OTTAWA — Two senior members of the federal cabinet were in Florida Friday pushing Canada's new $1.3 billion border plan with members of Donald Trump's transition team, a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself appeared to finally push back at the president-elect over his social media posts about turning Canada into the 51st state. Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affair Minister Melanie Joly shared few details of their meetings in Palm Beach, simply saying in a statement the U.S. officials they met with took notes and agreed to relay messages to Trump. "Minister LeBlanc and Minister Joly had a positive, productive meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Howard Lutnick and Doug Burgum, as a followup to the dinner between the prime minister and President Trump last month," wrote Jean-Sébastien Comeau, a spokesman for LeBlanc. Lutnick is Trump's nominee for commerce secretary, and Burgum is the former governor of North Dakota and current nominee for secretary of the interior. When announcing Lutnick as his commerce pick Trump said the chief executive of the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald would be in charge of the Trump "tariff and trade agenda." "Both Ministers outlined the measures in Canada’s Border Plan and reiterated the shared commitment to strengthen border security as well as combat the harm caused by fentanyl to save Canadian and American lives." He added the ministers agreed to continue the discussions in the coming weeks. Joly is also expected to meet in Florida with senator Lindsay Graham Friday evening. This trip comes less than four weeks before Trump is sworn in again as president. He has threatened to impose a new 25 per cent import tariff on Canada and Mexico the same day over concerns about a trade imbalance, as well as illegal drugs and migration issues at the borders. The broad strokes of Canada's new border plan were made public Dec. 17, including a new aerial intelligence task force to provide round-the-clock surveillance of the border, and improved efforts using technology and canine teams to seek out drugs in shipments leaving Canada. Comeau said earlier Friday morning the ministers would also emphasize the negative impacts of Trump's threatened tariffs on both Canada and the U.S. Comeau said the ministers were to build on the discussions that took place last month when Trudeau and LeBlanc met Trump at Mar-a-Lago just days after Trump first made his tariff threat. It was at that dinner on Nov. 29 when Trump first raised the notion of Canada becoming the 51st state, a comment LeBlanc has repeatedly since insisted was just a joke. But Trump has continued the quip repeatedly in various social media posts, including in his Christmas Day message when he said Canadians would pay lower taxes and have better military protection if they became Americans. He has taken to calling Trudeau "governor" instead of prime minister. It isn't clear if LeBlanc raised the issue with Trump's team in Palm Beach Friday. Trudeau had not directly responded to any of the jabs, but on Thursday posted a link to a six-minute long video on YouTube from 2010 in which American journalist Tom Brokaw "explains Canada to Americans." "Some information about Canada for Americans" was all he wrote in the post. The video, which originally aired during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, explains similarities between the two countries, including their founding based on immigration, their trading relationship and the actions of the Canadian Army in World War 2 and other modern conflicts. "In the long history of sovereign neighbours there has never been a relationship as close, productive and peaceful as the U.S. and Canada," Brokaw says in the video. Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who is at the centre of some of Trudeau's recent domestic political troubles, also called out Trump's antics on X Thursday, calling it "casual disrespect" and "carrying the 'joke' too far." "Time to call it out, stand up for Canada, and build a true North American partnership," said Carney, who Trudeau was courting to join his cabinet before Chrystia Freeland resigned as finance minister last week. Freeland's sudden departure, three days after Trudeau informed her he would be firing her as finance minister in favour of Carney, left Trudeau's leadership even more bruised than it already was. Despite the expectation Carney would assume the role, he did not and has not made any statements about it. LeBlanc was sworn in as finance minister instead the same day Freeland quit. More than two dozen Liberal MPs have publicly called on Trudeau to resign as leader, and Trudeau is said to be taking the holidays to think about his next steps. He is currently vacationing in British Columbia. He did not make a public statement about the meeting as of publication. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2024. Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian PressWASHINGTON (AP) — A lead organization monitoring for food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north Gaza under what it called Israel's “near-total blockade,” after the U.S. asked for its retraction, U.S. officials told the Associated Press. The move follows public criticism of the report from the U.S. ambassador to Israel. The rare public dispute drew accusations from prominent aid and human-rights figures that the work of the U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning System Network , meant to reflect the opinion of unbiased international experts, has been tainted by politics. A declaration of famine would be a great embarrassment for Israel, which has insisted that its 15-month war in Gaza is aimed against the Hamas militant group and not against its civilian population. U.S. ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew earlier this week called the warning by the internationally recognized group inaccurate and “irresponsible ." Lew and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the monitoring group, both said the findings failed to properly account for rapidly changing circumstances in north Gaza. Humanitarian and human rights officials expressed fear of U.S. political interference in the world's monitoring system for famines. The U.S. Embassy in Israel and the State Department declined comment. FEWS officials did not respond to questions. “We work day and night with the U.N. and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible,” Lew said Tuesday. USAID confirmed to the AP that it had asked the famine-monitoring organization to withdraw its stepped-up warning issued in a report dated Monday. The report did not appear among the top updates on the group's website Thursday, but the link to it remained active . The dispute points in part to the difficulty of assessing the extent of starvation in largely isolated northern Gaza. Thousands in recent weeks have fled an intensified Israeli military crackdown that aid groups say has allowed delivery of only a dozen trucks of food and water since roughly October. FEWS Net said in its withdrawn report that unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying of starvation and related ailments in north Gaza to reach between two and 15 per day sometime between January and March. The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people. FEWS was created by the U.S. development agency in the 1980s and is still funded by it. But it is intended to provide independent, neutral and data-driven assessments of hunger crises, including in war zones. Its findings help guide decisions on aid by the U.S. and other governments and agencies around the world. A spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, Oren Marmorstein, welcomed the U.S. ambassador's public challenge of the famine warning. “FEWS NET - Stop spreading these lies!” Marmorstein said on X . In challenging the findings publicly, the U.S. ambassador "leveraged his political power to undermine the work of this expert agency,” said Scott Paul, a senior manager at the Oxfam America humanitarian nonprofit. Paul stressed that he was not weighing in on the accuracy of the data or methodology of the report. “The whole point of creating FEWS is to have a group of experts make assessments about imminent famine that are untainted by political considerations,” said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and now a visiting professor in international affairs at Princeton University . “It sure looks like USAID is allowing political considerations -- the Biden administration’s worry about funding Israel’s starvation strategy -- to interfere." Israel says it has been operating in recent months against Hamas militants still active in northern Gaza. It says the vast majority of the area’s residents have fled and relocated to Gaza City, where most aid destined for the north is delivered. But some critics, including a former defense minister, have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza’s far north, near the Israeli border. North Gaza has been one of the areas hardest-hit by fighting and Israel’s restrictions on aid throughout its war with Hamas militants. Global famine monitors and U.N. and U.S. officials have warned repeatedly of the imminent risk of malnutrition and deaths from starvation hitting famine levels. International officials say Israel last summer increased the amount of aid it was admitting there, under U.S. pressure. The U.S. and U.N. have said Gaza’s people as a whole need between 350 and 500 trucks a day of food and other vital needs. But the U.N. and aid groups say Israel recently has again blocked almost all aid to that part of Gaza. Cindy McCain , the American head of the U.N. World Food Program, previously called for political pressure to get food flowing to Palestinians there. Israel says it places no restrictions on aid entering Gaza and that hundreds of truckloads of goods are piled up at Gaza’s crossings and accused international aid agencies of failing to deliver the supplies. The U.N. and other aid groups say ongoing combat, looting and insufficient security by Israeli troops make it impossible to deliver aid effectively. Lew, the U.S. ambassador, said the famine warning was based on “outdated and inaccurate” data. He pointed to uncertainty over how many of the 65,000-75,000 people remaining in northern Gaza had fled in recent weeks, saying that skewed the findings. FEWS said in its report that its famine assessment holds even if as few as 10,000 people remain. USAID in its statement to AP said it had reviewed the report before it became public, and noted “discrepancies” in population estimates and some other data. The U.S. agency had asked the famine warning group to address those uncertainties and be clear in its final report to reflect how those uncertainties affected its predictions of famine, it said. “This was relayed before Ambassador Lew’s statement,” USAID said in a statement. “FEWS NET did not resolve any of these concerns and published in spite of these technical comments and a request for substantive engagement before publication. As such, USAID asked to retract the report.” Roth criticized the U.S. challenge of the report in light of the gravity of the crisis there. “This quibbling over the number of people desperate for food seems a politicized diversion from the fact that the Israeli government is blocking virtually all food from getting in,” he said, adding that “the Biden administration seems to be closing its eyes to that reality, but putting its head in the sand won’t feed anyone.” The U.S., Israel’s main backer, provided a record amount of military support in the first year of the war. At the same time, the Biden administration repeatedly urged Israel to allow more access to aid deliveries in Gaza overall, and warned that failing to do so could trigger U.S. restrictions on military support. The administration recently said Israel was making improvements and declined to carry out its threat of restrictions. Military support for Israel’s war in Gaza is politically charged in the U.S., with Republicans and some Democrats staunchly opposed any effort to limit U.S. support over the suffering of Palestinian civilians trapped in the conflict. The Biden administration’s reluctance to do more to press Israel for improved treatment of civilians undercut support for Democrats in last month’s elections. Sam Mednick and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
ATLANTA (AP) — Quarterback Carson Beck's status for No. 2 Georgia's Sugar Bowl College Football Playoff quarterfinal is uncertain after he suffered an elbow injury in Saturday's Southeastern Conference championship game win over Texas. Georgia announced Monday there is no timetable on Beck's return as he and his family explore treatment options. Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Sunday the team was awaiting results of tests. The school did not announce details of the injury in Monday's announcement. Beck was injured on the final play of the first half in the Bulldogs' 22-19 overtime win over Texas on Saturday. Beck made a dramatic return to the field for the handoff on the game-winning play. Beck was needed after backup Gunner Stockton had his helmet knocked off, forcing him to leave the game for one play. Beck's injury was to his right (throwing) arm. Even though he was able to take the snap and hand off to Trevor Etienne for the running back’s decisive 4-yard touchdown run, Beck was unable to raise his right arm. Smart said Sunday that Beck attended the team meeting for the CFP draw announcement. “He was pretty somber,” Smart said. “It was a tough deal for him in terms of not being able to go out there and finish in the second half.” Georgia announced punter Brett Thorson will need season-ending surgery after injuring his non-kicking leg against Texas. “Carson and Brett are both fierce competitors and extremely hard workers,” Smart said in a statement released by the school. “I’m confident they will attack their rehab with the same determination they exhibit in their daily habits. We will be here to support them every step of the way.” Stockton would be the likely starter if Beck can't return for the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl. Stockton completed 12 of 16 passes for 71 yards with one interception against Texas. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballMTN Customers May Be Affected As NCC Moves To Disconnect Exchange Telecom
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Vice President-elect, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, has urged supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to prepare for a challenging yet rewarding journey ahead as she looks to build a more inclusive and progressive Ghana. Addressing her supporters on December 9, following a hard-fought campaign, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang declared, “The journey is over; the work is about to begin,” signaling the start of a new chapter for the country. She emphasized that the success of the upcoming administration could only be achieved if everyone rallied together. Reflecting on her nomination and eventual victory, Opoku-Agyemang highlighted the deep implications of her achievement, particularly for women, youth, and mothers across the nation. “My nomination has so many implications. This victory is for all of us, especially for our daughters, youth, and mothers,” she stated. In her speech, Opoku-Agyemang expressed her dedication to serve as a trailblazer for future generations, vowing to open doors of opportunity for others. “This position is not just about me—it is a position that empowers others,” she asserted. The Vice President-elect also underscored the critical importance of gender equality in the process of nation-building, stressing that Ghana’s progress must include the contributions of all its people, regardless of gender. “I am counting on all of you to work hard in your spaces,” she called, urging every Ghanaian to contribute to the nation’s development in their respective roles. Her remarks were filled with optimism for the future, as she wished blessings upon the nation, its children, and generations yet to come. The election of Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang marks a historic milestone in Ghana’s political landscape, symbolizing hope for greater gender representation and equality in leadership. Her victory has been hailed as a beacon of progress, not only for women and girls but for the entire nation.
