Sir Keir Starmer must resist the incessant siren calls of Remainers in his partyMbappe, Vinicius and Bellingham all on target in Real Madrid's 3-2 win over Atalanta Real Madrid’s big stars turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a 3-2 win at Italian league leader Atalanta. It was only 15-time champion Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves it in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. In contrast, Liverpool leads the way after maintaining its perfect record in Europe this season after a 1-0 win against Girona. MLB investigated to ensure no early Sasaki deal in place, pitcher likely to pick team mid-January DALLAS (AP) — Major League Baseball investigated to ensure no team had an advance deal in place for Roki Sasaki, and the agent for the Japanese pitcher says picking a club will be “like the draft in reverse.” On the first day of Sasaki’s 45-day window to sign with an MLB team, agent Joel Wolfe says the 23-year-old right-hander likely will sign shortly after the 2025 international signing pool window opens on Jan. 15 and wouldn’t wait until the Jan. 23 deadline. Sasaki helped Japan win the 2023 World Baseball Classic and has a fastball clocked at 102.5 mph. Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg says cancer has returned, spread CHICAGO (AP) — Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg says the prostate cancer he thought had been eliminated by radiation has returned and spread. The Chicago Cubs great made the announcement on Instagram on Tuesday. Sandberg announced in January that he had metastatic prostate cancer and in August said he was cancer-free after chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Sandberg was the National League MVP in 1984 and a 10-time All-Star during 15 seasons for the Cubs from 1982 to 1997, with 282 home runs and 344 stolen bases. After his playing career, he served as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies from 2013 to 2015, going 119-159. Nolan Arenado open to switch from third base to first and leaving Cardinals for a team he approves DALLAS (AP) — Nolan Arenado is open to a trade from the St. Louis Cardinals, at age 33 wanting to be on a World Series contender. Agent Joel Wolfe says “it’s like his biological clock is ticking and if the team’s not winning it’s driving him crazy every day.” An eight-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove third baseman, Arenado is open to a switch to first base. He hit .272 with 16 homers and 71 RBIs this year, his poorest season in a decade. St. Louis acquired Arenado from Colorado ahead of the 2021 season. Athletes in $2.8 billion college lawsuit tell judge they want to create a players' association The athletes whose lawsuit against the NCAA is primed to pave the way for schools to pay them directly also want a players’ association to represent them in the complex contract negotiations that have overtaken the industry. Grant House, Sedona Prince and Nya Harrison wrote to the judge overseeing what’s known as the House Settlement, saying that although they are generally happy with the terms of the proposed settlement “there still remains a critical need for structural changes to protect athletes and prevent the failures of the past.” Analysis: The Cavs, Magic and Rockets are off to surprise starts. Maybe that shouldn't be surprising For the first time in 36 seasons, the Cleveland Cavaliers are atop the NBA at the 25-game mark. They’re 21-4, even after having come back to earth a bit following a 15-0 start. The Cavs are just one of the surprise stories that have emerged as the season nears the one-third-done mark. Orlando is off to its best start in 16 years at 17-9 and having done most of that without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero. And Houston is 16-8, behind only the Cavs, Boston, Oklahoma City and Memphis so far in the race for the league’s best record. AJ Dybantsa commits to BYU, becomes school's first 5-star recruit in US PROVO, Utah (AP) — AJ Dybantsa has announced his commitment to BYU. The projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft made the announcement Tuesday on ESPN’s “First Take." He chose the Cougars over Alabama, North Carolina and Kansas. He is BYU’s first five-star high school recruit from the United States. The chance to play for first-year BYU coach Kevin Young sold Dybantsa on joining the Cougars. He pointed to the extensive NBA experience of Young and his staff and Young’s role in coaching NBA stars like Kevin Durant and Devin Booker as key factors influencing his decision. Golf shots from every club in the bag paint the picture of a big year: Analysis Every shot tells a story and there were plenty of them this year in golf. Bryson DeChambeau drove the 13th green at Pinehurst No. 2 at just the right time in the U.S. Open. Scottie Scheffler began to pull away in the Masters with a lob wedge that nearly went in the cup. Not every shot was great. Nelly Korda hit 6-iron too far in the U.S. Women's Open and made 10 on the third hole of the tournament. Brooks Koepka anticipates Ryder Cup vibe in LIV vs. PGA Tour match in Las Vegas Brooks Koepka is expecting Ryder Cup vibes when LIV Golf gets to square off against PGA Tour stars in Las Vegas next week. Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau take on world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy on Dec. 17. LIV and PGA Tour stars only get to face each other four times a year at the majors. Koepka says everyone wants to see a Ryder Cup-styled match. It's a competition between two tours with bragging rights at stake. Koepka says LIV stars would have put up a strong fight against Scheffler. But he says Scheffler still would have had a big year. SHR closure leads to a seat shakeup in NASCAR. A look at who is driving where in 2025 CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — There won’t be a Stewart-Haas Racing in NASCAR next season now that Hall of Famer Tony Stewart has left the series and the four-car organization he co-owned with Formula 1 team owner Gene Haas. The SHR change put four drivers on the free-agent market and the future of three of its vaunted charters in limbo. The existing SHR drivers have taken seats all across the grid as Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece needed to find new jobs. Michael McDowell is on the move in 2025, as is AJ Allmendinger, and Shane Van Gisbergen will be a full-time Cup driver.
