Not just nukes: Space Weather team at Offutt watches for solar storms

Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the first person of India's minority Sikh faith to hold that office, died in New Delhi on Thursday at age 92. A renowned economist, he was known as the father of economic reforms in India but was seen as a weak leader by many, including some within his party, the Indian National Congress. "India mourns the loss of one of its most distinguished leaders, Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji," Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. "Rising from humble origins, he rose to become a respected economist. ... As our Prime Minister, he made extensive efforts to improve people's lives." Singh served as prime minister between 2004 and 2014, but political commentators say it was his time as finance minister in the early 1990s that was most significant. His policies during that period set India on the path of economic liberalization and globalization. "Wise, thoughtful, and scrupulously honest" is how former U.S. President Barack Obama described Singh in his memoir A Promised Land. Singh was born on Sept. 26, 1932, in a village called Gah in what is now Pakistan. His family migrated east when Great Britain divided the subcontinent into independent India and the Muslim-majority nation of Pakistan in 1947. The partition triggered mass migration and sectarian violence that killed hundreds of thousands of people, including Singh's grandfather. An Oxford-educated economist, Singh in 1991 drafted what economists call one of the most radical budgets in India's history: It opened up the country to the free market. "Let the whole world hear it loud and clear. India is now wide awake," Singh proclaimed during his budget speech . "The budget declaration was a shocker because it almost turned on its head most of what was the received economic wisdom of the day," says Rajesh Chakrabarti, a finance and public policy expert. Until 1991, Chakrabarti explains, India had been a socialist, public sector-dominated and import-restricted economy. When Singh became finance minister, the situation was dire. India was in a severe balance of payments crisis. "We were importing far, far more than what we were exporting, and our foreign exchange reserves had touched a low," says Chakrabarti. "India had to actually ship out gold — that means physically putting its gold reserves in ships and sending them to [banks in] London, to get money for running the economy." Singh's landmark budget opened India's economy to foreign direct investment, cut import duties and put an end to the Permit Raj, a complex system of regulations and red tape that discouraged private investment. In 2004, Singh was once again thrust into the limelight when Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born matriarch of the Congress party, named Singh to the top job after she declined to become the prime minister following the party's landslide victory. But critics called him the Gandhis' " puppet ," ridiculed his soft-spoken manner and said he lacked oratory skills. "Humility was his strength and, at some level, his weakness, because he could not play to the gallery," says Rasheed Kidwai, author of a book on the Congress party. Even so, he steered India through several international and domestic crises, says Kidwai. "When the world economy tottered in 2008, India stood firmly," he says. While Singh was in office, "there was no confrontation with difficult neighbors like Pakistan and China," despite a deadly 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai by Pakistani militants. Kidwai says Singh was particularly successful when it came to foreign policy. "He was not one-dimensional," he says. "[Singh] had very good relations and functional ties with Iran, and at the same time he was highly welcomed in Saudi Arabia." Under Singh's leadership, India drew closer to the U.S. on multiple fronts. Notably, the two countries agreed to a nuclear deal lifting a decades-long moratorium on nuclear trade. Singh's other achievements included accelerating India's economy and launching a social welfare program that guaranteed employment in rural areas. But his second term was marred by corruption scandals followed by the worst-ever defeat for his Congress party in the 2014 national elections. Singh did not run again for office in those elections, which were swept by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. He was absolved of wrongdoing in the corruption scandals. After leaving office, Singh continued to live in Delhi with his family. He is survived by his wife, Gursharan Kaur, a historian, and their three daughters. Chakrabarti says Singh was one of India's most graceful prime ministers. "I don't think even his worst critics will ever have anything but respect for the man," he says. "My life and tenure in public office are an open book," Singh, wearing his signature light-blue Sikh turban, said in his farewell speech in 2014. "Serving this nation has been my privilege. There is nothing more that I could ask for." Copyright 2024 NPRNEW YORK — Donald Trump’s attorneys have asked the judge who