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Lucid Group, Inc. LCID shares are trading higher Friday after the company announced that commenced production of its second vehicle , the Gravity SUV. What To Know: On social media, Lucid Group posted a video of CEO Peter Rawlinson driving the Gravity SUV within the factory. Lucid described the start of production as a significant milestone and noted the efforts of its team in bringing the vehicle to market. Lucid recently began taking orders for the Gravity, starting with the Grand Touring trim priced at $94,900. Production for the lower-priced Touring trim, starting at $79,900, is scheduled to begin in late 2025. The Gravity is positioned to compete directly with Tesla Inc .'s TSLA Model X, which is similarly priced at $79,990 for the base model and $94,990 for the premium Plaid trim. According to Rawlinson, the Gravity enters a market six times larger than Lucid's first vehicle, the Air sedan. Rawlinson has stated that the SUV is designed to offer a more traditional three-row SUV experience compared to the Model X, which he described as “car-like.” Lucid has also indicated plans to produce a midsized platform priced at approximately $48,000 by late 2026, targeting Tesla's mass-market offerings, the Model 3 and Model Y. Despite these expansion efforts, Lucid continues to operate at a loss. The company reported an adjusted loss of 28 cents per share for the third quarter of 2024. Lucid shares have declined nearly 50% year-to-date. Analysts have given the stock a consensus "Neutral" rating, with price targets ranging from $2 to $12. The average price target from recent analyst ratings stands at $3.33, implying a potential 59% upside from current levels. LCID Price Action: Lucid Group shares were up 7.89% at $2.255 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro. Read Next: Tech Stocks Rise; Meta Rallies As Court Upholds Tiktok Ban; Bitcoin Roars Above $101,000: What’s Driving Markets Friday? Image Via Shutterstock. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Article content Re: Joseph Charbonneau’s letter (Nov. 22) on the costly and unsanitary grocery bag program forced upon us by our municipal leaders. I was recently down in the USA, down there they put your groceries in clean sanitary plastic bags at no charge and if you buy a drink in a restaurant or movie theatre etc., you get a plastic straw that doesn’t go soggy and become useless before you’ve finished your drink. The studies are clear that plastic waste from North America is not polluting the oceans and killing sea turtles. We need a return to common sense at all levels of government in Canada. Stamp of disapproval Here we go again with the CUPW going on strike during the busy Christmas period. The union may have found their niche. Shut things down, shout their bravado and wait until the government orders them back to work and get a union-friendly arbitration decision that gives them most of what they want. Canada Post is unable to afford these people as it is. The post office needs a new sustainable model. They get the job done Like them or not, leaders like Donald Trump and Javier Milei, of Argentina, know what it takes to get a country on its feet. It means getting rid of wasteful spending and outrageously bloated government bureaucracy. It means stopping woke virtue signalling, political correctness and gaslighting. It also means calling out biased mainstream media. Short-term gain, then pain So, Trudeau is going to pause the GST on select goods and give us back some of our money. This is good news. Only wish it was longer than eight weeks with a permanent reduction in GST. This pause will cost the government $1.7 billion. Given that business taxes are passed on to consumers, the government has only one major revenue stream and that’s us taxpayers. So where do you think this $1.7-billion revenue loss is going to come from? You guessed it, all us taxpayers. Do you have an opinion on the news of the day? or emailNone
‘World at dawn of third nuclear age’, armed forces chief warnsPresident-elect Donald Trump on Friday offered a public show of support for Pete Hegseth, his embattled choice to lead the Defense Department, whose confirmation by the Senate is in doubt as he faces questions over allegations of excessive drinking, sexual assault and his views on women in combat. Hegseth, a former Fox News Host, Army National Guard major and combat veteran, spent much of the week on Capitol Hill trying to salvage his Cabinet nomination and privately reassure Republican senators that he is fit to lead Trump’s Pentagon. “Pete Hegseth is doing very well,” Trump posted on his social media site. “He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense." The president added that "Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!” The pitched nomination battle over Hegseth is emerging as not only as a debate about the best person to lead the Pentagon, but an inflection point for a MAGA movement that appears to be relishing a public fight over its hardline push for a more masculine military and an end to the “woke-ism" of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Trump’s allies are forcefully rallying around the embattled Hegseth – the Heritage Foundation’s political arm is promising to spend $1 million to shore up his nomination – as he vows to stay in the fight, as long as the president-elect wants him to. “We’re going to earn those votes,” Hegseth said on Capitol Hill this week. “As long as Donald Trump wants me in this fight, I’m going to be standing right here.” The effort quickly become a test of Trump’s clout and of how far loyalty for the president-elect goes with Republican senators who have concerns about his nominees. Two of Trump's other choices have stepped aside as they faced intense scrutiny: former congressman Matt Gaetz, his first choice for attorney general; and Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff who was Trump’s first choice to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration. The president's son Donald J. Trump Jr, also made a show of support for Hegseth on Friday, part of a full-court MAGA press. “If you’re a GOP Senator who voted for Lloyd Austin, but criticize @PeteHegseth, then maybe you’re in the wrong political party!” he wrote on X. referring to Biden's defense secretary. Hegseth has promised not to drink on the job and told lawmakers he never engaged in sexual misconduct, even as his professional views on female troops have also come under intensifying scrutiny. He said as recently as last month that women “straight up” should not serve in combat. He picked up one important endorsement from Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, whose support was seen as a potentially powerful counterweight to the cooler reception Hegseth had received from Sen. Joni Ernst, herself a former Army National Guard lieutenant colonel. “Huge. Thanks