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Tyler Herro recorded game highs of 27 points and nine assists before being ejected during a hostile final minute as the Miami Heat rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to beat the host Houston Rockets 104-100 on Sunday. Herro was one of five players tossed in the final 47.4 seconds after Nikola Jovic's 3-pointer gave Miami a 98-94 lead. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. As property values continue to outpace inflation, property taxes are taking a bigger bite out of homeowners’ wallets. A new analysis from Construction Coverage breaks down property tax rates by state, county, and city to reveal where homeowners have the greatest burden. Click for more. Where Are U.S. Property Taxes Highest and Lowest? A State, County, and City AnalysisThe state and federal government are asking more questions about exactly how much IV fluid is available in the U.S. amid a nationwide shortage. Concord Hospital, Wentworth-Douglass Hospital and Dartmouth Health have all reported having to make accommodations because of this shortage, like canceling or postponing some surgeries and procedures. The shortage started when Hurricane Helene damaged the Baxter International Facility in North Carolina. In a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday, Gov. Chris Sununu wrote that right now, in New Hampshire, the amount of IV fluid being delivered is low, and several hospitals are receiving late shipments. >> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play

Party City surprises shoppers with going out of business sale before shuttering over 850 storesThese are the top 6 fitness trends to be ready for in 2025The Detroit Lions will play without two high draft picks in rookie cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. while possibly getting back veteran Emmanuel Moseley against the host Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Arnold was downgraded Saturday from questionable to out because of a groin injury. He was limited at practice on Thursday and participated in a full practice on Friday. The Lions drafted Arnold with the 24th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Alabama. Arnold, 21, has started all 10 games and has 38 tackles and six passes defended. Rakestraw (hamstring) was placed on injured reserve after not practicing all week. He already had been ruled out for Sunday's game. Detroit picked Rakestraw in the second round (61st overall) out of Missouri. He has played in eight games and has six tackles. Rakestraw, 22, has played on 46 defensive snaps (8 percent) and 95 special teams snaps (42 percent). Moseley had full practice sessions all week and was activated from injured reserve on Saturday but was listed as questionable for Sunday. The 28-year-old is in his second season with Detroit and appeared in one game last season before going on IR in October 2023. He was placed on IR on Aug. 27 with a designation to return. Moseley played from 2018-22 for the San Francisco 49ers and had 162 tackles, four interceptions -- one returned for a touchdown -- and 33 passes defensed in 46 games (33 starts). Detroit elevated linebacker David Long on Saturday for game day. Long, 28, signed with the practice squad on Tuesday after the Miami Dolphins released him on Nov. 13. He had started six of eight games for the Dolphins this season and had 38 tackles. In other Lions news, the NFL fined wide receiver Jameson Williams $19,697 for unsportsmanlike conduct for making an obscene gesture during a touchdown celebration in last Sunday's 52-6 home win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, the NFL Network reported Saturday. Williams, 23, scored on a 65-yard pass from Jared Goff with 12:55 remaining in the third quarter. --Field Level MediaIt's anybody guess when Linus Ullmark will return to Ottawa Senators net

Columbia, a perennial football loser, wins Ivy League title for first time since 1961The confidential briefing note is part of the tranche of documents made public in the annual release of State papers from the Irish National Archives. An Irish Department of Foreign Affairs official focusing on justice and security created the list in October 2002. The document starts by referencing a 1999 interview given by George Mitchell, the chairman of the Good Friday Agreement negotiations, in which he claimed the British and Irish governments, as well as Northern Ireland’s political parties, had leaked information to manipulate public opinion. However, he further accused the NIO of attempting to sabotage the process by leaking information on British Government policy to the media. Mr Mitchell, a former US senator, is said to have expressed alarm and anger over the frequency of leaks from the NIO – saying they were uniquely “designed to undermine the policy of the British Government of which they were a part”. The Irish civil servant notes Mr Mitchell himself was subjected to an attempted “smear” when he first arrived in Northern Ireland, as newspaper articles falsely claimed his chief of staff Martha Pope had had a liaison with Sinn Fein representative Gerry Kelly with ulterior motives. The Irish civil servant goes on to list several “leaks”, starting with the publication of a proposed deal in a newspaper while “intense negotiations” for the Downing Street Declaration were under