ahead for the rebel alliance now in control of much of the country. The alliance is led by a former senior al-Qaida militant, who severed ties with the extremist group years ago and has promised representative government and religious tolerance. The rebel command said they would not tell women how to dress. “It is strictly forbidden to interfere with women’s dress or impose any request related to their clothing or appearance, including requests for modesty,” the command said in a statement on social media. Nearly two days after rebels entered the capital, some key government services had shut down after state workers ignored calls to go back to their jobs, the UN official said, causing issues at airports and borders and slowing the flow of humanitarian aid. Rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, also met with Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali for the first time. Mr Jalali stayed in Syria when Mr Assad fled and has sought to project normalcy since. “We are working so that the transitional period is quick and smooth,” he told Sky News Arabia TV on Monday, saying the security situation had already improved from the day before. At the court of Justice in Damascus, which was stormed by the rebels to free detainees, Judge Khitam Haddad, an aide to the justice minister in the outgoing government, said that judges were ready to resume work quickly. “We want to give everyone their rights,” Mr Haddad said outside the courthouse. “We want to build a new Syria and to keep the work, but with new methods.” But a UN official said some government services had been paralysed as worried state employees stayed at home. The public sector “has just come to a complete and abrupt halt,” said Adam Abdelmoula, UN resident and humanitarian co-ordinator for Syria, noting, for example, that an aid flight carrying urgently needed medical supplies had been put on hold after aviation employees abandoned their jobs. “This is a country that has had one government for 53 years and then suddenly all of those who have been demonised by the public media are now in charge in the nation’s capital,” Mr Abdelmoula told The Associated Press. “I think it will take a couple of days and a lot of assurance on the part of the armed groups for these people to return to work again.” In a video shared on a rebel messaging channel, Mr al-Sharaa said: “You will see there are skills” among the rebels. The Kremlin said Russia has granted political asylum to Mr Assad, a decision made by President Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Mr Assad’s specific whereabouts and said Mr Putin did not plan to meet with him. Damascus was quiet Monday, with life slowly returning to normal, though most shops and public institutions were closed. In public squares, some people were still celebrating. Civilian traffic resumed, but there was no public transport. Long lines formed in front of bakeries and other food stores. There was little sign of any security presence though in some areas, small groups of armed men were stationed in the streets.But if a recession does hit, Illinois is ready to cushion the fall, a new economic study found. The state is in better shape to withstand a downturn than it was during either the 2007 Great Recession or the 2020 COVID recession, according to the joint study published Monday by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “No state in the nation is recession proof,” said report co-author Frank Manzo, an economist at the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, a La Grange-based nonpartisan research organization. “But Illinois is better positioned to overcome the challenges and withstand the forces that trigger recessions than at any point in recent history.” The elimination of the general fund deficit and replenishing the state’s “rainy day” fund with $2 billion lead the list of post-pandemic improvements that should help Illinois weather a possible recession with a little less pain than the previous two, the study found. Other improvements include a work-share program implemented in 2021 that allows employers to avoid layoffs by temporarily reducing workers’ hours while enabling them to receive pro-rated unemployment benefits. In addition, the state’s 2019 Rebuild Illinois capital plan, bolstered by federal infrastructure funding during the Biden administration, will invest $41 billion in roads, bridges, rail, air and public transit over the next six years, providing ongoing jobs and economic activity — even through a downturn. “The research shows that states which prioritize investments in skilled labor and infrastructure not only are more resilient, but also have higher growth rates,” Manzo told the Tribune. “So they do have better performing economies, regardless of whether they fall into recession or not.” A post-pandemic recession seemed inevitable to many economists last year after the Fed made 11 rate hikes over 16 months in an effort to curb inflation , which peaked at an annual rate of 9.1% in June 2022, due largely to supply chain disruptions. Next week, with inflation hovering at about 2.5% and the economy relatively stable, the Fed will weigh its third rate cut since September amid increasing optimism that a recession can be avoided. But a September report by the Peterson Institute for International Economics predicts that Trump’s tariff and deportation policies will cause consumer prices to rise and inflation to spike to as high as 9.3% by 2026, once again raising the specter of imminent recession. Manzo puts the odds of a recession during Trump's second term at about 30%, meaning Illinois needs to be ready. “When there’s a 30% chance of precipitation, most people pack an umbrella or bring a raincoat,” Manzo said. “And it’s really no different for states, which must work to create resilient economies that are prepared to weather the next downturn.” Despite its improved recession resilience, Illinois is still grappling with significant economic problems, including its worst-in-the-nation standing for unfunded pension liability and one of the highest corporate tax rates among the states, a competitive development disadvantage. Illinois has lost a number of big-name corporations to other states in the post-pandemic landscape, including billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin’s investment firm, Citadel, which moved from Chicago to Miami in 2022. Other recent high-profile exits included Boeing and Caterpillar. Even in some economic areas in which it has improved, such as the rainy day fund to keep the state operating during a downturn, which is up 700% since the Great Recession, Illinois still lags most other states, Manzo said. But the study did not compare Illinois to other states, only against itself as it navigated two recessions and the pandemic during the new millennium. And on that measure, Illinois is in much better financial shape, with nine upgrades from credit rating agencies since 2021. For Illinois employers and employees alike, the state’s improved financial health could make “a material difference” when the next recession hits, according to report co-author Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and director of the Project for Middle Class Renewal. “People would likely, if a recession occurred, experience less hardship, there would be more shock absorbers available,” Bruno said. “We think there’s a real high probability that there would be less stress on families and on workers and on businesses.” Inflation and the economy were key issues during the recent presidential campaign, with divergent views on which party’s platform was more likely to put the U.S. on the road to recession. Vice President Kamala Harris touted a letter signed by 23 Nobel Prize-winning economists who said the Democratic nominee’s economic agenda was “vastly superior” to Trump’s plan for higher tariffs, which they said would lead to higher prices and larger deficits. Meanwhile, the Republican presidential campaign leveraged the high cost of eggs and frustration over inflation — among other topics — to a victory in November, returning Trump to the White House for a second term of promised tax cuts and tariffs after a four-year hiatus. Bruno said national politics, however, played no part in the Illinois recession study, which was undertaken before either party had even chosen a candidate, much less formulated an economic plan. But if the long-predicted recession does happen during the second Trump administration, Illinois may make some red and blue states green with envy over its improved resilience to the downturn. “A national recession is going to be felt everywhere if it happens,” Bruno said. “Illinois is better prepared to deal with it than they were. You can’t prevent it, but you can do better.”Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggles, shouts while entering courthouse