presided over his criminal hush money case to dismiss the indictment and vacate the jury’s guilty verdicts — arguing their client is a victim of the same “raw politics” President Joe Biden cited in pardoning his son, Hunter, according to filings made public Tuesday. “President Biden argued that ‘raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,'” Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the lengthy and politically charged filing, referring to Biden’s weekend statement announcing a 10-year pardon for his son. “Since DA Bragg took office, he has engaged in ‘precisely the type of political theater’ that President Biden condemned.” Later arguing that the case threatens “the functioning of the federal government,” Bove and Blanche, whom Trump has tapped for top roles at the Department of Justice , contended that state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan was required to throw it out based on the Presidential Immunity doctrine, the Presidential Transition Act, and the Supremacy Clause, arguing not doing so would impact Trump’s ability to govern. His election victory means the case must be tossed for the good of the country and that “potential incarceration, stigma, and diversions of attention” necessitate “categorical immunity,” Blanche and Bove wrote. “As President Biden put it yesterday, ‘Enough is enough,'” Blanche and Bove. “This case, which should never have been brought, must now be dismissed.” The DA’s office, which declined to comment, is due to respond by Dec. 9. Prosecutors have said they plan to fight Trump’s efforts to get the case thrown out but have conceded the judge may need to postpone sentencing until Trump is out of office. Trump’s lawyers pushed back on the suggestion, writing that prosecutors’ “ridiculous suggestion that they could simply resume proceedings after President Trump leaves Office, more than a decade after they commenced their investigation in 2018, is not an option.” A jury of 12 Manhattan residents found Trump, 78, guilty of 34 counts of falsification of business records on May 30 , stemming from his reimbursement to his ex-fixer Michael Cohen for paying off porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election. The verdicts marked him as the first U.S. president to be found guilty of committing a crime. The jury found Cohen’s $130,000 payment to Daniels bought her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump at a 2006 golf tournament. They determined the payoff was one in a scheme carried out before the election intended to bury unflattering information about Trump’s past that could negatively impact his standing with voters. It also encompassed payoffs to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who alleges she had an affair with Trump, and a doorman at Trump Tower who claimed Trump had fathered a child with a maid out of wedlock. Last month, Merchan adjourned Trump’s sentencing indefinitely and drew up a new schedule to consider arguments about how to proceed in light of his election win. The historic case was the only one of four brought against Trump after his first term that made it before a jury. The Department of Justice last week sought to drop the two federal cases he faced, alleging he plotted to subvert democracy after Biden’s election victory in 2020 and hoarded sensitive classified documents after leaving office, which Blanche and Bove noted in Tuesday’s filing. Trump is fighting to get the Georgia state case against him thrown out, where a potential conviction could not be pardoned on the federal level. That case has been tied up significantly with appeals, and legal experts say it’s unlikely to see a revival before Trump takes office. ©2024 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Walmart is closing its Sam’s Club fulfillment center in Swedesboro, New Jersey, effective March 7, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice. The company is relocating its fulfillment operations at the Swedesboro Sam’s Club center to other facilities within Walmart’s network, a spokesperson told Supply Chain Dive in an email. Approximately 113 employees will be affected, per the WARN notice. Walmart will provide employees with a paid job search period from Nov. 21 to March 7, when they can apply for open positions at nearby Walmart stores, Sam’s Clubs or other company facilities, the WARN notice said. “We’re continuously evolving our fulfillment network to improve service for our customers and members as their needs change,” the spokesperson said. “Over time, as our fulfillment network has grown and we have launched new buildings, we’ve been able to serve customers and members with better reliability and speed by shifting volume to these other facilities.” Associates will also have an opportunity to transfer to one of its nearby facilities including its new next generation fulfillment center in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, or any other next generation fulfillment centers across the country, the spokesperson said. Other nearby facilities that are nearby include a distribution center in Smyrna, Delaware, a fulfillment center in Westampton, New Jersey, and