leprechaun slots game

https://static.bangkokpost.com/media/content/20241124/c1_2907521_241124061308_700.jpg

CLEVELAND (AP) — Shortly after doing a face-down snow angel, firing a few celebratory snowballs and singing “Jingle Bells” on his way to the media room, Jameis Winston ended his postgame news conference with a simple question. “Am I a Brown yet?” he asked. He is now. And who knows? Maybe for a lot longer than expected. Winston entered Cleveland football folklore on Thursday night by leading the Browns to a 24-19 win over the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers, who had their five-game winning streak stopped. Winston's performance at Huntington Bank Field, which transformed into the world's largest snow globe, not only made him an instantaneous hero in the eyes of Browns fans but added another wrinkle to the team's ever-changing, never-ending quarterback conundrum. In his fourth start since Deshaun Watson's season-ending Achilles tendon injury, Winston made enough big plays to help the Browns (3-8) get a victory that should quiet conjecture about coach Kevin Stefanski's job. Some wins mean more than others. In Cleveland, beating the Steelers is as big as it gets. But beyond any instant gratification, Winston has given the Browns more to consider as they move forward. Watson's future with Cleveland is highly uncertain since it will still be months before the team has a grip on whether he's even an option in 2025, his fourth year since signing a $230 million, fully guaranteed contract that has proven calamitous. It's also possible the Browns will cut ties with Watson. They signed Winston to a one-year contract to be Watson's backup. But the unexpected events of 2024 have changed plans and led to the possibility that the 30-year-old Winston could become Cleveland's full-time QB or a bridge to their next young one. So much is unclear. What's not is that Winston, who leaped into the end zone on fourth-and-2 for a TD to put the Browns ahead 18-6 in the fourth quarter, is a difference maker. With his larger-than-life personality and the joy he shows whether practicing or throwing three touchdown passes, he has lifted the Browns. A man of faith, he's made his teammates believe. Winston has done what Watson couldn't: made the Browns better. “A very, very authentic person,” Stefanski said Friday on a Zoom call. “He’s the same guy every single day. He's the same guy at 5 a.m. as he at 5 p.m. He brings great energy to everything he does, and I think his teammates appreciate that about him.” Winston, who is 2-2 as a starter with wins over the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, has a knack for inspiring through fiery, preacher-like pregame speeches. But what has impressed the Browns is his ability to stay calm in the storm. “He doesn’t get rattled,” said Myles Garrett, who had three sacks against the Steelers . “He’s just tuned in and focused as anyone I’ve seen at that position. Turn the page. There was a turnover, came back to the sideline, ‘Love you. I’m sorry. We’re going to get it back.’ He was already on to the next one, ‘How can we complete the mission?’ “I have a lot of respect for him. First was from afar and now seeing it on the field in front of me, it’s a blessing to have someone who plays a game with such a passion and want-to. You can’t ask for a better teammate when they take those things to heart and they want to play for you like we’re actually brothers and that’s what we have to attain. That brotherhood.” What's working Winston has done something else Watson couldn't: move the offense. The Browns scored more than 20 points for just the second time this season, and like Joe Flacco a year ago, Winston has shown that Stefanski's system works with a quarterback patient enough to let plays develop and unafraid to take shots downfield. What needs help The conditions certainly were a factor, but the Browns were a miserable 1 of 10 on third down, a season-long trend. However, Cleveland converted all four fourth-down tries, including a fourth-and-3 pass from Winston to Jerry Jeudy with 2:36 left that helped set up Nick Chubb's go-ahead TD run. Stock up RT Jack Conklin. Garrett outplayed Steelers star T.J. Watt in their rivalry within the rivalry partly because Conklin did a nice job containing Pittsburgh's edge rusher, who was held without a sack and had one tackle for loss. Conklin has made a remarkable comeback since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery last year. Stock down Owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam. Their desire to build a dome is well intended, but an indoor game could never come close to matching the surreal setting of Thursday night, when snow swirled throughout the stadium and covered nearly all the yard lines and hash marks. “It was beautiful,” Winston said. Injuries WR Cedric Tillman is in the concussion protocol. He had two catches before taking a big hit on the final play of the third quarter. Key numbers 9 — Consecutive home wins for the Browns in Thursday night games. Three of those have come against Pittsburgh. What's next An extended break before visiting the Denver Broncos on Dec. 2. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Anthony hits winning layup with 0.2 seconds left, Magic complete 17-point rally to beat Nets 102-101I desperately want the Nikon Zf - and it's on sale for an unbelievable record-low price for Black FridayNEW DELHI — India’s former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, widely regarded as the architect of India’s economic reform program and a landmark nuclear deal with the United States, has died. He was 92. Singh was admitted to New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences late Thursday after his health deteriorated due to a “sudden loss of consciousness at home,” the hospital said in a statement. “Resuscitative measures were started immediately at home. He was brought to the Medical Emergency” at 8:06 p.m., the hospital said, but “despite all efforts, he could not be revived and was declared dead at 9:51 p.m.” Singh was being treated for “age-related medical conditions,” the statement said. A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh became one of India’s longest-serving prime ministers for 10 years and leader of the Congress Party in the Parliament’s Upper House, earning a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. He was chosen to fill the role in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi . But his sterling image was tainted by allegations of corruption against his ministers. Singh was reelected in 2009, but his second term as prime minister was clouded by financial scandals and corruption charges over the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This led to the Congress Party’s crushing defeat in the 2014 national election by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Narendra Modi . Singh adopted a low profile after relinquishing the post of prime minister. Prime Minister Modi, who succeeded Singh in 2014, called him one of India’s “most distinguished leaders” who rose from humble origins and left “a strong imprint on our economic policy over the years.” “As