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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo: RNZ By Craig McCulloch of RNZ Analysis - Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is loath to spend too much time looking backwards. In a half-hour interview with RNZ marking the coalition's anniversary, he hails its record as a success, reflecting on a year of seismic policy shifts and corresponding protest. Luxon not budging on $1.9b hospital cost But invited to share any lessons from his first year as PM, Luxon draws something of a blank: "There's a lot of challenge in the job, the hard stuff comes your way, but that hasn't been surprising. "There's no real surprises for me." Asked what he might do differently with hindsight, Luxon offers up only some communication difficulties "on the margins". "I don't think there's much I'd do differently," he says. "The big things that we've got to get right for the future of the country ... I'm very satisfied with." What about the cancer drugs promise? "I think there was a communication challenge initially... but I'm very proud of where we got to." And his housing allowance faux pas? "Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, all that sort of stuff, but I moved on that pretty quickly." Luxon also declines the opportunity to consider whether he would renegotiate any parts of the coalition agreement if he could turn back time. "I don't think there's any value in that sort of exercise." Treaty Principles Bill worth it to form government, PM says The most contentious element of the coalition agreement has undoubtedly proven to be the Treaty Principles Bill, championed by ACT leader David Seymour. ACT had wanted to take it all the way to a public referendum, but National agreed only to send it through one vote and then off to select committee. At first, Luxon hedged over whether National would vote the bill down at second reading, saying only that that was the party's "intention". Only after Waitangi Day did he firm up that commitment. The decision to allow the bill even a short life-span has prompted widespread protest, culminating in a hīkoi to Parliament, the largest to ever reach the capital. Given the obvious angst and division on display, was it still a worthwhile deal? Was it all worth it for Luxon to form government? To that, he says: "Yeah, because it's part of... the reality of being a political leader in a coalition in an MMP environment. "You have to do deals, you have to do compromises, you have to do trade-offs. It's naive, I think, to think otherwise." Former National minister Christopher Finlayson has publicly opined that Luxon should have called Seymour's bluff and spurned the deal, suggesting that is what former prime minister Sir John Key would have done. But Luxon disagrees: "Each leader faces a different set of challenges, and 2008 is very different from 2023." PM doesn't begrudge ACT undermining and criticising his position As well as prompting such public opposition, the Treaty Principles deal has at times seemed to strain coalition relations, or at least the public perception. Luxon has repeatedly had his statements on the topic undercut by his coalition partner. Seymour once described Luxon's position on the Treaty Principles Bill as "disrespectful and anti-democratic" and said National was afraid of the "hard issues". Such comments are "quite fine", Luxon tells RNZ, and simply part of the "maturity of MMP". He says such differences are common in coalitions across Western Europe. "There's been no dramas and screaming, shouting, ranting or raving," he says. "We don't run that way. It's a pretty calm... and consistent show." And he invites people to compare that with the approach of previous coalitions. "You look at other coalition governments in recent times, and you haven't got the parties actually even talking to each other," Luxon says. "[They're] communicating formally through written text and letters and all that stuff, and through staff, rather than through the leaders. "Is there a risk for Luxon that in allowing the minor parties such public freedom, that they are perceived as the ones pulling the strings? Luxon does not think that is the view of voters: "They like this government. They see it as being coherent. They see it as being coordinated." And yet the ACT party itself has boasted of its "disproportionate impact" in the coalition, claiming credit for many of the policy decisions. Winston Peters, Christopher Luxon, David Seymour. PHOTO: ODT FILES A 1News Verian poll in April found 51 percent of voters thought the prime minister had the most influence on government decisions. That compared with 23 percent who named Peters and 10 percent who named Seymour. In about six months - at roughly the same time the Treaty Principles Bill is expected to return to Parliament to be voted down - Seymour will take the reins as deputy prime minister from NZ First leader