ARSENAL star Bukayo Saka is set for MONTHS out after undergoing surgery. Saka, 23, was forced off just 23 minutes into the Gunners' 5-1 thrashing of Crystal Palace with a hamstring injury last week. Manager Mikel Arteta issued a bleak update regarding his star winger's fitness. And the Arsenal boss confirmed the England international could be out for more than two months. Arteta said: “I prefer to leave it to the doctor or himself. But yes Bukayo had a procedure and everything went well, but unfortunately he will be out for many, many weeks.” “Many weeks, I think it will be more than two months, I don’t know how long it will take with the scar tissue or improving his mobility. “We have to rely on the team, that is our strength, we are a team of players who can score 20-30 goals together.” Saka has been a focal points for Arsenal this season as he dominated opponents down the right flank. The forward has amassed a total of nine goals and 13 assists in 24 appearances across all competitions this season. BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKER S And Saka's injury poses as a blow to the North Londoners' Premier League title hopes after climbing to second place behind leaders Liverpool, who are six points ahead with a game in hand. That could force Arteta's hand ahead of the upcoming January transfer window. Many have claimed that Arsenal have been in need of attacking reinforcement since the summer as they lack a natural centre-forward. Kai Havertz, who scored the winner against Ipswich on Friday with Saka absent, has been carrying the burden up front for most of the season. THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY.. The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video . Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheSunFootball and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunFootball .Tice, Otieno lead Quinnipiac to 75-69 OT win over Hofstra
FUN-FILLED DAY Children of evacuees displaced by the Dec. 9 eruption of Mt. Kanlaon and sheltered at the national high school in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, enjoy a day full of fun, play and food during a Christmas Day party sponsored by the Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation. —Photo courtesy of NVC Foundation BACOLOD CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines — The children were busy romping and bouncing on large inflatable slides and playing games, ignoring the blaring sirens and warnings of a possible third eruption of the nearby restive Kanlaon Volcano. It was a Christmas Day party hosted by a Negros Occidental-based Negrense Volunteers for Change (NVC) Foundation for about 200 children of families staying in an evacuation center in La Castellana town of Negros Occidental after the Dec. 9 eruption of Mt. Kanlaon forced them to leave their homes. The party—held at the La Castellana National High School evacuation center—also had different food stations that served cotton candy, hotdogs on sticks, popcorn, pancakes and fries. READ: Negros Oriental town braces for evacuees fleeing Kanlaon Millie Kilayko, NVC president, said they chose party foods since the local government did not allow them to bring precooked food like spaghetti for safety reasons. Of course, NVC’s signature “mingo meals”—made of rice, monggo and malunggay that has become a convenient go-to for children in disaster relief situations—were also served and topped with marshmallows to complement the party atmosphere. The NVC Foundation had been, in the past, organizing children’s activities in disaster relief centers, including inviting skilled volunteers to conduct psychotherapy for children who had undergone crisis challenges. It has been among the first private groups to provide disaster relief to evacuees during the volcano’s eruptions in June and December this year. As of Dec. 26, a total of 11,883 families, comprising 45,526 individuals across 32 barangays in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental have been affected by the Dec. 9 eruption of Mt. Kanlaon, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported. Of the number, 4,454 families (14,186 persons) were residing in 32 evacuation centers while 2,185 families (6,953 individuals) were staying outside these centers, the OCD said. So far, the government has spent P123,691,278.86 to provide for the affected families while P364,000 has been given to the affected local governments and concerned government agencies. Kilayko said her organization intends to shift its focus to children now that the provincial government of Negros Occidental has commenced the operation of mobile kitchens for the evacuees and the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s provision of family food packs were sufficiently distributed. Gov. Eugenio Lacson also visited the 11 evacuation centers in La Castellana town and La Carlota City to deliver hamburgers and brought along the mascots of a popular food chain who entertained the children. Lacson assured evacuees they had funds, including the P50 million that came from Malacañang, to address their food needs for a month. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . Tent cities would also be set up to accommodate thousands more evacuees should another eruption occur, said Raul Fernandez, OCD Western Visayas head.The Latest: UnitedHealthcare shooting suspect contests his extradition back to New York
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's Assistant Robbed by Venezuelan Gang Member
AP Sports SummaryBrief at 6:38 p.m. ESTThe phrase “pop-up” has worked its way into the lexicon and doesn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon. But what is the difference between a pop-up or a kiosk or a booth? And does it really matter? Likely it does not because pop-up seems to cover all manner of fun and useful enterprises so let’s just put it to work. It is commonly used to describe a small, temporary event for a specific audience. Part of their popularity is due to the tendency to hold them in unique or unexpected settings. Vendor photos at Mother’s Day Market Treveri Cellars in Wapato. This time of year there seem to be almost as many pop-ups as there are coffee stands, namely one around every corner. For those looking to purchase a handmade gift or get a pet photo with Santa or paint their own masterpiece, the options are many. Finding a comprehensive listing of those options is another matter. Probably because, well, by nature a pop-up is a transient booth set up outside or in the facility of another business, often a winery or craft brewery. For example, Wenas Creek Saloon in Selah has scheduled paint nights throughout December, ranging from Grinchy Bottle Painting to Happily Painted Wild Horses events. Some vendors make the search easier with helpful names such as the Larson Gallery’s Pop-up Kids React! Art Show. Others are less obvious such as the Hat Burning Workshop at Yakima Valley Vintners. Both will be held in town during December with details available on social media, one of the most common sources for Yakima Valley pop-up information. Even the places that host pop-ups may use creative ways to find vendors. Brandon Dietrich, vice president of guest services at Treveri Cellars, said he attends events around the region looking for vendors to invite to pop-ups at the sparkling wine house in Wapato. “Our first pop-up event was Mother’s Day Market a couple of years ago,” Dietrich said. “We focus on a theme and try not to duplicate types of vendors for more variety,” he added. Dietrich and guest services manager/chef Priscila Garcia work together to plan events and prefer to stay with local vendors for invites to Treveri. Vendor photos at Mother’s Day Market Treveri Cellars in Wapato. “It can be a challenge to find pop-ups, but there is a community of vendors who know each other and have contacts and that helps,” Dietrich said. He said personally attending events when he finds them to meet the vendors and see booths and products helps him decide when to extend personal invites. For the first time, Treveri will soon be hosting a winter pop-up. The Dec. 14-15 German Christmas Market will be a private event open to Bubble Club members and their guests. According to Dietrich if it goes well they may look to expand their pop-up offerings. Apparently Treveri Cellars, like many Yakima Valley businesses, recognizes that pop-ups are popular and they are likely here to stay.