Transcontinental Inc. Announces Results for the Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2024
A THIEVING fox took a hairdresser’s lost mobile phone and buried it in a neighbour’s garden. The sly critter pounced after Helen Price unwittingly dropped her iPhone as she got out of her car. It carried the handset down the road and buried it ten inches down among the shrubbery. For two days, mum-of-one Helen, 59, was hunting high and low, even calling her hairdressing clients to see if they had it. Eventually, she used her Find My iPhone feature to trace it. She said: “The ground was vibrating whenever I called. "I could see the soil was fresh so I started digging with my hands. “The leather case was chewed and the attached lanyard ripped apart. It must have been stolen and buried by a fox.” When Helen wrote about it on social media, neighbours replied with their tales of the robber reynard — blaming it for running off with dog harnesses, toys and even shoes. Helen said: “It’s a right hoodlum.”Dallas (5-8) at Carolina (3-10) Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, FOX. BetMGM Odds: Panthers by 3. Against the spread: Cowboys 4-9, Panthers 6-7. Series record: Cowboys lead 11-3. Last meeting: Cowboys beat Panthers 33-10 on Nov. 19, 2023 in Carolina. Last week: Cowboys lost to Bengals 27-20; Panthers lost to Eagles 22-16. Cowboys offense: overall (20), rush (28), pass (11), scoring (21) Cowboys defense: overall (25), rush (30), pass (22), scoring (31) Panthers offense: overall (30), rush (22), pass (27), scoring (28) Panthers defense: overall (31), rush (32), pass (12), scoring (32) Turnover differential: Cowboys minus-8; Panthers minus-5. Cowboys player to watch Panthers edge rusher Micah Parsons vs. Panthers offensive line. Parsons seems to be getting better as the season progresses and will be a tough matchup for Carolina’s offensive line regardless of where he lines up. Parsons has 3 1/2 sacks over his past three games. Panthers players to watch WR Adam Thielen. The veteran wide receiver was Bryce Young’s favorite option last season and is finally developing into that again this season after battling back from a hamstring injury that left him on injured reserve. Thielen has 17 catches on 21 targets for 201 yards and a touchdown over the past two games. When the Panthers need a first down on fourth down, the pass is almost always going to Thielen. RELATED COVERAGE 49ers LB De’Vondre Campbell refuses to enter game after losing his starting spot The Rams get 4 field goals to beat the 49ers 12-6 in a sloppy game Saints choose Jake Haener to start in Derek Carr’s place against Washington, AP source says Key matchup Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle vs. NFL’s worst run defense. Dowdle has had the first two 100-yard outings of his career the past two weeks, resetting his career best both times. The undrafted fifth-year player on an expiring contract had 131 yards in the loss to the Bengals. Since taking over as the lead back at the start of November, Dowdle is averaging 16 carries and 81 yards with a touchdown rushing and another receiving. On Sunday, he will face the league’s 32nd-ranked run defense. Carolina allowed Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley to run for 124 yards last week and Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving to run for a career-high 152 yards the week before that. The Panthers are allowing more than 170 yards per game on the ground and 4.97 yards per carry. Key injuries Cowboys LB DeMarvion Overshown was set for season-ending surgery on the right knee he injured in the fourth quarter of the loss to the Bengals. The second-year player from Texas missed all of his rookie season after tearing a ligament in his left knee in a preseason game. ... DE DeMarcus Lawrence, who hasn’t played since Week 4, is close to returning from a foot injury. With the playoff hopes all but gone, the question remains whether to press the 32-year-old into action. Lawrence is on an expiring contract. ... Rookie C Cooper Beebe sustained a concussion against Cincinnati.. ... The Panthers are hoping to get WR Jalen Coker back on the field this week after he has missed the past three games with a quad injury. ... Also, No. 1 CB Jaycee Horn has been playing with a groin injury, and that could be problematic against CeeDee Lamb. The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . Series notes The Cowboys are 7-2 against the Panthers since losing a wild-card game at Carolina 29-10 during the 2003 season, the first of Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells’ four years leading Dallas. Stats and stuff The Cowboys are 4-2 on the road this season, including victories over playoff contenders Pittsburgh and Washington. ... QB Cooper Rush is 2-3 filling in for Dak Prescott, who is out for the season after surgery for a torn hamstring. Assuming Rush starts, this will be his longest stint as Prescott’s replacement. He went 4-1 in 2022 after Prescott broke the thumb on his throwing hand in the opener. ... Dowdle’s 7.3-yard average per carry on 18 attempts against the Bengals was the highest for a Dallas back since Ezekiel Elliott averaged 7.9 per carry at Philadelphia in 2018. ... WR CeeDee Lamb has just one 100-yard receiving game this season after finishing with eight in his breakout 2023 All-Pro season. But Lamb has five other games with at least 89 yards. He has reached 1,000 scrimmage yards in each of his first five seasons, the fifth receiver to do that. ... S Malik Hooker’s interception of Joe Burrow was his second of the season. He has seven interceptions in his four Dallas seasons. He also had seven in four years with Indianapolis, where he spent four injury-filled years as a 2017 first-round draft pick. ... The Panthers have endured six straight seasons with at least 10 losses. ... Carolina’s past five games have come down to the last possession. ... Panthers 1,000-yard RB Chuba Hubbard needs one rushing touchdown to pass Stephen Davis for fifth in team history. He is also 9 rushing yards away from reaching 3,000 for his career. ... Rookie WR Xavier Legette had three drops last week vs. the Eagles, including one for a potential go-ahead score in the final minute. ... OLB Jadeveon Clowney is tied for 11th in sacks among active NFL players. ... The Panthers have 15 sacks in the past four games. Carolina’s improved pass rush has coincided with OLB D.J. Wonnum getting on the field after missing the first nine games of the season on injured reserve. Fantasy tip Chuba Hubbard is expected to see the overwhelming majority of carries for the Panthers, who are now thin at the position. Miles Sanders and Jonathon Brooks are on injured reserve and Raheem Blackshear is working through a chest injury. That leaves Mike Boone as the Hubbard’s backup. ___ NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
AP Sports SummaryBrief at 6:35 p.m. ESTBrentford boss Thomas Frank claimed Brighton forward Joao Pedro should have been sent off during his side’s goalless Premier League draw at the Amex Stadium. Pedro escaped punishment after swinging an arm at Bees substitute substitute Yehor Yarmoliuk without making contact. VAR reviewed the second-half incident but deemed there was no violent conduct. Frank and Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler disagreed about the decision. “As I understand the rules, you can’t swing your arm to try to hit someone,” said Frank. “If you hit them or not, it’s a red, that’s the way I understand the rules.” Frank spoke to the match officials, including referee Andy Madley, about the flashpoint at full-time. “They haven’t seen the situation yet, not on TV afterwards,” said Frank. “To be fair to him, I think the angle can be tricky so that’s why you’ve got VAR.” Asked about Frank’s assessment, Hurzeler replied: “Interesting opinion. I see it completely different. “For me, it’s not a red card. He tried to get free from a person.” Brighton were booed off after their winless run was stretched to six top-flight games. Albion dominated for large periods and hit the woodwork inside four minutes through Julio Enciso. Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken made some important saves before being forced off injured in the 36th minute, albeit his replacement Hakon Valdimarsson was rarely tested on his Premier League debut. The Seagulls remain 10th ahead of Monday’s trip to Aston Villa, with Brentford a position and two points below moving towards their New Year’s Day showdown with Arsenal. Hurzeler thought the jeers at full-time were unfair. “The team doesn’t deserve that because in all the games we had in the last weeks they were all good, they were all intense, they were all where we thought we deserved more” said the German, whose team have lost to Fulham and Crystal Palace and drawn with Southampton, Leicester and West Ham in recent matches. “We try to work hard to satisfy our supporters, we try to give them what they deserve, we try to make them proud. “But the Premier League is tough. We know there will be (tough) periods we have to go through, especially with this young squad. “We try to stick together, find the positive and keep on going.” Brentford, who remain without a top-flight away win this term, had an early Yoane Wissa finish ruled out for offside following VAR intervention but barely threatened, despite an improved second-half showing. Frank, who is awaiting news on Flekken and defender Ben Mee, who also left the field injured, said: “I thought it was a fair point. “Brighton were better in the first half, no big, clearcut chances, and I thought we were better second half. “Overall, I’m happy with the performance, especially the way we defended. “We haven’t had too many clean sheets this season, so in that context I thought it was very impressive against a good Brighton team. “We know we have a lot of players out – we get two more injuries during the game. “The way the players showed their mentality and character and dug in was hugely impressive.”
Lument Finance Trust, Inc. Declares Quarterly Cash Dividends for its Common and Preferred Stock and Announces Special Cash Dividend DistributionThe US says it pushed retraction of a famine warning for north Gaza. Aid groups express concern.Mace, activist dispute handshake that resulted in arrest