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The Telecommunications Authority of Fiji (TAF) made history at Tanoa Plaza, Suva, with the launch of its first-ever five-Year Strategic Plan (2025-2029). The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Communications Manoa Kamikamica officiated the event as chief guest, as the STRATEGIC PLAN outlined four core pillars: Regulatory Effectiveness, Service Delivery, Advocacy and Financial Sustainability. It was supported by strategic enablers focusing on People and Governance, Processes, and Technology. It aims to bridge the digital divide, stimulate innovation, and enhance Fiji’s position as the ICT hub of the Pacific. In launching the strategic plan, Mr Kamikamica said this milestone reflected TAF’s dedication to strengthening the telecommunications sector. He also said the strategic plan embodied a vision of a digitally connected Fiji, where every citizen has equitable access to technology and opportunities. “The plan’s emphasis on regulatory excellence, enhanced service delivery, advocacy for community needs, and financial sustainability is a testament to TAF’s alignment with the government’s vision of a digitally inclusive and empowered Fiji,” he said. “I am confident that TAF will collaborate effectively with key stakeholders to ensure the seamless implementation of this plan.” TAF’s chairman, David Eyre, said TAF charted a bold course towards a digitally inclusive future. “We look forward to executing this plan and being part of the transformative change, it will bring to Fiji and the Pacific. With the support of our stakeholders, TAF will turn these aspirations into measurable impacts for the people of Fiji.” TAF’s chief executive officer, Prit Chand, said they now had a clear and actionable roadmap to transform Fiji’s telecommunications sector. “This plan not only outlines our vision for a digitally connected Fiji but also ensures that every decision we make aligns with our long-term objectives. It enables us to manage resources effectively, embrace innovation, and address emerging challenges, ensuring we remain responsive and forward-thinking.” SOURCE: Telecommunications Authority of Fiji
NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) — A Louisiana civil court judge on Monday halted state agencies' plans to forcibly clear homeless encampments in New Orleans. Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Ethel Julien issued a temporary restraining order blocking state police and two other agencies from evicting homeless people from their encampments in New Orleans or seizing their property without following city laws and due process. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry had called earlier this month for the City of New Orleans to remove a large encampment before Thanksgiving and warned he would intervene if the city did not comply. “If a judge believes that people have a right to be on whatever public space they choose, maybe that judge should have them move into her chambers and courtroom," Landry said after the judge issued the restraining order Monday. Louisiana State Police spokesperson Sgt. Katharine Stegall said the agency’s legal team and the state Attorney General’s Office are reviewing the order. State police have “promptly halted activities” and are “complying with the restrictions” of the order, Stegall said. Landry and New Orleans officials have repeatedly clashed over how to address the issue of homelessness in the city. New Orleans City Councilmember Lesli Harris said Monday that directing more resources towards moving homeless people into stable housing was “infinitely more effective than punitive sweeps” of encampments. “Coordination between the government and service providers on the housing of people is imperative, and continuously moving people only makes it that much harder to house them,” Harris said. But the governor has pushed to clear homeless encampments. In late October, Louisiana State Police, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Department of Transportation and Development converged on a homeless encampment under a highway to remove and relocate dozens of people prior to pop star Taylor Swift’s concerts in the nearby Superdome. Some people who had been away at the time of the clearances returned to the area to find they had lost their personal property including family heirlooms, identification documents and medication, according to testimony in court documents. City officials and advocates for homeless people decried the evictions and said they disrupted ongoing efforts to secure long-term housing for these individuals because they became harder to locate. A judge later granted a temporary restraining order preventing more clearances but declined to extend it beyond early November after lawyers representing the state police indicated in court that removals tied to the Taylor Swift concerts had ceased. But on Friday, homeless people began receiving flyers from state police officers ordering them to leave their encampments within 24 hours, according to a motion for relief filed on behalf of two homeless plaintiffs by the Southern Poverty Law Center and two other legal groups. The planned sweeps preceded the Bayou Classic football game on Saturday