www haha777 casino com
King Charles laughs at Donald TrumpTrump selects longtime adviser Keith Kellogg as special envoy for Ukraine and Russia
LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — Quinton Cooley rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns, Billy Lucas added 131 yards and a score, and Liberty gained 419 on the ground with four touchdowns in a 38-21 victory over Western Kentucky on Saturday. Liberty (8-2, 5-2 Conference USA) has won eight-plus games for the sixth consecutive season to keep alive hopes of a second straight trip to the conference championship game. The Flames play Sam Houston (8-3, 5-2) on Friday. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, obituaries, sports, and more.McNealy looked as though he might have the lead when he hit wedge on the final hole that rolled just by the cup and settled 8 feet away. He missed the putt, still in great position to go after his first PGA Tour victory. Whaley, also winless on tour, birdied the 18th for a 63 and will be playing in the final group for the first time on the PGA Tour. McNealy, who joined him at 14-under 198, also shared the 54-hole lead in 2021 at the season opener in Napa, California. Whaley was playing with a sense of freedom not everyone has at the final PGA Tour event this year. He was playing on a medical extension and fulfilled the necessary points in July. The next step was finishing in the top 125 in the FedEx Cup. He secured that last week with a tie for fifth in the Bermuda Championship. Everything else feels like a bonus, and there could be no greater perk than a victory to get into the Masters and PGA Championship, along with a two-year exemption. “I've really got nothing to lose and everything to gain, so I'm just excited for the opportunity,” Whaley said. Opportunity abounds going into the final round. Daniel Berger shot a 63 and played his way into the final group, just two shots behind. He was tied with former Sea Island winner Mackenzie Hughes (65), Michael Thorbjornsen (67) and Patrick Fishburn (69). Berger and Thorbjornsen were among those who arrived at Sea Island outside the top 125, the number required to keep full status on tour on next year. Thorbjornsen already has that locked up as the No. 1 player in the PGA Tour University ranking. Berger needed a big week and he's delivering, even though he says he doesn't feel stress. Berger missed 19 months with a back injury that he feared might end his career. Now he's healthy enough to have played 27 times this year. “Regardless when I play well, I'm going to be fine,” said Berger, who played in the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. "When you miss that much amount of time it takes a little bit of a while to get back. It's just a matter of being patient and eventually good things come around.” Henrik Norlander and Hayden Springer, also on the the wrong side of No. 125, each shot 63 and were among those tied for 12th, a position that currently would let them move into the top 125. Joel Dahmen, who had to make a 5-foot par putt on Friday to make the cut, shot 70 and was tied for 61st. He is at No. 124 and his future depends on a big round Sunday, along with how Thorbjornsen, Berger, Norlander and Springer fare. Closer to the top, eight players were separated by three shots. That includes Luke Clanton, the Florida State sophomore and No. 1 amateur in the world who already has three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour and was going after another one. AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
In my previous article for Daily Sabah, I discussed the PKK's involvement in the drug trade since its early days, tracing the routes of these transactions and highlighting the countries and groups that have contributed to the industry's growth. In this following piece, I will explain how drug money is utilized and how political dynamics across the region have created a favorable environment for the PKK and its affiliates to thrive. The PKK plays a dominant role in Türkiye’s narcotics smuggling industry. Money earned through the drug trade constitutes one of the principal sources of its revenue, which is used to buy advanced weapons from European markets and expand its military and political capabilities. The PKK tends to lure the young by offering mild drugs free of cost first and later dragging them into its trade permanently. The drug money is also utilized to lobby with the major powers across the world to achieve its political objectives and fund the big media houses to raise their issue and veil their terror activities. It is also siphoned off to support its operatives in Türkiye and neighboring countries and to achieve their political objectives. They have close contact with several overseas Kurdish groups and one such group is the Belgium-based Congress of the European Kurdish Democratic Community. In 2022, the Council for Europe backlisted thirteen persons associated with the group for their involvement in the illicit trade. The PKK forcefully drags minors into the drug swamps, and several leading figures of the PKK, like Cemil Bayık (one of the founding members of PKK), Duran Kalkan (commander of the PKK's terrorist forces) and several others, have been blacklisted by the EU countries. Today, PKK-controlled drug networks have deep roots in the market of Europe and the United States. According to a report published by the U.S.’s General Directorate of Security, the PKK has used the earnings through drug trafficking to widen the networks of its activities and enrolled more and more youth in the PKK because the easy access to banned stimulating drugs also attracts the youth. A U.K. intelligence report has recently also linked the London-based notorious drug gang Tottenham Boys group with the PKK, which has a membership of 400 and is responsible for distributing Grade A and B drugs in Northern and Central London and the same report indicates that three Moldova-based drug peddlers were part of the PKK. With the ushering of the Arab uprising coupled with the political chaos across the region, the PKK found an uncontested geographical terrain to expand its drug trade and consequently, in the last decade, its drug empire has upped many notches. The rise of ISIS and the subsequent U.S. support to the PKK/YPG in the guise of combating ISIS offered a favorable environment to the PKK and its affiliates to deepen its imprint, which eventually helped the PKK’s drug empire as well. Because of the growing U.S.