our Prime Minister, he made extensive efforts to improve people’s lives,” Modi said in a post on the social platform X. He called Singh’s interventions in Parliament as a lawmaker “insightful” and said “his wisdom and humility were always visible.” Rahul Gandhi, from the same party as Singh and the opposition leader in the lower house of the Indian Parliament, said Singh’s “deep understanding of economics inspired the nation” and that he “led India with immense wisdom and integrity.” “I have lost a mentor and guide. Millions of us who admired him will remember him with the utmost pride,” Gandhi wrote on X. Born on Sept. 26, 1932, in a village in the Punjab province of undivided India, Singh’s brilliant academic career took him to Cambridge University in Britain, where he earned a degree in economics in 1957. He then got his doctorate in economics from Nuffield College at Oxford University in 1962. Singh taught at Panjab University and the prestigious Delhi School of Economics before joining the Indian government in 1971 as economic advisor in the Commerce Ministry. In 1982, he became chief economic adviser to the Finance Ministry. He also served as deputy chair of the Planning Commission and governor of the Reserve Bank of India. As finance minister, Singh in 1991 instituted reforms that opened up the economy and moved India away from a socialist-patterned economy and toward a capitalist model in the face of a huge balance of payments deficit, skirting a potential economic crisis. His accolades include the 1987 Padma Vibhushan Award, India’s second-highest civilian honor; the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress in 1995; and the Asia Money Award for Finance Minister of the Year in 1993 and 1994. Singh was a member of India’s Upper House of Parliament and was leader of the opposition from 1998 to 2004 before he was named prime minister. He was the first Sikh to hold the country’s top post and made a public apology in Parliament for the 1984 Sikh Massacre in which some 3,000 Sikhs were killed after then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by Sikh bodyguards. Under Singh, India adopted a Right to Information Act in 2005 to promote accountability and transparency from government officials and bureaucrats. He was also instrumental in implementing a welfare scheme that guaranteed at least 100 paid workdays for Indian rural citizens. The coalition government he headed for a decade brought together politicians and parties with differing ideologies that were rivals in the country’s various states. In a move hailed as one of his biggest achievements apart from economic reforms, Singh ended India’s nuclear isolation by signing a deal with the U.S. that gave India access to American nuclear technology. But the deal hit his government adversely, with Communist allies withdrawing support and criticism of the agreement growing within India in 2008 when it was finalized. Singh adopted a pragmatic foreign policy approach, pursuing a peace process with nuclear rival and neighbor Pakistan. But his efforts suffered a major setback after Pakistani militants carried out a massive gun and bomb attack in Mumbai in November 2008. He also tried to end the border dispute with China, brokering a deal to reopen the Nathu La pass into Tibet, which had been closed for more than 40 years. His 1965 book, “India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth,” dealt with India’s inward-oriented trade policy. Singh is survived by his wife Gursharan Kaur and three daughters. Associated Press writer Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi contributed to this report.

Avrupa Minerals (CVE:AVU) Reaches New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

By HALELUYA HADERO, Associated Press President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until his administration can pursue a “political resolution” to the issue. The request came as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court, in which the company argued the court should strike down a law that could ban the platform by Jan. 19 while the government emphasized its position that the statute is needed to eliminate a national security risk. “President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case,” said Trump’s amicus brief, which supported neither party in the case and was written by D. John Sauer, Trump’s choice for solicitor general. Related Articles The argument submitted to the court is the latest example of Trump inserting himself in national issues before he takes office. The Republican president-elect has already begun negotiating with other countries over his plans to impose tariffs, and he intervened earlier this month in a plan to fund the federal government, calling for a bipartisan plan to be rejected and sending Republicans back to the negotiating table. He has been holding meetings with foreign leaders and business officials at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida while he assembles his administration, including a meeting last week with TikTok CEO Shou Chew. Trump has reversed his position on the popular app, having tried to ban it during his first term in office over national security concerns. He joined the TikTok during his 2024 presidential campaign and his team used it to connect with younger voters, especially male voters, by pushing content that was often macho and aimed at going viral. He said earlier this year that he still believed there were national security risks with TikTok, but that he opposed banning it. The filings Friday come ahead of oral arguments scheduled for Jan. 10 on whether the law, which requires TikTok to divest from its China-based parent company or face a ban, unlawfully restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment. The law was was signed by President Joe Biden in April after it passed Congress with broad bipartisan support. TikTok and ByteDance filed a legal challenge afterwards. Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld the statute , leading TikTok to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. The brief from Trump said he opposes banning TikTok at this junction and “seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.” In their brief to the Supreme Court on Friday, attorneys for TikTok and its parent company ByteDance argued the federal appeals court erred in its ruling and based its decision on “alleged ‘risks’ that China could exercise control” over TikTok’s U.S. platform by pressuring its foreign affiliates. The Biden administration has argued in court that TikTok poses a national security risk due to its connections to China. Officials say Chinese authorities can compel ByteDance to hand over information on TikTok’s U.S. patrons or use the platform to spread or suppress information. But the government “concedes that it has no evidence China has ever attempted to do so,” TikTok’s legal filing said, adding that the U.S. fears are predicated on future risks. In its filing Friday, the Biden administration said because TikTok “is integrated with ByteDance and relies on its propriety engine developed and maintained in China,” its corporate structure carries with it risk.

