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By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump promised on Tuesday to “vigorously pursue” capital punishment after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of most people on federal death row partly to stop Trump from pushing forward their executions. Related Articles National Politics | Elon Musk’s preschool is the next step in his anti-woke education dreams National Politics | Trump’s picks for top health jobs not just team of rivals but ‘team of opponents’ National Politics | Biden will decide on US Steel acquisition after influential panel fails to reach consensus National Politics | Biden vetoes once-bipartisan effort to add 66 federal judgeships, citing ‘hurried’ House action National Politics | A history of the Panama Canal — and why Trump can’t take it back on his own Trump criticized Biden’s decision on Monday to change the sentences of 37 of the 40 condemned people to life in prison without parole, arguing that it was senseless and insulted the families of their victims. Biden said converting their punishments to life imprisonment was consistent with the moratorium imposed on federal executions in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder. “Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country,” he wrote on his social media site. “When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!” Presidents historically have no involvement in dictating or recommending the punishments that federal prosecutors seek for defendants in criminal cases, though Trump has long sought more direct control over the Justice Department’s operations. The president-elect wrote that he would direct the department to pursue the death penalty “as soon as I am inaugurated,” but was vague on what specific actions he may take and said they would be in cases of “violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.” He highlighted the cases of two men who were on federal death row for slaying a woman and a girl, had admitted to killing more and had their sentences commuted by Biden. On the campaign trail, Trump often called for expanding the federal death penalty — including for those who kill police officers, those convicted of drug and human trafficking, and migrants who kill U.S. citizens. “Trump has been fairly consistent in wanting to sort of say that he thinks the death penalty is an important tool and he wants to use it,” said Douglas Berman, an expert on sentencing at Ohio State University’s law school. “But whether practically any of that can happen, either under existing law or other laws, is a heavy lift.” Berman said Trump’s statement at this point seems to be just a response to Biden’s commutation. “I’m inclined to think it’s still in sort of more the rhetoric phase. Just, ‘don’t worry. The new sheriff is coming. I like the death penalty,’” he said. Most Americans have historically supported the death penalty for people convicted of murder, according to decades of annual polling by Gallup, but support has declined over the past few decades. About half of Americans were in favor in an October poll, while roughly 7 in 10 Americans backed capital punishment for murderers in 2007. Before Biden’s commutation, there were 40 federal death row inmates compared with more than 2,000 who have been sentenced to death by states. “The reality is all of these crimes are typically handled by the states,” Berman said. A question is whether the Trump administration would try to take over some state murder cases, such as those related to drug trafficking or smuggling. He could also attempt to take cases from states that have abolished the death penalty. Berman said Trump’s statement, along with some recent actions by states, may present an effort to get the Supreme Court to reconsider a precedent that considers the death penalty disproportionate punishment for rape. “That would literally take decades to unfold. It’s not something that is going to happen overnight,” Berman said. Before one of Trump’s rallies on Aug. 20, his prepared remarks released to the media said he would announce he would ask for the death penalty for child rapists and child traffickers. But Trump never delivered the line. One of the men Trump highlighted on Tuesday was ex-Marine Jorge Avila Torrez, who was sentenced to death for killing a sailor in Virginia and later pleaded guilty to the fatal stabbing of an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old girl in a suburban Chicago park several years before. The other man, Thomas Steven Sanders, was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and slaying of a 12-year-old girl in Louisiana, days after shooting the girl’s mother in a wildlife park in Arizona. Court records show he admitted to both killings. Some families of victims expressed anger with Biden’s decision, but the president had faced pressure from advocacy groups urging him to make it more difficult for Trump to increase the use of capital punishment for federal inmates. The ACLU and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were some of the groups that applauded the decision. Biden left three federal inmates to face execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018 , the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Michelle L. Price and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.Bendigo real estate agents have cast doubt on new data that suggests many city dwellers are considering a move to the regions. or signup to continue reading According to the Regional Australia Institute (RAI), found two in five capital city residents are considering a move to the regions. The survey reportedly shows 40 per cent of capital city dwellers are looking to move to