between Southern University and Grambling State University at the Superdome. “Your presence is considered a violation,” the flyers stated, according to the motion for relief. However, they were halted by the new temporary restraining order. On Dec. 3, the judge is scheduled to deliberate on whether to issue a preliminary injunction against the three state agencies. “The vulnerable people with disabilities who make up the vast majority of people living in the street deserve to be treated with sensitivity and compassion,” said Joe Heeren-Mueller, director of community engagement for Unity of Greater New Orleans, a homeless outreach organization. There are about 1,450 homeless people in New Orleans and neighboring Jefferson Parish, according to a January survey by the nonprofit Unity of Greater New Orleans. The city has committed to securing housing for these individuals by the end of 2025. Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday participated in the Veer Baal Diwas programme here at Bharat Mandapam, during which he lauded the 17 children who were conferred with the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar Award in the fields of bravery, innovation, science and technology, sports and arts, and also interacted with them. Taking to X, PM Modi posted a video and wrote: "A very special interaction with those youngsters who have been conferred the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar Award. I congratulate all the youngsters awarded and also wish them the very best for their future endeavours." Addressing the gathering on the occasion of the 3rd Veer Baal Diwas, PM Modi said the government had started the Veer Baal diwas in memory of the unparalleled bravery and sacrifice of the Sahibzades. He added that this day had now become a festival of national inspiration for crores of Indians. He added this day had worked to inspire many children and youth with indomitable courage, the PMO said in a statement. The Prime Minister said that "today’s awardees symbolised the capability of the children and youth of India to excel in various fields". The Prime Minister paid his tributes to the Gurus and the brave Sahibzades on the occasion and also congratulated the awardees and their families. Recalling the sacrifice of the brave Sahibzades, PM Modi said it was imperative for today's youth to know about their saga of bravery and, therefore, it was important to recall those events too. He added that it was over three centuries ago on this day that the courageous Sahibzades had sacrificed their lives at tender ages. The Prime Minister noted that despite the tender ages of Sahib Zorawar Singh and Sahib Fateh Singh, their courage knew no bounds. PM Modi said that the Sahibzades rejected all the temptations of the Mughal Sultanate, endured all the atrocities and chose to embrace the death sentence ordered by Wazir Khan with utmost bravery. The Prime Minister said the Sahibzadas reminded him of the valor of Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Tegh Bahadur, and Guru Gobind Singh and this bravery was the spiritual strength of our faith. He added that the Sahibzadas chose to sacrifice their lives but never wavered from the path of faith. PM Modi emphasised that Veer Bal Diwas teaches us that no matter how difficult the circumstances, nothing is greater than the nation and national interest. He said: "Every act done for the country is an act of bravery and every child and youth living for the country is a Veer Balak." "This year's Veer Bal Diwas is even more special as it marks the 75th year of the establishment of the Indian Republic and our Constitution," said the Prime Minister. He emphasized that in this 75th year of Indian Constitution, every citizen of the country is drawing inspiration from the brave Sahibzadas to work for the unity and integrity of the nation. “Veer Bal Diwas fills us with inspiration and motivates us for new resolutions”, remarked the Prime Minister. Remarking that every era gave the youth of a country the opportunity to change its destiny, PM Modi highlighted that during the freedom struggle, Indian youth broke the arrogance of foreign rule and achieved their goals while today, the youth have the goal of a developed India. Veer Baal Diwas is a nationwide celebration honouring children as the foundation of India’s future. At the event, PM Modi also launched ‘Suposhit Gram Panchayat Abhiyan'. The programme aims at improving the nutritional outcomes and well-being by strengthening implementation of nutrition-related services and by ensuring active community participation. Awardees of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) were also present during the programme. (Except for the headline, this story, from a syndicated feed, has not been edited by Odishatv.in staff)The Real Reason Behind Timothy Liljegren's Trade Finally Revealed
Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb to miss remainder of season with shoulder injuryMaintaining Medicaid expansion is set to be one of the most consuming issues of the 2025 legislative session and Democrats are projecting confidence that it will get across the finish line. In a press briefing Monday, Rep. SJ Howell, D-Missoula, said there "is a clear path to getting this done" when talking about renewing Medicaid expansion. Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, echoed Howell's faith. "Continuing our current Medicaid program is the most important job we have," Howell said, adding that Democrats would like to see "continuous eligibility" to the health care program so that brief changes in income or who is living in one's household would not trigger coverage to immediately end. That said, there is already a to roll back Medicaid expansion as a whole, with those against it often arguing that the state resources put toward the health care program do not improve overall health outcomes. The program is slated to sunset in June of 2025 if the Legislature does not intervene. As of , just over 78,000 Montanans were covered by Medicaid expansion. In 2014 the federal government allowed states to extend Medicaid coverage to people who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level, which is about $21,000 a year. Across the U.S., 41 states have implemented Medicaid expansion. Montana has already renewed Medicaid expansion once since it first implemented the program in 2015. Some Democrats, like Representative-elect Jane Weber, D-Great Falls, wants to see the sunset date done away with entirely. The Republican appetite for that is likely minimal, and Democrats will need their colleagues across the aisle to get any legislation passed this session. There were some key legislative wins for Medicaid expansion backers, including two Republican state senators who won their elections in tight races who have previously said they plan to vote in favor of the program. What's more, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte's initial budget proposal includes funding for Medicaid expansion to continue as is, which Democrats took as a positive sign. That said, the governor is also in favor of work requirements being tied to the federal-state health care program. Likewise, Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, previously told the Montana State News Bureau that the real debate on Medicaid expansion will likely come down to work requirements as opposed to the program as a whole. "I think it makes sense for any social benefit program," Hertz said of the work requirements Monday. "We want them to get back into the workforce so they don't have to depend on the government." In 2019, when lawmakers in Helena last re-upped Medicaid expansion, there were work requirements tied to the bill that were never implemented. Democrats vehemently oppose work requirements being a part of Medicaid expansion eligibility, as they say and they point to the federal government's previous rejection of work requirements being a part of the health care program in Montana. "[Work requirements] are not necessary," Caferro said Monday. "They're code clutter." That said, with the new presidential administration there is renewed confidence — and Hertz — that work requirements may be easier to implement.
Jason Mackey: Jason Mackey's sports chat transcript: 12.26.24The decision was inevitable, since longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Yet it was still a momentous finale to an unprecedented chapter in political and law enforcement history, as federal officials attempted to hold accountable a former president while he was simultaneously running for another term. Trump emerges indisputably victorious, having successfully delayed the investigations through legal maneuvers and then winning reelection despite indictments that described his actions as a threat to the country's constitutional foundations. “I persevered, against all odds, and WON," Trump exulted in a post on Truth Social, his social media website. He also said that “these cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought.” The judge in the election case granted prosecutors' dismissal request. A decision in the documents case was still pending on Monday evening. The outcome makes it clear that, when it comes to a president and criminal accusations, nothing supersedes the voters' own verdict. In court filings, Smith's team emphasized that the move to end their prosecutions was not a reflection of the merit of the cases but a recognition of the legal shield that surrounds any commander in chief. “That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” prosecutors said in one of their filings. They wrote that Trump’s return to the White House “sets at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: on the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities . . . and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law.” In this situation, “the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” they concluded. Smith’s team said it was leaving intact charges against two co-defendants in the classified documents case — Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.” Steven Cheung, Trump's incoming White House communications director, said Americans “want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.” Trump has long described the investigations as politically motivated, and he has vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. Now he will start his second term free from criminal scrutiny by the government that he will lead. The