way. Next, the Department lists two “high-profile and damaging leaks issued from the NIO”. A so-called “gameplan” document was leaked in February 1998, showing papers had been prepared weeks before the Drumcree march on July 6, 1997. In the preceding years, there had been standoffs and clashes as nationalists opposed the procession of an Orange parade down Garvaghy Road in Portadown. The gameplan document showed then secretary of state for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam, who was publicly expressing a desire for a negotiated solution to the 1997 parade, advocated “finding the lowest common denominator for getting some Orange feet on the Garvaghy Road”. In 1997, a large number of security forces were deployed to the area to allow the march to proceed. The incident sparked heightened tension and a wave of rioting. The document further describes the release of a document submitted by the NIO’s director of communications to the secretary of state as a “second major leak”. It claims a publicity strategy was released to the DUP in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement and showed how the UK Government would support a yes vote in a referendum following any talks agreement. In addition, it is claimed unionists used leaked sections of the Patten report on policing to invalidate its findings ahead of its publication in 1999. The report recommended the replacement of the Royal Ulster Constabulary with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the changing of symbols, and a 50-50 recruitment policy for Catholics and Protestants. At the time, UUP leader David Trimble said the recommendations would lead to a corruption of policing in Northern Ireland. Chris Patten, chairman of the independent commission on policing, said some of the assertions were a “total fabrication” and designed to “muddy the waters” to create a difficult political atmosphere. Elsewhere, the author notes it was leaked to the media there was serious disagreement between the governments of the UK and Ireland on the composition of that commission – with not a single name submitted by the Irish side being accepted by the other. The author notes this incident, still under the heading “NIO leaks”, was believed by British officials to have emanated from the Irish side. The report turns to leaks of other origin, claiming “disgruntled Special Branch officers in Northern Ireland” were blamed by the British Government for a series of releases about the IRA which were designed to damage Sinn Fein in the 2001 general election in Northern Ireland. One senior Whitehall source was quoted in the Guardian as complaining that Special Branch was “leaking like a sieve” after details of an IRA intelligence database containing the names of leading Tories – described at the time as a “hit list” – was passed to the BBC in April 2002. The briefing note adds: “This was followed days later by a leak to The Sunday Telegraph which alleged that senior IRA commanders bought Russian special forces rifles in Moscow last year. “The newspaper said it was passed details by military intelligence in London.” The briefing note adds that other Special Branch leaks were associated with the Castlereagh break-in. The final incident in the document notes the Police Ombudsman’s Report on the Omagh bombing was also leaked to the press in December 2001. Then Northern Ireland secretary John Reid said at the time: “Leaks are never helpful and usually malicious – I will not be commenting on this report until I have seen the final version.” The reason for creating the list of leaks, which the Irish National Archives holds in a folder alongside briefing notes for ministers ahead of meetings with officials from the UK Government and NIO, is not outlined in the document itself. – This document is based on material in 2024/130/6.

Hail Flutie: BC celebrates 40th anniversary of Miracle in Miami

Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A Belfast-based astronomer has said a planetary defence mission with which he is involved will help scientists gather new data to potentially enable them to deflect asteroids which could crash into Earth Professor Alan Fitzsimmons, from the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast, has recently returned from ground control of the European Space Agency (ESA) Hera mission at the European Space Operations Centre in Germany. Hera, which was blasted into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida, is seeking to gather new data and insights about how to deflect asteroids. In September 2022, the Nasa Dart mission hit the small asteroid moon Dimorphos and changed its trajectory, as the first test of "kinetic impactor" technology designed to deflect asteroids. Hera's job is to measure the mass of Dimorphos moved by Dart and discover the precise effect of the impact on the moon. Speaking about the launch, Mr Fitzsimmons said: "Probably the tensest time was not the launch itself, when the spacecraft was released from the Falcon 9 booster. "And then we were waiting for acquisition of signal because if we don't hear that signal from Hera, we have no way of communicating with the spacecraft, and then controlling it from then on. "But thankfully everything worked out fine and the spacecraft is in perfect health." Prof Fitzsimmons said: "At the moment it is not directly heading towards the...