-PKK/YPG alliance in Syria, the PKK acquired new leeway in Syrian internal politics and emerged as a catalyst in the burgeoning drug trade. For a long time, most of the fertile agricultural lands in northern Syria have been controlled by regional Kurdish people, but with the weakening authority of Assad, these lands began to be used for the cultivation of cannabis to mint money. In recent years, the PKK/YPG has been reported to force the locals to cultivate only cannabis in the areas controlled by them. They also coordinate smuggling between Syria and Europe. The trained drug peddlers inside the PKK/YPG carry the drugs through the Syrian border to other countries, and they also use drone services, which can have three to five kilograms of banned and costly drugs in a single flight. These drugs are passed on to Lebanese territories through various middlemen to market them into other Arab nations and some are resent to Türkiye to be sold in European markets for higher prices. Amid the growing influence of PKK/YPG in their zone, they started to grow more drug-related plants like poppy, hemp, marijuana and cannabis to make huge amounts of money in a short span. To evade the general gaze, they grow corn around the farming tract and drug plantations in the middle of the tract. The PKK/YPG has created a special cell to protect and hide the drug cultivation in the areas run by the North and East Syrian Autonomous Administration. The rampant production has increased drug addiction in the region and the price of some drugs is cheaper than cigarettes. Apart from cannabis, the most known drug in Syria is Captagon . In one of the operations launched by the Turkish force, around a million Captagon pills were seized in the region controlled by PKK/YPG. Similarly, during the 2018 Olive Branch operation in Afrin, security forces found concrete tunnels that the PKK used to smuggle drugs into Türkiye. Drugs have become a tool to lure youngsters and the rampant use of drugs is likely to render them defunct, fatigued and despondent. The control of huge lands by the PKK/YPG has created a prosperous zone for drug cultivation and like in Türkiye and Europe, the PKK/YPG officials have established special cells to supervise the drug trade and money laundering. Though in the past, the Turkish authorities have launched many operations to bust these drug operatives in the country, the international community does not cooperate with Türkiye on this matter. Türkiye has repeatedly warned the EU about PKK’s threat to public order in the region. However, the EU seems to have overlooked the warning and failed to take the necessary action despite the fact Germany hosts the largest number of followers of PKK/YPG. Drug trafficking is a global menace and it needs global efforts and cooperation among different countries to fight it. There should be no politics in dealing with this peril; otherwise, it would lead to many new crises in the world, which is already trapped in the vortex of numerous calamities.SAINT JOHN - After more than seven months of construction work, the walkway that connects Market Square and City Hall has reopened after a $1.7 million renovation project. In April, the city closed the St. Patrick Street pedway to replace the existing escalator with a wider staircase and add an additional elevator. Work was expected to conclude by October, but in that month the city’s infrastructure commissioner Ian Fogan told Brunswick News that a materials issue would delay completion of the project by six to eight weeks. On Thursday, the city posted on its social media that the connection was now reopened, adding that plywood would be standing in for glass railings until the material arrived, and that one of the two elevators was out of service. Samir Yammine, the city’s director of asset management and environmental performance, said he was “so excited.” “To make it accessible to people, especially those with a disability, and provide better service to the people moving forward ... it’s been a long journey,” Yammine said. “I’m very happy to see the project come alive.” The pedway is part of the Inside Connection path which runs from the Saint John Trade and Convention Centre and Hilton hotel through Market Square, Rocky’s Sports Bar, City Hall and Brunswick Square to City Market, with a branch that runs past the Canada Games Aquatic Centre to TD Station. It provides an accessible path for those with mobility needs especially in winter months, when snow and ice can make Saint John’s hilly sidewalks tough to navigate with a wheelchair or walker. Yammine said the pedway was first built in 1982, and since the last renovation, much of the infrastructure, including the skylight, was “already past due.” One of the big additions is an elevator shaft added to the side of the building, which has a brand new Otis Gen3 elevator with a capacity of 20 people, which Yammine said was the second of its kind in Canada. The existing elevator, however, was from the original build and had “major issues,” and the city is working with a contractor to decide whether to repair or replace it over the next month or two. The renovation started in 2023 following engagement with local businesses, with Yammine saying the city was told they’d rather have the build take place over the summer rather than the winter, when the pedway protects from the elements. But the materials acquisition had “several issues,” including problems with the tempered glass planned for the stair railing and balcony. He said they made the choice to make it accessible and hope that the glass can be installed in mid-January. Moe Arsenault, owner of Rocky’s and Beer Bread Pizza, which is on the first floor of the Canada Permanent building, said he is “extremely happy” about the reopening. “We believe the pedway system is the artery of our city,” Arsenault said. “To have the upgrades that were done were necessary. It did take a little longer than expected, but it’s a great day to celebrate moving forward and having a new piece to showcase the abilities to host events and people visiting our city.” He said the impact of the closure would have resulted in 30 per cent drop in sales to Beer Bread, which can be accessed through a stairwell in the pedway, and a 15 per cent cut to Rocky’s. He said that having the pedway reopened will mean renewed access from guests at the Hilton, as well as residents who live in the buildings along Harbour Passage. “It means the pedway system is going to be able to operate as intended, allowing people to come, shop and visit our establishment,” he said. “It looks wonderful out there, and it’s opened up quite a bit of that artery.” On Thursday, lunch traffic flowed up and down the stairs, and some residents stopped to chat to a waiting security guard. Lynn and Junior Patterson, two seniors who live at the Rotary Admiral Beatty Complex in Kings Square, passed through the area just before noon. “It’s nice, the stairs are lovely, the tile and everything on them, and they’ve got both elevators ... I think it’s better than the escalator,” said Lynn Patterson, who said they walk it every day. Junior Patterson said it was “very helpful” to have the walkway, saying “it’s a breakthrough, just getting out and getting your exercise.” Lynn Patterson noted that it opens connections to the seniors who live on Smythe Street “that are used to being able to stay inside the whole way.” Yammine said Saint John residents were “very patient with us” and said that the pedway is an “important link.” “We can see this flow here, nice flow,” he said. “Many people are very excited to see this finally open.”
Enter the age of AI: Nvidia CEO says global cooperation in tech will continue under Trump administrationIt’s estimated almost five million single-use vapes are thrown away every week in the U.K. ; that’s about eight every second. In recent years, usage of the disposable items has risen sharply — including in Canada where, according to one study , it is now the most-used type of e-cigarette among young people. What many vapers don’t realize is that the devices they discard contain rare earth metals that are key to so many new technologies. The non-profit group Material Focus estimates the batteries inside all the vapes thrown away in the U.K. in 2022 held enough lithium to power at least 5,000 electric vehicles. For Chris Doel it’s an unconscionable waste. Doel is a 25-year-old engineer who works for a large car-maker in England’s Midlands. “I’m seeing people around me smoking these and throwing them away after one use. And the electronics engineer in me was thinking, ‘How can these be disposable?'” said Doel from his garage workshop in the town of Rugby. “Especially when you see little blinking lights. I knew that they had possibly valuable electronics inside.” So, Doel did what any engineer worth his sodium chloride would do — he cracked open a vape to see what the battery cell looked like. “When I first saw these cells, I was thinking these are remarkably similar to the cells that we actually use inside our e-bike batteries, anyway. So I see no reason why we couldn’t use these instead. “So the first step is collecting them and that’s something not too hard. They’re littered absolutely everywhere. You find them in bushes, kicking them around on the pavement.” Doel calculated he’d need 130 of the units to power his bicycle. He tested each battery to make sure they were safely working, designed the wiring and a 3D-printed casing to hold them together. Doel warns that no one should try this unless they are fully familiar with electronics and batteries. “They can generate excessive heat. They can burn you, they can explode, they can burn your house down,” he says. Doel estimates his homemade e-bike battery cost about a quarter of the price of a commercial model, but he says the project was not about saving money. “It’s an unbelievable source of e-waste and I’m really glad that I have been able to harvest all these and build some really interesting battery packs,” says Doel. “Because I’m able to show the rest of the world — and all the other countries that haven’t yet banned them — what they’re capable of, and hopefully accelerate that process and also raise awareness to get people to move to reusable alternatives.” The U.K. will ban ban single-use, disposable vapes in 2025, and other countries are set to follow. Mark Miodownik is a professor of Materials and Society at University College London. He says the vape waste issue is part of a much greater problem. “Once you’ve got lithium out (of the ground), you really want to keep hold of it. It’s just an absolute crime to be throwing it away,” says Miodownik. “Why is throwing away valuable materials cheap? Well, because the price is artificial. It doesn’t include the pollution. And if you were to include the pollution, they would not be cheap and disposability would not be an option.” Miodownik beleives both legislation and education are key to creating a more circular economy where we reuse, repair or reduce our consumption of valuable or harmful materials. With the U.K. vape ban imminent, Doel knows time could be running out for him to complete his next projects. He wants to use hundreds, or even thousands of vapes to create a powerwall — possibly connected to solar panels — to power his workshop, or even his home. Since one of his YouTube videos went viral, he’s even had people offer to send him their own used vapes.