to Katie for her leadership,” Vice President-elect JD Vance posted on social media. Ernst, who is also a sexual assault survivor, stopped short of an endorsement after her meeting with Hegseth this week. She said she appreciates his military service and they “had a frank and thorough conversation.” On Friday, Trump put out the statement in response to coverage saying he had lost faith in Hegseth, according to a person familiar with his thinking who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. The president-elect and his team have been pleased to see Hegseth putting up a fight and his performance this week reiterates why he was chosen, the person said. They believe he can still be confirmed. If Hegseth goes down, Trump's team believes the defeat would empower others to spread what they cast as “vicious lies” against every candidate Trump chooses. Still, Trump's transition team has been looking at potential replacements if Hegseth's nomination cannot move forward, including former presidential rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis plans to attend the Army-Navy football game with Trump on Dec. 14, according to a person familiar with the Florida governor’s plans who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss them before a public announcement. And DeSantis and Trump had spoken about the defense secretary post when they saw each other Tuesday at a memorial service for sheriff deputies in West Palm Beach, Florida, according people familiar with the matter who said Trump was interested in DeSantis for the post, and the governor was receptive. At the same time, DeSantis also is poised to select a replacement for the expected Senate vacancy to be created by Marco Rubio becoming secretary of state, and Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump is seen as the preferred choice by those in Trump’s orbit. Despite a weeklong push of private Capitol Hill meetings, Hegseth is facing resistance from senators as reports have emerged about his past, including the revelation that he made a settlement payment after being accused of a sexual assault that he denies. The New Yorker cited what it described as a whistleblower report and other documents about his time leading a veterans advocacy group, Concerned Veterans for America, that alleged multiple incidents of alcohol intoxication at work events, inappropriate behavior around female staffers and financial mismanagement. The New York Times obtained an email from his mother Penelope from 2018, in which she confronted him about mistreating women after he impregnated his current wife while he was married to his second wife. She went on “Fox & Friends” this week to defend her son. Trump ally Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said senators are judging “Pete for who he is today.” In many ways the increasingly pitched battle resembles the political and culture wars that exploded over Trump’s pick of Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court during his first term at the White House. Kavanaugh had also faced allegations of sexual assault that he strenuously denied, but Republicans rallied to his side and turned a tide of opposition into a more sympathetic view of the Supreme Court nominee as the victim of a liberal-led smear campaign. He eventually won confirmation. While Hegseth was still fighting for votes in the Senate, he did appear to make incremental progress with some Republicans who had expressed concerns about the reports of his drinking, in particular. “I’m not going to make any decision regarding Pete Hegseth’s nomination based on anonymous sources,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer said of the allegations against Hegseth, “I have no reason to doubt him any more than believe somebody else.” Still, Cramer indicated he could still change his mind. A background check “will be informative.” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said after meeting with Hegseth that he wanted to see how he does in a hearing but “he went a long way” toward getting his support. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price in New York, Adriana Gomez Licon in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and Mary Clare Jalonick, Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.Attorneys for election workers that defamed wrote a scathing letter accusing the former mayor of launching a crusade meant to “to obstruct and intimidate” them as they try to recover his assets. In a Friday to a federal judge, Michael Gottlieb, a lawyer representing election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, accused of orchestrating a “public relations campaign” meant to stop the women from Last December, Giuliani was ordered to pay Freeman and Moss nearly $150 million after a court found he defamed them by falsely claiming they manipulated election results in 2020. The decision led ’s disgraced attorney to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which has since been . The mother-daughter duo are now what they are owed. But a barrage of recent court filings, including Giuliani’s attempts to appeal, reveal a weeks-long legal battle that the women argue is the former mayor’s attempts to delay, block or obstruct them from collecting what he has been ordered to turn over. Both Giuliani’s new lawyer and those in his inner circle have argued that the former mayor was wronged and have set out on a mission “designed to interfere” with the women’s “efforts to perform their duties by attacking the underlying judgment,” the letter said. Joey Cammarata, who is representing Giuliani after his previous legal team , held a press conference on Wednesday outside of the offices of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, the firm representing the election workers, where he “launched a variety of attacks” against this case, Gottlieb wrote. There, Cammarata called the court-ordered turnover of Giuliani’s belongings a “seek and destroy mission of America’s mayor.” “We will not relent,” he said. “They are doing everything they can to stop Mr. Giuliani from having a formidable defense. We are not going to allow it. ... This firm is doing everything in its power to break an 80-year-old patriot to its country, an American who did so many great things for us.” This rhetoric was also echoed on social media, where the hashtag “IStandWithRudy” started trending, according to lawyers for the election workers. The online campaign was meant to interfere with the turnover efforts by “inciting members of the public to fight (whatever that means),” they wrote. Ted Goodman, used the hashtag in a voicing his opposition to the forced turnover of Giuliani’s 1980 : “I’m calling on ALL Americans to speak out against this lawfare. Shame on the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher for participating in this injustice. .” The alleged owner of the Long Island storage facility — where the former Trump lawyer is accused of hiding some items from his New York City apartment — also on X that “this is not going to happen. America has to come back real fast. Pray for , today is his day.” “The public relations campaign described above has no legal purpose — this is a turnover proceeding governed by facts and law, not a political campaign — and, instead, is an obvious attempt to obstruct and intimidate Receivers from effectuating the duties that this Court has authorized them to perform,” Gottlieb wrote. Cammarata’s “publicity stunt, reinforced by Mr. Giuliani’s social media campaign, continues Mr. Giuliani’s issues that he has conceded or stipulated to in court,” he added, seemingly referencing Giuliani’s baseless claims about the about Freeman and Moss, among other spurious statements Giuliani has made on his podcasts and to the media. Earlier this week, the election workers asked a judge in Washington, DC who had presided over their initial case to consider sanctions against Giuliani after he repeated “the exact same lies for which [he] has already been held liable, and which he agreed to be bound by court order to stop repeating” during recent livestreams. The judge required him to respond to the complaint by December 2 — or The women say they have received18 watches and a diamond ring, but they are still waiting on nine other watches and all of his “costume jewelry,” according to their letter. As for the Mercedes, they have physical possession of the vehicle, but still don’t have the deed, title, or right of ownership to the car, or any signed documents transferring its ownership, they said. The Manhattan penthouse is in the process of being transferred, but the former mayor hasn’t delivered the keys, stock, or proprietary lease for the apartment “and apparently has been unable to locate any of the underlying ownership documents,” according to the letter. And there’s been another roadblock: the penthouse remains in the names of both Giuliani and his ex-wife Judith. Attorneys said they have also struggled to obtain the contents of a storage unit in Ronkonkoma, New York, since it’s unclear what is being held there that could be turned over. The unit holds eight storage boxes, more than 20 pallets of moving boxes, and furniture, according to the letter. They are asking Giuliani to segregate his property from all property in the storage unit that they are entitled — along with a list of those items — no later than December 6. It’s unclear whether his Joe DiMaggio jersey, signed art, or sports memorabilia that he has been ordered to turn over is in that facility, the letter says. So the election workers have instructed Giuliani to provide instructions as to where to find these items before the next hearing on November 26 “or explain why he is incapable of doing so” before 3 p.m. on November 25, Gottlieb said. Invoices show that Giuliani appeared to have moved from his Manhattan apartment to the storage unit before the judge ordered him to turn over his belongings. That storage unit is under the name of , the election workers discovered earlier this month.
By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The picture of who will be in charge of executing President-elect Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration and border policies has come into sharper focus after he announced his picks to head Customs and Border Protection and also the agency tasked with deporting immigrants in the country illegally. Trump said late Thursday he was tapping Rodney Scott, a former Border Patrol chief who’s been a vocal supporter of tougher enforcement measures, for CBP commissioner. As acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Trump said he’d nominate Caleb Vitello, a career ICE official with more than 23 years in the agency who most recently has been the assistant director for firearms and tactical programs. They will work with an immigration leadership team that includes South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security ; former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement head Tom Homan as border czar ; and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff. Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Scott led during Trump’s first term, and is essentially responsible for protecting the country’s borders while facilitating trade and travel. Scott comes to the job firmly from the Border Patrol side of the house. He became an agent in 1992 and spent much of his career in San Diego. When he joined the agency, San Diego was by far the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. Traffic plummeted after the government dramatically increased enforcement there, but critics note the effort pushed people to remote parts of California and Arizona. San Diego was also where wall construction began in the 1990s, which shaped Scott’s belief that barriers work. He was named San Diego sector chief in 2017. When he was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump’s policies. “He’s well known. He does know these issues and obviously is trusted by the administration,” said Gil Kerlikowske, the CBP commissioner under the Obama administration. Kerlikowske took issue with some of Scott’s past actions, including his refusal to fall in line with a Biden administration directive to stop using terms like “illegal alien” in favor of descriptions like “migrant,” and his decision as San Diego sector chief to fire tear gas into Mexico to disperse protesters. “You don’t launch projectiles into a foreign country,” Kerlikowske said. At the time Scott defended the agents’ decisions , saying they were being assaulted by “a hail of rocks.” While much of the focus of Trump’s administration may be on illegal immigration and security along the U.S.-Mexico border, Kerlikowske also stressed the importance of other parts of Customs and Border Protection’s mission. The agency is responsible for securing trade and international travel at airports, ports and land crossings around the country. Whoever runs the agency has to make sure that billions of dollars worth of trade and millions of passengers move swiftly and safely into and out of the country. And if Trump makes good on promises to ratchet up tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada, CBP will play an integral role in enforcing them. “There’s a huge amount of other responsibility on trade, on tourism, on cyber that take a significant amount of time and have a huge impact on the economy if it’s not done right,” Kerlikowske said. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda. He has appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He’s also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In a 2023 interview with The Associated Press, he advocated for a return to Trump-era immigration policies and more pressure on Mexico to enforce immigration on its side of the border.