Taisei Co. (OTCMKTS:TISCY) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Published 5:39 pm Sunday, December 29, 2024 By Data Skrive Currently, the New Orleans Pelicans (5-27) have five players on the injury report, including Yves Missi, in their matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers (18-13) at Smoothie King Center on Monday, December 30 at 8:00 PM ET. The Clippers also have five players on the injury report. Watch the NBA, other live sports and more on Fubo. What is Fubo? Fubo is a streaming service that gives you access to your favorite live sports and shows on demand. Use our link to sign up. The Pelicans are coming off of a 132-124 loss to the Grizzlies in their last outing on Friday. Trey Murphy III put up 35 points, three rebounds and four assists for the Pelicans. The Clippers took care of business in their last outing 102-92 against the Warriors on Friday. Norman Powell scored 26 points in the Clippers’ victory, leading the team. Sign up for NBA League Pass to get live and on-demand access to NBA games. Get tickets for any NBA game this season at StubHub. Catch NBA action all season long on Fubo. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER .Mexico stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/BMV IPC up 0.90%

Nortec Minerals (CVE:NVT) Hits New 52-Week Low – Here’s What HappenedParts of Western division without power supplySpecial counsel Jack Smith said he is dropping his election subversion case against President-elect Donald Trump, seeking the case’s dismissal in a court filing. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) reacts.

Musk causes uproar by backing German far-right party ahead of key elections

Military personnel manning a U.S. Army command outpost in Iraq found the radio report suspicious. During an operation to hunt suspected al-Qaeda militants, American soldiers involved notified their commanders that they had just killed three detainees whom, they said, had broken free of their restraints and attacked them. The soldiers had been in combat for months in Samarra, a city about 80 miles northwest of Baghdad, where a vicious insurgency had taken hold. The detainees’ deaths on May 9, 2006, triggered an extensive U.S. military investigation, leading to courts-martial, two murder convictions, and a career-ending letter of reprimand for Col. Michael Steele, the troops’ brigade commander. In the end, those found guilty acknowledged under oath that they had lied about the detainees’ escape, and instead set them loose and shot them in the back as they ran away. “Every single person that was involved in that has had an indelible mark left on them,” Steele told the Washington Post in an interview. He attributed the murders to “guys that decided to go rogue.” The cases have taken on new significance with President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth for defense secretary. Hegseth was a 26-year-old lieutenant in the Army National Guard when he joined that unit, the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, in summer 2005 just ahead of its deployment. Though he was not present during the murders and had no role in them, the incident was formative, other soldiers said, with men he grew to care about ensnared in the case. This account of Hegseth’s deployment to Iraq is based on interviews with eight people familiar with that time in his life, along with a review of military documents and past media accounts. Taken together, a picture emerges of a potential secretary of defense who witnessed an extended inquiry into military misconduct that upended the lives of colleagues and mentors. The experience left soldiers not directly involved in the murders convinced that the Army had turned on them, too, those involved said. Hegseth and representatives for the Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment. Some people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a high-profile potential nomination that is embroiled in controversy for other reasons. In recent days, the Post and other news organizations have revealed that Hegseth was investigated by police in 2017 for an alleged sexual assault. His lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, has said that the encounter was consensual and that Hegseth was not charged with the crime, though he later paid to settle the matter with the accuser. Hegseth, 44, has rarely, if ever, mentioned the Iraq cases publicly, and has shifted in the years since from being an ardent supporter of the 2007 surge of U.S. forces in Iraq to questioning the entire point of the war. Over time, he also took on an increasingly populist tone in defense of U.S. troops accused of war crimes, arguing that the military put unreasonable restrictions on the rules of engagement that govern how American soldiers fight. His appearances on the cable news show “Fox & Friends Weekend” captured the attention of then-President Donald Trump, leading to phone calls between them, people familiar with the matter said. Hegseth took particular interest in three prosecutions: those of Army officers Clint Lorance and Mathew Golsteyn for alleged murders in Afghanistan, and Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, who beat a murder charge but was punished for staging a photo with an Islamic State fighter’s corpse in Iraq. In November 2019, after Trump pardoned Lorance and Golsteyn, and reinstated Gallagher’s rank — rejecting pushback from senior Pentagon officials — Hegseth gave a full-throated defense of the moves, telling Fox viewers the president had shown support for “people out there making the impossible calls at impossible moments.” “These are not cases where people went into villages with the intention of killing innocent people,” Hegseth said, dismissing evidence and testimony pointing to violations of military law. “These are split-second decisions.” Privately, Hegseth commiserated with Golsteyn about the investigation the 3rd Brigade Combat Team had endured, Golsteyn told the Post. It appeared that Hegseth saw “a replay of events in my case that were relatable to his own experiences,” Golsteyn said. Hegseth worked at Fox until recently, decamping the network this month when his nomination was announced. ‘Kill Company’ Hegseth graduated from Princeton University in 2003, joining the investment bank Bear Stearns and the Minnesota Army National Guard as an infantry officer. He deployed in 2004 first to Guantánamo Bay, the U.S. detention facility in Cuba that at the time housed hundreds of 9/11 suspects and combatants in the war on terrorism. After returning to Wall Street for a brief interlude, he volunteered for an assignment to Iraq in 2005, landing a slot as a platoon leader overseeing about 40 men in the