regional Australia - up from 20 per cent in May 2023. The has not sighted a survey report confirming these figures, and when they were put to local real estate agents the results were mixed. Damien O'Shannessy, director of Bendigo Real Estate, called the institute's claim "poppycock". "I'd like to know what documentation they've had because we haven't seen it here," he said. Mr O'Shannessy said Bendigo had strong housing demand from capital cities during the COVID-19 pandemic, but this had largely subsided. Brad Hinton, principal at PH Property, also cast doubt on demand for housing from Melbourne residents, saying most sales were from out-of-town investors or local owner-occupiers. He estimated less than 10 per cent of house sales were going to residents from the Victorian capital. On the rental side, Mr Hinton's colleague said costs were driving Melbourne residents to look elsewhere. PH Property director and head of property management, Catherine Beecroft, said Melbourne's vacancy was "extremely low". "I think people are starting to, more and more, move to the regional areas, looking for more affordable places to live," she said. "You certainly get those people who want the lifestyle move as well, but I think there's a real financial push behind it." The new figures coincide with the release of the RAI's latest progress report, showing data on regional Australia's movement on indicators of social and economic prosperity. rental vacancy rates in regional areas have dropped from 1.5 per cent in 2023 to 1.3 per cent in 2024. Despite high migration levels during the pandemic, the number of migrants opting to move to the bush has declined since 2022. Building approvals also fell by 9.4 per cent between May 2023 and May 2024. According to the latest Regional Movers Index (covering data to June this year), migration from capital cities has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. In the June quarter, 27.2 per cent more Australians moved from the capitals to the bush than the opposite direction, according to the index. Brock Pinner, marketing manager at McKean McGregor, said they were seeing a "healthy level" of enquiries from people outside of Bendigo, but it was difficult to measure demand from only city dwellers. Nevertheless, Mr Pinner pointed out that Bendigo's population is expected to increase to around 211,000 people by the middle of the century, according to the City of Bendigo's latest projections. The council's managed growth strategy says migration, increasing life expectancy, and local births will all contribute to around 87,000 new residents by 2056. "That's close enough to 100,000 more occupants in Bendigo, and and a lot of new home builds need to happen in that time," Mr Pinner said. Brodie Everist is a Bendigo-based journalist who joined the Bendigo Advertiser in 2024 after covering news in North East Victoria for two years. Reach out with news or updates to brodie.everist@austcommunitymedia.com.au Brodie Everist is a Bendigo-based journalist who joined the Bendigo Advertiser in 2024 after covering news in North East Victoria for two years. Reach out with news or updates to brodie.everist@austcommunitymedia.com.au DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. WEEKLY Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe. WEEKLY Going out or staying in? 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Government regulators cleared American flights to get airborne about an hour after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a national ground stop for the airline. The order, which prevented planes from taking off, was issued at the airline's request after it experienced trouble with its flight operating system, or FOS. The airline blamed technology from one of its vendors. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
Taylor Swift's concerts at Vancouver's BC Place Dec. 6, 7 and 8 are continuing to help local charities. The BC Children's Hospital Foundation on Saturday night (Nov. 30) auctioned 15 tickets to a private suite at one of the Taylor Swift Vancouver concerts for $290,000 – an impressive amount of money but it was not the most that a B.C. charity has garnered for a suite during one of Swift's concerts. The VGH UBC Hospital Foundation on Oct. 19 raised a staggering $320,000 from a winning bid at its Vitality Gala live auction for 15 private suite tickets to see Swift sing in Vancouver. The BC Children's Hospital Foundation's weekend windfall at its Crystal Ball gala did, however, better some other B.C. charities that auctioned off tickets at suites to see Taylor Swift. The Victoria Hospitals Foundation at its Visions Gala Nov. 16 netted $260,000 by auctioning off a 15-person suite to see Swift. The BC Cancer Society was the first local charity to auction off a 15-person suite to see Swift. It raised $125,000 for that suite during an action at its Daffodil Ball in April. Combined, those four suites generated more than $1 million for the charities. PavCo, which operates BC Place, gifted the suites to be auctioned off, PavCo senior manager of marketing and communications Jenny McKenzie told BIV. “For every concert that comes through, we have a certain number of suites and tickets that [we get as] part of our partnership with that tour,” she explained. PavCo sometimes gives tickets and suites to what she called “stakeholders” related to PavCo, but the organization also donates access to suites and tickets to charities, she said. McKenzie said that PavCo has long had an informal system in place to provide suites and tickets to charities, and this year formalized what it is calling its BC Place Community Benefit Program. “By donating tickets, BC Place enables charities to raise critical funds while offering unforgettable