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggled with deputies and shouted Tuesday while arriving for a court appearance in Pennsylvania, a day after he was arrested at a McDonald’s and charged with murder. Luigi Nicholas Mangione emerged from a patrol car, spun toward reporters and shouted something partly unintelligible referring to an “insult to the intelligence of the American people” while deputies pushed him inside. Prosecutors were beginning to take steps to bring Mangione back to New York to face a murder charge while new details emerged about his life and how he was captured. The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family was charged with murder hours after he was arrested in the Manhattan killing of Brian Thompson , who led the United States’ largest medical insurance company. At the brief hearing, defense lawyer Thomas Dickey informed the court that Mangione will not waive extradition to New York but instead wants a hearing on the issue. Mangione was denied bail after prosecutors raised concerns about public safety and a potential flight risk. Mangione, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, mostly stared straight ahead at the hearing, occasionally consulting papers, rocking in his chair or looking back at the gallery. At one point, he began to speak to respond to the court discussion but was quieted by his lawyer. Mangione likely was motivated by his anger with what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed, a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press said. He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world and that profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of his hand-written notes and social media posts. Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski a “political revolutionary” and may have found inspiration from the man who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology, according to police bulletin. Mangione remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was initially charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Manhattan prosecutors have obtained an arrest warrant, a step that could help expedite his extradition from Pennsylvania. Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania — about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of New York City — after a McDonald's customer recognized him and notified an employee, authorities said. Officers found him sitting at a back table, wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop, according to a Pennsylvania police criminal complaint. He initially gave them a fake ID, but when an officer asked Mangione whether he’d been to New York recently, he “became quiet and started to shake,” the complaint says. When he pulled his mask down at officers' request, “we knew that was our guy,” rookie Officer Tyler Frye said. Images of Mangione released Tuesday by Pennsylvania State Police showed him pulling down his mask in the corner of the McDonald's while holding what appeared to be hash browns and wearing a winter jacket and beanie. In another photo from a holding cell, he stood unsmiling with rumpled hair. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Mangione was carrying a gun like the one used to kill Thompson and the same fake ID the shooter had used to check into a New York hostel, along with a passport and other fraudulent IDs. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione also had a three-page, handwritten document that shows “some ill will toward corporate America." A law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said the document included a line in which Mangione claimed to have acted alone. “To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone,” the document said, according to the official. It also had a line that said, “I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.” Pennsylvania prosecutor Peter Weeks said in court that Mangione was found with a passport and $10,000 in cash, $2,000 of it in foreign currency. Mangione disputed the amount. Thompson, 50, was killed Wednesday as he walked alone to a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference. Police quickly came to see the shooting as a targeted attack by a gunman who appeared to wait for Thompson, came up behind him and fired a 9 mm pistol. Investigators have said “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on ammunition found near Thompson's body. The words mimic “delay, deny, defend,” a phrase used to criticize the insurance industry . From surveillance video, New York investigators determined the shooter quickly fled the city, likely by bus. A grandson of a wealthy, self-made real estate developer and philanthropist, Mangione is a cousin of a current Maryland state legislator. Valedictorian at his elite Baltimore prep school, he went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a spokesperson said. “Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media late Monday by his cousin, Maryland Del. Nino Mangione. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.” From January to June 2022, Luigi Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu. Like other residents of the shared penthouse catering to remote workers, Mangione underwent a background check, said Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin. “Luigi was just widely considered to be a great guy. There were no complaints,” Ryan said. "There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they’re saying he committed.” At Surfbreak, Martin learned Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life, from surfing to romance, Ryan said. Mangione left Surfbreak to get surgery on the mainland, Ryan said, then later returned to Honolulu and rented an apartment. Martin stopped hearing from Mangione six months to a year ago. ___ Scolforo reported from Altoona and Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Contributing were Associated Press writers Cedar Attanasio and Jennifer Peltz in New York; Michael Rubinkam and Maryclaire Dale in Pennsylvania; Lea Skene in Baltimore; and Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu.
NoneGrid Dynamics Holdings Set to Join S&P SmallCap 600Amazon has disclosed that queries about Taylor Swift's height, the value of Bitcoin, and influencer MrBeast's network were some of the most common questions directed at its virtual assistant Alexa by UK users this year. Swift, whose Eras Tour continued to make waves, led celebrity-related inquiries, particularly about height and age, according to the tech giant's data. Notably, Swift's music dominated Amazon Music and Alexa-listened tracks, with three albums in the top five and her claiming the title of most-played artist. She trailed behind Elon Musk for net worth questions but remained ahead of MrBeast, whose real name is James Donaldson. The annual figures, spanning September 2023 to November 2024, showed Alexa users favoured general knowledge queries, with Bitcoin's value and Earth's population ranking high on the list. For sports enthusiasts, seeking updates on football matches through Alexa was a predominant trend, including queries like "What time does the England match start? " Football fever peaked during the summer as England's men's team reached the Euro 2024 final, with game score updates on clubs like Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Manchester City also featuring prominently among the top sports questions. Amazon also remarked on the surge of Alexa being used as a culinary aid, with recipes for pancakes, Yorkshire puddings, and banana bread identified as the highest requests for 2024. Recipes for cake pops, halloumi stuffed peppers and mango ice cream also featured in the top 10.