election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing Trump as he tried to reclaim the White House. He was indicted for plotting to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in 2020, an effort that climaxed with his supporters' violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But the case quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House. The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial. The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence it planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden. In dismissing the case, Chutkan acknowledged prosecutors' request to do so “without prejudice,” raising the possibility that they could try to bring charges against Trump when his term is over. She wrote that is “consistent with the Government’s understanding that the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office.” But such a move may be barred by the statute of limitations, and Trump may also try to pardon himself while in office. The separate case involving classified documents had been widely seen as legally clear cut, especially because the conduct in question occurred after Trump left the White House and lost the powers of the presidency. The indictment included dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing federal efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. The case quickly became snarled by delays, with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon slow to issue rulings — which favored Trump’s strategy of pushing off deadlines in all his criminal cases — while also entertaining defense motions and arguments that experts said other judges would have dispensed with without hearings. In May, she indefinitely canceled the trial date amid a series of unresolved legal issues before dismissing the case outright two months later. Smith’s team appealed the decision, but now has given up that effort. Trump faced two other state prosecutions while running for president. One of them, a New York case involving hush money payments, resulted in a conviction on felony charges of falsifying business records. It was the first time a former president had been found guilty of a crime. The sentencing in that case is on hold as Trump's lawyers try to have the conviction dismissed before he takes office, arguing that letting the verdict stand will interfere with his presidential transition and duties. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is fighting the dismissal but has indicated that it would be open to delaying sentencing until Trump leaves office. Bragg, a Democrat, has said the solution needs to balance the obligations of the presidency with “the sanctity of the jury verdict." Trump was also indicted in Georgia along with 18 others accused of participating in a sprawling scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election there. Any trial appears unlikely there while Trump holds office. The prosecution already was on hold after an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case. Four defendants have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.
Their ages vary. But a conspicuous handful of filmmaking lions in winter, or let’s say late autumn, have given us new reasons to be grateful for their work over the decades — even for the work that didn’t quite work. Which, yes, sounds like ingratitude. But do we even want more conventional or better-behaved work from talents such as Francis Ford Coppola? Even if we’re talking about “Megalopolis” ? If Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2” gave audiences a less morally complicated courtroom drama, would that have mattered, given Warner Bros.’ butt-headed decision to plop it in less than three dozen movie theaters in the U.S.? Coppola is 85. Eastwood is 94. Paul Schrader, whose latest film “Oh, Canada” arrives this week and is well worth seeking out, is a mere 78. Based on the 2021 Russell Banks novel “Foregone,” “Oh, Canada” is the story of a documentary filmmaker, played by Richard Gere, being interviewed near the end of his cancer-shrouded final days. In the Montreal home he shares with his wife and creative partner, played by Uma Thurman, he consents to the interview by two former students of his. Gere’s character, Leonard Fife, has no little contempt for these two, whom he calls “Mr. and Mrs. Ken Burns of Canada” with subtle disdain. As we learn over the artful dodges and layers of past and present, events imagined and/or real, Fife treats the interview as a final confession from a guarded and deceptive soul. He’s also a hero to everyone in the room, famous for his anti-Vietnam war political activism, and for the Frederick Wiseman-like inflection of his own films’ interview techniques. The real-life filmmaker name-checked in “Oh, Canada” is documentarian Errol Morris, whose straight-to-the-lens framing of interview subjects was made possible by his Interrotron device. In Schrader’s adaptation, Fife doesn’t want the nominal director (Michael Imperioli, a nicely finessed embodiment of a second-rate talent with first-rate airs) in his eyeline. Rather, as he struggles with hazy, self-incriminating memories of affairs, marriages, one-offs with a friend’s wife and a tense, brief reunion with the son he never knew, Fife