experiences to their supporters,” she said. She added that the program reinforces PavCo’s role as a catalyst for positive change and social impact. The Canuck Place Children’s Hospice is another charity that has cashed in on excitement about Taylor Swift. It sold two sets of tickets—eight in total—to a Taylor Swift Vancouver concert for $46,000 at its November 2 Gift of Time Gala auction, which raised more than $1.63 million in support of Canuck Place. Toronto-based telecom Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI-B) is a presenting sponsor of the Canadian leg of Swift’s Eras tour, which includes six shows in Toronto and three in Vancouver. Because it is a presenting sponsor, it has access to many tickets for internal use. Some of those tickets are being given away to forge customer loyalty while others are being given to charities, Rogers’ senior manager of communication in Western Canada, Leann Yutuc, told BIV. Rogers has been giving away 35 pairs of tickets each week to different Rogers customers who enter draws, she said. “Specific to charities, we have given tickets to BGC Canada, Jays Care, Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto and Canucks for Kids to distribute to their beneficiaries,” she said. Canucks for Kids received 40 tickets with those going to deserving families to attend a Taylor Swift concert, Yutuc said. Swift has been a vocal supporter of food banks and that has spurred fan Heidi Van Schaik to launch a Canada-wide initiative dubbed Tay It Forward. Waterloo, Ont.-based Schaik has set a goal to raise $1.3 million for Canadian food banks, with that amount chosen because 13 is said to be Swift’s favourite number, and it is one she has reportedly drawn on her hand before performances. Schaik is encouraging fans to make $13 donations, with the campaign slated to end December 13. A wide range of businesses in Vancouver are also cashing in on the Taylor Swift concerts . [email protected] @GlenKorstrom glenkorstrom.bsky.socialGreg Cote's Christmas Day and Thursday night NFL picks
Union blasts comments by Quebec minister mulling law to intervene to end strikes
Darius Tahir | (TNS) KFF Health News President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to run the sprawling government agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act marketplace — celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz — recently held broad investments in health care, tech, and food companies that would pose significant conflicts of interest. Oz’s holdings, some shared with family, included a stake in UnitedHealth Group worth as much as $600,000, as well as shares of pharmaceutical firms and tech companies with business in the health care sector, such as Amazon. Collectively, Oz’s investments total tens of millions of dollars, according to financial disclosures he filed during his failed 2022 run for a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat. Trump said Tuesday he would nominate Oz as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The agency’s scope is huge: CMS oversees coverage for more than 160 million Americans, nearly half the population. Medicare alone accounts for approximately $1 trillion in annual spending, with over 67 million enrollees. UnitedHealth Group is one of the largest health care companies in the nation and arguably the most important business partner of CMS, through which it is the leading provider of commercial health plans available to Medicare beneficiaries. UnitedHealth also offers managed-care plans under Medicaid, the joint state-federal program for low-income people, and sells plans on government-run marketplaces set up via the Affordable Care Act. Oz also had smaller stakes in CVS Health, which now includes the insurer Aetna, and in the insurer Cigna. It’s not clear if Oz, a heart surgeon by training, still holds investments in health care companies, or if he would divest his shares or otherwise seek to mitigate conflicts of interest should he be confirmed by the Senate. Reached by phone on Wednesday, he said he was in a Zoom meeting and declined to comment. An assistant did not reply to an email message with detailed questions. “It’s obvious that over the years he’s cultivated an interest in the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry,” said Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a watchdog group. “That raises a question of whether he can be trusted to act on behalf of the American people.” (The publisher of KFF Health News, David Rousseau, is on the CSPI board .) Oz used his TikTok page on multiple occasions in November to praise Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including their efforts to take on the “illness-industrial complex,” and he slammed “so-called experts like the big medical societies” for dishing out what he called bad nutritional advice. Oz’s positions on health policy have been chameleonic; in 2010, he cut an ad urging Californians to sign up for insurance under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, telling viewers they had a “historic opportunity.” Oz’s 2022 financial disclosures show that the television star invested a substantial part of his wealth in health care and food firms. Were he confirmed to run CMS, his job would involve interacting with giants of the industry that have contributed to his wealth. Given the breadth of his investments, it would be difficult for Oz to recuse himself from matters affecting his assets, if he still holds them. “He could spend his time in a rocking chair” if that happened, Lurie said. In the past, nominees for government positions with similar potential conflicts of interest have chosen to sell the assets or otherwise divest themselves. For instance, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland agreed to divest their holdings in relevant, publicly traded companies when they joined the Biden administration. Trump, however, declined in his first term to relinquish control of his own companies and other assets while in office, and he isn’t expected to do so in his second term. He has not publicly indicated concern about his subordinates’ financial holdings. CMS’ main job is to administer Medicare. About half of new enrollees now choose Medicare Advantage, in which commercial insurers provide their health coverage, instead of the traditional, government-run program, according to an analysis from KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. Proponents of Medicare Advantage say the private plans offer more compelling services than the government and better manage the costs of care. Critics note that Medicare Advantage plans have a long history of costing taxpayers more than the traditional program. UnitedHealth, CVS, and Cigna are all substantial players in the Medicare Advantage market. It’s not always a good relationship with the government. The Department of Justice filed a 2017 complaint against UnitedHealth alleging the company used false information to inflate charges to the government. The case is ongoing. Oz is an enthusiastic proponent of Medicare Advantage. In 2020, he proposed offering Medicare Advantage to all; during his Senate run, he offered a more general pledge to expand those plans. After Trump announced Oz’s nomination for CMS, Jeffrey Singer, a senior fellow at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, said he was “uncertain about Dr. Oz’s familiarity with health care financing and economics.” Singer said Oz’s Medicare Advantage proposal could require large new taxes — perhaps a 20% payroll tax — to implement. Oz has gotten a mixed reception from elsewhere in Washington. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, the Democrat who defeated Oz in 2022, signaled he’d potentially support his appointment to CMS. “If Dr. Oz is about protecting and preserving Medicare and Medicaid, I’m voting for the dude,” he said on the social platform X. Oz’s investments in companies doing business with the federal government don’t end with big insurers. He and his family also hold hospital stocks, according to his 2022 disclosure, as well as a stake in Amazon worth as much as nearly $2.4 million. (Candidates for federal office are required to disclose a broad range of values for their holdings, not a specific figure.) Amazon operates an internet pharmacy, and the company announced in June that its subscription service is available to Medicare enrollees. It also owns a primary care service , One Medical, that accepts Medicare and “select” Medicare Advantage plans. Oz was also directly invested in several large pharmaceutical companies and, through investments in venture capital funds, indirectly invested in other biotech and vaccine firms. Big Pharma has been a frequent target of criticism and sometimes conspiracy theories from Trump and his allies. Kennedy, whom Trump has said he’ll nominate to be Health and Human Services secretary, is a longtime anti-vaccine activist. During the Biden administration, Congress gave Medicare authority to negotiate with drug companies over their prices. CMS initially selected 10 drugs. Those drugs collectively accounted for $50.5 billion in spending between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023, under Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit. At least four of those 10 medications are manufactured by companies in which Oz held stock, worth as much as about $50,000. Related Articles National Politics | Special counsel moves to dismiss election interference, classified documents cases against Trump National Politics | Joe Biden begins final White House holiday season with turkey pardons for ‘Peach’ and ‘Blossom’ National Politics | Donald Trump Jr. emerges as a political force of his own as he helps his father launch a second term National Politics | The rising price of paying the national debt is a risk for Trump’s promises on growth and inflation National Politics | What to know about Brooke Rollins, Trump’s pick for agriculture secretary Oz may gain or lose financially from other Trump administration proposals. For example, as of 2022, Oz held investments worth as much as $6 million in fertility treatment providers. To counter fears that politicians who oppose abortion would ban in vitro fertilization, Trump floated during his campaign making in vitro fertilization treatment free. It’s unclear whether the government would pay for the services. In his TikTok videos from earlier in November, Oz echoed attacks on the food industry by Kennedy and other figures in his “Make America Healthy Again” movement. They blame processed foods and underregulation of the industry for the poor health of many Americans, concerns shared by many Democrats and more mainstream experts. But in 2022, Oz owned stakes worth as much as $80,000 in Domino’s Pizza, Pepsi, and US Foods, as well as more substantial investments in other parts of the food chain, including cattle; Oz reported investments worth as much as $5.5 million in a farm and livestock, as well as a stake in a dairy-free milk startup. He was also indirectly invested in the restaurant chain Epic Burger. One of his largest investments was in the Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain Wawa, which sells fast food and all manner of ultra-processed snacks. Oz and his wife reported a stake in the company, beloved by many Pennsylvanians, worth as much as $30 million. ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Oilers would be wise to explore larger trade with Penguins