Here’s a challenge. Using the five clues below, identify the company that is being talked about here. 1 While I carry my current corporate name only since 2008, one of my subsidiary still carries the same name under which I got incorporated in the 1920s. 2 Though I am a small-cap stock, I used to be part of all mainstream indices, including Sensex. Despite my current stock price growing 30 times to that of Covid-lows, it is still less than half the price I was trading in 2011 when I got dropped from Sensex 3 Public ownership is more than the cumulative total of promoters, FIIs and DIIs. 4 I have been a dominant player in several businesses that are fancied by investors in recent years. While my annual operating revenues from such businesses are more than twice my market capitalisation, it’s difficult to ascertain the liabilities. 5 I now have an independent board, thanks to regulatory intervention and not due to the high corporate governance intent of the promoter family. Last week’s stock: Can Fin Homes Last week’s winner: Sampada Bhat Comments
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Equities researchers at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Surmodics ( NASDAQ:SRDX – Get Free Report ) in a report issued on Saturday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the stock. Separately, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Surmodics in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.00. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Surmodics Surmodics Price Performance Surmodics ( NASDAQ:SRDX – Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $33.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.69 million. Surmodics had a negative net margin of 9.15% and a negative return on equity of 3.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Surmodics will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Institutional Trading of Surmodics Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Surmodics by 14.7% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Surmodics by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 865,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,385,000 after purchasing an additional 5,927 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Surmodics by 13.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Surmodics by 4,722.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 68,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 67,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Surmodics by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 58,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,464,000 after purchasing an additional 8,220 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.63% of the company’s stock. Surmodics Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) Surmodics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides performance coating technologies for intravascular medical devices, and chemical and biological components for in vitro diagnostic immunoassay tests and microarrays in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Medical Device and In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD). Read More Receive News & Ratings for Surmodics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Surmodics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Former GOP communications director Tara Setmayer said on MSNBC on Saturday that women who voted for President-elect Donald Trump need to have a "conversation with themselves" after several of his Cabinet nominees have been accused of sexual misconduct. Trump has recently faced backlash over his choice in nominees, former Representative Matt Gaetz , former Fox News host Pete Hegseth , billionaire Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr . for his upcoming administration as they have all had sexual assault allegations made against them. While Gaetz, a Florida Republican , has since withdrawn his nomination for U.S. attorney general, he faced scrutiny after he was investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for alleged involvement in sex trafficking and has been accused of allegedly engaging in sexual relations with a 17-year-old girl. The DOJ did not press charges, but the House Ethics Committee reopened its probe in 2023. Gaetz has denied these allegations. Hegseth, who served in the U.S. Army where he did tours in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan and who Trump nominated to be his defense secretary, is facing scrutiny over a sexual assault allegation in California seven years ago. A woman alleged Hegseth sexually assaulted her after he prevented her from leaving a hotel room. Hegseth said the allegations are false and that the encounter was consensual. No charges were filed against him. His attorney, Timothy Parlatore, told Newsweek on Thursday that the "police report confirms what I have said all along: that the incident was fully investigated and police found the allegations to be false, which is why no charges were filed." Musk, who has been appointed by Trump to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has also faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. In 2022, a SpaceX flight attendant accused him of exposing himself to her, the Associated Press reported. In June 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had pursued sexual relationships with several female SpaceX employees. Musk has denied these allegations and labeled them as politically motivated. Meanwhile, Kennedy Jr., who is nominated for Health and Human Services secretary, was accused of groping a babysitter in the late 1990s and faces allegations from journalist Olivia Nuzzi, who described her relationship with Kennedy Jr. as "toxic" and "crazy." Kennedy Jr. has denied these allegations. Newsweek has reached out to Gaetz, Hegseth, Musk, and Kennedy Jr. via email for comment on Saturday. In a MSNBC News' Reports appearance on Saturday, Setmayer, a former adviser to conservative anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project and an ex-Republican congressional staffer, condemned not only the nominees for their sexual misconduct allegations but Trump's leadership as she challenged women who voted for him to have a "conversation with themselves." "The fact that we're not just talking about one or two. We're talking about several people who are credibly accused of pretty significant sexual misconduct. That is abhorrent and should be embarrassing but goes to show you that it flows from the head...I challenge all of the women who voted for Donald Trump, if they're proud of this. If they can look their daughters in the eyes and say, 'Yes I voted for someone who has no regard for women, for you, respect for you, for us, or for the safety of women' because this is what they voted for," Setmayer said. She added: "It speaks volumes of who you put at the head, who you put at the top, who you represent as leaders. This is the type of leadership? I think it's disgraceful and it is embarrassing. And I think for the women who voted for Donald Trump they really need to have a conversation with themselves about if they're proud of this choice." Newsweek has also reached out to Trump's campaign via email for comment. Setmayer's remarks come after an election exit poll shows a larger percentage of unmarried women voted for Trump in this year's