Extensive confidential documents in the lead-up to the collapse of Northern Ireland’s institutions in 2002 have been made available to the public as part of annual releases from the Irish National Archives. They reveal that the Irish Government wanted to appeal to the UK side against “manipulating” every scenario for favourable election results in Northern Ireland, in an effort to protect the peace process. In the years after the landmark 1998 Good Friday Agreement, a number of outstanding issues left the political environment fraught with tension and disagreement. Mr Trimble, who won a Nobel Peace Prize with SDLP leader John Hume for their work on the Agreement, was keen to gain wins for the UUP on policing, ceasefire audits and paramilitary disarmament – but also to present his party as firmer on these matters amid swipes from its Unionist rival, the DUP. These issues were at the front of his mind as he tried to steer his party into Assembly elections planned for May 2003 and continue in his role as the Executive’s first minister despite increasing political pressure. The documents reveal the extent to which the British and Irish Governments were trying to delicately resolve the contentious negotiations, conscious that moves seen as concessions to one group could provoke anger on the other side. In June 2002, representatives of the SDLP reported to Irish officials on a recent meeting between Mr Hume’s successor Mark Durkan and Prime Minister Tony Blair on policing and security. Mr Blair is said to have suggested that the SDLP and UUP were among those who both supported and took responsibility for the Good Friday Agreement. The confidential report of the meeting says that Mr Durkan, the deputy First Minister, was not sure that Mr Trimble had been correctly categorised. The Prime Minister asked if the SDLP could work more closely with the UUP ahead of the elections. Mr Durkan argued that Mr Trimble was not only not saleable to nationalists, but also not saleable to half of the UUP – to which Mr Blair and Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid are said to have laughed in agreement. The SDLP leader further warned that pursuing a “save David” campaign would ruin all they had worked for. Damien McAteer, an adviser for the SDLP, was recorded as briefing Irish officials on September 10 that it was his view that Mr Trimble was intent on collapsing the institutions in 2003 over expected fallout for Sinn Fein in the wake of the Colombia Three trial, where men linked to the party were charged with training Farc rebels – but predicted the UUP leader would be “in the toilet” by January, when an Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) meeting was due to take place. A week later in mid September, Mr Trimble assured Irish premier Bertie Ahern that the next UUC meeting to take place in two days’ time would be “okay but not great” and insisted he was not planning to play any “big game”. It was at that meeting that he made the bombshell announcement that the UUP would pull out of the Executive if the IRA had not disbanded by January 18. The move came as a surprise to the Irish officials who, along with their UK counterparts, did not see the deadline as realistic. Sinn Fein described the resolution as a “wreckers’ charter”. Doubts were raised that there would be any progress on substantive issues as parties would not be engaged in “pre-election skirmishing”. As that could lead to a UUP walkout and the resulting suspension of the institutions, the prospect of delaying the elections was raised while bringing forward the vote was ruled out. Therefore, the two Governments stressed the need to cooperate as a stabilising force to protect the Agreement – despite not being sure how that process would survive through the January 18 deadline. The Irish officials became worried that the British side did not share their view that Mr Trimble was not “salvageable” and that the fundamental dynamic in the UUP was now Agreement scepticism, the confidential documents state. In a meeting days after the UUC announcements, Mr Reid is recorded in the documents as saying that as infuriating as it was, Mr Trimble was at that moment the “most enlightened Unionist we have”. The Secretary said he would explore what the UUP leader needed to “survive” the period between January 18 and the election, believing a significant prize could avoid him being “massacred”. Such planning went out the window just weeks later, when hundreds of PSNI officers were involved in raids of several buildings – including Sinn Fein’s offices in Stormont. The resulting “Stormontgate” spy-ring scandal accelerated the collapse of powersharing, with the UUP pulling out of the institutions – and the Secretary of State suspending the Assembly and Executive on October 14. For his part, Irish officials were briefed that Mr Reid was said to be “gung ho” about the prospect of exercising direct rule – reportedly making no mention of the Irish Government in a meeting with Mr Trimble and Mr Durkan on that day. The Northern Ireland Secretary was given a new role and Paul Murphy was appointed as his successor. A note on speaking points for a meeting with Mr Murphy in April showed that the Irish side believed the May elections should go ahead: “At a certain stage the political process has to stand on its own feet. “The Governments cannot be manipulating and finessing every scenario to engineer the right result. “We have to start treating the parties and the people as mature and trusting that they have the discernment to make the right choices.” However, the elections planned for May did not materialise, instead delayed until November. Mr Trimble would go on to lose his Westminster seat – and stewardship of the UUP – in 2005. The November election saw the DUP emerge as the largest parties – but direct rule continued as Ian Paisley’s refused to share power with Sinn Fein, which Martin McGuinness’ colleagues. The parties eventually agreed to work together following further elections in 2007. – This article is based on documents in 2024/130/5, 2024/130/6, 2024/130/15Cabinet Spokesman, Chief Government Whip, Minister of Health and Media Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa in an interview with the Sunday Observer outlined the Government’s strategy to ensure a free media culture without any State interference and how the State and private media should play their legitimate roles to fulfill the aspirations of the people as a significant turnaround in the country’s political landscape had taken place following the November 14 general election. Dr. Jayatissa said if the State media acts with responsibility in accordance with the accepted norms, only then we could set an example to the private media. In future, the media culture of allocating more time for Government politicians to bolster their image or giving instructions to change the headlines of State-owned newspapers will be a thing of the past. Excerpts of the interview Q: What are your thoughts on getting a very important ministry such as the media and also becoming the Cabinet Spokesman? A: If these State media institutions are separated from one another, I hope to work under an integrated plan. If the Media Ministry is a separate institution, it looks like the mouthpiece of the Government and the Department of Government Information is an integral part of it. However, what has happened in the recent past was that the President’s media Division, the Prime Minister’s Media Division and other ministries had acted to expand their scope, undermining the role of the Media Ministry and the Information Department. Our intention is to uplift the Government’s legitimate role to be played by the Information Department and the Media Ministry. After the November 14 general election, the country’s political landscape has changed completely as the people had voted for the NPP. Therefore, the media should also identify the hopes and aspirations of the people. Instead of adopting the hackneyed media strategy, we hope in the future, all State and private media institutions and social media will follow a moderate media strategy to suit the present day needs and fulfill the people’s aspirations. The role of the Media Ministry is to facilitate this process. The Ministry will help enhance training and education programs for journalists and create a conducive environment for them to express their views forthrightly independently. We hope to safeguard the role of journalists and take it to greater heights. In future, we will take every possible measure to fulfill these objectives. The freedom of expression of the people became paramount when the country was brought into this level. Therefore, we would take steps to give a formal outlook to it. Q: During the recent past the State media was subjected to huge pressure from the Governments in power and some Media Ministers arbitrarily abused State media to bolster their image. What is the new NPP Government’s stance on the State media? A: State media institutions will not be used whatsoever to project the image of the Media Minister or any other Minister. State media institutions have a responsibility to educate the public on the Government’s initiatives. If the State media acts with responsibility in accordance with the accepted norms, only then we could set an example to the private media. In future, the media culture of allocating more time for Government politicians to promote their image or giving instructions to change the headlines of State-owned newspapers will not happen. It is more appropriate to call it the people’s media rather than calling it the State media as a people’s Government has been elected. Q: What steps will you take to ensure media freedom? A: Definitely, media freedom should be safeguarded. The Government will fully safeguard the freedom of expression of media personnel. We will further strengthen the Right to Information Act and the Government will provide the requisite facilities to those institutions. We will educate the people regarding their right to information starting from schoolchildren. Our prime responsibility is to ensure the right to information of the people and turn it as a part of their lives. Similarly, we will not only concern ourselves with safeguarding the lives of journalists but also ensure the professional safety of both staff journalists and provincial journalists. Some provincial journalists, especially have become henchmen of politicians as they don’t get an adequate salary to lead a decent life. We have laid emphasis on this issue as well. We believe a journalist should live in the society in a dignified manner. When he becomes a henchman of a particular Minister, he is not in a position to fulfill the role of a journalist properly. We would help the journalists to perform their duties with social responsibility. Q: The previous Government passed some restrictive legislation that could impact the media such as the Online Safety Act which the NPP opposed tooth and nail in Parliament. Will you review such laws or abolish them? A: The Government doesn’t intend to regulate social media. However, we believe those who use social media will act responsibly realising the prevailing situation in the country. It was also the majority of the social media activists and users who contributed to elect this people’s Government to power. There is a very small percentage of people who attempt to obstruct the forward march of the Government. Perhaps they may be connected to various political groups. The outcome of the election result symbolised national unity. There are certain elements who still attempt to create disharmony and religious issues among communities based on various incidents. If the people act properly realising their social role, the Government won’t have to regulate social media. We hope social media would appear for a common social perspective. Q: Investigations into attacks on many journalists have not been probed. Will you revive these probes and take action against those responsible? A: We have already commenced investigations relating to all those incidents. We have handed over those investigations to the CID and appointed competent officers to those top positions. We have also sought the assistance of former SSP Shani Abeysekara who conducted those investigations. We would conduct these investigations in a formal manner and hand them over to the Attorney General’s Department to file legal action. However, we will need sufficient time when these cases are investigated and resort to legal action so that nobody could escape from these cases. Q: Journalism is still not recognised as a profession in Sri Lanka. What are your plans to enhance training and education programs for journalists and give them their professional status? A: As the Media Minister, I hope to discuss with all media organisations. Our future program regarding media will be formulated based on their suggestions and ideas. Otherwise, we have no intention to merely introduce our own program. We will enhance the professional skills of journalists engaged in the field as well as newcomers who are keen to enter the media industry. Q: What are the steps you will take to ensure media freedom? A: We will ensure media freedom at the highest possible level. We will also ensure the freedom of journalists as well. Journalists can discuss any issue with us as they all know us. Q: What are your plans to address the key issues in the health sector? A: Our intention is to transform the health sector into a public service. We should also keep in mind that health is teamwork of all those who have connected to it. We would make the people’s access to health into a fundamental right in the next Constitution to be introduced. At that time, the Government will ensure the people’s access to health. This is what we are doing right now. While we rectify the shortcomings of the hospital network, we hope to empower the primary health services. For example, a primary health centre will be set up for a group of 5,000 selected number of people or covering three Grama Niladhari divisions. These health centres will conduct basic medical tests of the people who are currently receiving treatment from outpatient departments and clinics. If they need any further medical tests or treatment, they will be referred to the tertiary level hospitals. Then we can ease the congestion in Government hospitals and turn them into a healthier environment to treat patients who are physically and mentally ill. Hundreds of thousands of people visit outpatient departments in hospitals per year. There is no use of increasing the the number of wards in Government hospitals to avoid this. We should bring the health service to the village level and turn it to a public service. We should continuously supply quality drugs to the people. We will take steps to rectify the administrative shortcomings in the National Medicine Regulatory Authority (NMRA), Medical Supplies Division and Pharmaceutical Corporation by making relevant appointments to those institutions. During our tenure in office, we hope to set up a sophisticated fully-fledged laboratory to test the quality of drugs and equipment. It would pave the way to restrict imports of substandard drugs and low-quality equipment. In future, we also hope to reduce the prices of drugs of those who receive treatment from the private sector by a considerable amount. Q: The people’s trust in the country’s free health system has declined. What action can be taken to restore the people’s confidence in the free health sector? A: This trust was lost due to an issue of political authority, not because of the staff of the health sector. Comparatively, we could become one of the praiseworthy health services in Asia due to the sacrifices by Health Ministry Secretaries, specialist doctors up to lower level health workers on various occasions. The trust in the health system has declined due to certain decisions taken by the higher-level political authority and we will rectify it. There will be no room for such incidents in the country again. On earlier occasions too, substandard drugs had been imported. However, substandard human immunoglobulin fraud occurred mainly due to the involvement of the then Health Minister and the pressure he exerted on the Health Ministry officials. Steps will be taken to restore the people’s confidence in the free health sector, drugs, vaccines and treatment given by Government hospitals within a very short period. Q: Some say the lack of a vibrant Opposition is not healthy for democracy. Do you think a vibrant Opposition is vital for democracy? A: Whether there is a strong Opposition or not, it won’t be so important for a stable Government like us. Amidst various rumours and disinformation campaigns carried out by the Opposition, the people have placed their utmost confidence in this Government. The people at the recently concluded general election have given more votes to the NPP rather than President Anura Kumara Dissanayake by taking into consideration his six weeks tenure in office. According to the General Election results, the gap between the NPP and the SJB is nearly five million votes. I don’t think Sajith Premadasa could play the role of the Opposition in Parliament in the future. Before the election, they stressed the need to send experienced people to Parliament. Now those experienced people are fighting with one another for the single National List MP post that they had secured. Some people got elected to Parliament from the National List by using their political affiliations. However, we don’t bother about their internal party matters. We would also like it if somebody comes to Parliament and makes some constructive criticism. Q: The general election result was a clear testimony that dividing people based on ethnic lines is no longer valid and that the people in the North, East and upcountry areas had largely voted for the NPP. How do you view this significant political transformation that took place in the country? A: This transformation started two and a half years ago. It was the people’s struggle which opened avenues to drive away corrupt politicians. As we were not able to call an early Parliamentary election at that time, we had to continue this struggle up to now. When the people got the first opportunity at the Presidential election, they brought the positive result. Even some misconceptions the people had were done away during the general election and the people gave a resounding mandate of two-thirds majority to the NPP. The issue was that our activities were rather less in the North and upcountry areas compared to the South. We are a political party of the country. We will make every possible effort that we could to improve those areas as well. After 2009, our partymen worked continuously in those areas. Otherwise, we would not have secured victory in those areas. The people in the North and upcountry areas closely monitored us. The massive transformation that took place in the country was a stimulant for them to vote for us. The Tamil and Muslim community and upcountry Tamil community for the first time had placed their confidence in a single political party in the country. The people in the North, East and upcountry areas as well as the Muslim community had voted for the NPP without looking at whether our candidates were Sinhala, Tamil or Muslims. They voted for the NPP candidate who represented their area. We would also consider all those who voted for us as Sri Lankan citizens without considering their ethnicity. When the Cabinet of Ministers was appointed, we didn’t consider the ethnicity or religion of our elected MPs. The ministerial portfolios were given only to those who are capable of handling that particular subject. Q: The outcome of the election result showed how to respect political opponents without resorting to any violent incident whatsoever. How do you view this new political culture created soon after the General Election? A: Even though we didn’t ask, people voted for us and gave us a two-thirds majority in Parliament. During our election campaign, we never spoke about two-thirds majority and we only called upon the people to give us power to form a stable Government. Moreover, we didn’t resort to any action to hoodwink the people to get such a majority power. In 2020, Gotabaya Rajapaksa achieved that victory after the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. In 2010, Mahinda Rajapaksa secured victory in gratitude extended by the people to him for ending the war. However, this is a significant victory achieved by the NPP, by telling the truth to the people. That is why the attempts made by the Opposition to capture power resorting to various false propaganda campaigns failed. At present, setbacks, internal conflicts and theweakness in the Opposition leadership had emerged due to their false and misleading politics that they practice. Q: As the Chief Government Whip how do you plan to perform your duties in Parliament with a large number of newly elected MPs? A: There are 143 newly elected MPs but they are not new to politics. They have not entered politics due to their family background or wealth. They have engaged in politics for a long time. Their age may be different from one another but they have political experience. Most of them have the political experience of representing local government institutions. Therefore, it won’t be difficult to handle this group of newly elected MPs. None of them had entered Parliament based on their personal objectives and they collectively campaigned and talked about our policy to the people and were elected to Parliament to take the country forward.