WNBA's Caitlin Clark is making everyone around her wealthierwas not a president of the first rank, but he managed by dint of unceasing effort to become an iconic world leader, with an inspiring, if often contentious, legacy as a dogged peacemaker and a decent and ethical problem-solver. His presidency—beset by a horrible economy, the and the —was a stunning political failure but a greater substantive success than was recognized when he was crushed for reelection by in 1980. In today’s world of perpetual military intervention, it’s striking that not a single bomb was dropped or shot fired in combat by American forces on Carter’s watch, and his leadership helped prevent at least five wars—in Panama, Israel, and Iran when he was president, and in Haiti and North Korea after he left office. he engineered proved to be the most successful treaty since the end of World War II. Long before he died Sunday, Dec. 29, at 100, his epic journey from barefoot Georgia farm boy to Nobel Prize-winning humanitarian had become a classic American story. As the longest-lived president, Carter effectively lived in three centuries: He was born in a rural South little changed from the 19th century. He helped advance the four great movements of the 20th century—civil rights, women’s rights, human rights abroad and the environment—and hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union. And as an old man in the 21st century, he made sure his Carter Center was on the cutting edge of the new millennium’s big challenges: conflict-resolution, disease eradication, democracy-promotion and sustainable development. Emory University President James Laney once said, “Jimmy Carter is the only person in history for whom the presidency was a steppingstone.” There was truth in that line; he reinvented the ex-presidency with a higher purpose that inspired other presidents to use their stature and convening power on behalf of important causes after leaving office. He was the longest-serving former president in American history and by many accounts the best, though every successor was annoyed that he sometimes freelanced as if he were still in power. Carter was born on Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, Ga., population 550, the first child of James Earl Carter, a canny segregationist businessman and farmer, and his eccentric wife, Lillian, a nurse who defied Jim Crow norms by tending to black patients. He was nicknamed Jimmy from the start, with the expectation that he would someday be called Jim, which he never was. The family was prosperous and had an automobile and a party line telephone, but the rest of his early life on a farm outside of town was primitive by today’s standards. Until he was age 11, his homestead had no running water, no electricity, no mechanized farm equipment, only slop jars and outhouses, hand-cranked wells, kerosene lamps, ancient mule-driven plows and black sharecroppers to work the land in a feudal system only one step removed from slavery. Carter picked cotton, stacked peanuts and learned his discipline, attention to detail and prodigious work ethic on the farm, where his early playmates were black. From an early age he set his sights on admission to the U.S. Naval Academy. After graduating in 1946, marrying Rosalynn Smith, his sister’s friend who was also from Plains, and serving as an officer on diesel-powered submarines, he became a “nuc” under the legendary . His assignment was to supervise the construction of one of the first two nuclear subs, a Rickover-led technological breakthrough that eventually helped give the U.S. the strategic edge in the Cold War. Another duty involved descending for a dangerous 90 seconds inside of a Canadian nuclear reactor that had melted down. Much of the intensity and coldness that sometimes lay behind Carter’s smile came from Rickover. When his father died in 1953, Carter left the Navy and returned to Plains with Rosalynn, and their three young sons: Jack, Chip and Jeff. (Their daughter Amy was born 14 years later). He took over his father’s peanut warehouse and followed his example by assuming a huge array of civic commitments. A progressive on race but bystander to the civil rights movement, Carter was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1962 only after it was discovered that a corrupt local boss had been stuffing the ballot boxes on behalf of his opponent. Carter specialized in education and read every bill in its entirety. After he lost a race for governor in 1966, he experienced a spiritual crisis and was born-again, an experience that led him to go door-to-door on Baptist missions in the North. He absorbed the work of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, who wrote that “the sad duty of politics is to do justice in a sinful world.” In 1970, he won the governorship by running to the right with a rural populist campaign that wasn’t explicitly racist but included subtle appeals to segregationist voters. Carter immediately angered those voters when he said in his inaugural address that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” His lieutenant governor, the infamous Lester Maddox, was hardly alone in his opposition to Carter hanging a portrait of in the State Capitol. Many rural Georgians felt betrayed. Had Georgia law allowed Carter to seek reelection in 1974, he would have likely lost, despite reorganizing state government, improving education and saving rivers and other natural resources from developers. Carter was unimpressed by the 1972 Democratic presidential candidates he met when they passed through Georgia and decided to launch an improbable bid for the White House. His brother Billy, who ran a Plains gas station and became a celebrity before descending into self-parody and alcoholism, quipped: “I’ve got a mother who joined the Peace Corps and went to India when she was 68. I’ve got a sister who races motorcycles and another sister who’s a Holy Roller preacher. I’ve got a brother who says he wants to be President of the United States. I’m the only sane one in the family.” With the help of two young aides, Hamilton Jordan and Jody Powell, Carter’s 1976 campaign was brilliantly timed and executed. His outsider status, modesty (he often slept in the homes of supporters) and “I will never lie to you” message after Watergate proved a perfect match for an electorate that had lost faith in American institutions. Propelled out of Iowa and New Hampshire, Carter held off a late challenge from California Gov. Jerry Brown to win the nomination. Problems with the Democratic establishment that would haunt him later—and an interview with magazine in which he said —helped the ticket to blow a large lead and barely squeak past incumbent President Gerald Ford (who later became a good friend) in the general election. Carter started strong by stepping out of his limo on Inauguration Day and walking with his family partway down Pennsylvania Avenue—a new tradition symbolizing his openness. Soon after, he wore a sweater when giving a televised speech on the need for energy conservation, but the symbolism cut both ways and he was bedeviled by photographs of him collapsing from heat exhaustion while running a six-mile race and . The same post-Watergate mood that helped elect him led to especially harsh press coverage, with many reporters wrongly assuming he must be hiding scandals. As president, Carter revolutionized both the vice presidency and the office of first lady. After two centuries