another in Pedricktown. Employees who decide to transfer to Walmart’s next generation facilities are eligible to receive a $7,500 transfer bonus and will receive training to work with fulfillment technology. The closure is part of the retailers move to streamline its operations and its goal to focus on automation. Walmart’s next-generation fulfillment centers lean on warehouse technology that condenses the retailer’s 12-step fulfillment process down to five steps. These facilities also provide next- or two-day shipping and are part of the company’s goal to automate its supply chain. “We continue to make progress in the automation of our supply chain, as now more than 50% of our fulfillment center volume is automated, which is twice as much at this point last year,” Walmart EVP and CFO John David Rainey said in a Q3 earnings call on Nov. 19.Dan Kemp adding another goal and another man of the match performance as Stevenage left it late to win 2-0 at home to Northampton Town. He scored on 89 minutes, three minutes before Jamie Reid made it two, making it four for the season and three in the last four League One matches. And he says the upturn in his form is down to a couple of reasons. He said: "It's nice to get individual accolades but I'm just happy to be out there and playing in my favourite position, it's really suited me. "I'm starting to show what I can do. "Momentum is a big thing in football and I've had quite a few games in a row now so I've had quite a few opportunities to show the best version of me. "I've just got to keep my head down and keep working hard. Hopefully I can keep getting better." The win was Boro's first since the middle of October and the first at the Lamex since the 1-0 win over Wrexham on October 1. And the 25-year-old attacking midfielder believes it was deserved. "It was a massive three points and a really good performance from start to finish," said Kemp. "Obviously the goals came late but at the end of the day, you win the game and I thought we controlled it from minute one. "A lot of the time when you see your opposition go down to 10 men, you think you've got the advantage, and that is the case, but it's very difficult. "They banked up and sat behind the ball and we just had to stay patient, keep creating the space down the sides and try to get to the byline for cutbacks and things like that. "In the end that's how we got out two goals and credit to the lads for keeping going." And while there was doubt on the terraces that a goal was ever going to come, Kemp says that wasn't the case for the players "I don't think you can afford to think like that as an attacking player," he said, "maybe from a fan's point of view I can understand it. "We had to keep getting in the right areas and believing you'll get a chance and then backing yourself to put it away. "Anyone will tell you that to get a goal at that stage of the game, you think you're going to win it. "Nick [Freeman] and Eli [King] came off the bench and made an impact. "It shows that whoever is playing and whoever is contributing, we're all in it together. "This will give us a big boost and we're all really happy."

The Vikings have had starting inside linebackers Ivan Pace Jr. and Blake Cashman together for just six of 11 games this season, and now they’ll be without Pace for at least another four games. Pace was placed on injured reserve Tuesday because of the hamstring strain he suffered in the first quarter of Sunday’s win in Chicago. He left after five plays. He’ll now miss at least games against the Cardinals, Falcons, Bears and Seahawks. The earliest he can return is Dec. 29 vs. Green Bay. The Vikings signed fourth-year linebacker Jamin Davis off the Packers practice squad and to the active roster, joining Cashman, Kamu Grugier-Hill and Brian Asamoah on the depth chart. “We really feel for him,” Cashman said after Sunday’s win . “Hate to see one of your guys get injured. We gotta lean on him, be there for him, and we’re going to need him to get right because we have playoff football ahead.” Pace, the second-year undrafted linebacker, ranks third on the team with 59 combined tackles despite also missing two games earlier this season because of a knee injury. He also has three sacks and a fumble returned for a touchdown during the Oct. 20 loss to the Lions. The Vikings added Davis, a 25-year-old former first-round pick by the Washington Commanders. He spent the past month on Green Bay’s practice squad, where the Vikings acquired him from, after he had been released by Washington in October. Davis, drafted 19th overall out of Kentucky in 2021, was mostly an off-the-ball linebacker for the Commanders over three seasons, when he had seven sacks, six pass deflections and an interception in 36 starts. Washington used Davis sparingly on the defensive line this season before he was cut. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has previously used a committee approach to fill linebacker absences. Cashman missed three games due to turf toe as well. The Vikings leaned on 30-year-old veteran Grugier-Hill, who has played 138 defensive snaps, and safety Josh Metellus, among others, to fill the void.