election than in 2020 despite a major voting gender gap predicted. Historically, more women have voted for Democrats while more men have voted for Republicans , but the gender gap was a major theme in the run-up in this year's election, with the divide predicted at one point to be the largest in history . However, a CNN exit poll shows that fewer unmarried women voted for the Democratic nominee , Vice President Kamala Harris , than in 2020, when Joe Biden was its candidate, while more voted for Trump. Some 59 percent of unmarried women cast a ballot for Harris, while 38 percent backed Trump, according to the poll, which questioned 22,914 people. In 2020, 63 percent of unmarried women backed Biden while 36 percent voted for Trump, according to the poll, which questioned 15,590 people. The exit poll follows an election in which women's issues such as abortion were a significant topic for voters and both campaigns. Abortion has been a key issue since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022, as many Republican-controlled states have put abortion restrictions into effect, with 21 states banning or restricting the medical practice at every stage of pregnancy.The London Underground changes coming to the network in 2025
Accused UnitedHealthcare CEO attacker Mangione fights New York extradition
Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams addressed the media on Friday amid the team’s five-game losing streak, sticking by his roster and expressing belief this is a team that can compete for the playoffs. "I'm going to go to war with these guys," he said. "I believe in the people in our room." The Sabres (11-12-3) have tumbled to 23rd place in the NHL, suffered the worst home loss in franchise history this past week and are looking to avoid extending the longest playoff drought in North American professional sports — currently at 13 years. Adams said he’s not panicking or going to make a move just to make one, adding Buffalo is not currently a destination city for free agents or players with no-trade clauses, but he believes that can change through winning. "You become a perennial playoff team, you make the playoffs, you have a chance to win the Stanley Cup year after year, [then] you’re on less [players'] no-trade lists," he said. “We don’t have palm trees, we have taxes in New York.” Adams added he believes the proper way to build a team's core is through drafting and developing. Regarding the struggles of players like forward Jack Quinn, 23, and defenseman Owen Power, 22, Adams reiterated that mistakes are part of a young player’s development. "I think, sometimes, especially with younger players, not that Jack’s young per se anymore, but still finding his way into the league, you have ups and downs, but you have to work with them and have to find ways to help them improve," Adams said. "Do we want [Power] to become more physically imposing and harder to play against? Yes, and there’s daily work that’s going in right now with the coaches and Owen to do that. And he wants to do that and he wants to get better." While the team is near the bottom of the league, and has roughly $7 million in cap space to make additions to the roster, Adams says he also has to be mindful of saving for the team's future. "We’re trying to build our roster out so that we're able to year-after-year compete. And if you go add an $8 million player that’s got five years left on his contract, what does that do for the next round of guys?" Adams said. When asked about the involvement of owner Terry Pegula, Adams stated he provides him with "every possible resource to win hockey games." "Terry's all in," he said. "I talk to him every day. He wants this as bad as any of us, trust me. He wants to be part of the solution with me to talk about where do we need to find success or what do we need to do to help this team." During Pegula's tenure as owner, three general managers and seven head coaches have been fired, and the team has made the playoffs once, his first year of ownership, in 2011.Liverpool FC news roundup: Slot's BIGGEST decisions & Salah contract HINT - Anfield WatchThe policies, which begin in 2025, follow more than a year of study involving medicine, science, sport physiology and gender policy law. The updated policies would rule out eligibility for Hailey Davidson, who missed qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open this year by one shot and came up short in LPGA Q-school. Davidson, who turned 32 on Tuesday, began hormone treatments when she was in her early 20s in 2015 and in 2021 underwent gender-affirming surgery, which was required under the LPGA's previous gender policy. She had won this year on a Florida mini-tour called NXXT Golf until the circuit announced in March that players had to be assigned female at birth. “Can't say I didn't see this coming,” Davidson wrote Wednesday on an Instagram story. “Banned from the Epson and the LPGA. All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.” By making it to the second stage of Q-school, Davidson would have had very limited status on the Epson Tour, the pathway to the LPGA. The LPGA and USGA say their policies were geared toward being inclusive of gender identities and expression while striving for equity in competition. The LPGA said its working group of experts advised that the effects of male puberty allowed for competitive advantages in golf compared with players who had not gone through puberty. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts “Our policy is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who announced Monday that she is resigning in January. "The policy represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organization, while preserving the fairness and competitive equity of our elite competitions.” Mike Whan, the former LPGA commissioner and now CEO of the USGA, said it developed the updated policy independently and later discovered it was similar to those used by swimming, track and field, and other sports. “It starts with competitive fairness as the North star,” Whan said in a telephone interview. “We tried not to get into politics, or state by state or any of that stuff. We just simply said, ‘Where would somebody — at least medically today — where do we believe somebody would have a competitive advantage in the field?’ And we needed to draw a line. “We needed to be able to walk into any women's event and say with confidence that nobody here has a competitive advantage based on their gender. And this policy delivers that.” The “Competitive Fairness Gender Policy” for the USGA takes effect for the 2025 championship season that starts with the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball on May 10-14. Qualifying began late this year, though there were no transgender players who took part. “Will that change in the years to come as medicine changes? Probably,” Whan said. “But I think today this stacks up.” The LPGA “Gender Policy for Competition Eligibility” would apply to the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour and qualifying for the tours. Players assigned male at birth must prove they have not experienced any part of puberty beyond the first stage or after age 12, whichever comes first, and then meet limitation standards for testosterone levels. The LPGA begins its 75th season on Jan. 30 with the Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Florida.