of presidents ignoring their vice presidents, Carter gave former vice president Walter Mondale major responsibilities in both domestic and foreign policy, though Mondale briefly threatened to quit over his opposition to the malaise speech. Carter listed Rosalynn—well-regarded by official Washington—first among his most trusted advisers, put her in charge of reforming mental health policy and dispatched her on a diplomatic mission to Latin America, even as he was criticized for letting her sit in on Cabinet meetings. With the help of an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress, Carter—showing impressive command of the issues—had no problem with gridlock and signed scores of important bills. But his non-ideological approach meant he had no reliable base to help him keep promises on tax and welfare reform, much less strike an agreement with Sen. Ted Kennedy for national health insurance. Some of his achievements were liberal: government job-creation; appointing more women judges than all of his predecessors combined (though women’s groups, who thought he wasn’t liberal enough, still attacked him) the establishment of the Departments of Education and Energy, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency; far-sighted support of alternative energy (reversed by Reagan, who took down the solar panels Carter put on the roof of the White House) and other efforts to achieve energy independence; toxic waste cleanup; mental health treatment (also reversed by Reagan) and the mammoth Alaska Lands bill, which along with other environmental initiatives made him the greatest conservation president since Theodore Roosevelt. Other policies were more conservative, like the deregulation of the airline, trucking and natural gas industries, and his efforts to balance the budget over the objections of liberal Democrats. Carter’s greatest legislative achievement was the 1978 Senate ratification of the , which led to the U.S. eventually handing over control of the Panama Canal to Panama. The treaties were hugely unpopular in polls, thanks in part to Reagan’s use of the issue when challenging Ford in the 1976 GOP primaries. Carter lobbied expertly, explaining that rejection would likely lead to a guerrilla war in Panama, and he convinced 16 Republicans to join Democrats for the two-thirds necessary for passage. Carter’s foreign policy was both visionary and hands-on. His emphasis on human rights, while unevenly applied, set a new global standard for how governments should treat their people. He also advanced the cause of freedom in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. The highlight of his presidency came in September 1978 when he retreated for 13 days to Camp David with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and used his often-maligned attention to detail to engineer an agreement. Many Israelis and American Jews, distrustful of Carter because of his long criticism of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, don’t acknowledge how much the durable Camp David Accords did to secure the Jewish State. After waging four wars in the first 25 years of Israel’s existence, the Egyptian army—the only force capable of destroying Israel—hasn’t fired on the state once in all the years since. In 1979, building on President Richard Nixon’s breakthrough, Carter hosted the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and together they normalized U.S.-Chinese relations, paving the way for huge changes in the global economy. Dealing with the Soviet Union was harder. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Carter pulled the from the Senate floor (though its provisions continued to be abided by), imposed a grain embargo and boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, none of which were particularly effective. More significant were secret aid to the mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan and Carter’s decision to accelerate the Pentagon’s development of stealth technology. Many of the weapons Reagan used to intimidate the Soviets—including the B-2 stealth bomber and the MX missile—were developed under Carter. As inflation surged into double digits, Carter’s presidency became an economic nightmare. In 1979, he appointed Paul Volcker as chairman of the Federal Reserve and Volcker’s harsh medicine—double-digit interest rates that decimated businesses and homeowners—tamed inflation but not until after Reagan took office. In the summer of 1979, gasoline shortages that grew out of OPEC price hikes and the Iranian revolution led to long, infuriating lines at the gas pump. Losing touch with the American public as well as the Washington political establishment, which often patronized him, Carter retreated to Camp David to consult a wide variety of Americans on why his administration was failing. In the thoughtful sermon-like televised address he delivered afterwards—dubbed though he never used that word—he confessed to leadership shortcomings and preached sacrifice and a need to confront what he called the nation’s “crisis of confidence.” He surged in the polls but plummeted two days later when—in arguably the worst decision of his presidency—he fired several Cabinet members. Resistant to sacrifice, the country was concluding that intelligence, integrity and mastery of the issues were not enough for presidential success. His willingness to make unpopular but necessary decisions went largely unappreciated at the time. That November, students loyal to the revolutionary Iranian regime of Ayatollah Khomeini seized 52 Americans from the U.S. embassy and held them hostage—retaliation for Carter allowing the deposed Shah of Iran to enter the U.S. for medical treatment. At first, Americans rallied around Carter and he won points for patiently working for the hostages’ release. He beat Ted Kennedy in early Democratic primaries and seemed a decent bet for reelection. As the crisis wore on in 1980, most other presidents would have taken some kind of military action against Iran, as Rosalynn Carter and National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski urged. But Carter believed the hostages would be immediately executed and the resulting war would lead to many American and Iranian deaths. Another option— downplaying the captivity— wasn’t viable in a pre-cable era when the most trusted man in America, Walter Cronkite, reminded viewers every night on the exactly how many days the hostages had been held. Ted Koppel’s , which was launched on ABC News during the period, also kept Americans riveted to the crisis. In April of 1980, Carter authorized a hostage rescue mission but three of the eight helicopters sent inside Iran malfunctioned in the desert. After the mission was aborted, a helicopter collided with a transport aircraft, killing eight servicemen. Carter blamed the fiasco for his crushing defeat to Reagan in the November election, though the economy, the candidacy of independent John Anderson and Reagan’s strong campaign were also major factors. Carter spent the last nights of his presidency napping in the Oval Office as he worked around the clock to successfully free the hostages. The Iranians released them just moments after Reagan took the oath on Jan. 20, 1981, the 444th day of their captivity. They were all alive and mostly healthy, though Republicans would long argue that the nation’s “honor” was bruised. After he left office, the Carters moved back to Plains and refused to take money for speeches or serve on corporate boards. Over time, Carter became the closest thing to a Renaissance Man of any president since Thomas Jefferson. He painted, built furniture, and wrote—poetry, fiction, history, memoirs and even self-help, 30 books in all. —including helping to build houses once a year—helped make it the largest not-for-profit homebuilder in the world. Since 1982, the Carter Center he built in Atlanta adjacent to his presidential library has focused on specific, solvable problems. Besides monitoring more than 100 elections around the world, it has reduced the incidence of guinea worm disease from 3.5 million cases in 21 countries to only a few dozen scattered cases today. Great progress is also underway in combating river blindness. By contrast, the Atlanta Project, an ambitious attempt to tackle poverty in the capital of his home state, flopped. Carter was often criticized for his willingness to meet with some of the worst human rights abusers and terrorists in the world, including the head of Hamas. He argued that he would meet with almost anyone if there was a chance for peace. In his later years, he and other retired world leaders joined a group of peacemakers formed by Nelson Mandela called “The Elders.” Carter’s biggest post-presidential diplomatic breakthroughs both came in 1994 when he convinced the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung, to begin to open up and to agree to peace talks with the Clinton Administration. The talks resulted in a deal that would have prevented North Korea from developing nuclear weapons, but it fell apart after a few months when Kim Il-Sung died. (He returned to North Korea in 2010 and brokered the release of American teacher , who had been arrested after crossing into North Korea illegally.) Also in 1994, President Bill Clinton sent Carter, Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn and Colin Powell (then a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) to Haiti, where—under Carter’s direction— , thereby avoiding an imminent invasion by U.S. forces. But his diplomatic efforts also brought criticism Clinton was angry at Carter for locking in the Haiti deal on CNN without his authorization. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush, while grateful to Carter two years earlier for convincing Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to leave power peacefully after he lost an election, was furious at Carter for undermining his position on Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait by privately urging other members of the U.N Security Council to oppose the Gulf War. For his part, Carter occasionally took shots at all of his successors, who considered him difficult to handle. In later years, Carter continued to court controversy. He alienated some of his Jewish friends and supporters in 2006 by titling a book about the Middle East, , though a decade later even Ehud Barak, a former Israeli prime minister, was making the apartheid comparison. He quit the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000 over its literal interpretation of scripture, as well as its attitudes toward women, though he did continue to welcome visitors from all over the world to his Sunday School classes at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains. By the time of his death, Carter, who is the longest-lived president, had transcended the invective directed at him over the years. With a reappraisal of his presidency underway and his decency and selflessness praised across party lines, Carter secured a permanent place in the hearts of most Americans. His Very Best, Jimmy Carter, a Life
Tomas Hertl returns to San Jose wearing a Golden Knights uniform
With one of the most exciting AFL seasons done and dusted, it’s time to see how horribly wrong — or right — we were at the start of the year. Watch every ball of Australia v India LIVE & ad-break free during play in 4K on Kayo | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. In January, we made a series of bold predictions for the 2024 season that, despite holding merit at the time, were still more likely to fail than succeed.Now it’s time to take a look back at which ones we got right and which ones were totally off the mark. BOLD PREDICTION: The Blues make the Grand Final VERDICT: Nope Carlton were one of the premiership favourites in pre-season, but their 2024 campaign was cruelled by injuries which meant they never really looked like featuring on the biggest stage of all. The Blues were bundled out in a hugely disappointing elimination final against eventual premiers Brisbane, conceding the first nine goals of the game. Twin towers Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay missed games through injury at the end of the season, while ruck Tom De Koning also missed a large chunk of the back end. Defenders Mitch McGovern, Adam Saad and Jordan Boyd all had disrupted seasons, while Adam Cerra, Zac Williams and Lachie Fogarty also spent some time on the sidelines. Overall, Carlton’s 2024 campaign was disappointing, but now all eyes turn towards whether or not they can bounce back in 2025. BOLD PREDICTION: Michael Voss wins Coach of the Year Award VERDICT: Nope There’s no doubt 2025 will be an intriguing year for the Blues, can Michael Voss find a way to get the most out of a talented group? Things were looking promising this time last year, but now the jury is out. The Blues arguably went backwards in 2024, but injuries certainly did play a part. Brisbane Lions premiership coach Chris Fagan won the award, while former Sydney coach John Longmire came runner-up. Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell rounded out the podium after he lifted the Hawks from cellar dwellers to premiership contenders. While we don’t know the full breakdown, you’d imagine Geelong coach Chris Scott, Giants head honcho Adam Kingsley and Port Adelaide mastermind Ken Hinkley would all have finished higher than Voss. A huge 2025 looms. BOLD PREDICTION: Brodie Grundy returns to All-Australian form VERDICT: Almost... Brodie Grundy was a key contributor to Sydney’s successes in 2024, but he didn’t quite reach those All-Australian levels he has before. After a turbulent year at Melbourne, Grundy returned to the number one ruck role at Sydney and performed admirably. The star Swan averaged 18 disposals, five clearances and 4.7 tackles a game as he started to get back to some good form. Max Gawn earned a seventh All-Australian blazer, while breakout Roos ruck Tristan Xerri and Collingwood tall Darcy Cameron were the other rucks to make the All-Australian squad. St Kilda’s Rowan Marshall was also considered an unlucky omission. Grundy was probably in the next batch of talls, including Tim English and Toby Nankervis. A stronger season and an increased output than what Grundy has produced in the past couple of years, but not quite All-Australian calibre. BOLD PREDICTION: The Suns break into the top eight VERDICT: Not yet We can probably rinse and repeat this one for 2025. Surely, the Suns aren’t far off from featuring in September action. In their first season under new coach Damien Hardwick, the Suns finished 13th with a win-loss record of 11-12. It was a bizarre year for the Suns, who were a dominant force on their home decks at People First Stadium and TIO Stadium, but didn’t win a game on the road until round 22 against Essendon at Marvel. The club’s had a refresh and a rebrand and will be hoping that next year is the year