wants only his wife, Emma — his former Goddard College student — in this metaphoric confessional. Schrader and his editor Benjamin Rodriguez Jr. treat the memories as on-screen flashbacks spanning from 1968 to 2023. At times, Gere and Thurman appear as their decades-young selves, without any attempt to de-age them, digitally or otherwise. (Thank god, I kind of hate that stuff in any circumstance.) In other sequences from Fife’s past, Jacob Elordi portrays Fife, with sly and convincing behavioral details linking his performance to Gere’s persona. We hear frequent voiceovers spoken by Gere about having ruined his life by age 24, at least spiritually or morally. Banks’ novel is no less devoted to a dying man’s addled but ardent attempt to come clean and own up to what has terrified him the most in the mess and joy of living: Honesty. Love. Commitment. There are elements of “Oh, Canada” that soften Banks’ conception of Fife, from the parentage of Fife’s abandoned son to the specific qualities of Gere’s performance. It has been 44 years since Gere teamed with Schrader on “American Gigolo,” a movie made by a very different filmmaker with very different preoccupations of hetero male hollowness. It’s also clearly the same director at work, I think. And Gere remains a unique camera object, with a stunning mastery of filling a close-up with an unblinking stillness conveying feelings easier left behind. The musical score is pretty watery, and with Schrader you always get a few lines of tortured rhetoric interrupting the good stuff. In the end, “Oh, Canada” has an extraordinarily simple idea at its core: That of a man with a movie camera, most of his life, now on the other side of the lens. Not easy. “I can’t tell the truth unless that camera’s on!” he barks at one point. I don’t think the line from the novel made it into Schrader’s script, but it too sums up this lion-in-winter feeling of truth without triumphal Hollywood catharsis. The interview, Banks wrote, is one’s man’s “last chance to stop lying.” It’s also a “final prayer,” dramatized by the Calvinist-to-the-bone filmmaker who made sure to include that phrase in his latest devotion to final prayers and missions of redemption. “Oh, Canada” — 3 stars (out of 4) No MPA rating (some language and sexual material) Running time: 1:34 How to watch: Opens in theaters Dec. 13, running 1in Chicago Dec. 13-19 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.; siskelfilmcenter.org Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.
A mobile phone is displaying a Google search in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on January 23, 2024. (Photo by Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Google’s Year in Search for 2024 showed the top search trends over the past year. Many global search trends included recipes, movies, notable deaths and politics. Top searches in the U.S. included "election," Donald Trump, and Liam Payne. LOS ANGELES - We’ve all done it. Searching for answers to those burning questions such as how to make tanghulu or what the heck is the "mob wife aesthetic?" It’s almost like a reflex to whip your phone out and type your questions into Google. For the past two decades, Google has been showing the masses what people are typing into their search engines across the globe, and 2024 will be no exception. Take a look at what people have been searching for over the past year. RELATED: Top reads and other bookish things of 2024 Searches: Copa América UEFA European Championships ICC Men’s T20 World Cup India v. England Liam Payne Donald Trump India v. Bangladesh iPhone 16 Olympics Catherine, Princess of Wales Entertainment - movies: "Inside Out 2" "Deadpool & Wolverine" "Saltburn" "Bettlejuice Beetlejuice" "Dune: Part Two" "It Ends with Us" "Oppenheimer" "Kung Fu Panda 4" "Alien: Romulus" "Terrifier 3" Food and drink: Olympic chocolate muffins Tanghulu Tini’s mac and cheese Mango pickle Dubai chocolate bar Dense bean salad Chia water Sleepy girl Lemon balm Viral cucumber salad Searches: Election Donald Trump Connections New York Yankees Kamala Harris Copa América Hurricane Milton tracker Olympic medal count Toby Keith Liam Payne Aesthetic Some other stand-out search trends that were unique to the United States included searches for certain aesthetics, including "Brat aesthetic," "Nancy Meyers aesthetic" and "airport tray aesthetic." The aesthetic trend is based on people who are searching for a type of "look" to mimic, whether it’s through makeup or fashion or even their home decor. Pickle recipes Another stand-out search for Americans were pickle recipes. Some of the top searches included "dill pickle bread" and "pickle Dr. Pepper." You can find more country-specific lists, and trends from years past, through Google’s "Year in Search" data published online . The California company said it collected 2024 search results from Jan. 1 through Nov. 23 of this year. As 2024 draws to a close, take a look at some other year-end round-ups including feel-good and heartwarming things that happened in the past year, the most iconic memes and the words of the year. Information for this article was gathered from Google’s Year in Search website and previous reporting from LiveNOW from FOX. This story was reported from Los Angeles.