A FAMILY that has had three generations saved by blood transfusions has thanked generous donors. Baby Isabella Mackay needed blood after her birth in January. 4 Mum Lauren Webster with baby Isabella Mackay and gran Donna Webster Credit: SWNS 4 Donna said: 'Isabella was born in January 2024 and received emergency blood straight after her delivery' Credit: SWNS 4 She said: 'I received blood after the birth of Lauren. Lauren then needed blood aged 15 due to sepsis' Credit: SWNS 4 Donna added: 'She has now become a mother herself to baby Isabella' Credit: SWNS Mum Lauren Webster, 35, got it at 15 due to sepsis and gran Donna Webster needed blood in giving birth to Lauren. Donna, 61, of Blair-gowrie, Perthshire, has encouraged others to give blood , saying: “We’d like to remind donors your gift keeps on giving for many years or, in our case, many generations. She added: "Isabella was born in January 2024 and received emergency blood straight after her delivery. "I received blood after the birth of Lauren. Lauren then needed blood aged 15 due to sepsis. Read More on Health MUMPS 'CRISIS' Urgent warning as mumps EPIDEMIC expected to hit UK soon - are you at risk? TRIED & TESTED I tested 3 'healthy' choc options & bone broth shake tasted like milkshake "She has now become a mother herself to baby Isabella. "This means we have three happy and healthy generations in our family, all thanks to blood donors. "Looking forward to Isabella's first Christmas this year is particularly poignant". "We cannot thank you all enough. We would like to encourage everyone to consider giving blood, platelets or plasma this Christmas." Most read in Health STUB IT OUT 'Game-changing' anti-smoking pill to be rolled out in Scotland TIME BOMB I contracted ‘silent killer’ in medical error that gave me cancer 34 years later GET A WHIFF Common cold symptom ‘could be an early warning sign of 139 diseases’ ASK DR ZOE I've had a dry patch of skin for months and my wife is worried it's skin cancer Blood Types ExplainedTimeline: Jimmy Carter, 1924-2024
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TORONTO (AP) — The Utah Hockey Club said players were forced to walk to their game against the Maple Leafs after their bus got stuck in Toronto traffic Sunday night. The team posted a video on social media of team members walking to Scotiabank Arena, with player Maveric Lamoureux saying the bus was “not moving at all.” Several city streets had been closed during the day for the annual Santa Claus parade. The Maple Leafs earned their fourth consecutive win by defeating Utah 3-2. The viral incident prompted Ontario Premier Doug Ford to call the congestion “embarrassing” and “unacceptable,” highlighting his government’s plan to address the city’s gridlock through bike lane legislation. It wasn’t the first time a Toronto visitor had to ditch their vehicle to make it to an event on time. In June, former One Direction band member Niall Horan had to walk through traffic to get to his concert at Scotiabank Arena. AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhlPhilippines secures $232-million AIIB loan for 'Build, Better, More'
Supreme Court junks land allotment to judges, MPs and others in HyderabadForthright and fearless, the Nobel Prize winner took pot-shots at former prime minister Tony Blair and ex-US president George W Bush among others. His death came after repeated bouts of illness in which images of the increasingly frail former president failed to erase memories of his fierce spirit. Democrat James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr swept to power in 1977 with his Trust Me campaign helping to beat Republican president Gerald Ford. Serving as 39th US president from 1977 to 1981, he sought to make government “competent and compassionate” but was ousted by the unstoppable Hollywood appeal of a certain Ronald Reagan. A skilled sportsman, Mr Carter left his home of Plains, Georgia, to join the US Navy, returning later to run his family’s peanut business. A stint in the Georgia senate lit the touchpaper on his political career and he rose to the top of the Democratic movement. But he will also be remembered for a bizarre encounter with a deeply disgruntled opponent. The president was enjoying a relaxing fishing trip near his home town in 1979 when his craft was attacked by a furious swamp rabbit which reportedly swam up to the boat hissing wildly. The press had a field day, with one paper bearing the headline President Attacked By Rabbit. Away from encounters with belligerent bunnies, Mr Carter’s willingness to address politically uncomfortable topics did not diminish with age. He recently said that he would be willing to travel to North Korea for peace talks on behalf of US President Donald Trump. He also famously mounted a ferocious and personal attack on Tony Blair over the Iraq war, weeks before the prime minister left office in June 2007. Mr Carter, who had already denounced George W Bush’s presidency as “the worst in history”, used an interview on BBC radio to condemn Mr Blair for his tight relations with Mr Bush, particularly concerning the Iraq War. Asked how he would characterise Mr Blair’s relationship with Mr Bush, Mr Carter replied: “Abominable. Loyal, blind, apparently subservient. “I think that the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world.” Mr Carter was also voluble over the Rhodesia crisis, which was about to end during his presidency. His support for Robert Mugabe at the time generated widespread criticism. He was said to have ignored the warnings of many prominent Zimbabweans, black and white, about what sort of leader Mugabe would be. This was seen by Mr Carter’s critics as “deserving a prominent place among the outrages of the Carter years”. Mr Carter has since said he and his administration had spent more effort and worry on Rhodesia than on the Middle East. He admitted he had supported two revolutionaries in Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, and with hindsight said later that Mugabe had been “a good leader gone bad”, having at first been “a very enlightened president”. One US commentator wrote: “History will not look kindly on those in the West who insisted on bringing the avowed Marxist Mugabe into the government. “In particular, the Jimmy Carter foreign policy... bears some responsibility for the fate of a small African country with scant connection to American national interests.” In recent years Mr Carter developed a reputation as an international peace negotiator. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his commitment to finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts, his work with human rights and democracy initiatives, and his promotion of economic and social programmes. Mr Carter was dispatched to North Korea in August 2008 to secure the release of US citizen Aijalon Mahli Gomes, who had been sentenced to eight years of hard labour after being found guilty of illegally entering North Korea. He successfully secured the release of Mr Gomes. In 2010 he returned to the White House to greet President Barack Obama and discuss international affairs amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula. Proving politics runs in the family, in 2013 his grandson Jason, a state senator, announced his bid to become governor in Georgia, where his famous grandfather governed before becoming president. He eventually lost to incumbent Republican Nathan Deal. Fears that Mr Carter’s health was deteriorating were sparked in 2015 when he cut short an election observation visit in Guyana because he was “not feeling well”. It would have been Mr Carter’s 39th trip to personally observe an international election. Three months later, on August 12, he revealed he had cancer which had been diagnosed after he underwent surgery to remove a small mass in his liver. Mr Obama was among the well-wishers hoping for Mr Carter’s full recovery after it was confirmed the cancer had spread widely. Melanoma had been found in his brain and liver, and Mr Carter underwent immunotherapy and radiation therapy, before announcing in March the following year that he no longer needed any treatment. In 2017, Mr Carter was taken to hospital as a precaution, after he became dehydrated at a home-building project in Canada. He was admitted to hospital on multiple occasions in 2019 having had a series of falls, suffering a brain bleed and a broken pelvis, as well as a stint to be treated for a urinary tract infection. Mr Carter spent much of the coronavirus pandemic largely at his home in Georgia, and did not attend Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in 2021, but extended his “best wishes”. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Mr Carter during his term as US president, died in November 2023. She had been living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Mr Carter said in a statement following her death. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”Black Friday Peacock deals 2024: Get one year for $20
Former President Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100. The 39th president of the United States was a Georgia peanut farmer who sought to restore trust in government when he assumed the presidency in 1977 and then built a reputation for tireless work as a humanitarian. He earned a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He died Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in Plains, Georgia. At age 52, Carter was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 1977, after defeating President Gerald R. Ford in the 1976 general election. Carter left office on Jan. 20, 1981, following his 1980 general election loss to Ronald Reagan. Here's the latest: A somber announcement The longest-lived American president died Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023 , spent most of their lives. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” The Carter Center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. A Southerner and a man of faith In his 1975 book “Why Not The Best,” Carter said of himself: “I am a Southerner and an American, I am a farmer, an engineer, a father and husband, a Christian, a politician and former governor, a planner, a businessman, a nuclear physicist, a naval officer, a canoeist, and among other things a lover of Bob Dylan’s songs and Dylan Thomas’s poetry.” A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. After he left office and returned home to his tiny hometown of Plains in southwest Georgia, Carter regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world. Former Vice President Gore remembers Carter for life "of purpose” Former Vice President Al Gore praised Jimmy Carter for living “a life full of purpose, commitment and kindness” and for being a “lifelong role model for the entire environmental movement.” Carter, who left the White House in 1981 after a landslide defeat to Ronald Reagan. concentrated on conflict resolution, defending democracy and fighting disease in the developing world. Gore, who lost the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush, remains a leading advocate for action to fight climate change. Both won Nobel Peace Prizes. Gore said that “it is a testament to his unyielding determination to help build a more just and peaceful world” that Carter is often “remembered equally for the work he did as President as he is for his leadership over the 42 years after he left office.” During Gore’s time in the White House, President Bill Clinton had an uneasy relationship with Carter. But Gore said he is “grateful” for “many years of friendship and collaboration” with Carter. The Clintons react to Jimmy Carter's death Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, remember Carter as a man who lived to serve others. “Hillary and I mourn the passing of President Jimmy Carter and give thanks for his long, good life. Guided by his faith, President Carter lived to serve others — until the very end." The statement recalled Carter's many achievements and priorities, including efforts “to protect our natural resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, make energy conservation a national priority, return the Panama Canal to Panama, and secure peace between Egypt and Israel at Camp David." After he left office, the Clinton statement said, Carter continued efforts in "supporting honest elections, advancing peace, combating disease, and promoting democracy; to his and Rosalynn’s devotion and hard work at Habitat for Humanity — he worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world,” the statement said.One week into a new Syria, rebels aim for normalcy and Syrians vow not to be silent again DAMASCUS (AP) — A transformation has started to take place in the week since the unexpected overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar Assad. Suddenly in charge, the rebels have been met with a mix of excitement, grief and hope. And so far the transition has been surprisingly smooth. Reports of reprisals, revenge killings and sectarian violence are minimal, looting and destruction has been quickly contained. But there are a million ways it could go wrong. Syria is broken and isolated after five decades of Assad family rule. Families have been torn apart by war, former prisoners are traumatized, and tens of thousands of detainees remain missing. The economy is wrecked, poverty is widespread, inflation and unemployment are high. Corruption seeps through daily life. Christians in Syria mark country's transformation with tears as UN envoy urges an end to sanctions DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — In churches across long-stifled Syria, Christians have marked the first Sunday services since Bashar Assad’s ouster in an air of transformation. Some were in tears, others clasped their hands in prayer. The U.N. envoy for Syria is calling for a quick end to Western sanctions as the country’s new leaders and regional and global powers discuss the way forward. The Syrian government has been under sanctions by the United States, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war. Israel will close its Ireland embassy over Gaza tensions as Palestinian death toll nears 45,000 DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel says it will close its embassy in Ireland as relations deteriorate over the war in Gaza, where Palestinian medical officials say new Israeli airstrikes have killed over 30 people including children. Israel's decision to close the embassy came in response to what Israel’s foreign minister has described as Ireland's “extreme anti-Israel policies.” Ireland earlier announced that it would recognize a Palestinian state. And the Irish cabinet last week decided to formally intervene in South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, which accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll in the war is approaching 45,000. The GOP stoked fears of noncitizens voting. Cases in Ohio show how rhetoric and reality diverge AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Ohio's Republican secretary of state and attorney general sought to reassure voters before the November election that the state's elections were being vigorously protected against the possibility of immigrants voting illegally. That push coincided with a national Republican messaging strategy warning that potentially thousands of ineligible voters would be voting. The officials' efforts in Ohio led to charges against just six noncitizens in a state with 8 million registered voters. That outcome and the stories of some of those now facing charges show the gap both in Ohio and across the United States between the rhetoric about noncitizen voting and the reality that it's rare and not part of a coordinated scheme to throw elections. South Korean leaders seek calm after Yoon is impeached SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s opposition leader has offered to work with the government to ease the political tumult, a day after the opposition-controlled parliament voted to impeach conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol over a short-lived attempt to impose martial law. Liberal Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, whose party holds a majority in the National Assembly, urged the Constitutional Court to rule swiftly on Yoon’s impeachment and proposed a special council for policy cooperation between the government and parliament. Yoon’s powers have been suspended until the court decides whether to remove him from office or reinstate him. If Yoon is dismissed, a national election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days. Storms across US bring heavy snow, dangerous ice and a tornado in California OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Inclement weather has plagued areas of the U.S. in the first half of the weekend, with dangerous conditions including heavy snow, a major ice storm and unusual tornado activity. An ice storm beginning Friday created treacherous driving conditions across Iowa and eastern Nebraska. More than 33 inches of snow was reported near Orchard Park, New York, which is often a landing point for lake-effect snow. On Saturday, a tornado touched down in Scotts Valley, California, causing damage and several injuries. In San Francisco, a storm damaged trees and roofs and prompted a tornado warning, which was a first for a city that has not experienced a tornado since 2005. Small businesses say cautious shoppers are seeking 'cozy' and 'festive' this holiday season With a late Thanksgiving, the holiday shopping season is five days shorter than last year, and owners of small retail shops say that people have been quick to snap up holiday décor early, along with gifts for others and themselves. Cozy items like sweaters are popular so far. Businesses are also holding special events to get shoppers in the door. But there’s little sense of the freewheeling spending that occurred during the pandemic. Overall, The National Retail Federation predicts retail sales in November and December will rise between 2.5% and 3.5% compared with same period a year ago. US agencies should use advanced technology to identify mysterious drones, Schumer says After weeks of fear and bewilderment about the drones buzzing over parts of New York and New Jersey, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer is urging the federal government to deploy better drone-tracking technology to identify and ultimately stop the airborne pests. The New York Democrat is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to immediately deploy advanced technology to identify and track drones back to their landing spots. That is according to briefings from his office. Federal authorities have said that the drones do not appear to be linked to foreign governments. West Africa regional bloc approves exit timeline for 3 coup-hit member states ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS has approved an exit timeline for three coup-hit nations. It comes after a nearly yearlong process of mediation to avert the unprecedented disintegration of the grouping. The president of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, said in a statement: “The authority decides to set the period from 29 January, 2025 to 29 July 2025 as a transitional period and to keep ECOWAS doors open to the three countries during the transition period." In a first in the 15-nation bloc’s nearly 50 years of existence, the military juntas of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announced in January that they decided to leave ECOWAS. Pope Francis makes 1st papal visit to France's Corsica awash in expressions of popular piety AJACCIO, Corsica (AP) — Pope Francis on the first papal visit ever to the French island of Corsica on Sunday called for a dynamic form of laicism, promoting the kind of popular piety that distinguishes the Mediterranean island from secular France as a bridge between religious and civic society. The one-day visit to Corsica’s capital Ajaccio, birthplace of Napoleon, on Sunday is one of the briefest of his papacy beyond Italy’s borders, just about nine hours on the ground, including a 40-minute visit with French President Emmanuel Macron. It is the first papal visit ever to the island, which Genoa ceded to France in 1768 and is located closer to the Italian mainland than France.
The Latest: Former President Jimmy Carter is dead at age 100Emerging tight end Noah Gray gives Mahomes and the Chiefs another option in passing game
Teresa Weatherspoon's Strong Statement on Chicago Sky FiringEmerging tight end Noah Gray gives Mahomes and the Chiefs another option in passing game
HAMILTON, N.Y. (AP) — Nicolas Louis-Jacques' 17 points helped Colgate defeat Vermont 65-60 on Sunday. Louis-Jacques shot 7 for 13, including 3 for 7 from beyond the arc for the Raiders (3-9). Jalen Cox scored 14 points, going 6 of 11 (1 for 4 from 3-point range). Brady Cummins shot 2 of 6 from the field and 7 for 10 from the line to finish with 11 points. The Raiders snapped a five-game slide. Nick Fiorillo finished with 23 points, six rebounds and two steals for the Catamounts (5-7). TJ Hurley added 19 points for Vermont. Shamir Bogues also had 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Colgate went into the half ahead of Vermont 28-26. Cox put up nine points in the half. Colgate used an 8-0 second-half run erase a three-point deficit and take the lead at 55-50 with 5:21 left in the half before finishing off the victory. Cummins scored nine second-half points. Colgate's next game is Sunday against Iona at home. Vermont hosts Miami (OH) on Wednesday. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Will this lesser-known £28bn growth stock be joining the FTSE 100 soon?
NEW YORK (AP) — No ex-president had a more prolific and diverse publishing career than Jimmy Carter . His more than two dozen books included nonfiction, poetry, fiction, religious meditations and a children’s story. His memoir “An Hour Before Daylight” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2002, while his 2006 best-seller “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” stirred a fierce debate by likening Israel’s policies in the West Bank to the brutal South African system of racial segregation. And just before his 100th birthday, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation honored him with a lifetime achievement award for how he wielded “the power of the written word to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding.” In one recent work, “A Full Life,” Carter observed that he “enjoyed writing” and that his books “provided a much-needed source of income.” But some projects were easier than others. “Everything to Gain,” a 1987 collaboration with his wife, Rosalynn, turned into the “worst threat we ever experienced in our marriage,” an intractable standoff for the facilitator of the Camp David accords and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. According to Carter, Rosalynn was a meticulous author who considered “the resulting sentences as though they have come down from Mount Sinai, carved into stone.” Their memories differed on various events and they fell into “constant arguments.” They were ready to abandon the book and return the advance, until their editor persuaded them to simply divide any disputed passages between them. “In the book, each of these paragraphs is identified by a ‘J’ or an ‘R,’ and our marriage survived,” he wrote. Here is a partial list of books by Carter: “Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President” “The Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle East” (With Rosalynn Carter) “Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life” “An Outdoor Journal: Adventures and Reflections” “Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age” “Always a Reckoning, and Other Poems” (With daughter Amy Carter) “The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer” “Living Faith” “The Virtues of Aging” “An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood” “Christmas in Plains: Memories” “The Hornet’s Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War” “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis” “Faith & Freedom: The Christian Challenge for the World” “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” “A Remarkable Mother” “Beyond the White House” “We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work” “White House Diary” “NIV Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter” “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power” “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety”From Health-Empowering Practices to More Eco-Smart Products, Explore the Top Trends Shaping Wellness, Beauty, Home Essentials, and Cooking for the Year Ahead LAKEWOOD, Colo. , Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Natural Grocers®, America's Nutrition Education Experts SM and the nation's largest family-operated organic and natural grocery retailer, has unveiled its highly anticipated Top Trends for 2025 . Now in its ninth year, the list highlights expert predictions on the emerging products and practices set to shape the year across four key categories: Health and Wellness , Body Care and Beauty , Food and Beverage , and those that are Ecologically Thoughtful . For the 2025 predictions, Natural Grocers' expert Nutrition Education team—including Registered Dietitians and Certified Natural Foods Chefs—joined forces with its purchasing, marketing, and analytics teams. This dynamic collaboration combined deep research, consumer insights, and trend analysis to craft a forecast that's as informed as it is exciting. "At Natural Grocers , we're always eager to see how evolving trends inspire healthier, more sustainable lifestyles," stated Raquel Isely , vice president of Marketing at Natural Grocers. "Each year we sift through evolving shopping habits and cutting-edge research to pinpoint the trends that will shape the way we live, eat, and care for ourselves in the year to come. "For 2025, we're seeing a focus on simple, yet thoughtful choices that prioritize wellness and the planet—like making blood sugar-friendly habits part of everyday life, exploring ocean-inspired body care, and embracing high-quality, globally-inspired proteins. These trends aren't just exciting—they're impactful, and some can make fabulous, practical holiday gifts! Whether it's a functional, natural skincare product geared towards men, a regenerative agriculture-friendly treat, or a product that helps kick forever chemicals out of the home, there's something meaningful for everyone on your list this season." NATURAL GROCERS' TOP TRENDS FOR 2025 Natural Grocers' Top Trends for 2025 are organized into four key categories: Health & Wellness , Body Care & Beauty , Food & Beverage , and Ecologically Thoughtful , encompassing a total of twelve trends. The expert team has included its "Try This Trend" feature, offering ideas and products for those eager to dive in and explore. For the third consecutive year, the company has also introduced a Bonus Trend—a unique highlight that connects and complements the entire lineup. The full list of trends is outlined below, with each category linked to detailed insights, product recommendations, and supporting research on the company's website. HEALTH & WELLNESS TRENDS BODY CARE & BEAUTY TRENDS FOOD & BEVERAGE TRENDS ECOLOGICALLY THOUGHTFUL TRENDS *BONUS TREND* Cultivating Biodiversity Becomes a Priority Natural Grocers will highlight these trends online and across their social media platforms throughout December. They will also be featured in the January edition of Natural Grocers' good4u Health Hotline® magazine, available in both online and print formats. ABOUT NATURAL GROCERS BY VITAMIN COTTAGE Founded in 1955, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. (NYSE: NGVC) is an expanding specialty retailer of natural and organic groceries, body care products, and dietary supplements. The products sold by Natural Grocers must meet strict quality guidelines and may not contain artificial colors, flavors, preservatives or sweeteners, or partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated oils. The Company sells only USDA-certified organic produce and exclusively pasture-raised, non-confinement dairy products, and free-range eggs. Natural Grocers' flexible smaller-store format allows it to offer affordable prices in a shopper-friendly, clean, and convenient retail environment. The Company also provides extensive free science-based Nutrition Education programs to help customers and Crew make informed health and nutrition choices. Natural Grocers is committed to its 5 Founding Principles —including its "Commitment to Community" and "Commitment to Crew". In fiscal year 2024, the Company invested more than $15 million in incremental compensation and discretionary payments for Crew. Headquartered in the Union Square neighborhood of Lakewood, CO, Natural Grocers has 168 stores in 21 states. Visit www.naturalgrocers.com for more information and store locations. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/natural-grocers-unveils-2025s-must-know-trends-302320141.html SOURCE Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc.
Dave Weldon, Trump's CDC pick, could bolster an RFK Jr. anti-vaccine agendaAt now-President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign rallies, attendees would hold “Trump Will Fix It” signs. Here’s hoping the antitrust policy that President Joe Biden excessively politicized is one of those “its.” Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, previously said he believes that Biden’s appointee as chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, has done a good job with antitrust policy. I disagree. For nearly 40 years, most antitrust scholars sensibly agreed that the government should base its treatment of potential corporate monopolization, mergers and related issues on these actions’ effect on “consumer welfare.” This standard ensures that antitrust is used only to prevent businesses from undermining economic competition, preserving a market that drives prices down and product quality up on behalf of us consumers. Antitrust should not protect businesses (SET ITAL) from (END ITAL) competition. Upon taking control of the FTC, Khan discarded this standard and, along with it, decades of bipartisan agreement. Biden’s Department of Justice and FTC quickly morphed antitrust into a tool for helping the White House achieve political aims that have nothing to do with keeping markets competitive. Consider, for example, how the FTC pursued Elon Musk. A newly released report by the House Judiciary Committee delved into how Khan issued a consent decree against X (then Twitter) for no reason other than that Musk — whose existing business interests were in other industries — was the company’s CEO. Khan “called for an immediate vote” just days after reporters announced the sale, which an FTC insider confirmed was what triggered the attention. The Biden FTC also had no problem targeting companies that challenged its corporate donor base. For example, Khan released an interim report against pharmacy benefit managers, companies that health plans hire to ensure they are receiving drugs at competitive costs. The major drug manufacturers have spent significant sums lobbying the government to challenge PBMs, even though the government’s own research shows these companies save patients (and taxpayers) significant sums. With the consumer welfare standard diminished, the facts didn’t stop Khan from protecting drug companies, which have showered her boss with campaign contributions, from market discipline. The shenanigans led Melissa Holyoak, a Republican FTC commissioner, to publicly dissent. She protested that “the Report was plagued by process irregularities and concerns over substance — or lack thereof — of the original order.” So much so that “the politicized nature of the process appears to have led to the departure of at least one senior leader at the Commission.” If that’s a “good job” in Vance’s view, we should be alarmed. The Biden DOJ hasn’t acted any more responsibly. For example, it sued RealPage, an AI-based software company that helps landlords come to terms with market pricing for their units, for facilitating alleged price-gouging even though it had no evidence. The Wall Street Journal editorial board stated that “it doesn’t require a Ph.D. in economics to understand that ballooning rents are caused by demand exceeding supply” and that “what’s really going on (with this suit) is an attempt to distract voters from frustration over the Biden Administration’s inflationary policies.” More recently, Biden’s DOJ targeted Visa’s debit card business over market share concerns despite the clear consumer benefits created by the company. These include secure, accessible services that millions of Americans rely on. Businesses and consumers have plenty of payment choices, but millions choose Visa for this reason. Rather than respecting those choices, Biden’s DOJ is pursuing its anti-corporate agenda with little regard for consumers’ welfare. Related Articles Opinion Columnists | Where do Democrats go from here? Opinion Columnists | California’s political clout will fade as long as population growth remains slow Opinion Columnists | Susan Shelley: Slow counts show election system needs reform Opinion Columnists | Here’s to hoping Trump delivers on some of his Libertarian promises Opinion Columnists | Grand DOGE promises of massive cuts to the federal government are unlikely to materialize The solution to the DOJ and FTC’s descent into political partisanship is straightforward: comprehensive reform. Come January, the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress must demand a recommitment to the consumer welfare standard. They must institute checks that prevent the DOJ and FTC from waging ideological warfare. Measures to ensure transparency and inter-commission collaboration, such as requiring the FTC to disclose the rationale and goals of its investigations, could also prove helpful. It’s hard to overstate the importance of appointing a better attorney general and FTC chair this time around. Coupled with new oversight measures, it could go far toward restoring fairness, protecting actual competition, and preventing rogue bureaucrats from imposing their will for personal or ideological gain. Most importantly, it would help restore the country’s trust in its governmental institutions. Whether that will come to pass remains to be seen. American businesses and consumers deserve a government that respects the rule of law. By simply refocusing the FTC and antitrust division of the DOJ on their foundational purposes, we can begin a new era of fair and impartial regulation that serves the public good. That’s something we all should be able to get behind. Veronique de Rugy is the George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy and a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
As President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the CDC, Dave Weldon, a former congressman from Florida and a physician, is positioned as an important anti-vaccine ally for Robert F. Kennedy Jr ., Trump's pick for health secretary. Experts say the Weldon nomination comes at a critical time for the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The U.S. is dealing with various health threats, including H5N1 bird flu , whooping cough and a spike in measles cases. Weldon served 14 years in Congress, representing the 15th District of Florida, where he was an outspoken critic of the public health agency and its vaccine program. In 2007, he introduced a bill to transfer responsibility for the nation’s vaccine safety from the CDC to an independent agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, significantly reducing the CDC's role. It didn't get beyond committees. He also pushed a false claim that thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, is linked to autism, and advocated for limits on abortion. If confirmed by the Senate, Weldon will have considerable influence over vaccine policy in the U.S. The CDC is responsible for tracking and responding to infectious diseases, developing vaccine guidelines, collecting and analyzing health data and managing public health emergencies. He would also work under Kennedy, since the CDC is one of 13 divisions overseen by HHS . Kennedy is known as a leading anti-vaccine activist , particularly for making a false claim that v a ccines a re tied to autism . “Anti-vaccine people are celebrating this because they firmly see Weldon as an ally,” said Dorit Reiss, a vaccine policy researcher at the University of California Law-San Francisco. “In Congress, he believed that vaccines caused autism, and he tried to promote that belief.” The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kennedy and Weldon ‘in the driver’s seat’ In a Friday post on Truth Social about Weldon's nomination, Trump said the current health of Americans is "critical" and the CDC must "step up and correct past errors." It's unclear what Kennedy or Weldon, if confirmed, would do about vaccines that have already been approved or the agency overall, although Kennedy told NBC News this month that despite previous comments, he wouldn’t “ take away anybody’s vaccines .” Still, Kennedy and Weldon could have enormous influence over how vaccines are recommended in the U.S., including for children. The CDC provides vaccine recommendations for the public, including the pediatric vaccine schedule , which is followed by schools and parents. It includes vaccinations for diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, polio and hepatitis, and is updated annually. Typically, the CDC director follows the recommendations developed by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, an outside group of more than a dozen pediatricians, public health experts and vaccine researchers, said Jennifer Kates, director of the Global Health & HIV Policy Program at KFF, a health policy research group. The ACIP was formed in 1964, and aside from children's vaccines, it also advises on adult vaccines, such as those for influenza, shingles and Covid, vaccine recommendations for travelers and provide guidance during disease outbreaks. However, Kates said, the CDC director has authority to decide whether to accept those recommendations, and the HHS secretary can choose who sits on the vaccine committee. “This puts CDC, and HHS, in the driver’s seat for determining vaccine recommendations going forward,” she said. States are not required to follow the CDC’s guidance, but most do, Reiss said. States can also provide exemptions from school immunization requirements. The CDC recently reported that the rate of children with vaccine exemptions entering kindergarten reached an all-time high of 3.3%. As HHS secretary, Kennedy could replace members of the ACIP with anti-vaccine advocates who make recommendations that the CDC approves, Reiss speculated. Alternatively, Weldon, as the CDC director, could reject any ACIP recommendations that the administration disapproves of. “If they do that, states are a lot less likely to follow the guidance, or it could be fractured along political lines,” she said, with Democratic states still following ACIP’s recommended vaccines. It also has important implications for insurance coverage: Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies have to cover vaccines recommended by the ACIP. “If the committee makes a different recommendation and doesn’t recommend some vaccines, insurance companies don’t have to cover them,” Reiss said. “They may cover them. They’ve covered vaccines before the Affordable Care Act as well, but it’s up to the good of their heart at that point.” Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and a frequent target of anti-vaccine activists, said the CDC is vital as the U.S. has “some very serious infectious disease and pandemic threats looming." “We’ve got H5N1 accelerating in birds, in poultry and in cattle , and that’s got to be an all-hands-on-deck starting Jan. 20,” Hotez said. “Now, we’ve got a fivefold rise in pertussis over the last year, these measles outbreaks." Cases of pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough , in the U.S. are at the highest levels in a decade, according to CDC data. A recent report from the World Health Organization and the CDC found that cases of measles rose in 2023 to 10.3 million globally. More than 100,000 people around the world died from measles in 2023, mostly children under 5. “Who’s going to manage this?” Hotez asked.
The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) and Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) of Brazil, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance private sector development in fertiliser production, hybrid seed technology, and agricultural finance. The MoU was signed on behalf of Nigeria by the Permanent Secretary of FMAFS, Mr Temitope Fashedemi, and the President of FGV, Professor Carlos Ivan Simonsen Leal, at FGV Headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. According to a statement by the director information and public relations, State House, Abiodun Oladunjoye, the agreement marked a new phase of strategic collaboration between Nigeria and FGV, the Green Imperative Project (GIP) lead implementer, one of the largest international agricultural technology transfer initiatives. Conceived in 2018, GIP is a 1.2 billion dollar cooperative effort between Brazil and Nigeria, designed to modernise Nigeria’s agricultural sector through Brazilian expertise in tropical agriculture. Since the MoU was conceived in 2018, both parties have engaged in many meaningful discussions to advance its design and implementation. The project, supported by Deutsche Bank, aims to deliver transformative agricultural technologies and knowledge transfer over its 10-year duration. According to the statement “over the next five years, the project will identify and support one agribusiness in Nigeria’s 774 local government areas with technical and financial resources, driving sustainable development and economic growth. “This partnership paves the way for Brazil to engage with Nigeria’s dynamic and rapidly growing agricultural sector. Together with FGV, we are poised to unlock the potential of private sector investment in key areas critical to our food security,” Fashedemi said at the signing ceremony. Under the MoU, private-sector projects on fertiliser production, hybrid seed technology and agricultural financing are projected to attract $4.3 billion in private-sector investment. Senior members of Nigeria’s presidency, officials of FMAFS and FGV’s leadership attended the signing ceremony.NEW YORK (AP) — No ex-president had a more prolific and diverse publishing career than Jimmy Carter . His more than two dozen books included nonfiction, poetry, fiction, religious meditations and a children’s story. His memoir “An Hour Before Daylight” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2002, while his 2006 best-seller “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” stirred a fierce debate by likening Israel’s policies in the West Bank to the brutal South African system of racial segregation. And just before his 100th birthday, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation honored him with a lifetime achievement award for how he wielded “the power of the written word to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding.” In one recent work, “A Full Life,” Carter observed that he “enjoyed writing” and that his books “provided a much-needed source of income.” But some projects were easier than others. “Everything to Gain,” a 1987 collaboration with his wife, Rosalynn, turned into the “worst threat we ever experienced in our marriage,” an intractable standoff for the facilitator of the Camp David accords and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. According to Carter, Rosalynn was a meticulous author who considered “the resulting sentences as though they have come down from Mount Sinai, carved into stone.” Their memories differed on various events and they fell into “constant arguments.” They were ready to abandon the book and return the advance, until their editor persuaded them to simply divide any disputed passages between them. “In the book, each of these paragraphs is identified by a ‘J’ or an ‘R,’ and our marriage survived,” he wrote. Here is a partial list of books by Carter: “Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President” “The Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle East” (With Rosalynn Carter) “Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life” “An Outdoor Journal: Adventures and Reflections” “Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age” “Always a Reckoning, and Other Poems” (With daughter Amy Carter) “The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer” “Living Faith” “The Virtues of Aging” “An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood” “Christmas in Plains: Memories” “The Hornet’s Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War” “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis” “Faith & Freedom: The Christian Challenge for the World” “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” “A Remarkable Mother” “Beyond the White House” “We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work” “White House Diary” “NIV Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter” “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power” “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety”
With nearly all of the votes counted, left-leaning Mr Milanovic won 49% while his main challenger Dragan Primorac, a candidate of the ruling conservative HDZ party, trailed far behind with 19%. Pre-election polls had predicted that the two would face off in the second round on January 12, as none of the eight presidential election contenders were projected to get more than 50% of the vote. Mr Milanovic thanked his supporters but warned that “this was just a first run”. “Let’s not be triumphant, let’s be realistic, firmly on the ground,” he said. “We must fight all over again. It’s not over till it’s over.” Mr Milanovic, the most popular politician in Croatia, has served as prime minister in the past. Populist in style, the 58-year-old has been a fierce critic of current Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and continuous sparring between the two has been a recent hallmark of Croatia’s political scene. Mr Plenkovic has sought to portray the vote as one about Croatia’s future in the EU and Nato. He has labelled Mr Milanovic “pro-Russian” and a threat to Croatia’s international standing. “The difference between him (Mr Primorac) and Milanovic is quite simple: Milanovic is leading us East, Primorac is leading us West,” he said. Though the presidency is largely ceremonial in Croatia, an elected president holds political authority and acts as the supreme commander of the military. Mr Milanovic has criticised the Nato and European Union support for Ukraine and has often insisted that Croatia should not take sides. He has said Croatia should stay away from global disputes, thought it is a member of both Nato and the EU. Mr Milanovic has also blocked Croatia’s participation in a Nato-led training mission for Ukraine, declaring that “no Croatian soldier will take part in somebody else’s war”. His main rival in the election, Mr Primorac, has stated that “Croatia’s place is in the West, not the East”. However, his bid for the presidency has been marred by a high-level corruption case that landed Croatia’s health minister in jail last month and which featured prominently in pre-election debates. Trailing a distant third in the pre-election polls is Marija Selak Raspudic, a conservative independent candidate. She has focused her election campaign on the economic troubles of ordinary citizens, corruption and issues such as population decline in the country of some 3.8 million. Sunday’s presidential election is Croatia’s third vote this year, following a snap parliamentary election in April and the European Parliament balloting in June.