they break through for their maiden finals appearance. Their talented youth will only get better with another pre-season under their belts, while the acquisitions of damaging half-backs Daniel Rioli and John Noble will add the rebound out of the back half that they struggled with so much. Is 2025 the year they finally break the drought? BOLD PREDICTION: Three teams will drop out of the top eight VERDICT: Correct We were spot on with this one and the numbers didn’t lie. It’s been two every year since the top eight began and the average is approximately 2.8 per season. BOLD PREDICTION: The Saints are one of them VERDICT: Correct As we predicted, there was a bit of a dip for the Saints in 2024. They had a focus on getting experience into their younger brigade and they also lost some games they probably should’ve won. The likes of Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Darcy Wilson and Mitch Owens all had strong campaigns that resulted in top 10 finishes in the best and fairest, while Mattaes Phillipou had a strong end to the season as well. They’ve attacked the draft hard again this year, securing Gippsland Power high-flyer Alix Tauru and Bendigo Pioneers product Tobie Travaglia, who both look like players for the future. The Saints will be hoping to improve on their win-loss record of 11-12 and push back towards September action in 2025. BOLD PREDICTION: But Max King returns to top form VERDICT: Nope As promising as Max King is, injuries limited the key forward to just 12 games in 2024. The Sandringham Dragons product booted 19 goals for the year at an average of 1.6 per game which was well down on his previous two years where he averaged 2.4 and 2.5 goals a match. It was the worst year of King’s career if you exclude 2019 (ACL injury so no games) and his first year in 2020, according to the AFL Player Ratings system. There’s no doubt that when fit, King is one of the most promising key forwards in the competition. The Saints have shown tremendous faith in King, extending his contract until the end of the 2032 season, can he repay that faith? 2025 will be a big year. BOLD PREDICTION: The Power also drop out VERDICT: Nope Port Adelaide strung together another strong home and away season, finishing in second spot with a win-loss record of 16-7. It was the fourth time in five years that Ken Hinkley’s side have featured in September action, yet they haven’t gone on to reach the big dance on any of those occasions. Right now, it feels like they’re home and away experts and then crumble under the finals pressure. Our bold prediction questioned how their recruits would fare and it’s fair to say they didn’t exactly fire. Brandon Zerk-Thatcher is probably a tick as a defender, while Jordon Sweet assumed the number one ruck role by seasons end. Ivan Soldo sought a trade out of South Australia after just one year and Esava Ratugolea is on the fringes of the side heading into 2025. They’re so strong at home, so expect the Power to be around the mark of the top four again in 2025, but the challenge for them is progressing further through a finals campaign. BOLD PREDICTION: And the Josh Carr handover is made official VERDICT: Not yet Six months ago, it looked like Ken Hinkley’s job was on thin ice. They’d lost three consecutive matches to the Blues, Giants and Lions but they went on to win eight of their last nine in a scintillating end to the season. Post-match after the gritty win over St Kilda, Ken Hinkley was emotional in an on-field interview with Fox Footy’s Sarah Jones, highlighting how much he loved the playing group and how much the playing group loved him. The Power were thumped in a qualifying final by Geelong but bounced back in the semi against Hawthorn, before going down to the Swans in a preliminary final. Hinkley still remains in the hot seat, but there’s a sense amongst the competition that Josh Carr will inherit that throne sooner rather than later. Hinkley is yet to reach a grand final during his time as senior coach, a role he has held for 12 years. Carr has been a part of the Power footy program for several years and the club could execute a handover similar to that at the Swans, where Dean Cox took over from John Longmire. It feels inevitable that Carr takes over, but don’t rule out the Power making a bold play and trying to poach someone if Hinkley does step aside some time in 2025. BOLD PREDICTION: The Crows take their spot VERDICT: Not even close Adelaide were one of the biggest disappointments in 2024, if not the biggest disappointment. After finishing 10th with a win-loss record of 11-12 in 2023, there were high hopes that the Crows could return to September action for the first time since 2017. While it was overall a poor season, there were a few shining lights for Matthew Nicks’ side. Midfielder Jake Soligio showed positive signs of growth, while exciting youngster Max Michalanney is going to become a serious player. Izak Rankine played some good footy and Ben Keays was joint winner of the Best and Fairest alongside captain Jordan Dawson. Draftee Sid Draper has been tearing up the training track and is on target to feature in round one, while the likes of Riley Thilthorpe, Josh Rachele and Dan Curtin should only get better with another pre-season under their belts. At the end of the day though, the Crows weren’t as good as they could’ve been in 2024, given the talent at their disposal. BOLD PREDICTION: And Jordan Dawson finishes in the top three of the Brownlow Medal count VERDICT: Also no Let’s be honest, this one was pretty bold! Dawson finished equal 16th in this year’s Brownlow Medal count, polling 18 votes, two less than last year, where he finished 13th (including ineligible players). Dawson did not poll a vote in his first five games and just one in his final six, so it was the middle part of the year where he did his best work. His inconsistent campaign was a bit reflective of Adelaide’s season as a whole. Playing mainly through the midfield, the former Swan averaged 24.5 disposals, five marks and 6.1 tackles. The Crows skipper will no doubt have a huge pre-season to try and give himself the best chance of leading the Crows to their first finals campaign since 2017 and return to some of the best form of his career. BOLD PREDICTION: Dustin Martin finishes in the top five VERDICT: Nope There was clearly a bit of nostalgia behind this one and let’s be honest, it wasn’t even close to being correct. Martin polled just one Brownlow Medal vote this year for his performance in round 11 against Essendon, where he amassed 23 disposals and three goals. Injury and then retirement meant he played just one match of the last eight of the season and he had clearly lost his edge that will see him go down as one of the greats. A superb career and one we were so lucky to be able to witness. BOLD PREDICTION: Then moves to the Gold Coast VERDICT: Still, no Wow, wasn’t this one bubbling away for some time! There were murmurings of Dusty reuniting with former coach Damien Hardwick up at the Suns, but nothing materialised and he is happily retired. He is the only three-time Norm Smith Medallist, a triple premiership player, four time All-Australian and 2017 Brownlow Medallist. He’ll go down as one of the greatest ever Tigers and a true champion of the game. BOLD PREDICTION: The Dogs come in VERDICT: Yes! The Bulldogs made the finals yet again after narrowly missing out in 2023, which was a step in the right direction. The Bulldogs are one of the biggest mysteries in the competition right now. Their list is incredibly talented, and their best football is electric, but they struggle to piece it all together for a prolonged period of time. The club continues to back in premiership coach Luke Beveridge who never backs down from a challenge and will be looking to press towards a top four berth in 2025. Their youth is exciting, but it is important that they capitalise while the likes of Marcus Bontempelli and Adam Treloar are in career-best form. BOLD PREDICTION: But the Cats miss out again VERDICT: Nope Year after year, the Cats continue to prove the footy world wrong. Chris Scott’s side made it all the way to a preliminary final in 2024, falling just short to eventual premiers Brisbane. The Cats have featured in September every year bar three since 2004. That is an absurd period of time to be featuring at the pointy end of the season. The scary thing is, you’d imagine the Cats only get better in 2025. The recruitment of former Bulldog Bailey Smith will bolster their midfield stocks dramatically, while if they can get ex-Blue Jack Martin fit, that could be a bargain. It would take a brave person to write them off again. BOLD PREDICTION: The Hawks just miss out VERDICT: Not quite Can we give this one a tick? We predicted the Hawks would surge up the ladder this year, just not all the way to a semi-final. No one saw that coming, especially after their poor start where they sat 0-5 and then 1-6. The evolution of ‘Hokball’ has been a joy to watch this season. Sam Mitchell’s side have played with plenty of dash and dare and they’ve had the celebrations to match. The scary thing? They could be even better in 2025 and are genuine premiership contenders. The core of their list is still young and will only improve, while the additions of Tom Barrass and Josh Battle will further bolster their defensive stocks. The sky is the limit for these young Hawks. BOLD PREDICTION: And Jack Ginnivan thrives VERDICT: We’ll pay this one! A move to Hawthorn under Sam Mitchell has resulted in Jack Ginnivan playing the best footy of his career. Ginnivan averaged 16.5 disposals, 3.9 marks and 2.7 tackles a game this year, booting 28 goals. He’s become an integral part of one of the best forward lines in the competition and loves to get under the skins of his opponents. He’s become an absolute fan favourite amongst the brown and gold faithful and will be key in Hawthorn’s quest for success. It’s fair to say, he’s put a messy exit from Collingwood behind him and is absolutely thriving. BOLD PREDICTION: Fremantle remains stranded outside the top eight VERDICT: Bang on We were spot on with this one, the Dockers missing out on the top eight by just two premiership points. It went down to the last game of the season, if they had been able to defeat Port Adelaide on their home deck, then they would’ve squeezed Carlton out. The general consensus right now though is that the Dockers could be the biggest risers of 2025. They’ve added former Tiger Shai Bolton to their weaponry, while young gun Murphy Reid could make an impact early on in the year, too. Fremantle have stars across every single line. In defence, Luke Ryan, Jordan Clark and Alex Pearce have been super, while the on-ball brigade of Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong and Hayden Young genuinely could be the best in the competition. Their forward half improved as Josh Treacy and Jye Amiss took big strides forward and the ruck duo of Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson gives them great flexibility. It’s exciting what they could produce next year. BOLD PREDICTION: And Justin Longmuir goes VERDICT: Nope Justin Longmuir signed a one-year extension in March, tying him to the Dockers until the end of 2025. There’s no doubt that the pressure will be on Longmuir next year to try and get the best out of his side, because they are just so talented. It’s never easy entering the final year of your contract, but his future really is in his hands. A strong season will surely see him recontracted, but if the Dockers can’t feature in September, the heat will well and truly be on. BOLD PREDICTION: Finn Callaghan jumps into the All-Australian side VERDICT: Nope This was another pretty bold call, but one that didn’t eventuate. Giants youngster Finn Callaghan had a strong year but it definitely wasn’t All-Australian calibre. Callaghan took a small step forward from his 2023 campaign, lifting his disposals average (22.9), tackles (3.6) and clearances (3.4) and will be an exciting player to track in the years to come. He is clean with ball in hand, smooth-moving in traffic and has plenty of drive out of stoppage. He also managed to finally get some continuity with his body, playing 24 games for the year. Intriguingly, Callaghan did not finish in the top 10 in the club best and fairest. BOLD PREDICTION: And Jamarra Ugle-Hagan does too VERDICT: Nope A strong season for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, but not All-Australian worthy. The former number one draft pick booted a career-high 43 goals this season and continued his steady increase year-on-year. Alongside Aaron Naughton and Sam Darcy, the Bulldogs have a three-pronged attack that is the envy of the competition. He improved his consistency this year, kicking at least one goal in 19 out of 22 appearances this season. At his best, Ugle-Hagan is flying for his marks and kicking miraculous goals. Should he continue his upwards trajectory, hitting that 50-goal mark for the first time in his career won’t be out of the question in 2025. BOLD PREDICTION: With one club offering him a 10-year contract VERDICT: We’ll pay it! We’re going to claim this one! According to the Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph, clubs were offering “lifetime deals” to Ugle-Hagan early in the season to try and lure him out of the Kennel. Ralph reported that deals “as much as 11 or 12 years” were tabled to Ugle-Hagan, but ultimately, he decided to re-sign with the Dogs. The star forward put pen to paper on a two-year contract extension in May, tying him to the club until the end of 2026. Keep an eye on what he can produce next year. BOLD PREDICTION: The grand final start time stays put VERDICT: Correct The AFL decider indeed remained in its traditional afternoon slot. Instead, the AFLW grand final had its start time moved to the evening. But, while we correctly predicted nothing would change in Andrew Dillon’s first season in charge, we did tease that an eventual tweak might be ‘inevitable’ — and that might too be the case, given the success of the night grand final in the women’s competition. “A night grand final is pretty special ... Maybe we might see it in the men’s, who knows? ... Maybe not!” said victorious North Melbourne AFLW skipper Emma Kearney post-GF. BOLD PREDICTON: Any issues with the score review system will be a thing of the past VERDICT: Tongue in cheek Admittedly this one was tongue in cheek, but the spotlight once again was on the score review system in 2024. At the start of the year, the system was being used too often and for too long and then there’s the AFLW score review system, which had a few kinks in it to begin with. An error with the new ball tracking technology in the Suns and Pies clash incorrectly recorded that the ball was touched, when the video clearly showed the ball had not been touched. The Suns went on to lose that game and the AFL issued a statement afterwards apologising for the mistake.