https://arab.news/jjmre BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed a soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said, with the caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, calling the attack “a direct bloody message rejecting all efforts to reach a ceasefire.” The attack came as top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to Lebanon. According to the Lebanese Army Command, the first adjutant, Diab Mohammed Jaafar, was killed when Israel targeted Al-Amariyeh checkpoint on the road between Tyre and the town of Naqoura. In a statement, Mikati said: “Israel’s messages rejecting a solution are ongoing, and just as it turned against the US-French call for a ceasefire in September, here it is once again responding with Lebanese blood, blatantly rejecting the solution that is being discussed.” Israeli airstrikes on Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. He called on “the countries of the world and the relevant international institutions to assume their responsibilities on the issue.” Mikati’s condemnation came amid growing concerns that the Israeli military is trying to solidify its westward incursion in the coastal town of Al-Bayada, located between Tyre and Naqoura, while facing strong resistance from the eastern side of the border area in its positions in Khiyam. Israeli forces are trying to encircle the South Litani area from both sides. Hezbollah said it “targeted a gathering of the enemy army s forces east of the city of Khiyam with a salvo of rockets,” and “a gathering of Israeli forces at the Metula site (Israel’s outlet toward Khiyam) was targeted with a volley of rockets followed by an aerial attack with a squadron of assault drones ... hitting its targets accurately.” The Israeli military said Hezbollah launched 160 projectiles toward Israel on Sunday. Sirens sounded across northern and central Israel, reaching Tel Aviv at successive intervals, forcing thousands of Israelis to head toward shelters. Footage from central Israel showed extensive material damage and fires. The Israeli military issued further warnings to residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs to evacuate, targeting Bourj Al-Barajneh and Hadath. Former Israeli minister Benny Gantz claimed that the Lebanese government “is leaving Hezbollah unchecked,” adding: “It is time to act against its assets forcefully.” These developments came during a round of discussions conducted by Borrell, high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, in Beirut with Mikati and Speaker Nabih Berry. In a statement, Borrell stressed the need for exerting pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to accept the US proposal for a ceasefire. Borrell emphasized that “the situation in the Middle East, particularly here in Beirut, presents a significant challenge to the international community. The international community cannot remain inactive in the face of these events. The absence of peace in the Middle East has reached an intolerable level, and people are dying under bombardment.” He added that two months on from his last visit to Beirut, he now views Lebanon as on the verge of collapse due to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of numerous villages, as well as airstrikes aimed at Beirut and Baalbek. He also reiterated that “the human cost is exceedingly high.” Borrell said Israeli airstrikes had claimed the lives of over 3,500 people in Lebanon, a figure three times greater than the casualties recorded in 2006. The only viable path forward, Borrell said, is an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701. Borrell praised the UNIFIL forces and confirmed the EU’s readiness to allocate €200 million ($208.3 million) to the Lebanese Armed Forces. He emphasized the Lebanese need to “assume their political responsibilities by electing a president and putting an end to this prolonged power vacuum that has exceeded two years.” Borrell said a ceasefire proposal for Gaza is pending Israeli government approval, and “we, as the international community, need to work to ensure the respect of international law, as we see famine being used as a weapon of war through international law violations, the complete siege imposed on Gaza and the number of people that are dying in Lebanon.” He added that in his view the decisions of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, for Israel’s activities in Gaza were not politically motivated and had been made under international law, which applied to everyone. “We strongly support the court,” he said.
By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The picture of who will be in charge of executing President-elect Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration and border policies has come into sharper focus after he announced his picks to head Customs and Border Protection and also the agency tasked with deporting immigrants in the country illegally. Trump said late Thursday he was tapping Rodney Scott, a former Border Patrol chief who’s been a vocal supporter of tougher enforcement measures, for CBP commissioner. As acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Trump said he’d nominate Caleb Vitello, a career ICE official with more than 23 years in the agency who most recently has been the assistant director for firearms and tactical programs. They will work with an immigration leadership team that includes South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security ; former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement head Tom Homan as border czar ; and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff. Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Scott led during Trump’s first term, and is essentially responsible for protecting the country’s borders while facilitating trade and travel. Scott comes to the job firmly from the Border Patrol side of the house. He became an agent in 1992 and spent much of his career in San Diego. When he joined the agency, San Diego was by far the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. Traffic plummeted after the government dramatically increased enforcement there, but critics note the effort pushed people to remote parts of California and Arizona. San Diego was also where wall construction began in the 1990s, which shaped Scott’s belief that barriers work. He was named San Diego sector chief in 2017. When he was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump’s policies. “He’s well known. He does know these issues and obviously is trusted by the administration,” said Gil Kerlikowske, the CBP commissioner under the Obama administration. Kerlikowske took issue with some of Scott’s past actions, including his refusal to fall in line with a Biden administration directive to stop using terms like “illegal alien” in favor of descriptions like “migrant,” and his decision as San Diego sector chief to fire tear gas into Mexico to disperse protesters. “You don’t launch projectiles into a foreign country,” Kerlikowske said. At the time Scott defended the agents’ decisions , saying they were being assaulted by “a hail of rocks.” While much of the focus of Trump’s administration may be on illegal immigration and security along the U.S.-Mexico border, Kerlikowske also stressed the importance of other parts of Customs and Border Protection’s mission. The agency is responsible for securing trade and international travel at airports, ports and land crossings around the country. Whoever runs the agency has to make sure that billions of dollars worth of trade and millions of passengers move swiftly and safely into and out of the country. And if Trump makes good on promises to ratchet up tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada, CBP will play an integral role in enforcing them. “There’s a huge amount of other responsibility on trade, on tourism, on cyber that take a significant amount of time and have a huge impact on the economy if it’s not done right,” Kerlikowske said. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda. He has appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He’s also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In a 2023 interview with The Associated Press, he advocated for a return to Trump-era immigration policies and more pressure on Mexico to enforce immigration on its side of the border.President-elect Donald Trump is filling key posts in his second administration, and it's shaping up much differently than his first. He's prioritizing loyalists for top jobs. Trump was bruised and hampered by internal squabbles during his initial term in office. Now he appears focused on remaking the federal government in his own image. Some of his choices could face difficult confirmation battles even with Republicans in control of the U.S. Senate. One candidate, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump's choice for attorney general, has withdrawn. Here's a look at whom he has selected so far. Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction . He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making the critic-turned-ally his choice for top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator once called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, another example of Trump prizing loyalty over experience. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall, and she's been accused of echoing Russian propaganda. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Hegseth, 44, was a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014. He developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth served in the Army National Guard from 2002 to 2021, deploying to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2011. He has two Bronze Stars. However, Hegseth lacks senior military and national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Bondi, 59, has been tapped by Trump to be Attorney General after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general serving between 2011 and 2019. She was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she has served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that has helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid earlier this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, Chavez-DeRemer would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Lutnick heads up the brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and is a cryptocurrency enthusiast. He is co-chair of Trump's transition operation, charged along with Linda McMahon, a former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration, with helping the president-elect build a Cabinet for his second administration. As commerce secretary, Lutnick would play a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. He would oversee a sprawling Cabinet department whose oversight ranges from funding new computer chip factories and imposing trade restrictions to releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. Noem is a well-known conservative who used her two terms as South Dakota's governor to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. More recently, Noem faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting and killing her dog. She is set to lead a department crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda as well as other missions. Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. Ratcliffe, a former U.S. House member from Texas, was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump’s first term, leading the U.S. government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. If confirmed, Ratcliffe will have held the highest intelligence positions in the U.S. Kennedy ran for president as a Democrat, then as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Trump said he will nominate Rollins to be his agriculture secretary. Rollins, 52, was his last announced pick to lead executive agencies. The Texas attorney is a longtime associate who served as Trump's domestic policy chief and director of his office of American innovation in his first term. She is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for the second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. The governor of North Dakota, once little-known outside his state, is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump and then spent months traveling to drum up support for Trump after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump initially announced his choice of Burgum while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. His formal announcement the following day said he wanted Burgum to be Interior secretary and chairman of a new National Energy Council. Burgum will also have a seat on the National Security Council, which would be a first for the Interior secretary. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. McMahon, a billionaire professional wrestling mogul, would be making a return appearance in a second Trump administration. She led the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019 during Trump’s first term and twice ran unsuccessfully in Connecticut as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University. She has expressed support for charter schools and school choice. Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration’s promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referred to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign that his administration would “drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. She has a background in Florida politics, helping Ron DeSantis win his first race for Florida governor. Six years later, she was key to Trump’s defeat of him in the 2024 Republican primary. Wiles’ hire was Trump’s first major decision as president-elect and one that could be a defining test of his incoming administration considering her close relationship with him. Wiles is said to have earned Trump’s trust in part by guiding what was the most disciplined of Trump’s three presidential campaigns. Wiles was able to help keep Trump on track as few others have, not by criticizing his impulses, but by winning his respect by demonstrating his success after taking her advice. Waltz is a three-term Republican congressman from east-central Florida. A former Army Green Beret , he served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. He led the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump's first administration and said at a conference over the summer that he would be willing to “run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for defending Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025 , a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump’s priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump’s first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump’s policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation’s economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Scavino was an adviser in all three of the president-elect's campaigns, and the transition team referred to him as one of “Trump’s longest serving and most trusted aides." He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. He previously ran Trump’s social media profile in the White House during his first administration. Blair was political director for Trump’s 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump’s economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign. Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump’s 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump's first administration, and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee's election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign. Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. During the pandemic he routinely appeared on Fox News and wrote opinion articles questioning mask for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. And he also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine. He authored “Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health.” Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serve as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. And she's contributor on Fox News. Weldon recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed the other candidate to win. He also spent many years as a Florida Congressman and weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative after cardiac arrest, state should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Huckabee has rejected a Palestinian homeland in territory occupied by Israel, calling for a so-called “one-state solution.” Stefanik is a U.S. representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. A former acting attorney general during Trump's first administration and tight end on the University of Iowa football team, Whitaker , 55, has a background in law enforcement but not in foreign policy. A fierce Trump localist, Whitaker, is also a former U.S. attorney in Iowa and served as acting attorney general between November 2018 and February 2019 without Senate confirmation, until William Barr was confirmed for the role. That was when special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference was drawing to a close. Whitaker also faced questions about his past business dealings, including his ties to an invention-promotion company that was accused of misleading consumers. A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. “In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice. “He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role.” Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz’s bid for elected office. Gaetz, 42, withdrew from consideration to become the top law enforcement officer of the United States amid fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed by the Senate. Trump had announced Gaetz as his choice for attorney general on Nov. 13, passing over more established lawyers whose names had been floated as possible contenders for the job. Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump announced him. The House Ethics Committee has been investigating an allegation that he paid for sex with a 17-year-old. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing. Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Zeke Miller, Farnoush Amiri, Lolita C. Baldor, Jill Colvin, Matthew Daly, Edith M. Lederer, Adriana Gomez Licon, Lisa Mascaro, Chris Megerian, Michelle L. Price, Will Weissert and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.I recently had my oldest grandson out blinking with a .22. Connor is 8. None of the guns I own fit him well enough to actually hunt, but there is nothing wrong with shooting a few targets at that age. It was my first time to be on the range with him, so we started out by me learning a few things about him, and him learning a few things about the rifle and what I expected of him any time he has a gun in his hand. The first thing I learned is that the right-hander is left-eyed dominant. I realized it the same way I learned my youngest son was a lefty when it came to shooting, he rested his right check on the butt stock to aim down the barrel and then leaned way over to use his left eye. Just to make sure, I put him through the diamond test where I had him make a diamond shape opening with thumb and pointer fingers, then look through it with one eye closed and then the other to see which way he saw best. Yep, he has left-handed guns in his future. With that figured out, we began to talk about the gun and how he was to handle it when he was resting, and when he was on the line shooting. Whether loaded or not, the gun was to be pointed at the ground or up in the air in a safe direction. Add to that his finger was never to be on the trigger unless he was ready to shoot. Like most kids, Connor has grown up with Nerf guns and there was never a worry about where the gun was aimed. I talked to him on occasion about how he handled the toy gun, but how serious could you take it being pointed at you? The .22 was different. In my world there is no “don’t do that again” when it comes to handling a gun, loaded or unloaded. If you are cleaning a gun and someone walks by, you make sure the barrel is pointed away from them or tilt it toward the ground. Yes, it’s a little extreme, but I have written too many stories about shooting accidents over the years. The good news is the kid got it, and not once after we first talked did I ever have to get on him about careless handling. To be honest, I was prouder of that than the shots he made. With Christmas approaching, there are going to be some kids who find their first gun under the tree. People who do not hunt probably will not agree, but I think it’s a great Christmas present for youngsters who have the hunting or competitive shooting bug. A big question for parents is probably how old is old enough to buy that first gun. My answer has always been that age is not as important as size and maturity. I do not care how old they are because if they cannot shoulder the gun properly, and are not mature enough to handle it properly and understand what hunting actually is, then maybe it is best to wait a year or so. There are a lot of youth model guns out there that might fit smaller kids, but with the exception of a .22 the light-weight, cut-down youth models often kick like the proverbial mule. The good news is that about the time a child is ready to hunt, they are old enough to take a hunter safety course. While the easiest way to take the course is online, as someone who has taken it twice with my sons, I prefer the classroom course if you can find one. Accustomed to a classroom atmosphere at school, I think young hunters are prone to pay attention and absorb more information that way. Either way, a hunter safety course is an important reinforcement on the power of a gun and safe ways to handle it, and the perfect off-season addition to the present. The final question is what gun you buy, and my answer is the best you can possibly afford, and in a gauge or caliber that not only fits the need today but is something they can grow into in the future. That said, a .410-bore shotgun is not a kid’s gun in most cases unless you want to ruin their confidence. A 20-gauge, and not a single shot, is a much better starting place. As for a rifle, there are a lot of options out there. Historically, the .243 has been the starting point, but while ammunition quality and options have improved, it can be a little light when it comes to a white-tailed buck. And if you are buying a rifle, you are probably also buying a scope. As someone once told me the scope is probably more important than the caliber, so put all the money you can into it.
Utah Hockey Club (7-9-3, in the Central Division) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (7-11-4, in the Metropolitan Division) Pittsburgh; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Penguins -111, Utah Hockey Club -109; over/under is 6.5 BOTTOM LINE: The Utah Hockey Club look to stop their three-game slide with a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pittsburgh has a 4-5-2 record in home games and a 7-11-4 record overall. The Penguins have a -28 scoring differential, with 57 total goals scored and 85 given up. Utah has a 3-5-2 record on the road and a 7-9-3 record overall. The Utah Hockey Club have a -14 scoring differential, with 49 total goals scored and 63 allowed. The teams meet Saturday for the first time this season. TOP PERFORMERS: Sidney Crosby has scored seven goals with 13 assists for the Penguins. Vasiliy Ponomarev has over the last 10 games. Nick Schmaltz has 13 assists for the Utah Hockey Club. Jaxson Stauber has scored goals over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Penguins: 3-4-3, averaging 2.2 goals, 3.6 assists, 3.4 penalties and 7.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.5 goals per game. Utah Hockey Club: 3-5-2, averaging 2.4 goals, 4.2 assists, 4.7 penalties and 14.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game. INJURIES: Penguins: None listed. Utah Hockey Club: None listed. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .