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AP Sports SummaryBrief at 5:44 p.m. ESTWhy the EU is failing to capitalise on African critical minerals as China marches on
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The opposition People’s National Party’s (PNP) victories in the Aenon Town and Morant Bay divisions have delivered a blow to the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) just 72 hours before its final conference ahead of the next parliamentary election. Nonetheless, the JLP is revelling in its triumph in the by-elections for the constituencies of Trelawny Southern and St Andrew North Western. In Aenon Town in Clarendon Northern, the PNP’s Delroy Dawson, a two-time councillor who the JLP’s Majorie McLeod defeated in February this year, regained the seat for the party, finishing ahead of JLP candidate Suzette Barton by 56 votes, according to the preliminary results from the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ). McLeod’s death in September triggered the by-election. The voter turnout in Aenon Town was 46.7 per cent, higher than the 29.6 per cent national turnout for the municipal elections in February. Those results were followed by the final count in Morant Bay, St Thomas Eastern, where the PNP’s Yvonne Rosemarie Shaw defeated the JLP’s Winston Downie by 118 votes, polling 2,096 to his 1,978. The victory is the seventh for Shaw, a former mayor who has represented both major political parties. The voter turnout was 37 per cent in the division consistently won by the PNP. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT The win for the PNP comes against the backdrop of significant development in St Thomas in recent years by the Holness administration, which includes the St Thomas leg of the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project and the construction of the $6-billion Morant Bay Urban Centre. PNP President Mark Golding said the party had done the work on the ground to secure the victories, calling it a good day for democracy in Jamaica. “What this win reflects is that with the benefit of the popular support that we have nationally and the strength of our organisation on the ground and as a united political movement under my leadership, we are unstoppable,” Golding said in Aenon Town. He accused the JLP of conducting questionable activities in the division, which general secretary of the party Dr Horace Chang has dismissed as mischief. Golding lamented the absence of a political ombudsman to examine what he described as political misconduct. Further, he insisted that Prime Minister Andrew Holness announce a date for the general election due next September, arguing that the country needs a change in direction. That aside, former House Speaker Marisa Dalrymple Philibert dismissed former JLP Councillor Lloyd Gillings, securing 4,146 votes to his 1,434 in Trelawny Southern. Gillings contested as an independent candidate. The PNP did not field a candidate for the by-election. The victory for Dalrymple Philibert means a fifth term in Gordon House following her resignation in September 2023 over an unfavourable Integrity Commission report. It also validates the JLP’s decision to reselect Dalrymple Philibert as its candidate amid raised eyebrows in some quarters, and a desire by JLP protestors weeks ago to have her return. The voter turnout in Trelawny Southern was 22.2 per cent. Similarly, the JLP’s Duane Smith trounced independent candidate and former House Speaker Carl Marshall, albeit in a low-voting by-election, by 1,752 votes in St Andrew North Western. Smith tallied 1,863 votes to the 111 votes secured by Marshall, a former member of parliament who ran on a PNP ticket. The voter turnout was 6.2 per cent. Former PNP candidate Rohan Banks, who was expected to contest the election as an independent, withdrew a day before. He told The Gleaner that he had a conversation with Marshall and both agreed that it was best that only one of them moved forward. The PNP did not contest the by-election. Yesterday, Smith said he was satisfied with the victory and getting 95 per cent of the votes. “The turnout was low but as mentioned several times, it was expected to be low because people in North West St Andrew don’t take by-elections that are being uncontested by any main opposition party seriously,” he said. ‘GAME OF CHANCE’ Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Holness told The Gleaner that he has been speaking about improving the level of representation the party gives to the people, noting that it starts with candidate selection and candidate training. He said the JLP will invest heavily in its representatives’ standard setting. This, he said, will include a code of conduct and technology to improve connection with voters. Holness said he expected to win all four by-elections but noted that elections are a “game of chance”. “There is still a certain variability, uncertainty in outcomes but you mitigate that by first of all selecting good candidates. “We also ensure victory by having good organisation and what we have seen with the Jamaica Labour Party over the last 10 years is that our ability to organise has improved significantly. And I think we are essentially seeing that in the last couple of months that the party is organising and these by-elections are like the heats,” the JLP leader said. editorial@gleanerjm.com
North Carolina interviews Bill Belichick for head coaching job, AP sources say
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NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, widely regarded as the architect of India’s economic reform program and a landmark nuclear deal with the United States, has died. He was 92. Singh was admitted to New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences late Thursday after his health deteriorated due to a “sudden loss of consciousness at home,” the hospital said in a statement. “Resuscitative measures were started immediately at home. He was brought to the Medical Emergency” at 8:06 p.m., the hospital said, but “despite all efforts, he could not be revived and was declared dead at 9:51 p.m.” Singh was being treated for “age-related medical conditions,” the statement said. A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh became one of India’s longest-serving prime ministers for 10 years and leader of the Congress Party in the Parliament's Upper House, earning a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. He was chosen to fill the role in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi . But his sterling image was tainted by allegations of corruption against his ministers. Singh was reelected in 2009, but his second term as prime minister was clouded by financial scandals and corruption charges over the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This led to the Congress Party’s crushing defeat in the 2014 national election by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Narendra Modi . Singh adopted a low profile after relinquishing the post of prime minister. Prime Minister Modi, who succeeded Singh in 2014, called him one of India’s “most distinguished leaders” who rose from humble origins and left “a strong imprint on our economic policy over the years.” “As our Prime Minister, he made extensive efforts to improve people’s lives,” Modi said in a post on the social platform X. He called Singh’s interventions in Parliament as a lawmaker “insightful” and said “his wisdom and humility were always visible.” Rahul Gandhi, from the same party as Singh and the opposition leader in the lower house of the Indian Parliament, said Singh’s “deep understanding of economics inspired the nation” and that he “led India with immense wisdom and integrity.” “I have lost a mentor and guide. Millions of us who admired him will remember him with the utmost pride,” Gandhi wrote on X. The United States offered its condolences, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that Singh was “one of the greatest champions of the U.S.-India strategic partnership.” “We mourn Dr. Singh’s passing and will always remember his dedication to bringing the United States and India closer together,” Blinken said. Born on Sept. 26, 1932, in a village in the Punjab province of undivided India, Singh’s brilliant academic career took him to Cambridge University in Britain, where he earned a degree in economics in 1957. He then got his doctorate in economics from Nuffield College at Oxford University in 1962. Singh taught at Panjab University and the prestigious Delhi School of Economics before joining the Indian government in 1971 as economic advisor in the Commerce Ministry. In 1982, he became chief economic adviser to the Finance Ministry. He also served as deputy chair of the Planning Commission and governor of the Reserve Bank of India. As finance minister, Singh in 1991 instituted reforms that opened up the economy and moved India away from a socialist-patterned economy and toward a capitalist model in the face of a huge balance of payments deficit, skirting a potential economic crisis. His accolades include the 1987 Padma Vibhushan Award, India’s second-highest civilian honor; the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress in 1995; and the Asia Money Award for Finance Minister of the Year in 1993 and 1994. Singh was a member of India’s Upper House of Parliament and was leader of the opposition from 1998 to 2004 before he was named prime minister. He was the first Sikh to hold the country’s top post and made a public apology in Parliament for the 1984 Sikh Massacre in which some 3,000 Sikhs were killed after then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by Sikh bodyguards. Under Singh, India adopted a Right to Information Act in 2005 to promote accountability and transparency from government officials and bureaucrats. He was also instrumental in implementing a welfare scheme that guaranteed at least 100 paid workdays for Indian rural citizens. The coalition government he headed for a decade brought together politicians and parties with differing ideologies that were rivals in the country’s various states. In a move hailed as one of his biggest achievements apart from economic reforms, Singh ended India’s nuclear isolation by signing a deal with the U.S. that gave India access to American nuclear technology. But the deal hit his government adversely, with Communist allies withdrawing support and criticism of the agreement growing within India in 2008 when it was finalized. Singh adopted a pragmatic foreign policy approach, pursuing a peace process with nuclear rival and neighbor Pakistan. But his efforts suffered a major setback after Pakistani militants carried out a massive gun and bomb attack in Mumbai in November 2008. He also tried to end the border dispute with China, brokering a deal to reopen the Nathu La pass into Tibet, which had been closed for more than 40 years. His 1965 book, “India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth,” dealt with India’s inward-oriented trade policy. Singh is survived by his wife Gursharan Kaur and three daughters. Associated Press writer Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi contributed to this report.
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India's former prime minister Manmohan Singh, architect of economic reforms, dies at 92
North Carolina has interviewed former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick for its head coaching position, two people with knowledge of the situation said Thursday. Both people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school isn't commenting publicly on its search. Belichick's interview, first reported by Inside Carolina, comes a week after the school fired its winningest coach in College Football Hall of Famer Mack Brown. The school announced Nov. 26 that Brown wouldn't return for a seventh season in his second stint at the school, with Brown staying on to coach last weekend's rivalry loss to N.C. State. Former Cleveland Browns coach Freddie Kitchens is working as the interim coach for an upcoming bowl game as UNC conducts it search. Moving on from the 73-year-old Brown to hire the 72-year-old Belichick would mean UNC is turning to a coach who has never worked at the college level, yet had incredible NFL success alongside quarterback Tom Brady throughout most of his 24-year tenure with the Patriots that ended last season . In the time since, he had been linked to NFL jobs , notably the Atlanta Falcons in January. UNC’s opening comes at a time of rapid changes in college athletics with free player movement through the transfer portal and players able to cash in on their athletic fame with endorsement opportunities. There’s also the impending arrival of revenue sharing, part of a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement proposal that gained preliminary approval by a judge in October. “I think it's a great time for me to get out,” Brown said after Saturday's loss to the Wolfpack. “This isn't the game that I signed up for. It's changed so much.” In an UNC-produced podcast earlier this week, athletic director Bubba Cunningham said all the coaches the school is talking with about its job “are playing,” with college football having reached its conference title games before unveiling the 12-team College Football Playoff and bowl assignments. Cunningham said then that “fit” was the most important thing in finding Brown’s successor. “There's a certain person that’s best suited at the right time, at the right place,” he said. “And right now, that’s we’re looking for: Where are we today, who can lead us in the next three, five, 10 years?” Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballReverend Jesse Jackson sends plea to Biden to pardon his son the same day as Hunter reprieve