brigade’s Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment. “I showed up in the 101st Airborne Division, in one of the most storied units in our nation’s history, with a bunch of combat vets who’d already done a tour in Iraq and they looked at me like, ‘Who the hell is this guy?’” Hegseth said in a 2021 interview on the “Will Cain Show” podcast. One former officer who served with Hegseth said he was surprised to see a National Guard member taking on such a role. He surmised that Hegseth probably wanted to run for office someday and thought a combat tour could help, the former officer said. On the battlefield, Hegseth appeared calm and levelheaded, two soldiers who served with him said. He led missions initially in Baghdad and then around Samarra, said retired Sgt. Maj. Eric Geressy, who served as the senior enlisted soldier in Charlie Company. The fighting became especially intense, Geressy recalled, after an important Shiite landmark, the Golden Mosque, was blown up in February 2006, triggering a wave of sectarian bloodshed with U.S. forces caught in the middle. “The enemy really threw everything at us there,” Geressy said. “Suicide bombers, mortars, rockets — anything and everything.” Charlie Company, numbering about 140 men, was considered the brigade’s most aggressive unit, engaging threats with a bravado that would later draw scrutiny from senior leaders, said people familiar with the deployment. As recounted by the New Yorker in 2009, Charlie Company was nicknamed “Kill Company” and maintained a whiteboard listing confirmed kills — including civilians — that each platoon had notched. The former officer, who served in another company within the battalion, said the behavior exhibited by Hegseth’s infantry company was viewed as “a little bit strange” by those on the outside: “We joked sometimes that they were on their own crusade down there.” Hegseth, in an interview for the New Yorker article, said that Charlie Company’s aggressiveness was shaped by training it had received while preparing for the deployment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He claimed then that he voiced concerns to his former company commander, Capt. Daniel Hart, that he didn’t “feel comfortable telling my guys to go into that door hot,” with their weapons poised to be fired. “I can’t quote him directly, but he said, ‘What do you mean? This is an enemy target, we have intelligence that it is an Al Qaeda mortar team,’” Hegseth told the New Yorker. “And I said, ‘I understand that, sir, and I don’t want to put my platoon in danger, but at the same time I am talking to other people who have been here for a while and nobody else goes in hot — nobody. And if we go in hot we are going to kill civilians.’” Hart, now an Army colonel and military psychiatrist, declined through an Army spokesman to comment on Hegseth’s comments. Hegseth eventually was reassigned and tasked with overseeing local governance projects in Samarra, where there had been little order since the region’s decent into violence, Geressy said. Steele and Geressy both lauded his service in interviews with the Post. But for his old unit, disaster was coming. Operation Iron Triangle Steele, the brigade commander, had survived the infamous “Black Hawk Down” incident that killed 18 U.S. soldiers in Somalia in 1993. He held a mindset that, in the run-up to their deployment, there was little time for anything other than preparing for war, several soldiers who served under him said. Once in Iraq, he clashed frequently with senior commanders over strategy and tactics, as U.S. forces struggled to simultaneously squelch the violence and win over the civilian populace, several people said. After Hegseth’s departure, as fighting in and around Samarra soared, Steele and his staff engineered a series of helicopter assaults intended to pummel the militant forces. One such mission, branded Operation Iron Triangle, targeted an al-Qaeda training facility on a tiny island in Lake Tharthar. Charlie Company’s 3rd Platoon lifted off in Black Hawk helicopters expecting a fierce battle, soldiers involved said. Their target, according to a military document describing the operation that was obtained by the Post, was “full of Al Qaeda” and associates of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, a precursor to the Islamic State. Geressy, in a witness statement submitted after the operation as part of the inquiry, said that soldiers began clearing houses after their helicopters landed but that the first few houses had no one inside. Later, when soldiers were flown to another part of the island, they opened fire on a building, killing one man and taking several people captive, he told military investigators. Geressy was elsewhere on the island at the time, he told investigators, and instructed the soldiers to prepare the detainees to be moved by aircraft for an intelligence screening by other Army personnel. About 20 minutes later, the captives were dead. Hart, Hegseth’s former superior officer, sent a memo to Steele saying the first man killed had looked through a window as the soldiers approached and that three other “military aged males” had used their wives inside the building to shield themselves. Hart’s report also said that his soldiers used deadly force to respond to a hostile act by the detainees. A military court later determined that account to be false. An Army official familiar with the matter said that Hart wrote the report based on what he believed to be true at the time. As the story fell apart, Army investigators alleged that two soldiers, Cpl. William Hunsaker and Pfc. Corey Clagett, shot the detainees and accused a more senior member of the unit, Staff Sgt. Raymond Girouard, of ordering the killings and then helping to cover them up. A fourth, Spec. Juston Graber, was accused of shooting one of the detainees in the head after the initial gunfire stopped to “ease his suffering,” he told investigators. Clagett and Hunsaker pleaded guilty to murder and related charges, receiving prison sentences of 18 years each. Graber pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, receiving a sentence of nine months in exchange for his testimony against the others, and Girouard was convicted of negligent homicide and other charges and sentenced to 10 years, according to military documents. Girouard’s conviction was later overturned on appeal, while the others have since been released. Clagett, Hunsaker and Girouard did not respond to requests for comment. Graber, now 39, said in a text message that he is writing a book about his experience, including carrying out “that mercy killing.” “War is complete and utter hell, and, unless you’re there, on the receiving end of flying bullets or recovering your brothers ... you’ll never comprehend