Israel approved a United States-brokered with Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. In the hours leading up to the Cabinet meeting, Israel carried out its most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 24 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities, as Israel signaled it aims to keep pummeling Hezbollah in the final hours before any ceasefire takes hold. Israel’s security Cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement late Tuesday after it was presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office said. U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement “good news” and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. An Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East, but neither he nor Netanyahu have proposed a postwar solution for the Palestinian territory, where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable. Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year. Israel says it will ‘attack with might’ if Hezbollah breaks truce Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed a series of accomplishments against Israel’s enemies across the region. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran, which backs both groups. “If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” he said. “For every violation, we will attack with might.” Netanyahu’s office later said Israel appreciated the U.S. efforts in securing the deal but “reserves the right to act against every threat to its security.” It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides’ compliance. But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Biden said Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce, but that the deal “was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” Hezbollah has said it accepts the proposal, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday that it had not seen the agreement in its final form. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state.” of Lebanon, he said. “Any violation of sovereignty is refused.” Warplanes bombard Beirut and its southern suburbs Even as Israeli, U.S, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah’s military capabilities. An Israeli strike on Tuesday leveled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city’s downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs killed at least one person and wounded 13, it said. Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure. Israel also struck a building in Beirut’s bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site that is around 400 meters (yards) from Lebanon’s Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli military said it struck targets in Beirut and other areas linked to Hezbollah’s financial arm. The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead. Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, is headquartered. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate. Israeli forces reach Litani River in southern Lebanon The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometers (miles) from the Israeli border. Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border. Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since. Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes. More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to in the country’s north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon. ___Gabriel mimics Gyokeres in cheeky goal celebration in Arsenal win over Sporting in Champions LeagueNebraska plans not to get caught sleeping vs. South DakotaAP News Summary at 3:42 p.m. EST

EL SEGUNDO — Lamar Jackson is the kind of quarterback who has troubled the Chargers. Aw, who are we kidding? He’s the kind of quarterback who troubles everyone in the NFL. He’s a passer. He’s a runner. He’s a playmaker. He’s a destroyer of defenses. “He’s one of one,” Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said Friday. Minter also called Jackson “the most electric quarterback in the history of the National Football League.” Jackson will be the Chargers’ problem this week, when they host the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night at SoFi Stadium. Jackson is another in a string of standout quarterbacks the Chargers will face during what is without question the toughest, most challenging part of their 2024 schedule. The Chargers rallied past Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night, pulling out a 34-27 victory on a last-minute drive led by Justin Herbert. Now, here comes Jackson, followed quickly by Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons, followed quickly by Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs. No rest for the weary. No question, Burrow, Jackson, Cousins and Mahomes could wear out a defensive coordinator, causing him to lose sleep. In fact, it’s already happened, as Minter admitted last week while preparing to face Burrow, who led the NFL in passing yardage going into the game, and still does. Jackson (2,876 yards) is second to Burrow (3,028) going into Week 12. Jackson (25) is also second to Burrow (27) in touchdown passes. Jackson (nine) is second to Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions (9.2) in yards per passing attempt. Jackson leads the NFL in passer rating (117.3). No one has passed and run for as many yards as Jackson (3,460). “It’s an ultimate challenge,” Minter said. The Chargers have struggled to contain players with a similar mix of skills to Jackson, including Mahomes, Justin Fields of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Bo Nix of the Denver Broncos. Jackson does it better than the others, and that’s what keeps Minter up late at night, worrying about how to contain the uncontainable. “We’ve played against different types of guys, guys who do different things well,” Minter said. “(Jackson) does everything well. The second you overcommit to where you’re going to have all these eyes on him to run, he’ll throw the ball over your head. There’s no one you can compare him to, he’s one of one.” Plus, Jackson isn’t all the Chargers must worry about Monday. Jackson serves as something akin to a basketball point guard, distributing the football as he sees fit, whether it’s handing it off to bruising running back Derrick Henry, the NFL’s leading rusher with 1,185 yards and 13 touchdowns, or throwing it to wide receiver Zay Flowers or tight end Mark Andrews. The Ravens are first in the NFL in net yards per game (430.1) and yards from scrimmage per play (8.64). They are second in points per game (30.4) and net rushing yards per game (177.3). They are third in net passing yards per game (252.8). They also are first in red-zone touchdown percentage (77.8%). The Ravens are 7-4, second in the AFC North. The Chargers are 7-3, second in the AFC West. “The ultimate red-zone weapon because every play can be so many different things,” Minter said of Jackson’s versatility. “High, high level of respect for him, how he works. Just a challenge. You can run to the challenge. You can run from the challenge. We’re going to run to the challenge, meet it head on, put our best stuff out there and see what happens.”

Blake Snell reportedly has joined his former team's biggest rival. After opting out of his Giants contract and entering MLB free agency this offseason, Snell has agreed to a five-year, $182 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers pending a physical, ESPN's Jeff Passan and Jorge Castillo reported Tuesday, citing sources. Snell seemingly confirmed the news with a post on his Instagram account. It's no surprise Los Angeles landed the two-time Cy Young Award winner. The Dodgers have shattered free-agency expectations in recent offseasons, inflating their payroll and even deferring millions of dollars to future years so they can sign stars including Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman -- the list goes on. It paid off for San Francisco's NL West rivals in 2024, as Los Angeles won its eighth World Series title last month when it defeated the New York Yankees in five games. And the Dodgers appear to be taking the deferred money route with Snell, as they did when they signed Ohtani last winter. Snell's lone Giants campaign started off rocky after the ace endured an offseason without spring training while searching for a home in free agency. But after a rough first half to the 2024 MLB season, Snell quickly rounded into Cy Young form, even pitching a no-hitter for San Francisco on Aug. 2 against the Cincinnati Reds. His hot second half led Snell to opt out of the remaining year on his Giants contract, making him the best available pitcher on the open market. This time, negotiations with MLB teams didn't last as long. Because the Dodgers, as usual, swooped in. Download and follow the Giants Talk PodcastNone

Leveraging Technology for Financial Growth: Joseph Heimann of NJ’s Perspective

BOSTON (AP) — UConn coach Jim Mora pulled a move that would make Bill Belichick proud while preparing the Huskies to play the notoriously churlish former New England Patriot's next team in his old backyard. Mora and his players were more than 45 minutes late for what was scheduled as a 30-minute media availability a day before Saturday's Fenway Bowl against North Carolina. Mora then gave a non-apology straight out of Belichick’s playbook. “We practice at a certain time the day before a game,” Mora said. “And we stuck to the script.” A six-time Super Bowl winner in New England with Tom Brady, Belichick was fired after going 4-13 in 2023, leaving him just 14 wins short of matching Don Shula’s all-time record for NFL victories. Unable to land a pro job at the age of 72, Belichick signed on with North Carolina — his first college gig — when they fired 73-year-old Mack Brown. Belichick hasn’t taken over on the Tar Heels' sideline yet; interim coach Freddie Kitchens — another ex-Cleveland Browns coach — will lead them in the Fenway Bowl. But the future Hall of Famer's potential return to a football field in Boston has been the biggest story ahead of Saturday’s game. Belichick did not attend media day, and Fenway Bowl executive director Brett Miller tried to preempt questions about him by asking reporters “to keep questions focusing on the players and coaches out here today.” “I don’t need to beat around the bush any more than that,” he said in comments that would have been cryptic if it weren’t so obvious to everyone who he meant. “I know there’s probably a lot of questions that you guys have about next year, particularly one side. Please do your best to keep it to these guys, because they’ve earned the right to be here.” The request wasn’t completely successful, with Kitchens taking a question about Belichick specifically and saying he talks to his new boss every day. Earlier this month, Kitchens said: “He asks questions; I answer the questions.” “I’m going to try to soak in all I can from him, and be a better coach because of it,” Kitchens said after Belichick was hired. “I love Carolina, I want what’s best for Carolina, and I know that right now at this moment in time, coach Belichick is what’s best for Carolina. “At the end of the day, he’s a ballcoach,” he said, “and I enjoy working for ballcoaches.” Mora also brushed off a question about whether the next Carolina coach would have any impact on Saturday's game. “It's irrelevant to us," said Mora, who was 0-1 against Belichick in four seasons as an NFL head coach. "We can't control the emotions of our opponents. And as far as I know, coach Belichick will not be taking the football field on Saturday, so it's not relevant to this football team in our preparation. How they got here North Carolina (6-6) will be playing in a bowl for the sixth straight year – the second-longest streak in program history. The Tar Heels climbed from back-to-back nine-loss seasons in the final years of Larry Fedora to reach into The Associated Top 25 in each of the previous four seasons under Brown, who also coached them from 1988-97 in one of the most successful eras of Carolina football history. After starting out 3-0 this year, the Tar Heels lost four straight — including a 70-50 loss to Sun Belt Conference team James Madison. They won three more to gain bowl eligibility before a loss to Boston College that sealed Brown's fate, and a season-ending loss to rival NC State. UConn is playing in its second bowl game in three seasons under Jim Mora, bouncing back from last year’s 3-9 record to post its first eight-win season since Randy Edsall took the Huskies to the Fiesta Bowl in 2010. An independent, UConn won all of its games against the non-Power 4 conferences and lost to Syracuse, Wake Forest and Duke of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Maryland of the Big Ten. Fenway Bowl history Miller said the bowl, which has struggled to find traction in a city more focused on the success of its professional sports teams, sold more tickets this year than in its first two. The Belichick angle is certainly part of that, but the game has also had some good success picking teams, hosting Louisville in 2022 -- the year before the Cardinals climbed into The Associated Press Top 10 – and then SMU last year, one season before the Mustangs made the College Football Playoff. “Could one of these teams be next,” Miller said. “We’ll see.” Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

It might've been Christmas, but it sure feels like Groundhog Day for the reeling Steelers

AP News Summary at 1:24 p.m. ESTLidia Thorpe and Ralph Babet (Image: AAP/Private Media) Racism and reverse racism. Misogyny and misandry. Homophobia and heterophobia. I have heard a lot of false equivalences touted in my time, yet none quite as stark as the false equivalency the federal government managed to manufacture earlier this week when they decided to censure both Senator Lidia Thorpe and Senator Ralph Babet concurrently for transgressions they claimed warranted such action. In the case of Thorpe, the censure was in relation to her infamous protest at a reception for King Charles III — an action which, while loud and confronting, was based in truth-telling with regards to both Indigenous sovereignty and the harm that had been committed in the name of the Crown. In the case of Babet, it was due to a tweet in which he used racist, homophobic and ableist slurs in order to dare “woke ass freaks” to come at him. In no way are these actions of equivalence. Lidia Thorpe sees her Senate spot as the Greens ‘paying the rent’ Read More Yet when Senator Penny Wong took to the microphone to introduce the censure motions, drawing that false equivalence was exactly what she did. Wong claimed both motions were about the “standards of respect” expected of senators, and that both wayward senators were engaging in actions to create social media storms while offering nothing of substance to improve people’s lives. While this may have been the case with Babet’s disgusting tweet, perhaps if Wong had stopped and actually considered the substance contained within Thorpe’s protest words, she may have realised that improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples while educating the masses on some realities is exactly why she took that action. Disappointingly, but predictably, the champions of “free speech” that are the federal opposition appeared to forget this very core value, with the majority of them supporting both censure motions, and Senator Birmingham parroting Wong’s sentiments. To his credit, Queensland Nationals Senator Matt Canavan was the lone Coalition voice to question the motions and he voted against them — not on the content, but rather on the basis of process. Due to flight delays, neither Thorpe nor Babet were able to be present to hear the motions and defend themselves should they have wished to. They had only been informed that morning they were being censured. The timing of the vote was not the only problem of process. As Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi rose to express her dissent in relation to the censure against Thorpe, she was repeatedly shut down by Senate President Sue Lines. Why? Because she dared to highlight the racism inherent in the chamber, while pointing out that it did not have the right to dictate to an Aboriginal woman, or indeed any other people of colour, how they should engage in protest. It was a fair point. Not only did Faruqi remind the chamber of the fact it had failed to censure Pauline Hanson for a racist tweet aimed at her, she also highlighted that this same tweet was later deemed to be racial vilification via court proceedings. What does Wong actually know about the art of protest? She’s not one to make a stand, even if it means she ends up voting against marriage equality despite being a lesbian woman who wished to marry her partner, and she certainly had no qualms in highlighting her compliance to the party line when, earlier this year, Senator Fatima Payman made a stance of unconditional support for the recognition of a Palestinian state while a genocide has been going on. Is this lack of discernment, and reinforcement of ignorance, just a given when it comes to accepting the modus operandi of our elected politicians? Will Senator Ralph Babet see censure for his slur-ridden posting? Read More What message are the four Indigenous senators who fell in lockstep with their party’s stance sending, not only to the many Indigenous people disenfranchised in this country who are looking for politicians to champion our issues, but also to the broader Australian public? First, that talking truth to power when it’s right there in front of you is unacceptable and warrants punishment, even though in the case of the federal government, they did commit to “truth-telling” when they promised to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full. Secondly, despite successive governments’ failures to listen to our more polite forms of protest such as petitions, consultative bodies, now-forgotten referendums and peaceful assemblies in parks, these tactics are the only ones we should be utilising. It’s more sinister than this though. Because truly, via their choice to censure Thorpe and Babet concurrently, while neither of them were there, they are stating there is no difference between an Aboriginal woman skilfully highlighting decades of injustice in the space of a mere minute in a House that was initially built to specifically exclude us, and a man using a bunch of disgusting and outdated slurs on a social media platform to rile progressives for fun. And so here we are, in the wake of the shambolic referendum process, finding the very issues Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to take to the streets for comparable to a disgusting and deliberately inflammatory tweet. Have something to say about this article? Write to us at letters@crikey.com.au . Please include your full name to be considered for publication in Crikey’s Your Say . We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.

ROME (AP) — Robert Lewandowski joined Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the only players in Champions League history with 100 or more goals. But Erling Haaland is on a faster pace than anyone by boosting his total to 46 goals at age 24 on Tuesday. Still, Haaland's brace wasn't enough for Manchester City in a 3-3 draw with Feyenoord that extended the Premier League champion's winless streak to six matches. Lewandowski’s early penalty kick started Barcelona off to a 3-0 win over previously unbeaten Brest to move into second place in the new single-league format. The Poland striker added goal No. 101 in second-half stoppage time. Ronaldo leads the all-time scoring list with 140 goals and Messi is next with 129. But neither Ronaldo nor Messi play in the Champions League anymore following moves to Saudi Arabia and the United States, respectively. The 36-year-old Lewandowski required 125 matches to reach the century mark, two more than Messi (123) and 12 fewer than Ronaldo (137). Barcelona also got a second-half score from Dani Olmo. The top eight finishers in the standings advance directly to the round of 16 in March. Teams ranked ninth to 24th go into a knockout playoffs round in February, while the bottom 12 teams are eliminated. Haaland has 46 goals in 44 games Haaland converted a first-half penalty to eclipse Messi as the youngest player to reach 45 goals then scored City's third after the break to raise his total to 46 goals in 44 games. Ilkay Gundogan had City's second. But then Feyenoord struck back with goals from Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Gimenez and David Hancko. Inter leads standings and hasn't conceded a goal Inter Milan beat Leipzig 1-0 with an own goal to move atop the standings with 13 points, one more than Barcelona and Liverpool, which faces Real Madrid on Wednesday. The Serie A champion is the only club that hasn't conceded a goal. Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 — the same score from the 2020 final between the two teams. PSG ended with 10 men and remained in the elimination zone. The French powerhouse has struggled in Europe after Kylian Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid. Atalanta moved within two points of the lead with a 6-1 win at Young Boys. Also, Arsenal won 5-1 at Sporting Lisbon; and Bayer Leverkusen routed Salzburg 5-0. AC Milan follows up win over Real Madrid with another victory AC Milan followed up its win at Real Madrid with a 3-2 victory at last-place Slovan Bratislava in an early match. Christian Pulisic put the seven-time champion ahead midway through the first half by finishing off a counterattack. Then Rafael Leao restored the Rossoneri’s advantage after Tigran Barseghyan had equalized for Bratislava and Tammy Abraham quickly added another. Nino Marcelli scored with a long-range strike in the 88th for Bratislava, which ended with 10 men. Bratislava has lost all five of its matches. Alvarez and Griezmann lead Atletico to 6-0 rout Argentina World Cup winner Julian Alvarez scored twice and Atletico Madrid routed Sparta Prague 6-0 in the other early game. Alvarez scored with a free kick 15 minutes in and Marcos Llorente added a long-range strike before the break. Alvarez finished off a counterattack early in the second half after being set up by substitute Antoine Griezmann, who then marked his 100th Champions League game by getting on the scoresheet himself. Angel Correa added a late brace for Atletico, which earned its biggest away win in Europe. Atletico beat Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round and extended its winning streak across all competitions to six matches. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer