
Fall is the best time to think about cooking soup. Here’s 5 recipes you’ll want to tryNorth Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un recently told top aides in his pariah kingdom that he will be launching Pyongyang’s “toughest anti-US counteraction” policy yet, according to state media. Kim is fixated on growing American influence in the region despite President-elect Donald Trump suggesting he would continue making overtures toward North Korea, with the North Korean despot calling for more “proactive and offensive external activities” against the US. Kim, 40, alleged that the US, South Korea and Japan have formed a “nuclear military bloc for aggression” and that the three allies are pushing anti-communism, state media outlet Korean Central News Agency reported. There was no mention of Trump, 78, in the state report of Kim’s remarks during North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party meeting, which wrapped up Friday. When Trump first entered office in 2017, North Korea was seen as a growing threat, and the 45th president initially responded with hot rhetoric, threatening Kim with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” Trump also embarked on a series of sporadic screeds against Kim, branding him “Rocket Man” and “Little Rocket Man” in a jab at the dictator’s affection for nuclear weapons. But by the start of 2018, tensions began to cool down. Trump ended up meeting with Kim on three occasions during his presidency, aiming to make a deal over Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal, but that didn’t come to pass. Since then, Trump has publicly crowed about the “beautiful” letters Kim sent him during that brief detente between them. Shortly after his 2024 election victory, Trump reportedly explored possible direct talks with Kim and his team amid hopes of rekindling talks aimed at thawing out the icy relations between the two nations. But half a world away, North Korea has stepped up the tempo of its missiles- and weapons-testing. In October, the impoverished nation also dispatched more than 10,000 troops and weaponry to aid Russia in its bloody war against neighboring Ukraine. White House spokesman John Kirby claims that North Korean troops have been treated as “expendable” by the Russians and been forced to carry out “hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses. “I hope they’re loading up their commanders with a bunch of body bags because they’re clearly going to need it,” Kirby told reporters of North Korea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has estimated that about 3,000 North Korean troops have been either killed or wounded in the fighting so far. Pyongyang, which has one of the largest militaries in the world, is believed to have been aiding the Kremlin in exchange for aid such as access to more advanced technologies. Conflicts raging in Ukraine and the Middle East could loom large over any potential efforts by Trump to ease strained relations between Washington and Pyongyang. Trump has made clear that ending those conflicts will be among his top foreign policy priorities when he takes office.
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Miami (6-7) at Houston (8-5) Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS BetMGM Odds: Texans by 3. Against the spread: Dolphins 5-8; Texans 5-6-2. Series record: Texans lead 8-3. Last meeting: Dolphins beat Texans 30-15, on Nov. 27, 2022, in Miami. Last week: Dolphins beat Jets 32-26 in OT; Texans were off, beat Jaguars 23-20 on Dec. 1. Dolphins offense: overall (19), rush (24), pass (14), scoring (23). Dolphins defense: overall (9), rush (7), pass (11), scoring (T14). Texans offense: overall (18), rush (16), pass (17), scoring (11). Texans defense: overall (5), rush (10), pass (7), scoring (T12). Turnover differential: Dolphins minus-2; Texans plus-10. QB Tua Tagovailoa, who has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL at throwing with anticipation and accuracy since he returned from a concussion in Week 8. Tagovailoa leads the NFL with a 73.8% completion rate and threw for 300 yards for the third straight game last week vs. the Jets. Tagovailoa is the first player in NFL history to have at least 40 pass attempts, multiple touchdown passes and no interceptions in three consecutive games within a single season. QB C.J. Stroud has thrown for at least 225 yards in each of his six home games this season and is 11-4 in 15 starts in Houston, including the playoffs. He has thrown for 3,117 yards with 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions this season. Houston RB Joe Mixon vs. Miami’s run defense. Mixon ran for 101 yards in Houston’s previous game for his seventh 100-yard game this season. He ranks third in the NFL by averaging 88.7 yards rushing a game. This week he’ll face a run defense that ranks seventh in the NFL by holding teams to 105.6 yards a game. Miami LT Terron Armstead is dealing with a knee injury that limited him to just five snaps last week. He did not practice Wednesday... LBs Bradley Chubb (knee) and Cameron Goode (knee) could make their season debut, depending on how this week of practice goes, coach Mike McDaniel said. ... WRs Tyreek Hill (wrist) and Jaylen Waddle (hamstring), RB Raheem Mostert (hip), and LB Anthony Walker Jr. (hamstring) were among those limited in practice Wednesday. ... Houston S Jalen Pitre is expected to miss a second straight game with a shoulder injury. ... DE Denico Autry was limited in practice Wednesday because of a knee injury. Houston won the first seven meetings in this series. ... Miami didn’t get its first win against the Texans until a 44-26 victory in 2015. ... The Dolphins have won the past two meetings. ... These teams first met in the season opener in 2003 when Houston got a 21-20 win on a late field goal. Three of Miami’s final four games of the season are on the road. ... K Jason Sanders needs 13 points Sunday to reach 800. He also needs one field goal to reach 177, which would give him the second-most field goals made in franchise history. ... TE Jonnu Smith needs 100 yards receiving to reach 792 and set a franchise record for most yards receiving by a tight end in a single season. Smith had three catches for 44 yards, including the game-winning TD vs. the Jets last week after having no receptions during regulation. ... Tagovailoa needs a completion rate of 70% or better on Sunday to reach eight consecutive games completing at least 70% of his passes. That would tie him with Joe Montana (1989) and Drew Brees (2017-18) for the longest streak in NFL history. ... The Dolphins gave up a season-high 402 yards to the Jets last week. Aaron Rodgers burned Miami’s pass defense for 319 yards, and Miami’s secondary allowed a combined 223 yards by Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams. ... Houston can clinch the AFC South title for the second straight year with a win and a loss by Indianapolis Sunday. ... The Texans rank second in the NFL with 84 tackles for loss. ... Their 42 sacks also rank second. ... WR Nico Collins had eight receptions for 119 yards for his fourth 100-yard game this season in Houston’s previous game. He has had at least 75 yards receiving and a TD reception in each of his four home games this season. ... TE Dalton Schultz had five receptions for 61 yards and a score in Week 13. He has had at least five catches in two of his past three games. ... LB Azeez Al-Shaai will serve the first game of a three-game suspension for an illegal hit to the head of QB Trevor Lawrence Sunday. ... DE Danielle Hunter is one of two players in the NFL this season with at least 15 tackles for loss (15) and 10 sacks (10 1/2). It’s his sixth career season with at least 10 sacks. He has eight tackles for loss and five sacks combined in his past three games. ... DE Will Anderson has had a sack in his past two home games. ... LB Henry To’oTo’o has had at least five tackles in four straight games. ... CB Derek Stingley had his third interception of the season in his previous game. ... CB Kamari Lassiter had a career-high eight tackles, including a tackle for loss in Week 13. ... S Jimmie Ward has had an interception in his past two home games. He also had an interception in his previous game against Miami in 2022 while with San Francisco. Collins has 456 yards receiving and four touchdown receptions in four home games this season. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflNFC's No. 1 seed comes down to Vikings-Lions showdown at Detroit in Week 18
College football talk this week is focusing on the playoff bracket that was revealed Sunday, the bowl lineup that followed and potential coaching moves. While there’s plenty to ruminate over regarding all of those subjects, that will have to wait. There have recently been a couple of other interesting tidbits that have popped up regarding three local high school standouts — Amari Washington, Harrison Bey-Buie and Rusty VanWetzinga — who are figuring out their college football futures. Washington has signed with the Northern Illinois University Huskies, while VanWetzinga and Bey-Buie have already tasted college action but are looking to change their fortunes through the transfer portal. Here is information on them: Amari Washington People are also reading... The athletic Washington was among 18 freshmen and two transfers to ink letters of intent with the NIU football program last week. The 6-foot-2, 270-pound defensive tackle was a disruptive force for the 8-2 Bettendorf Bulldogs this past season, finishing with 42.5 tackles (35 solos) while leading the team in tackles for loss (17) and sacks (6). He also logged three pass breakups, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He also caught two passes for 16 yards as a tight end. The all-state selection was a three-year varsity starter at Bettendorf, totaling 103.5 tackles in his prep career (84 solos) to go with 47 TFLs and nine sacks in his last two seasons. As a junior, he caught nine passes for 96 yards and rushed for two TDs and scored a pair of two-point conversions. He is also in his third year of varsity basketball this season for the Bulldogs. Rusty VanWetzinga VanWetzinga has been with the University of Iowa program the past two years but will not be around when his younger brother, Joey, joins the Hawkeyes in January as an offensive lineman. “Thank you Iowa for a great 2 years,” he posted on social media last week. “After a coaching/system change over the past year on offense I have decided it is in my best interest to enter the transfer portal with 3 years of eligibility left as a Linebacker/Fullback.” Fullbacks were less utilized in the Tim Lester offense this year, and that had the former Pleasant Valley prep and 2022 state wrestling champion looking for a new path. The 6-foot, 235-pound redshirt freshman played in four games for the Hawkeyes this year without accruing any statistics. Harrison Bey-Buie Bey-Buie, a 5-foot-10, 220-pound running back out of Bettendorf, transferred to UNI after his freshman year at Eastern Illinois University. He saw limited action this season for the Panthers, playing in two games and rushing 17 times for 74 yards without finding the end zone. In 2023, he played in six games, rushing 43 times for 209 yards and scoring four times. In four games in 2022 he totaled 115 yards on 27 carries. “First I would like to thank god for allowing me to play the game love! With that being said, I appreciate the opportunity to play at the University of Northern lowa,” he wrote on X. “I will be entering the transfer portal as a grad transfer with 1-2 years left!” His freshman season at EIU was his most productive as he rushed for 479 yards in 11 games and was one of 11 players selected to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer Team. Similar to the VanWetzingas at Iowa, a younger Bey-Buie — Hyson — is still on the UNI roster. He is a 6-4, 250-pound redshirt defensive lineman for the Panthers. Bey-Buie Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! sports writer/golf editor {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.Quarterback Mark Gronowski, who won two FCS national titles at South Dakota State, is entering the transfer portal but also keeping his eyes on his NFL draft potential, he told ESPN. In four seasons with the Jackrabbits, he played in 55 games, posting a 49-6 record as a starter. He has one year of eligibility available and is expected to be contacted by several power-conference programs. "I'm trying to weigh all my options to do what's best for me and my career," Gronowski told ESPN on Sunday. "I'm confident in what I can do in the NFL. If there's opportunities that help my family, I'll change my mind. It's doing what's best for me and my long-term interest overall." A native of Illinois, Gronowski led South Dakota State to FCS titles in back-to-back titles in 2022-23. The Jackrabbits lost 28-21 to North Dakota State in the FCS semifinals on Dec. 21. In 2023, he won the Walter Payton Award, which honors the top FCS offensive player. In his career, Gronowski has completed 64 percent of his passes for 10,309 yards and 93 touchdowns against 20 interceptions. On the ground, he ran for 1,767 yards and 37 touchdowns. --Field Level MediaPrestige Exterior Services Offers Landscaping Services in the Louisville, KY AreaBy BILL BARROW, Associated Press PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter’s in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Carter’s path, a mix of happenstance and calculation , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That’s a very narrow way of assessing them,” Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn’t suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he’d be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter’s tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter’s lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the Georgians and their inner circle as “country come to town.” Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. Born Oct. 1, 1924 , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor’s race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama’s segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival’s endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King’s daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters’ early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Related Articles Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to “move to a very liberal program,” lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan’s presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan’s Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on family property alongside Rosalynn . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as public pilgrimages to Plains became advantageous again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.
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Chandigarh: Chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday said with progressive vision and continuous efforts, Haryana was playing an active role in promoting global cooperation. As a result of providing better infrastructure for global investors, Haryana is the first choice for foreign investors, said Saini, adding that Haryana govt was taking meaningful steps towards managing financial arrangements for technical assistance to complete development projects of the integrated aviation hub at Maharaja Agrasen Airport in Hisar. In this regard, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the Haryana Airport Development Corporation (HADC) at Haryana Bhawan in New Delhi on Tuesday in the presence of Saini. The MoU was signed by US Ambassador Eric Garcetti on behalf of the USTDA and Dr Narhari Singh Bangar, advisor, department of civil aviation, on behalf of the Haryana Airport Development Corporation. This agreement was made for technical assistance for the preparation and implementation of development projects like operations at Hisar airport, integrated manufacturing cluster, world port cargo logistics hub, and overhauling facility, said the CM. This MoU will help in taking the aviation sector of Haryana to new heights. The proposed roadmap from this agreement will not only lead to technical progress in the aviation sector but will also lead to long-term economic development, he said. We also published the following articles recently Govt inks MoU with Google for skill development in AI Andhra Pradesh partnered with Google to boost AI skills and applications. The collaboration will train students, support startups, and integrate AI into key sectors like healthcare and environment. This initiative aims to improve public services and foster a thriving AI startup ecosystem, ultimately enhancing citizens' lives through technology. IGIMS signs MoU with PGIMER Chandigarh IGIMS Patna and PGIMER Chandigarh have partnered to boost medical education. The institutions signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate faculty exchanges and enhanced training programs for postgraduate students and residents. This collaboration aims to elevate the quality of medical training at both prestigious institutes, benefiting aspiring doctors and ultimately patient care. MoU signed to transform law enforcement process Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) partnered with Gravitas AI and Triculin Technologies to enhance law enforcement using AI. This collaboration will develop AI tools for the Indian legal system, aiming to streamline processes and improve efficiency and access to information. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A scruffy little fugitive is on the lam again in New Orleans, gaining fame as he outwits a tenacious band of citizens armed with night-vision binoculars, nets and a tranquilizer rifle. Scrim, a 17-pound mutt that's mostly terrier, has become a folk hero, inspiring tattoos, t-shirts and even a ballad as he eludes capture from the posse of volunteers. And like any antihero, Scrim has a backstory: Rescued from semi-feral life at a trailer park and adopted from a shelter, the dog broke loose in April and scurried around the city until he was cornered in October and brought to a new home. Weeks later, he'd had enough. Scrim leaped out of a second-story window, a desperate act recorded in a now-viral video. Since then, despite a stream of daily sightings, he's roamed free. The dog’s fans include Myra and Steve Foster, who wrote “Ode to Scrim” to the tune of Ricky Nelson’s 1961 hit, “I’m a Travelin’ Man.” Leading the recapture effort is Michelle Cheramie, a 55-year-old former information technology professional. She lost everything — home, car, possessions — in Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and in the aftermath, found her calling rescuing pets. “I was like, ‘This is what I should be doing,’” Cheramie said. “I was born to rescue.” She launched Zeus’ Rescues, a nonprofit shelter that now averages 600 cat and dog adoptions a year and offers free pet food to anyone who needs it. She helped Scrim find the home he first escaped from. It was Cheramie's window Scrim leaped from in November. She's resumed her relentless mission since then, posting flyers on telephone poles and logging social media updates on his reported whereabouts. She's invested thousands of dollars on wildlife cameras, thermal sensors and other gear. She took a course offered by the San Diego Zoo on the finer points of tranquilizing animals. And she's developed a network of volunteers — the kind of neighbors who are willing to grid-search a city at 3 a.m. People like writer David W. Brown, who manages a crowd-sourced Google Map of all known Scrim sightings. He says the search has galvanized residents from all walks of life to come together. As they search for Scrim, they hand out supplies to people in need. "Being a member of the community is seeing problems and doing what you can to make life a little better for the people around here and the animals around you," Brown said. And neighbors like Tammy Murray, who had to close her furniture store and lost her father to Parkinson's Disease. This search, she says, got her mojo back. “Literally, for months, I’ve done nothing but hunt this dog,” said Murray, 53. “I feel like Wile E. Coyote on a daily basis with him.” Murray drives the Zeus' Rescues' van towards reported Scrim sightings. She also handles a tactical net launcher, which looks like an oversized flashlight and once misfired, shattering the van's window as Scrim sped away. After realizing Scrim had come to recognize the sound of the van's diesel engine, Murray switched to a Vespa scooter, for stealth. Near-misses have been tantalizing. The search party spotted Scrim napping beneath an elevated house, and wrapped construction netting around the perimeter, but an over-eager volunteer broke ranks and dashed forward, leaving an opening Scrim slipped through. Scrim's repeated escapades have prompted near-daily local media coverage and a devoted online following. Cheramie can relate. “We’re all running from something or to something. He's doing that too,” she said. Cheramie's team dreams of placing the pooch in a safe and loving environment. But a social media chorus growing under the hashtag #FreeScrim has other ideas — they say the runaway should be allowed a life of self-determination. The animal rescue volunteers consider that misguided. “The streets of New Orleans are not the place for a dog to be free,” Cheramie said. “It’s too dangerous.” Scrim was a mess when Cheramie briefly recaptured him in October, with matted fur, missing teeth and a tattered ear. His trembling body was scraped and bruised, and punctured by multiple projectiles. A vet removed one, but decided against operating to take out a possible bullet. The dog initially appeared content indoors, sitting in Cheramie's lap or napping beside her bed. Then while she was out one day, Scrim chewed through a mesh screen, dropped 13 feet to the ground and squeezed through a gap in the fence, trotting away. Murray said Cheramie's four cats probably spooked him. “I wholeheartedly believe the gangster-ass cats were messing with him,” Murray said. Cheramie thinks they may have gotten territorial. Devastated but undeterred, the pair is reassessing where Scrim might fit best — maybe a secure animal sanctuary with big outdoor spaces where other dogs can keep him company. Somewhere, Murray says, “where he can just breathe and be." Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96A Legacy of Visionary Leadership and Inclusive Growth
Constitution is Guiding Light that Stood the Test of Time: ModiJohn Healey said that the Government’s “interest” in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is “that they live up to their promises to protect” rights, when he spoke to reporters after a Cobra meeting on Thursday. HTS is banned in the UK because of its past association with al Qaida, the terrorist organisation once led by Osama bin Laden. But its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, cut ties with al Qaida years ago and has sought to present his group as a more moderate and inclusive organisation, leading some to suggest the group should no longer be proscribed. When asked whether the Government was considering the status of the group, Mr Healey said: “Proscription is not a matter for now. “It doesn’t stop us talking to all the parties, and our interest in HTS is that they live up to their promises to protect the rights of all individuals and all groups, to respect international law and to prevent Syria becoming a base for a fresh terrorist threat.” Mr Healey said that Thursday’s meeting was “about making sure we have, as a Government, a laser focus on the role that we can play with allies to see a stable, peaceful transition. “So that the Syrians get the government they need for the future, and the region can see the stability in the future that it also needs.” Cobra meetings are called when ministers or officials need to respond to urgent matters. Following the toppling of the Bashar Assad regime over the weekend, the UK has paused decisions on asylum applications from Syria. Thousands of Syrians have been granted asylum in the UK but, earlier this week, the Home Office said decisions on applications would be paused while events unfold in Damascus. When asked how long the system would be paused for, and whether the move was fair, Mr Healey said on Thursday: “This is early days. “It’s a measure in response to rapidly changing developments, and the most important thing for us now is that the UK plays and will continue to play a full role with allies to see a stable, peaceful, orderly transition and that requires a political process. “It requires dialogue at the heart of it, and today’s ministerial meeting, the Cobra meeting, was about making sure that we do just that.” Earlier on Thursday, G7 leaders said that they “stand with the people of Syria” and “denounce terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms”. In a statement, Sir Keir Starmer and his counterparts said: “The G7 will work with and fully support a future Syrian government that abides by those standards and results from that process.” It went on: “After decades of atrocities committed by the Assad regime, we stand with the people of Syria. We denounce terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms. “We are hopeful that anyone seeking a role in governing Syria will demonstrate a commitment to the rights of all Syrians, prevent the collapse of state institutions, work on the recovery and rehabilitation of the country, and ensure the conditions for safe and dignified voluntary return to Syria of all those who were forced to flee the country.”
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GABBY LOGAN laughed awkwardly after RB Leipzig boss Marco Rose swore live on air. The German was interviewed by Logan for Prime Video ahead of his side's 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa . 1 Gabby Logan laughed awkwardly after Marco Rose swore Rose was asked about Leipzig's upturn in form after winning their last two league games - having previously lost all five Champions League matches. He responded, telling Prime Video: "Like always, if you win everything is fine but if you lose it's s***. "The mood is much better than the games before but we have to use it today." Logan, 51, responded by laughing awkwardly in response to Rose's inappropriate language. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL SPECIAL REQUEST Fans call for Mourinho to stick to his word as Millwall hunt for new boss It comes just weeks after the presenter was forced to apologise after pundit Josie Henning swore on live TV. Former Arsenal Women's star Henning was providing analysis of Manchester City following their 3-3 draw with Feyenoord when she let slip a swear word. She said: "The situation is a little bit s***." The 35-year-old then looked over at presenter Logan, and joked: "Gabby's looking at me like oh my god she said it, but no it is the worst." Most read in Champions League HORROR BLAZE Moment house is blown to bits in HUGE explosion with 60 firefighters at scene HOME AWAY FROM HOME Aberdeen perform huge U-turn and SHELVE plans for new £80m stadium TRAGIC FIND Body found in search for woman who got stuck in mud while walking near river FASHION STATEMENT 'Humbled' Rangers fans' favourite wins coveted Man of the Year award BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKER S Ultimate sports presenters rich list TV sports presenters make a mint. The biggest and best are signed up on yearly deals with the likes of the BBC, ITV and Sky for your viewing pleasure. Laura Woods is dominating the media landscape at the moment, leading TNT Sports' coverage and ITV's. Alex Scott and Jermaine Jenas are two of the fresher faces for the BBC's sporting output. Then, it's the old guard of Gary Lineker and Mark Chapman who also command hefty fees for their Match of the Day programmes. SunSport has taken a look at how those big names rank and compiled a list of the top 10 highest earning stars that grace our TV screens. With number one worth a whopping £29.4million more than number 10! Read the story and see the full list here . Logan could be seen smiling at the comment. She then added quickly: "I'm just looking at the time it's 10:20pm. I do apologise." Meet Aston Villa wonderkid Lamare Bogarde who has a famous uncleAfter two tied runoff elections and two recounts, the Yellowstone County Democratic Central Committee on Monday evening selected three potential candidates to replace Emma Kerr-Carpenter in the Montana House. The longtime state representative from Billings was appointed last week to succeed Democrat Kathy Kelker in the Montana Senate. State Rep. Emma Kerr-Carpenter, D-Billings, speaks during a public forum at the MSU Billings College of Education on Dec. 15, 2022. Kelker, 81, resigned on Nov. 13 , leaving an opening for her position representing central Billings in the upper legislative chamber. The Yellowstone County Commission unanimously selected Kerr-Carpenter, 35, to serve the remainder of Kelker’s term, which ends on Jan. 4, 2027, from among three candidates nominated by the local Democrats. Billings Democrat Emma Kerr-Carpenter is sworn in by Judge Colette Davies on Dec. 3 to serve in the Montana Senate. Yellowstone County Commissioners Don Jones (left) John Ostlund (center) and Mark Morse (right) appointed Kerr-Carpenter, who represents District 46 in the Montana House, to replace state Sen. Kathy Kelker, who resigned on Nov. 13. Later this month, the commission is expected appoint a new representative to serve Kerr-Carpenter's two-year term in the House. Kerr-Carpenter, who has represented central Billings in the legislature since 2018, was re-elected on Nov. 5. Her appointment to the state Senate, leaves her position in House District 46 open just ahead of the Jan. 6 start of the legislative session. By state law, when a vacancy occurs, the central committee from the outgoing lawmaker’s political party nominates three potential successors. The county commissioners then select one of them to appoint. The local Democrats’ top picks to replace Kerr-Carpenter are Billings City Councilwoman Denise Joy , retired psychiatrist Dr. Mark Nicholson and artist and property manager Anne Ross . Joy, 60, a special needs assistant for Billings Public Schools, is currently serving her second four-year term on the council. When she was first elected to represent Midtown and the South Side in 2017, she was the only member of the Democratic Socialists of America to win public office in Montana. Billings City Councilwoman Denise Joy poses for a portrait at Moav Coffee House after becoming Montana's only elected member of the Democratic Socialists of America in November 2017. Danny Choriki , who previously served on the council with Joy, spoke on her behalf. He said she couldn’t miss the council meeting to be present when the party selected nominees on Monday evening because she’s the only member with a perfect attendance record. Choriki praises Joy’s work for Billings neighborhoods “That’s especially interesting because she was there the night after her father was murdered ,” Choriki said. “She’s been a tireless advocate for the working class and other minorities. ...And she has those years of experience of knowing what’s going on with the government and what the city needs from the state legislature.” Nicholson, 70, ran in the Nov. 5 election for a four-year term serving parts of Southwest and central Billings in Montana Senate District 24 . Although he lost by 608 votes, or 54% to 46% , to longtime local leader Republican Mike Yakawich, he said, he learned a lot by listening to voters during his campaign. Retired psychiatrist Dr. Mark Nicholson leaves a flyer at a home on Prickett Lane in Billings while campaigning for Montana Senate District 24 on Sept. 27. “We really need to continue our traditional Democratic work of making the system work for people,” Nicholson said. “But we also have to convince them that we’re doing that.” Nicholson shares what he heard on the campaign trail of 2024 If appointed, Nicholson said, he’d start helping working people by focusing on expanding Medicaid, reducing property taxes, improving education and curbing crime. Ross, 39, also competed for a legislative seat on the Nov. 5 ballot. Republican Curtis Schomer, however, won the two-year term to serve parts of Southwest Billings in House District 48 , by 641 votes, or 57% to 43% . Ross said her education studying art and psychology at MSU coupled with her experience working in mental health care for Youth Dynamics and being a parent made her want to start fighting for underdogs. Billings artist and property manager Anne Ross ran for a two-year term representing Southwest Billings in House District 48 in the Nov. 5 election. “I definitely saw how close we all are to homelessness, to instability in our finances and things like that. We’re all just one lost paycheck away from something that could spiral into something much deeper,” she said. “Realizing that gave me a lot more empathy for the people who are struggling to get by.” Ross talks about fighting for Montana’s underdogs Becky Riedl, chairwoman for the local Democrats, said she plans to submit the three nominees to the Yellowstone County Commission by 5 p.m. Wednesday. The commissioners will then have 15 days to appoint Kerr-Carpenter’s successor. Riedl said Kelker hasn't given a reason for her resignation. She did not respond to the Gazette's request for an interview. 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Black Kos: What New Year's resolutions can our not-Black friends make to change what lies ahead?Longest-lived US president was always happy to speak his mind