The Courageous Contract Ant Esports National Challenge Champion Crowned, Exciting Peak MomentIn conclusion, the expulsion of former Party Secretary Wu Yingjie from the CPC marks a significant step in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign in China. By holding accountable those who engage in corrupt practices and reinforcing the Party's commitment to clean governance, the CPC can build a more transparent, accountable, and trusted government that serves the best interests of the Chinese people.
Beta testing for "From The Forgotten" is set to kick off on December 20th, offering players the chance to experience the game before its official launch. This beta phase will allow developers to gather valuable feedback from the community, fine-tune gameplay mechanics, and ensure a smooth and polished gaming experience for all players. Participants in the beta test will have the opportunity to explore the game's features, test out different strategies, and engage in exhilarating matches with other players from around the world.
The highlighted “Risky Drive” label blared out from my wife’s driving history on Life360. I chuckled at my type-A personality. The ex-EMS wife is not known for being an erratic driver. I also know that she was riding her bicycle during the trip which was cataloged as a “Risky Drive.” She was getting a few miles in before dark at the Susquehanna Valley Mall parking lot. The black line that indicated her “driving” route crisscrossed and backed over itself many times around the mall building. For all who are locals, we know that the mall is unfortunately and generally rather quiet, aside from the medical facility aspects. The traffic is usually low around the building and is probably safer to ride a bike there than on the road. That the tracking app is inaccurate and fallible is commonplace. Even if the app were reliable, does it have a healthy place in our lives? In our children’s lives? What does tracking someone do to a relationship? It is common for family units to use Life360 to keep tabs on one another — particularly, when teenagers start driving. This enables parents to monitor speed and location. It is also used for parents’ peace of mind to know that their new driver made it to their destination. However, sometimes family members can go a little bit overboard in monitoring and surveilling one another. By doing that, faith and trust are removed from the child-parent relationship and placed into the technology. This holds true for any relationship in which one or all parties are keeping tabs on one another. This removes trust from the equation because you can just look at your phone to see someone’s location. Your children go to school all day. While they are there, they are on camera, observed by police officers and their usage of school laptops is monitored. That is a lot of pressure for young folks to contend with while attempting to obtain an education. The learning environment is also one of surveillance. When the school day is finally over (you remember how long a school day took when you were a kid) the children leave school and are still monitored with tracking apps, the school laptops that they use for homework and cameras in stores or the streets. They can’t escape the pressure of being watched. Not even when their long workday is done, and they just want to go home and relax. That all sounds unnecessarily stressful. Children being tracked also removes opportunities for choice and thus growth. If a child knows their parents will see where he or she are always, they do not have the chance to make a choice. The student will not have the option to blow off soccer practice or not come straight home because of being watched. The kids are not making the conscious choice to stay at practice or come right home, they just must. This robs them of the chance to make a choice, including the “right” choice. If children do not learn how to make choices while in their parents’ care they will be lost when they enter the real world. I must say that I do use Life360 almost every day to see where my loved ones are, generally as a matter of convenience. I get that. It’s helpful and can offer some piece of mind sometimes. However, depending on the type of usage among family groups and friends, the effects of Life360 can be very harmful. I’m sure we have all heard the phrase, “Trust is the foundation of a good relationship.” Tracking people is a modern way of removing that crucial component of the relationship. So, maybe next time, instead of just looking to see where your spouse or kid is on your phone, use your phone to call them and ask how their day is going. Lydia Moore lives in Selinsgrove.On the other hand, Manchester City, managed by the innovative Pep Guardiola, have been in scintillating form this season and are currently at the top of the Premier League table. With a star-studded lineup including Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, and Ruben Dias, Manchester City possess a blend of creativity, pace, and solidity that makes them a formidable opponent for any team. Guardiola's tactical acumen and his team's attacking prowess make them a force to be reckoned with in this Champions League campaign.AP News Summary at 5:06 p.m. EST
FBI says 2 Homeland Security agents in Utah sold illegal drugs for profit through informantNorthrop Grumman Corp. stock underperforms Tuesday when compared to competitors despite daily gains
The Midwest is in for a cold, costly winter if President-elect Donald Trump succeeds in imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The U.S. buys nearly all the crude oil that Canada produces, but no region depends on those imports more heavily than the Midwest, which gets more than 60% of its oil from Canada. In Minnesota and Wisconsin, the site of two major transnational pipelines, that figure is closer to 80%. At roughly 2.3 million barrels a day, the Midwest uses more Canadian crude than the rest of the U.S. combined. So it’s going to come as a shock when Republicans across the region – where victories in Wisconsin and Michigan helped propel Trump back to the White House – discover that one of his first official acts will have been to start a trade war that could send energy prices soaring. Trump said he will impose the tariffs on Inauguration Day unless the two countries curtail drug trafficking and illegal immigration at U.S. borders. As bad as that would be for the former “blue wall” states, it would be even worse for Canada. The U.S. is Canada’s most important trade partner, accounting for two-thirds of all Canadian trade. The U.S. is also Canada’s largest investor. The two nations’ economies are so intricately linked that in 2023, $3.6 billion of goods and services flowed across their borders daily. So after a series of urgent phone calls, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sprinted south for a visit to Mar-a-Lago to try to reach common ground. For his trouble, Trudeau found himself the object of ridicule. After warning the incoming president that the tariffs could wreck both countries’ economies, Trump reportedly joked that if Canada could not survive without “ripping off” the U.S., perhaps it should become the 51st state, with Trudeau as its governor. Trudeau was said to have laughed, nervously. Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who accompanied Trudeau, later told reporters in Ottawa that “the president was teasing us. It was ... in no way a serious comment.” Trudeau later said he and Trump had a productive meeting and even thanked Trump for the dinner. Trump undoubtedly was joking – at Trudeau’s expense – but he was also sending a serious message: He does not consider this a partnership of equals. He was serving notice that he is back, with all the brash aggression and seat-of-the-pants governing that marked his first term. Trudeau now is left to wonder whether he can even salvage the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that has guided mostly duty-free trade among the three countries since it was signed in 2020. Trump’s pledge to start tariffs on the first day of his presidency would appear to violate the terms of the agreement and could be a precursor to Trump attempting to renegotiate the deal. Trump’s stock-in-trade is creating chaos. It is his go-to move for gaining the upper hand in any situation: Do the unexpected. Be unpredictable. Go big. So why not threaten our closest trading partners with punitive tariffs that would wound their economies – and ours? Whatever concessions he wrings out of our partners will be declared “huge” victories. And it’s not just about the cost of oil. The tariffs would also increase the price of fruit and vegetables; the cost of natural gas; and hurt the U.S. auto sector. Michigan depends heavily on USMCA for its automotive industry. Most vehicles pass several times through the three countries, even if the final assembly is done in the U.S. Trump knows the stakes. Whether he lets on or not, he understands the concept of tariffs and their limitations. The Tax Foundation found that Trump’s first-term tariffs – many of which continued under President Joe Biden – “raised prices and reduced output and employment, producing a negative impact on the U.S. economy.” So what is Trump’s end game? On the campaign trail, Trump portrayed tariffs as a powerful cure-all that could generate enough revenue to cut taxes, bring down the deficit, pay for other programs, drive manufacturing back to the U.S., and wring concessions from foreign leaders – all at little to no cost for American consumers. Since being elected, he talks less of the huge revenues – which could only result from permanent tariffs – and seems to have settled on tariffs as a way to force foreign countries to bend to his will. His threat to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico puts the onus on those countries to reduce drug trafficking and illegal immigration at U.S. borders. It also makes them handy scapegoats should they fail to do so. The terms of success have been left undefined – another Trump tactic to keep everyone guessing. In the meantime, Midwesterners could start the Trump years by paying more to fill their gas tanks, heat their homes and fill their refrigerators. That can hardly be the outcome they expected when so many of them threw their lot in with Trump. Patricia Lopez is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. She is a former member of the editorial board at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where she also worked as a senior political editor and reporter.
Cam Carter put LSU ahead for good with a jumper 1:08 into the third overtime and the Tigers came away with a wild 109-102 win over UCF on Sunday in the third-place game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Carter's make sparked a 5-0 spurt for LSU (5-1), which mounted a ferocious second-half rally that began after Darius Johnson drilled a 3-pointer to put the Knights up 52-34 with 12:57 to play in regulation. UCF (4-2) got back within two in the third overtime, but it never found a way to draw even. Vyctorius Miller and Jordan Sears sealed the victory, combining for three buckets down low that gave the Tigers a 106-99 cushion with 17 seconds remaining. Carter was the late-game hero for LSU, scoring the final four points of regulation to forge a 70-70 tie. He also knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:19 left in the first extra session to give the Tigers a 76-75 advantage. Sears gave LSU a four-point edge with a triple of his own with 2:10 to go, but the Tigers failed to stay in front, and UCF's Keyshawn Hall kept the game going by sinking two free throws with six seconds remaining to make it 82-82. Neither team led by more than three in the second overtime, with Hall again coming to the Knights' rescue. He made two layups in the final 52 seconds of the frame to knot things at 93 and send the teams to a third OT. Few could have predicted 15 minutes of extra basketball after UCF put together a 25-3 first-half run that lifted it to a 38-18 advantage with 2:12 left until the break. LSU responded with seven unanswered points, but the Knights still led comfortably, 40-25, at intermission. Sears finished with a game-high-tying 25 points to go along with nine boards, while Jalen Reed recorded a 21-point, 13-rebound double-double for the Tigers. Carter netted 20 points, Miller had 16 and Dji Bailey chipped in 14. Johnson collected 25 points, six rebounds, eight assists and five steals for UCF. Hall totaled 21 points and 10 boards, and Jordan Ivy-Curry supplied 20 points. LSU outshot UCF 43.2 percent to 40.7 percent and had narrow advantages from behind the arc (12 made shots to 10) and the free-throw line (21-18). --Field Level Media
The U.S. Navy is transforming a costly flub into a potent weapon with the first shipborne hypersonic weapon, which is being retrofitted aboard the first of its three stealthy destroyers. The USS Zumwalt is at a Mississippi shipyard where workers have installed missile tubes that replace twin turrets from a gun system that was never activated because it was too expensive. Once the system is complete, the Zumwalt will provide a platform for conducting fast, precision strikes from greater distances, adding to the usefulness of the warship. The USS Zumwalt is seen at the Huntington Ingalls shipyard Nov. 21 in Pascagoula, Miss. “It was a costly blunder. But the Navy could take victory from the jaws of defeat here, and get some utility out of them by making them into a hypersonic platform,” said Bryan Clark, a defense analyst at the Hudson Institute. The U.S. has had several types of hypersonic weapons in development for the past two decades, but recent tests by both Russia and China have added pressure to the U.S. military to hasten their production. Hypersonic weapons travel beyond Mach 5, five times the speed of sound, with added maneuverability making them harder to shoot down. Last year, The Washington Post reported that among the documents leaked by former Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira was a defense department briefing that confirmed China had recently tested an intermediate-range hypersonic weapon called the DF-27. While the Pentagon previously acknowledged the weapon's development, it had not recognized its testing. One of the U.S. programs in development and planned for the Zumwalt is the “Conventional Prompt Strike." It would launch like a ballistic missile and then release a hypersonic glide vehicle that would travel at speeds seven to eight times faster than the speed of sound before hitting the target. The weapon system is being developed jointly by the Navy and Army. Each of the Zumwalt-class destroyers would be equipped with four missile tubes, each with three of the missiles for a total of 12 hypersonic weapons per ship. In choosing the Zumwalt, the Navy is attempting to add to the usefulness of a $7.5 billion warship that is considered by critics to be an expensive mistake despite serving as a test platform for multiple innovations. The USS Zumwalt is seen at the Huntington Ingalls shipyard Nov. 21 in Pascagoula, Miss. The Zumwalt was envisioned as providing land-attack capability with an Advanced Gun System with rocket-assisted projectiles to open the way for Marines to charge ashore. But the system featuring 155 mm guns hidden in stealthy turrets was canceled because each of the rocket-assisted projectiles cost between $800,000 and $1 million. Despite the stain on its reputation, the three Zumwalt-class destroyers remain the Navy’s most advanced surface warship in terms of new technologies. Those innovations include electric propulsion, an angular shape to minimize radar signature, an unconventional wave-piercing hull, automated fire and damage control and a composite deckhouse that hides radar and other sensors. The Zumwalt arrived at the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, in August 2023 and was removed from the water for the complex work of integrating the new weapon system. It is due to be undocked this week in preparation for the next round of tests and its return to the fleet, shipyard spokeswoman Kimberly Aguillard said. A U.S. hypersonic weapon was successfully tested over the summer and development of the missiles is continuing. The Navy wants to begin testing the system aboard the Zumwalt in 2027 or 2028, according to the Navy. The U.S. weapon system will come at a steep price. It would cost nearly $18 billion to buy 300 of the weapons and maintain them over 20 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Critics say there is too little bang for the buck. “This particular missile costs more than a dozen tanks. All it gets you is a precise non-nuclear explosion, some place far far away. Is it really worth the money? The answer is most of the time the missile costs much more than any target you can destroy with it,” said Loren Thompson, a longtime military analyst in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Navy intercepted Houthi missiles and drones targeting two warships and three merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden. But they provide the capability for Navy vessels to strike an enemy from a distance of thousands of kilometers — outside the range of most enemy weapons — and there is no effective defense against them, said retired Navy Rear Adm. Ray Spicer, CEO of the U.S. Naval Institute, an independent forum focusing on national security issues, and former commander of an aircraft carrier strike force. Conventional missiles that cost less aren’t much of a bargain if they are unable to reach their targets, Spicer said, adding the U.S. military really has no choice but to pursue them. “The adversary has them. We never want to be outdone,” he said. The U.S. is accelerating development because hypersonics have been identified as vital to U.S. national security with “survivable and lethal capabilities,” said James Weber, principal director for hypersonics in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies. “Fielding new capabilities that are based on hypersonic technologies is a priority for the defense department to sustain and strengthen our integrated deterrence, and to build enduring advantages,” he said. Image Credit: Jacob Lund / Shutterstock The financial challenges facing U.S. military households are a significant concern throughout the year. Holidays such as Memorial Day, Armed Forces Day, or Veterans Day highlight the ongoing struggles that service members face, particularly amid rising costs for everyday essentials. Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey shows a troubling trend: Military personnel and their families are finding it more difficult to cover basic household expenses such as food, housing, and transportation than the average American. Our analysis examines how service members are faring in today’s economy compared to civilian households, highlighting the states where military families report the greatest challenges in managing their finances. As we enter Giving Season, we’ve also highlighted meaningful ways to support service members and their families through charitable contributions, offering an opportunity to make a direct impact on those who serve our nation. Service members are struggling more financially than the average American. Image Credit: Upgraded Points According to recent Household Pulse Survey data, members of the armed services are experiencing financial strain at higher rates than the general U.S. population. Over 40% of service members report difficulty covering their usual household expenses, compared to 36.6% of all U.S. adults. The data also shows heightened anxiety among service members regarding rising prices. Nearly 80% of military personnel express stress about recent price increases, significantly higher than the 71.8% of all U.S. adults who share similar feelings. Furthermore, 81.8% of service members are concerned about future price hikes, reflecting widespread uncertainty about inflation’s long-term impact on household budgets. More than half of service members in certain states have difficulty covering basic household expenses. Image Credit: Upgraded Points Across the U.S., the financial burden on service members varies significantly from state to state, primarily influenced by local economic conditions. According to the most recent data, Utah leads with 53.7% of service members reporting difficulty covering basic household expenses, closely followed by Louisiana (52.9%) and Alaska (52.8%). Other states where over half of service members are struggling include Indiana (52.0%), Tennessee (51.2%), New York (50.8%), and Florida (50.3%). A key issue service members frequently raise is that their Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) has not kept pace with the rapidly rising cost of housing. In states where service members face the greatest financial difficulties, such as Utah, Indiana, Tennessee, and Florida, home price increases have far exceeded the national average, exacerbating the strain on household budgets. Another critical factor affecting military families is the employment challenges military spouses face. According to the Department of Defense, the military spouse unemployment rate was 21% in 2023, compared to a national rate of 3.6% that year. Many military bases are located in rural or remote areas, limiting job opportunities for spouses, particularly in specialized fields. Additionally, frequent relocations make it difficult for spouses to sustain long-term careers, especially for those in professions requiring state-specific occupational licenses that can be difficult to transfer. Service members are also more likely to report financial struggles in states with higher-than-average unemployment rates, such as Louisiana, Alaska, and New York. Conversely, the state unemployment rate is below average in 9 of the 10 states where service members report the least financial difficulty. This suggests that strong local employment opportunities, particularly for spouses, significantly ease the financial burden on military households. Photo Credit: Bumble Dee / Shutterstock One of the most impactful ways to support service members, veterans, and their families who are facing financial hardships is through donations to reputable charities. These organizations are dedicated to addressing the unique challenges faced by military families and veterans, providing vital assistance in areas like housing, medical expenses, scholarships, and career training. To help guide your generosity, we’ve compiled a list of top-rated charities based on scores from Charity Navigator , CharityWatch , and GuideStar , which assess organizations on criteria such as impact, efficiency, accountability, and transparency. Here are some of the best charities supporting military families and veterans in need: 1. USO For over 80 years, the USO has provided crucial support to active-duty service members and their families. From financial assistance programs to community-building initiatives, the USO helps service members stay connected to loved ones while addressing their most pressing needs during deployments and transitions. 2. Homes For Our Troops This charity is focused on providing specially adapted homes for severely injured post-9/11 veterans. It helps veterans regain independence. Homes For Our Troops also provides financial planning and household budgeting to ensure long-term stability for the recipients. 3. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) Dedicated to advocating for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, IAVA works to improve government policies and programs that support military families. Its advocacy ensures veterans have access to financial resources, healthcare, and education opportunities. 4. Fisher House Foundation This foundation builds “comfort homes” near military and VA medical centers, allowing families to stay free of charge while a loved one is hospitalized. By reducing travel and lodging expenses, Fisher House eases financial stress during difficult times. 5. Hope For The Warriors Offering a range of programs focused on financial stability, wellness, social support, and education, Hope For The Warriors provides critical support to service members, veterans, and their families. Its services include direct financial assistance for transitioning service members and veterans in need, career training and job placement, and scholarships for spouses. 6. Semper Fi & America’s Fund Semper Fi & America’s Fund assists wounded, ill, and injured service members and their families through direct financial assistance and case management during hospitalization and recovery. The organization also provides educational support, career assistance, and health and wellness services. 7. Wounded Warriors Family Support (WWFS) WWFS supports families of those wounded or killed in combat through programs like medical travel grants, meal and housekeeping assistance, in-home care services, and family retreats. By addressing these families' immediate and ongoing needs, WWFS alleviates the financial burdens of those suffering from recent tragic events. For more information, a detailed methodology, and complete results, see Rising Costs Hit Military Families Hard: Here’s How You Can Help on Upgraded Points . Photo Credit: Jacob Lund / Shutterstock Upgraded Points conducted the analysis using the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey Phase 4.0–4.2 , covering the period from January 9, 2024, to September 16, 2024. Service members were defined as adults currently serving in the U.S. armed forces (Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard) and their spouses. This analysis focuses on 3 key questions from the survey: Statistics with fewer than 50 survey responses were omitted from the analysis. Additional statistics on home prices were sourced from Zillow’s Home Value Index , and unemployment rates were sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates . For complete results, see Rising Costs Hit Military Families Hard: Here’s How You Can Help on Upgraded Points. Get local news delivered to your inbox!10. Damaging Public Discourse: The Daily Mail's inflammatory rhetoric and divisive language contributed to a toxic public discourse characterized by animosity and hostility. By stoking fear and prejudice through its reporting, the newspaper fueled societal divisions and hindered efforts towards dialogue and reconciliation.
Yuelingxi AI has long been at the forefront of the AI industry, consistently pushing the boundaries of what is possible through its innovative solutions. Version 2.5 of their platform is no exception, bringing a host of new features and enhancements that further solidify Yuelingxi AI's position as a leader in the field.
In addition to the content updates, the development team behind "Black Myth: Wu Kong" has worked tirelessly to address player feedback and implement various optimizations to improve overall gameplay stability and performance. From enhanced graphics and sound effects to smoother controls and improved AI behavior, the update aims to elevate the gaming experience to new heights.OTTAWA — The federal government’s long-promised mandatory gun “buyback” will be rolling out in stages after the Liberal government announced it was adding hundreds more models to the prohibited firearms list just before the program was scheduled to launch. It is a situation one industry spokesman says “makes no sense.” The federal Liberals announced on Thursday they were adding another 324 types of guns to their list of prohibited firearms, which was first announced in May 2020, when they banned some 1,500 makes and models. The total number of restricted models affected is now slightly more than 14,500, according to Public Safety Canada. A cornerstone of the government’s promise to take the guns from owners has been to provide some compensation to businesses and individuals who had purchased them legally. More than four years after it was officially promised, a spokesman said Friday marked the official opening of the first phase of the buyback program, targeting businesses and dealers who had been left holding inventory of guns that were suddenly declared illegal. They will be contacted by the RCMP and asked to register for the program. However, with the Liberals on Thursday adding hundreds of new models to the list, retailers and distributors with those models will have to wait longer. “Right now, firearms businesses will be invited to submit claims for prohibited firearms that were identified in the 2020 order-in-council,” Mathis Denis, press secretary for Public Services Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, said in a statement. “Firearms that were prohibited on December 5th will be included in early 2025 under the program and businesses will have the ability to submit a claim for these additional firearms.” The RCMP will be managing the process, Denis said. Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association president Wes Winkel says he expects the program to experience “massive delays” because the hundreds of firearms models just added to the list will have to be priced and catalogued. “I think that this is going to put large delays in it. I can’t imagine businesses wanting to do the 2020 prohibition first and then deal with these (newly prohibited models) later,” said Winkel. Compensation amounts for guns to be seized under the May 2020 order were already available, noted Gabriel Brunet, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc. The dollar figures for this week’s additions are expected to be available in January 2025, he said. When it comes time to expand the program to take firearms from individual gun owners, as the Liberals have promised to do, Brunet said their list “will include all banned guns,” and the owners would receive information in the spring about participating. The government provided an “amnesty” for businesses and gun owners holding the recently banned weapons until October 2025, having previously extended it from spring 2022, as it faced difficulties in setting up the mandatory buyback. Last year, the government tapped Winkel’s association to assist it in developing a compensation structure for retailers. Winkel, who opposes the Liberals’ efforts, said his group largely played a consulting role. He said the compensation being offered by the government for expropriating the firearms will not reflect the costs businesses have been paying to store and insure this stock for more than four years. The way the program is supposed to work is for retailers to submit a list of their prohibited inventory, Winkel said, which he believes businesses want to do all at once, not at different times depending on the date the government declared a specific model as prohibited. “I can’t imagine that they want to deal with the ... initial makes and models from 2020, and then deal with the other 300 and some that they announced (Thursday) on a separate time,’ said Winkel. “That makes no sense to me.” But LeBlanc signalled that more firearms could still be banned in the coming months, including the SKS, a popular hunting rifle, which the minister says an expert committee is studying to determine whether it should be added to the prohibited list. He acknowledged doing so would not be without controversy, given how many Indigenous hunters use them. Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the 1989 École Polytechnique shooting in Montreal, where a gunman targeting women killed 14 women and injured more, applauded the government’s decision to add more firearms to its prohibited list, which it announced on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the shooting on Friday. Ministers also touted the results of a buyback pilot project it ran with four businesses, which resulted in several dozens banned guns being destroyed. Winkel said he believes retailers may try to hold onto some prohibited stock in hopes that the party in government will change before the amnesty runs out in October 25, five days after the deadline for the next federal election. “I believe participation is going to go down dramatically.” Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to reverse the Liberals’ gun measures and often criticizes the buyback program as a waste of taxpayer money. The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates the Liberal program could cost around $750 million, depending on its design. Teri Bryant, who serves as Alberta’s chief firearms officer, panned the Liberals’ latest announcement as nothing more than “political theatre.” When it comes to the buyback program, she anticipates retailers’ willingness to participate will vary depending on factors, including how much inventory they have, as well as where they are located. In Alberta, “where firearms are a part of our heritage,” she expects many will choose to wait. While she anticipates that getting retailers on board will be less of challenge than asking gun owners themselves to hand over their firearms, Bryant says businesses with just a few prohibited guns in their inventory likely would not want to be seen as co-operating with a federal policy the vast majority of gun owners reject. Many of the retailers themselves are part of the gun-enthusiast community, she said. “They don’t want to be seen, wouldn’t want to be seen, as traitors.” National Post staylor@postmedia.com Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here . Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here .
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In the highly anticipated action-adventure game "Black Myth: Wukong," players can now experience a whole new level of immersion with the introduction of the map function. This latest update not only enhances the gameplay experience but also maintains the essence of exploration and discovery that is central to the game's world.One of the most exciting aspects of the game is the ghost battles, where players must use their weapons, gadgets, and wit to vanquish the spectral foes that stand in their way. Ghost battles are intense and fast-paced, requiring quick reflexes and strategic thinking to overcome the supernatural threats. The thrill of facing off against ghostly adversaries adds an extra layer of excitement to the gameplay, keeping players on the edge of their seats as they navigate through each haunting encounter.