the complexities of what we go through nor the decisions we have to make,” Graber’s message said. A unit under suspicion Suspicion spread far beyond the soldiers eventually sent to prison. Defense attorneys for the men accused depicted a bloodthirsty and undisciplined culture within Hegseth’s old infantry company. The experience, one senior soldier in the unit said, was searing for all of them. Steele received the letter of reprimand from Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, who later became a four-star general and vice chief of staff of the Army. In a phone interview, Steele said that Chiarelli “tried to connect the murder of the detainees to my command climate” and that others in the brigade thought the general’s conclusions were “ludicrous.” Steele portrayed Chiarelli as disconnected from what rank-and-file infantry personnel experienced, saying the general “lived in a palace” in Iraq “while my guys are out bleeding to death in the streets of Samarra.” His voice hardened as he recalled witnessing more senior commanders receiving orders to release militants who had been captured by U.S. forces. “There are soldiers that absolutely died because of that stupidity,” Steele said. Asked about the Charlie Company’s “kill board” and the harsh methods of training he instituted, Steele said he did not condone illegal behavior but wanted his soldiers not to be timid when their lives were in danger. Death, he said, is “irrevocable.” “I take it personally when somebody said, ‘Well, I think your techniques are too hard,’” Steele said. “Well, you pick up a damn rifle and you go get in that fire team and you go out and you face insurgents with my guys, then.” Chiarelli said in an email that he reprimanded Steele “because the soldiers under his command violated the rules of engagement.” “I was in Iraq for one week, commanding the 1st Cavalry Division, when eight soldiers assigned to my division were killed and 64 were wounded in an ambush in Baghdad’s Sadr City,” Chiarelli said. “I understood and witnessed firsthand how violent a place it could be.” Steele said he supports Hegseth’s potential nomination as defense secretary, calling his mindset a rarity for that job. Hegseth is intelligent, articulate, and will refocus the Pentagon on winning the nation’s wars, the retired colonel said. Critics of Hegseth’s potential nomination have stressed that he has never led any large organization and has faced mounting scrutiny of his personal life and punditry, including advocating for firing generals who support diversity programs, opposing women serving in combat units and suggesting in a book that Islam “is not a religion of peace, and it never has been.” He also has tattoos that were flagged by National Guard colleagues as being associated with the far right. If he is formally nominated by Trump after his inauguration, Hegseth’s confirmation will require a Senate majority vote — an assessment by lawmakers of whether he is ready to lead an enterprise that includes more than 3 million military and civilian personnel, a global network of installations, and nuclear weapons. The former Army officer who served with Hegseth in Iraq said he believes he has latched on to “populist scenarios” in a quest for personal gain. When news of Hegseth’s nomination emerged, old acquaintances from those days got back in touch with one another, the former officer said. One text he received especially stood out. All it said: “WTF?” Monika Mathur, Razzan Nakhlawi and Lisa Rein contributed to this report.Salesforce Q3 Earnings: Revenue Beat, EPS Miss, Free Cash Flow Up 30%, AI Driving 'Groundbreaking Transformation' And More

Brentford boss Thomas Frank claimed Brighton forward Joao Pedro should have been sent off during his side’s goalless Premier League draw at the Amex Stadium. Pedro escaped punishment after swinging an arm at Bees substitute substitute Yehor Yarmoliuk without making contact. VAR reviewed the second-half incident but deemed there was no violent conduct. Frank and Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler disagreed about the decision. “As I understand the rules, you can’t swing your arm to try to hit someone,” said Frank. “If you hit them or not, it’s a red, that’s the way I understand the rules.” Frank spoke to the match officials, including referee Andy Madley, about the flashpoint at full-time. “They haven’t seen the situation yet, not on TV afterwards,” said Frank. “To be fair to him, I think the angle can be tricky so that’s why you’ve got VAR.” Asked about Frank’s assessment, Hurzeler replied: “Interesting opinion. I see it completely different. “For me, it’s not a red card. He tried to get free from a person.” Brighton were booed off after their winless run was stretched to six top-flight games. Albion dominated for large periods and hit the woodwork inside four minutes through Julio Enciso. Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken made some important saves before being forced off injured in the 36th minute, albeit his replacement Hakon Valdimarsson was rarely tested on his Premier League debut. The Seagulls remain 10th ahead of Monday’s trip to Aston Villa, with Brentford a position and two points below moving towards their New Year’s Day showdown with Arsenal. Hurzeler thought the jeers at full-time were unfair. “The team doesn’t deserve that because in all the games we had in the last weeks they were all good, they were all intense, they were all where we thought we deserved more” said the German, whose team have lost to Fulham and Crystal Palace and drawn with Southampton, Leicester and West Ham in recent matches. “We try to work hard to satisfy our supporters, we try to give them what they deserve, we try to make them proud. “But the Premier League is tough. We know there will be (tough) periods we have to go through, especially with this young squad. “We try to stick together, find the positive and keep on going.” Brentford, who remain without a top-flight away win this term, had an early Yoane Wissa finish ruled out for offside following VAR intervention but barely threatened, despite an improved second-half showing. Frank, who is awaiting news on Flekken and defender Ben Mee, who also left the field injured, said: “I thought it was a fair point. “Brighton were better in the first half, no big, clearcut chances, and I thought we were better second half. “Overall, I’m happy with the performance, especially the way we defended. “We haven’t had too many clean sheets this season, so in that context I thought it was very impressive against a good Brighton team. “We know we have a lot of players out – we get two more injuries during the game. “The way the players showed their mentality and character and dug in was hugely impressive.”

Nortec Minerals (CVE:NVT) Hits New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

THE Department of Justice - Regional Prosecution Office Davao (DOJ RPO-Davao) said that there is a need to intensify information dissemination on Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) amid the increasing number of cases in the region. Lawyer Janet Grace B. Dalisay-Fabrero, Davao regional prosecutor, said the number of VAWC cases their office received in 2023 was 454. She expressed concern over the increase in numbers for 2024, citing that the data they have as of the moment is only from the third quarter of 2024. “First to third quarter pa lang ng [of] 2024, we already have a total of 337 cases filed region-wide, so ibig sabihin [it means that] the struggle to really disseminate and educate the public about the need to be very conscious about this gender-based violence is a continuing effort,” she said during the Kapehan sa Davao on Monday, November 25, 2024, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod. She said they were planning to end the campaign in 2030, however, the number of cases their office is handling is still rising. Lawyer Carla V. Gueverra, assistant state prosecutor of DOJ-Davao, said that at the national level, 13,682 VAWC cases were filed in 2023, while in the first quarter of 2024 alone, 7,394 cases have already been filed. “I think this shows the trending 2024 tumataas yung [it is increasing] number of reported cases which is I think is because of the information dissemination campaign conducted by our partners,” she said. Sherlyn S. Concubierta, regional women and solo parent focal of DSWD-Davao, said that their office has received around 30 walk-in clients from the first to the second semester of this year. She explained that these clients receive psychosocial interventions, such as counseling, referrals to Crisis Social Intervention depending on the clients' needs, and legal interventions. Meanwhile, Jeanette L. Ampog, executive director of Talikala, said that their office has received around 20 cases involving prostituted women, gender-based violence, abuse from partners, and abuse from customers of prostituted women. Lorna Mandin, head of Davao City's Integrated Gender and Development Division (IGDD), said that in Davao City alone, from 2014 to 2023, there have been around 17,748 VAWC cases. In 2023, there were around 2,797 cases, a significant increase compared to 2022, which had only 1,864 cases. “Daghan gyud ang naga-report [There is an increase in the reports] because services are available isa pod na siya [this is one of the reasons], information also in a way we believed is well disseminated,” she said. PMaj. Catherine Dela Rey, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office (PRO), said that they have conducted multiple information dissemination activities in barangays, specifically in schools, to raise awareness about what constitutes rape, and sexual abuse, and what to do if such an incident occurs, as most victims are often afraid of the perpetrator. “As soon as nangyari agad ang insidente i-report agad para mahuli agad natin ang suspects or suspect huwag natin paabutin ng buwan o ilang araw para po ma-inquest agad natin o diretso po natin makulong ang suspect at hindi na po siya makapagbiktima pa ng ibang babae (As soon as the incident happens, report it immediately so that we can apprehend the suspects right away. Don’t let it take months or days before reporting, so we can conduct the inquest and immediately jail the suspect, preventing them from victimizing other women),” she said. To further reduce gender-based violence and VAWC cases in the community, Mandin highlighted the importance of men’s participation in seminars. She emphasized that it would be a huge help if green jokes and name-calling were not excused, and by informing men that they should also advocate for gender equality and women's empowerment. She added that these issues are already integrated into some educational materials, such as books, addressing name-calling and green jokes as unacceptable. Mandin shared that in collaboration with Talikala and the Department of Education-Division of Davao City (DepEd-Davao), they have integrated concepts about VAWC and gender-based violence into the modules of grades four through junior high school. RGPIt’s been well publicised that 2024 was a , with billions of people in at least 60 going to the . The year started with votes in the and is ending in the wake of an over accusations of Russian interference. As a data correspondent, I spent most of this year covering what were arguably the two most influential polls: the in July, and the in November. From an outside glance, the two electoral events had little in common; not least because Sir Keir Starmer and President-elect Donald are far apart in most aspects of their character. In the UK, ; a majority of 156 seats, and a 10 per cent majority in national vote share. In the US, , but in the end won just a 1.6 per cent national majority over Kamala Harris. Indeed, these elections shared some key similarities which may point to trends in the future of global politics, particularly in the digital age. Before comparing the common characteristics of the UK and , we must acknowledge that the choice of leaders is what largely sets them apart. This summer, Brits ushered in a moderate left-wing government led by a man who, for all , was suggested to be . The picture across the pond is almost a total opposite. Trump was elected to a second term - a right-wing candidate who is credited with pushing further right, and whose can be described as many things but not boring. Their backgrounds are also a point of difference. Sir Keir proudly waved his working-class roots as the son of a toolmaker, who diligently climbed the legal ladder and reached the head of the Crown Prosecution Service. Famously, Trump r from his own mogul father, which the president-elect developed into a business career spanning from a real estate empire, to hosting The Apprentice, and the short-lived Trump University. Both individuals, of distinct backgrounds and skills, were chosen by their electorate to be leaders. One embodies the rule of law, while the other rejects (or indeed, bulldozes) the institutional rulebook. To some degree at least, both reflect the values of their electorate. On both sides of the pond, this year’s elections represented some degree of a win for the right. In the US, Republicans swept the Executive, Congress and Senate. In the UK, the Conservatives’ fall from grace made way for a “new” right. Men have typically been considered a key support base for Trump, but this year, this extended to the younger generation too. Nearly half of men under aged 18-30 voted for Trump, according to AP VoteCast; up from a third in 2020. Yet for some time, Trump was not the only option available to more Conservative voters. Until mid-July, , hovering between 9 and 10 per cent of the vote. When Kamala Harris entered the race, his polling popularity split in half, but RFK Jr was still maintaining a healthy 5 per cent of vote intention. With the election considered to be on a knife’s edge, this percentage could have made the difference for either major candidate. His supporters were made up of both , who may have been united by a frustration with the status quo. But ultimately, RFK Jr endorsed Trump, aligning himself with the political right - and possibly . Meanwhile in the UK, left-wing won by a landslide, with a at just 121 seats in Parliament. But all was not lost for the political right. Nigel Farage’s right-wing party Reform UK also broke through the fray by winning five seats, above most expectations. Overall, men also swung farther to Reform (by +15 per cent) than women (+11 per cent); with wins among all male age groups, from men under 24 (9 per cent) to over 55s+ (20 per cent), according to the exit poll. More pressingly, Reform won 14.3 per cent of the ; just a few points behind the Tories (23.8 per cent). Whether this momentum can be sustained into the next election remains to be seen. This could, however, set the stage for a new form of the UK’s political right, which has been dominated by the Conservatives for over a century. Labour in the UK and the Democrats in the US waged very different campaigns; and namely, Sir Keir’s party won the election, while Ms Harris’ lost. Yet both major left-wing parties lost support from one of their key demographics: minority voters. In the UK, lost nearly a third of its existing support from Black and Asian voters compared to the 2019 election. The ethnic minority Labour vote dropped from 64 per cent to 46 per cent; despite Labour’s overall success. In fact, +13 per cent more ethnic minority voters chose Independent candidates this year, compared to a boost of just + 2 per cent among white voters. Jabeer Butt, chief executive of the Race Equality Foundation, pointed to a and as a reason for this disillusionment. “It should concern Labour that they have not only lost votes from Asian communities, but they have lost seats [to Independents],” he told In the United States, , leading to a nearly even split between Harris-Trump support. NBC’s exit polls showed that Harris won 53 per cent of the Latino vote to Trump’s 45 per cent; a far cry from Biden’s 33-point lead among Latinos in 2020. Though the extent of concerns about a substantial shift to the right among Black voters appeared to be overblown, 1 in 5 Black men did vote for Trump (an increase of 2 per cent from 2020, and up 7 per cent from 2016). This specifically represented a growing divide between Black women (7 per cent of whom voted for Trump) and Black men; with some , due to culturally conservative and economically liberal traits. from the Democrats, as an act of protest against Biden’s approach to the war in Gaza. While it is impossible to say how many non-votes were decided for this reason, there is one place it certainly made a difference. was considered a Democratic stronghold with a 55 per cent Arab population. This year, Trump won the city by 2,500 votes; the first time a Republican has won since 2000. Harris lost a third of the Dearborn vote from Joe Biden in 2020 (down to 36 per cent from 69 per cent), while third-party candidate Jill Stein took 15 per cent of the vote in the city. In both the UK and US, then, Labour and Democrats lost favour with minority voters, for a variety of reasons. Both parties had relied on non-white voters as reliable supporters; but this may not be an easy win in future elections.

‘There is a line’: Kohli punishment labelled ‘extremely lenient’ amid growing legacy questionSEOUL, Dec 27 (Reuters) - South Korea's acting president faces an impeachment vote as the Constitutional Court meets for its first hearing on Friday in the case of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached and suspended from duties after a short-lived martial law. The effort to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who has been acting president since Yoon was impeached on Dec. 14, threatens to intensify the political crisis gripping Asia's fourth-largest economy and one of its most vibrant democracies. The unexpected martial law decree and swift political fallout shocked the nation and economic markets, unsettling key allies the United States and Europe which had seen Yoon as a staunch partner in global efforts to counter China, Russia, and North Korea. The plan for a vote to impeach Han was unveiled on Thursday by the main opposition Democratic Party after he declined to immediately appoint three justices to fill vacancies at the Constitutional Court , saying it would exceed his acting role. After Yoon's impeachment, the DP had said in the interest of national stability it would not pursue impeaching Han over his role in the martial law bid. But the party has since clashed with the Yoon-appointed prime minister over the justices, as well as bills calling for special prosecutors to investigate the president. On Thursday Han said it was beyond his remit as a caretaker president to appoint the justices without bipartisan agreement. A party spokesman said Han's refusal amounted to an abuse of power aimed at obstructing Yoon's trial, adding that the prime minister was himself "a key suspect in the rebellion". The leader of Yoon's People Power Party, Kwon Young-se, told reporters that if Han was impeached, that could trigger a new financial crisis, the Yonhap news agency said. Yoon cited a high number of impeachment votes and other obstructionist moves by the DP as part of his justification for trying to impose martial law. He also later said it was needed to investigate questions over election security. The vote to determine Han's fate comes as the Constitutional Court is set to hold its first hearing in a case that will decide whether Yoon is reinstated or permanently removed from office. The court has 180 days to decide whether to reinstate Yoon or remove him. In the latter scenario, a new presidential election would be held within 60 days. Yoon is not required to attend the hearing, and it is unclear if anyone from his legal team will be there. In contrast to South Korea's two previous impeached presidents, Yoon has refused to receive or acknowledge court communications so far. On Thursday a court spokesperson said the hearing would be held regardless of his team's participation, but she did not comment on whether the president would eventually be compelled to respond. If Han is impeached, the finance minister will assume the acting presidency. The Democratic Party has majority control of parliament, but there is disagreement between the parties and some constitutional scholars over whether a simple majority or a two-thirds vote is needed to impeach the acting president. On Thursday the South Korean won weakened to its lowest since March 2009 in holiday-thinned trading amid the U.S. dollar's continued rally. Analysts said there was little to reverse the negative sentiment stemming from political uncertainty this week, while the strong dollar has not worked in favour of South Korean stocks. Yoon shocked his country and the world with a late-night announcement on Dec. 3 that he was imposing martial law to overcome political deadlock and root out "anti-state forces". The military deployed special forces to the national assembly, the election commission, and the office of a liberal YouTube commentator. It also issued orders banning activity by parliament and political parties, as well as calling for government control of the military. But within hours 190 lawmakers had defied the cordons of troops and police and voted against Yoon's order. About six hours after his initial decree, the president rescinded the order. Yoon survived a first impeachment vote on Dec. 7 after his party boycotted the motion, but divisions within his conservative camp deepened after he gave a defiant speech defending martial law, questioning the validity of elections, and claiming domestic opponents were aligned with North Korea. At least 12 of his party joined the opposition to support impeachment on Dec. 14, and he was suspended from duties. Yoon and senior members of his administration also face criminal investigations for insurrection over their decision to impose martial law. Sign up here. Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Clarence Fernandez Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tabNCAA Field Hockey: Saint Joseph’s stuns UNC, will take on Northwestern for titleWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump's supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump's movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump's Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer , a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer's comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks , whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar." Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with finding ways to cut the federal government , weighed in, defending the tech industry's need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump's world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift. His presidential transition team did not respond to questions about positions on visas for highly skilled workers or the debate between his supporters online. Instead, his team instead sent a link to a post on X by longtime adviser and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller that was a transcript of a speech Trump gave in 2020 at Mount Rushmore in which he praised figures and moments from American history. Musk, the world's richest man who has grown remarkably close to the president-elect , was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump's movement but his stance on the tech industry's hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry's need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent," he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Trump's own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the U.S. illegally but he has also sought curbs on legal immigration , including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order , which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Trump's businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club , and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the the H-1B program for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country" and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump told a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," he told the “All-In" podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump's budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes.

Pierce's 20 lead Presbyterian past Youngstown State 67-42A new video has emerged online reportedly showing a new (and unorthodox) Chinese military drone flying. The drone is said to be the Wuzhen-9 (or WZ-9), meaning "Divine Eagle", and is suggested to be an Airborne Early Warning aircraft. The new drone comes amid a flurry of new end-of-year Chinese military aircraft reveals that include two advanced fighter jets. One of those jets could be the first sixth-generation fighter flown by China and the second is a smaller fighter (it's unclear if the smaller fighter is manned or unmanned). The WZ-9 drone was previously known from scale models and satellite images. Eye-catching new Chinese drone seen flying The images are believed to be the first time the Wuzhen-9 have been seen flying. It is an eye-catching design based around a twin-boom structure. It also has a smaller wing that acts as a horizontal stabilizer in the front while the main wing is in the rear along with two vertical stabilizers. The main wing connects the two booms of the UAV. It is powered by a single jet engine located on top of the main wing between the two bombs and vertical stabilizers. "The sighting comes close on the heels of Beijing flying two new claimed sixth-generation aircraft – a regional stealth bomber and a smaller fighter jet. This also displays how the PLA is realizing its vision of a heavily “mechanized” and automated military, as advocated in its successive defense white papers." - The Aviationist According to some reports, the aircraft is designed as an early warning UAV to detect low-visibility targets - including aircraft equipped with stealth technology. One boom has a dome carrying what appears to be a satellite communication antenna dish. The Aviationist postulated that while only one boom is seen carrying the antenna, it is possible antennas could be present on both of them. As with other newly revealed Chinese military aircraft, there are a lot of unanswered questions that can't be answered based on the limited info available. In this case, it is not possible to know if the drone is fully or semi-autonomous (or the degree of man-in-the-loop control). The aircraft's sensors remain a mystery. It is also unclear if this was the first flight for the new drone or if this is just the first time China wanted it to be captured on film. China may be able to produce around 240 fighter jets annually made up of J-10s, J-16, and J-20s. China's growing list of capabilities All through the Cold War, the Soviet Union had a clear technological lead and China was limited to mostly producing Soviet-designed equipment under license. That is now dramatically turning around as China develops ever more of its own military gear (sometimes with copied Western technology). According to Professor Justin Bronks of the think tank Rusi, China's most advanced fighter jet (the Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon) is now more advanced than the most advanced Russian fighter jet (the Su-57 Felon). In the last few months, China has revealed three new fighter jets. The first, the J-35A, was unveiled at an airshow in China in November. This is believed to be a variant of the FC-31 and is thought to be developed to operate on China's new fleet of aircraft carriers. Just days ago, China publically flew what could be a new experimental sixth-generation fighter jet with three engines. Just hours later, videos also emerged online showing a new smaller fighter jet (it was unclear from the images if it had a cockpit). Seperately, China is also racing to produce its own jet engines (it has historically been dependent on Russia and the Soviet Union for its jet engines).