Winston Peters. Luxon rejects any suggestion there might be difficulty with that transition: "You've got to understand the dynamic we have... it's highly functioning." Luxon takes credit for lower inflation but not higher unemployment; refuses to give surplus commitment The National Party was elected on a platform of "delivery", a response to the previous Labour government's woeful record on the likes of KiwiBuild and Auckland light rail. As such, Luxon has established a series of public targets and goals: "We don't want to just be another government that boils the ocean." No surprise then that he's keen to talk about areas where the government has made progress, such as emergency housing, where the number of families living in motels has dropped by more than half. Luxon similarly touts his government's "fiscal policy and fiscal discipline" for helping to bring inflation back to 2.2 percent, down from 5.6 percent. He refuses, however, to take any responsibility for the increasing unemployment over the same period. The unemployment rate has climbed from 3.9 percent to 4.8 percent, meaning 30,000 more people are now unemployed. Luxon argues that is a lag effect from Labour's mismanagement and says the plan now is to grow the economy. "[Labour] took the keys to the car, they drove it full bore into a big ditch, and we're now hauling it out of the ditch and getting it turned up the right way and into first and second gear." Alas, the economy right now is in recession, with dismal growth rates. In its most recent update, Treasury warned the government's financial outlook was deteriorating due to a falling tax take, making it harder to bring the books back to balance. Tellingly, Luxon refuses to commit to returning to surplus in 2027/28 as indicated in the last Budget. Already, that was a year later than National had promised on the campaign trail. "We'll have more to say when we see the forecasts and the latest updates coming forward." Tough on crime? Gang numbers up, police numbers down National also campaigned on "restoring law and order", but despite the government's much-publicised gang crackdown, the number of people on the National Gang List has increased by nearly 200. Luxon says that amounts to a 1 percent jump and claims the coalition has "stabilised gang growth" compared to the explosion under Labour. But the police also removed almost 800 names off that list this year in a special audit. The number of people on the National Gang List has increased by nearly 200. File photo: NZME Luxon simply does not want to hear it: "You'd be insane to argue, mate, that that was a great record from the Labour government ... but more importantly, what we're interested in is actually seeing a reduction in crime." Last week, the government celebrated a 3 percent drop in overall victimisations between January and the end of September. Theft and related offences, however, had jumped by 12 percent. Is that really a grand success? Luxon thinks so: "Isn't that great? It's a start, isn't it? It's better than where we were heading under the previous lot." And if the statistics bounce up again? "I'll be very accountable about it. I don't have a problem with accountability." The coalition has also struggled to make traction on its promise to boost the size of the police force. The National-NZ First agreement pledges to increase police by 500 over two years. But, now at the halfway point, the number of officers has dropped by 52, meaning the government is further away from its goal than a year ago. Still, Luxon insists the government will be able to turn it around through record recruitment: "It's going to be pretty challenging, but we're going to do it. "Judge me by the results when we get there." Talk to you again this time next year, prime minister.Jonah Goldberg Among elites across the ideological spectrum, there's one point of unifying agreement: Americans are bitterly divided. What if that's wrong? What if elites are the ones who are bitterly divided while most Americans are fairly unified? History rarely lines up perfectly with the calendar (the "sixties" didn't really start until the decade was almost over). But politically, the 21st century neatly began in 2000, when the election ended in a tie and the color coding of electoral maps became enshrined as a kind of permanent tribal color war of "red vs. blue." Elite understanding of politics has been stuck in this framework ever since. Politicians and voters have leaned into this alleged political reality, making it seem all the more real in the process. I loathe the phrase "perception is reality," but in politics it has the reifying power of self-fulfilling prophecy. Like rival noble families in medieval Europe, elites have been vying for power and dominance on the arrogant assumption that their subjects share their concern for who rules rather than what the rulers can deliver. Political cartoonists from across country draw up something special for the holiday In 2018, the group More in Common published a massive report on the "hidden tribes" of American politics. The wealthiest and whitest groups were "devoted conservatives" (6%) and "progressive activists" (8%). These tribes dominate the media, the parties and higher education, and they dictate the competing narratives of red vs. blue, particularly on cable news and social media. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of Americans resided in, or were adjacent to, the "exhausted majority." These people, however, "have no narrative," as David Brooks wrote at the time. "They have no coherent philosophic worldview to organize their thinking and compel action." Lacking a narrative might seem like a very postmodern problem, but in a postmodern elite culture, postmodern problems are real problems. It's worth noting that red vs. blue America didn't emerge ex nihilo. The 1990s were a time when the economy and government seemed to be working, at home and abroad. As a result, elites leaned into the narcissism of small differences to gain political and cultural advantage. They remain obsessed with competing, often apocalyptic, narratives. That leaves out most Americans. The gladiatorial combatants of cable news, editorial pages and academia, and their superfan spectators, can afford these fights. Members of the exhausted majority are more interested in mere competence. I think that's the hidden unity elites are missing. This is why we keep throwing incumbent parties out of power: They get elected promising competence but get derailed -- or seduced -- by fan service to, or trolling of, the elites who dominate the national conversation. There's a difference between competence and expertise. One of the most profound political changes in recent years has been the separation of notions of credentialed expertise from real-world competence. This isn't a new theme in American life, but the pandemic and the lurch toward identity politics amplified distrust of experts in unprecedented ways. This is a particular problem for the left because it is far more invested in credentialism than the right. Indeed, some progressives are suddenly realizing they invested too much in the authority of experts and too little in the ability of experts to provide what people want from government, such as affordable housing, decent education and low crime. The New York Times' Ezra Klein says he's tired of defending the authority of government institutions. Rather, "I want them to work." One of the reasons progressives find Trump so offensive is his absolute inability to speak the language of expertise -- which is full of coded elite shibboleths. But Trump veritably shouts the language of competence. I don't mean he is actually competent at governing. But he is effectively blunt about calling leaders, experts and elites -- of both parties -- stupid, ineffective, weak and incompetent. He lost in 2020 because voters didn't believe he was actually good at governing. He won in 2024 because the exhausted majority concluded the Biden administration was bad at it. Nostalgia for the low-inflation pre-pandemic economy was enough to convince voters that Trumpian drama is the tolerable price to pay for a good economy. About 3 out of 4 Americans who experienced "severe hardship" because of inflation voted for Trump. The genius of Trump's most effective ad -- "Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you" -- was that it was simultaneously culture-war red meat and an argument that Harris was more concerned about boutique elite concerns than everyday ones. If Trump can actually deliver competent government, he could make the Republican Party the majority party for a generation. For myriad reasons, that's an if so big it's visible from space. But the opportunity is there -- and has been there all along. Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch: thedispatch.com . Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!Snowflake's chief accounting officer sells $350,997 in stockslots meter 。

Why Crypto Stocks Were Crushing the Market on ThursdayDETROIT (AP) — If Donald Trump makes good on his threat to slap 25% tariffs on everything imported from Mexico and Canada, the price increases that could follow will collide with his campaign promise to give American families a break from inflation. Economists say companies would have little choice but to pass along the added costs, dramatically raising prices for food, clothing, automobiles, booze and other goods. The president-elect floated the tariff idea, including additional 10% taxes on goods from China, as a way to force the countries to halt the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the U.S. But his posts Monday on Truth Social threatening the tariffs on his first day in office could just be a negotiating ploy to get the countries to change behavior. High food prices were a major issue in voters picking Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris, but tariffs almost certainly would push those costs up even further. For instance, the Produce Distributors Association, a Washington trade group, said Tuesday that tariffs will raise prices for fresh fruit and vegetables and hurt U.S. farmers when other countries retaliate. “Tariffs distort the marketplace and will raise prices along the supply chain, resulting in the consumer paying more at the checkout line,” said Alan Siger, association president. Mexico and Canada are two of the biggest exporters of fresh fruit and vegetables to the U.S. In 2022, Mexico supplied 51% of fresh fruit and 69% of fresh vegetables imported by value into the U.S., while Canada supplied 2% of fresh fruit and 20% of fresh vegetables. Before the election, about 7 in 10 voters said they were very concerned about the cost of food, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters. “We’ll get them down,” Trump told shoppers during a September visit to a Pennsylvania grocery store. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada its top three suppliers, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. People looking to buy a new vehicle likely would see big price increases as well, at a time when costs have gone up so much they are out of reach for many. The average price of a new vehicle now runs around $48,000. About 15% of the 15.6 million new vehicles sold in the U.S. last year came from Mexico, while 8% crossed the border from Canada, according to Global Data. Much of the tariffs would get passed along to consumers, unless automakers can somehow quickly find productivity improvements to offset them, said C.J. Finn, U.S. automotive sector leader for PwC. That means even more consumers “would potentially get priced out,” Finn said. Hardest hit would be Volkswagen, Stellantis, General Motors and Ford, Bernstein analyst Daniel Roeska wrote Tuesday in a note to investors. “A 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada would severely cripple the U.S. auto industry,” he said. The tariffs would hurt U.S. industrial production so much that “we expect this is unlikely to happen in practice,” Roeska said. The tariff threat hit auto stocks on Tuesday, particularly shares of GM, which imports about 30% of the vehicles it sells in the U.S. from Canada and Mexico, and Stellantis, which imports about 40% from the two countries. For both, about 55% of their lucrative pickup trucks come from Mexico and Canada. GM stock lost almost 9% of its value, while Stellantis dropped nearly 6%. It's not clear how long the tariffs would last if implemented, but they could force auto executives to move production to the U.S., which could create more jobs in the long run. However, Morningstar analyst David Whiston said automakers probably won't make any immediate moves because they can't quickly change where they build vehicles. Millions of dollars worth of auto parts flow across the borders with Mexico and Canada, and that could raise prices for already costly automobile repairs, Finn said. The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. said tariffs on tequila or Canadian whisky won’t boost American jobs because they are distinctive products that can only be made in their country of origin. In 2023, the U.S. imported $4.6 billion worth of tequila and $108 million worth of mezcal from Mexico and $537 million worth of spirits from Canada, it said. “Tariffs on spirits products from our neighbors to the north and south are going to hurt U.S. consumers and lead to job losses across the U.S. hospitality industry,” it added. Electronics retailer Best Buy said on its third-quarter earnings conference call that it runs on thin profit margins, so while vendors and the company will shoulder some increases, Best Buy will have to pass tariffs to customers. “These are goods that people need, and higher prices are not helpful,” CEO Corie Barry said. Walmart also warned this week that tariffs could force it to raise prices. Tariffs could trigger supply chain disruptions as people buy goods before they are imposed and companies seek alternate sources of parts, said Rob Handfield, a professor of supply chain management at North Carolina State University. Some businesses might not be able to pass on the costs. “It could actually shut down a lot of industries in the United States. It could actually put a lot of U.S. businesses out of business,” he said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who talked with Trump after his call for tariffs, said they had a good conversation about working together. "This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on and that’s what we’ll do,” Trudeau said. Trump's threats come as arrests for illegally crossing the border from Mexico have been falling . But arrests for illegally crossing the border from Canada have been rising over the past two years. Much of America’s fentanyl is smuggled from Mexico, and seizures have increased. Trump has sound legal justification to impose tariffs, even though they conflict with a 2020 trade deal brokered in large part by Trump with Canada and Mexico, said William Reinsch, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former Clinton administration trade official. The treaty, known as the USMCA, is up for review in 2026. In China’s case, he could simply declare Beijing hasn't met obligations under an agreement he negotiated in his first term. For Canada and Mexico, he could say the influx of migrants and drugs are a national security threat, and turn to a section of trade law he used in his first term to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum. The law he would most likely use for Canada and Mexico has a legal process that often takes up to nine months, giving Trump time to seek a deal. If talks failed and the duties were imposed, all three countries would likely retaliate with tariffs on U.S. exports, said Reinsch, who believes Trump's tariffs threat is a negotiating ploy. U.S. companies would lobby intensively against tariffs, and would seek to have products exempted. Some of the biggest exporters from Mexico are U.S. firms that make parts there, Reinsch said. Longer term, Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said the threat of tariffs could make the U.S. an “unstable partner” in international trade. “It is an incentive to move activity outside the United States to avoid all this uncertainty,” she said. Trump transition team officials did not immediately respond to questions about what he would need to see to prevent the tariffs from being implemented and how they would impact prices in the U.S. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested Tuesday that Mexico could retaliate with tariffs of its own. Sheinbaum said she was willing to talk about the issues, but said drugs were a U.S. problem. ___ Rugaber reported from Washington. AP reporters Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, Stan Choe and Anne D'Innocenzio in New York, and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

Teachers, parents have differing reactions to Santa Fe school phone policyRobin Goodfellow's racing tips: Best bets for Wednesday, November 27 By STEVE RYDER Published: 22:30, 26 November 2024 | Updated: 22:36, 26 November 2024 e-mail View comments Mail Sport's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Tuesday's meetings at Market Rasen, Wetherby and Hereford. Mail Sport's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Tuesday's meetings Market Rasen Robin Goodfellow 12.05 Tripoli Flyer 12.40 Brave Jen 1.15 Camino Rocio (nb) 1.50 Harbour Lake 2.25 Fantastic Lady 3.00 Pats Dream 3.35 Pertemps Gimcrack 12.05 Tripoli Flyer 12.40 Brave Jen 1.15 Camino Rocio 1.50 HARBOUR LAKE (nap) 2.25 Apple Away 3.00 Anytrixwilldo 3.35 Great Fleet NORTHERNER – 3.35 HE’S BRESILIAN (nap). Wetherby (Inspection 7.30am) Robin Goodfellow 12.25 Global Eclipse 1.00 Skycutter 1.35 Let It Rain 2.10 Hourvari 2.45 Chemical Warfare 3.17 Blue Betty Gimcrack 12.25 Global Eclipse 1.00 Skycutter 1.35 Let It Rain (nb) 2.10 Matchles 2.45 Whosmydaddy 3.17 Blue Betty NORTHERNER – 2.10 Mr Bramley (nb) Hereford (Inspection 7.30am) Robin Goodfellow 12.15 Just Lucky Sivola 12.50 PADDY IN THE CADDY (nap) 1.25 Mossy Fen Road 2.00 Hermes Du Gouet 2.35 Any Biscuits 3.10 Billams Legacy 3.45 Kashmir De Corton Gimcrack 12.15 Just Lucky Sivola 12.50 Smart Casual 1.25 Nowmelad 2.00 Harrys Hope 2.35 Any Biscuits 3.10 Culligran 3.45 Sangpoursangamoi Share or comment on this article: Robin Goodfellow's racing tips: Best bets for Wednesday, November 27 e-mail Add comment“One of the major problems we have faced in Nigeria as a filmmaking industry has been funding,” said Ini Edo, star and co-producer of Nigerian Netflix series Shanty Town . “So, the success of [ Shanty Town ] really made people in the private sector start to realize that this can actually be a commercial success, and this is a business worth investing in and...we can actually get global acceptability.” Stepping into Deadline’s Red Sea Studio in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Nollywood star said that the experience of making Shanty Town , which is now Netflix Africa’s most watched Nigerian drama on the streamer, was “pretty intense...and something, perhaps for us, that had never been done before.” The series, which was co-produced with Chichi Nworah, also stars Chidi Mokeme, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Sola Sobowale, Nancy Isime, Shaffy Bellow and Ali Nuhu and more. It follows a group of courtesans attempts to escape the grasp of a notorious kingpin, but political corruption and blood ties make freedom a near-impossible goal. It ended up sitting in the Top 10 in 8 countries, including the UK. “I think the originality of the story was a driving factor and also, we did a lot of upscaling with the technical quality of the [series],” she said. “We took very special interest in the cinematography, the sound, the scoring and it was a story that resonated a lot with the times that we filmed it. It did also touch on a lot of social vices and what we’re dealing with presently in the continent as Africans and even the world at large.” Edo continued: “The subject of the story is something that a lot of other countries could relate to because those were the ills that were happening in society at the time and are still happening. It just really shed light on the underworld as much as you’re trying to drive the original narrative of the Nigerian story.” She admits the project has caused “investors to open up some more” in the industry and said that Nigeria’s government is “taking us more seriously and has started paying attention to the industry.” Edo also talked about her latest projects, which includes upcoming Christmas comedy One Night Guests so for more on that news, check out the full interview above.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey rile the opposition party further with his "Congress ka haath, Soros ke Saath" jibe NEW DELHI: Political confrontation on BJP's allegation about Congress's links with US-based currency manipulator and hedge fund operator George Soros looks unlikely to abate soon with the party in power rejecting the demand for an apology. "I stand by what I said because I spoke on the basis of facts they have not been able to dispute. In fact, I could not get to ask all the 10 questions I had planned to and will exercise my right to defend myself under Rule 357 to produce my entire chargesheet, should they insist on apology," said Nishikant Dubey, BJP member who levelled the charge in Lok Sabha on Thursday and doubled it down on Friday to rile the opposition party further with his "Congress ka haath, Soros ke Saath" jibe. Citing the claims made by French media outlet Mediapart, BJP, in both Houses, said on Thursday that Soros, through his proxies like the Open Society Foundation , Human Rights Watch, and Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), has consistently timed his "false propaganda" to coincide with Parliament sessions in India, which were then used by Congress leaders, with Rahul Gandhi taking the lead. Importantly, despite US embassy's protests against the saffron party's attempt to establish a link between the investigative journalism project and the State Department, BJP stuck to its charge that OCCRP was a project of the US department. "It is a matter of fact. It is for them to figure out whether those behind the false propaganda against India exceeded their brief as part of a deep state operation," said Dubey as he made light of US embassy's complaint against BJP's statement. BJP's charge is based on Mediapart's claims that OCCRP derived a substantial part of its funding from the US and other western countries like the UK, France, Switzerland and Sweden. US's share alone stood at 53%, though OCCRP's Drew Sullian puts it at 46%. More importantly, it was created by US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. In fact, it owes its creation to David Hodkinson, formerly of US army who was deployed in 25 countries. A reservist now, he works for the US Director of National Intelligence as a colonel (retd). Mediapart, relying on the statements of Sullivan, summed up OCCRP's position vis-a-vis the US govt as of "structural dependency", since it is constrained from doing stories on US matters because of "conflict of interest" and because it is governed by the US Foreign Services Act that its activities is "aligned with and advance US foreign policy of economic sanctions". In an 2023 email to the OCCRP staff, Sullvan explained that the group will not do stories on the US because all of its budget was paid for by Washington and the Open Society Foundation of Soros. BJP's annoyance with Soros, who has made no secret of his dislike for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has included him in the list of targets, which also include US President-elect Donald Trump, is not new. It has also accused him of working in league with Congress. But it is Mediapart's disclosure about OCCRP, whose claims regarding Pegasus spyware, efficacy of anti-Covid vaccines developed in India, and currency manipulation by Adani Group, were seized upon by Congress and others to disrupt proceedings of Parliament, being backed by a US govt agency and Soros, appears to have encouraged the saffron strategists to turn their grievance into a full-scale campaign. Beginning Thursday, there has been a flood of posts on X, where party officials and supporters shared snippets of information, claiming that Congress, through its leaders like Rahul Gandhi, was in cahoots with Soros to push an agenda to undermine and defame the Modi government. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .