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BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Aston Villa says it has failed in an attempt to have Jhon Duran’s red card at Newcastle overturned on appeal. The 21-year-old Colombia international was sent off 32 minutes into a 3-0 defeat in the Premier League at St. James’ Park on Thursday after appearing to stamp on defender Fabian Schar, prompting a furious reaction from Villa head coach Unai Emery, who later indicated that the club would appeal. However, Villa said Friday night that its bid was unsuccessful and the forward will now serve a three-match ban for violent conduct. “Aston Villa can confirm that our decision to appeal Jhon Duran’s red card in our match with Newcastle United has been rejected," a statement on Villa’s official X account read. "The player will now miss our next three matches.” Duran will miss Premier League games against Brighton and Leicester, followed by Villa's FA Cup third-round match with West Ham on Jan. 10. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerThe NYE celebration that could land you in jail
After a far-right pro-Russia candidate secured a surprise lead in Romania's presidential election Monday, the eastern European NATO member is bracing for a high-stakes parliamentary vote on Sunday, amid fears it could bring about a strategic shift in the country. Calin Georgescu was in pole position with almost 23 percent after the first round of voting, a political earthquake in the country of 19 million people that has so far resisted nationalist appeals that have gained traction in Hungary and Slovakia. His victory ahead of centre-right mayor Elena Lasconi -- who scored 19.18 percent -- ended the hopes of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu to compete for the presidency in the December runoff. After coming third at 19.15, Ciolacu said his Social Democratic Party (PSD) won't challenge the narrow result, and announced his resignation as party leader. Experts say the far right's surprise success could affect the parliamentary elections later this week, and even influence the chances of forming a future government. In the runoff ballot on December 8, Lasconi will face Georgescu, a NATO critic who in the past expressed his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Georgescu's popularity surged ahead of the vote with a viral TikTok campaign calling for an end to aid for Ukraine, which shares a 650-kilometre (400-mile) border with Romania. In a first reaction on his YouTube channel, the 62-year-old independent candidate insisted "there is no East or West", stressing that neutrality was "absolutely necessary". "I am not an extremist, I am not a fascist -- I am a Romanian who loves his country," he said in reference to media reports that "tried to portray" him in a wrongful way. For his rival Lasconi, the upcoming runoff represents "an existential battle", "a historic confrontation" between those who wish to "preserve Romania's young democracy" and those who want to "return to the Russian sphere of influence". "We must not allow anger to throw us back into the past," she said to thunderous applause from her supporters, vowing to stand up for Europe and NATO. The political earthquake comes amid soaring inflation and mounting fears of Romania being potentially dragged into Russia's war in neighbouring Ukraine, as the country has emerged as a key player on the alliance's eastern flank. In Sunday's vote, another far-right contender, AUR party leader George Simion, secured nearly 14 percent. Already pounding the campaign trail for this week's parliamentary elections, Simion said Romania now has "the chance to have a sovereign government and a sovereign president". Overall, the far right won more than a third of all votes in Sunday's presidential ballot. "The far right is by far the big winner of this election," political scientist Cristian Pirvulescu told AFP, predicting a possible "contagion effect" in the parliamentary vote. Extremist forces and Lasconi's centre-right party now have "wind in their sails", sociologist Gelu Duminica said, though "it remains to be seen if they know how to capitalise" on it. The PSD, which has shaped the country's politics for more than three decades, has never before been eliminated in the first round of a presidential election. The National Liberal Party (PNL) party, with whom the PSD currently governs, also suffered a defeat. While many expressed their disbelief over the poll in the streets of the capital Bucharest, others were enthused. Maria Chis, 70, said she was surprised by Georgescu's lead in the first round but had been impressed after watching his TikTok videos. "He seems a man of integrity, serious and patriotic. He inspires seriousness. I think only someone like him can bring change," said the pensioner, who was planning to vote for him in the second round. Alex Tudose, the owner of a construction company, was gloomy. "There is sorrow, disappointment, that after so many years in Euro-Atlantic structures we voted for a pro-Russian by over 20 percent," the 42-year-old said. "There is clearly a strong fragmentation both in society and in the political class, and I think we saw that yesterday," he said. ani-anb-kym/sbkThe tragic death of Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI researcher and whistleblower, has taken a new turn. Balaji’s mother has alleged that her son’s death was not a suicide, as ruled by the authorities, but a "cold-blooded murder." Balaji’s mother revealed that the family had hired a private investigator and conducted a second autopsy. The tragic death of Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI researcher and whistleblower, has taken a new turn. Balaji’s mother, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), has alleged that her son’s death was not a suicide, as ruled by the authorities, but a “cold-blooded murder.” Her claims have added fuel to the ongoing controversy surrounding Balaji’s passing, with prominent voices like Elon Musk stepping in to express doubts about the official narrative. In her post, Balaji’s mother revealed that the family had hired a private investigator and conducted a second autopsy, which contradicted the police’s findings. She highlighted unsettling details, including signs of a struggle in Balaji’s apartment and blood spots in the bathroom. Also read: OpenAI finally breaks on Suchir Balaji’s death: Here is the full statement Mother’s allegations against the police’s ruling Balaji’s mother took to X to share her findings, stating: “We hired private investigator and did second autopsy to throw light on cause of death. Private autopsy doesn’t confirm cause of death stated by police. Suchir’s apartment was ransacked, sign of struggle in the bathroom and looks like some one hit him in bathroom based on blood spots. It’s a cold blooded mu*d*r declared by authorities as suicide. Lobbying in SF city doesn’t stop us from getting justices. We demand FBi investigation” Her allegations paint a chilling picture, raising questions about the initial investigation and the circumstances surrounding Balaji’s death. Elon Musk, known for his candid opinions on X, commented on the post, stating: “This doesn’t seem like a suicide.” Also read: OpenAI Whistleblower Suchir Balaji found dead in San Francisco apartment Suchir Balaji’s death already sparked debates about the challenges faced by whistleblowers and the ethical concerns in AI development. With these new allegations, the case has taken a darker turn, raising questions about transparency and accountability in investigations involving high-profile individuals. The family’s demand for an FBI investigation, coupled with Musk’s support, could put pressure on authorities to re-examine the case. Tech news writer by day, BGMI player by night. Combining my passion for tech and gaming to bring you the latest in both worlds. View Full Profile
Kellen Moore Wants To Make A Change To The Eagles Offense
Metro Vancouver has removed more than 50 tonnes of fatbergs — chunks of hardened grease — from the sewer system in Richmond since July. This is the first time the regional utility corporation has seen the problem "to this scale," according to Dana Zheng, program manager of source control planning and management at Metro Vancouver Zheng explained large amounts of fatbergs in the sewer system normally happen in high-density areas. "Richmond, in particular, has always been a bit of a hotspot for grease issues and that's a combination of the ... high number of restaurants in the area as well as it is very flat in Richmond," she said. "Wastewater then tends to sit in the pipes, which gives it that extra time for grease to harden and line our sewer mains." Hardened grease comes from dairy products, margarine, gravy, cooking oils, salad dressing, mayonnaise and even animal fats that are poured down the drain or flushed down the toilet. Clogged pipes due to fatbergs damage infrastructure, reduce capacity for wastewater and can lead to sewer backups into homes, and businesses as well as into the environment. UBC's newest food innovation centre was named after the owner of a Richmond-based food company who arrived in Canada in 1979 as an 18-year-old refugee from Vietnam. Dan On, founder of Dan-D Foods Ltd. and the Dan On Foundation, donated $7 million to fund the construction of UBC's Food and Beverage Innovation Centre . In recognition of his donation to UBC's Faculty of Land and Food Systems, the post-secondary institution is naming the facility the Dan On Food and Beverage Innovation Centre. The centre will have three research bays for lease to small and mid-sized companies with access to kitchen spaces to develop food products. It also includes a processing lab equipped with high-pressure processing, microwave-vacuum dehydration, individual quick freezing, fluid extraction and fermentation capability technologies. A family-owned fabric store beloved by Richmond sewers closed this year after more than five decades in the community. "All fabrics must go," "final markdowns" and "Richmond location closing. All sales final" were some of the colourful signs spotted in Fabricana's Richmond location in early March. Irene Collingwood, store manager, told the Richmond News employees learned of the closure four months earlier, and everyone decided to stay on board until the end. "Everybody's here till the ship goes down," she said. Collingwood, who has worked at Fabricana for 15 years, said all employees are long-term hires, with the longest tenure being 25 years. "We are such a cohesive family here," she said. "We've always taken pride in our store being organized and all that.... the family is what we're gonna miss a lot. And the customers are our family as well." 📣 Got an opinion on this story or any others in Richmond? Send us a letter or email your thoughts or story tips to [email protected] . 📲 To stay updated on Richmond news, sign up for our daily headline newsletter . 💬 Words missing in article? Your adblocker might be preventing hyperlinked text from appearing.
Canada Carbon Inc. ( CVE:CCB – Get Free Report )’s stock price traded down 33.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as C$0.01 and last traded at C$0.01. 859,726 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 283% from the average session volume of 224,190 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.02. Canada Carbon Trading Down 33.3 % The company has a market capitalization of C$2.05 million, a PE ratio of -1.00 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$0.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$0.02. About Canada Carbon ( Get Free Report ) Canada Carbon Inc engages in the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of natural resource properties in Canada. The company primarily explores for graphite deposits. It holds interests in the Miller property that covers an area of approximately 100 square kilometers located to the west of Montreal in the Grenville Township; and the Asbury Graphite property, which includes 22 claims covering an area of approximately 1,205.9 hectares located in the Laurentides region of southern Quebec. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Canada Carbon Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canada Carbon and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .The Reform UK leader pushed back against reports suggesting that legal action would be the next step, saying he would make a decision in the next couple of days about his response if there is no apology for the “crazy conspiracy theory”. Mr Farage also said the party has “opened up our systems” to media outlets, including The Daily Telegraph and The Financial Times, in the interests of “full transparency to verify that our numbers are correct”. His remarks came after Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accused Mr Farage of “fakery” in response to Reform claiming they had surpassed the Tories in signed-up members. Mrs Badenoch said Reform’s counter was “coded to tick up automatically”. A digital counter on the Reform website showed a membership tally before lunchtime on Boxing Day ticking past the 131,680 figure declared by the Conservative Party during its leadership election earlier this year. Mr Farage, on whether he was threatening legal action or not, told the PA news agency: “I haven’t threatened anything. I’ve just said that unless I get an apology, I will take some action. “I haven’t said whether it’s legal or anything.” He added: “All I’ve said is I want an apology. If I don’t get an apology, I will take action. “I will decide in the next couple of days what that is. So I’ve not specified what it is.” Mr Farage, on the move to make membership data available to media organisations, said: “We feel our arguments are fully validated. “She (Mrs Badenoch) has put out this crazy conspiracy theory and she needs to apologise.” The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful. Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News & FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct. I am now demanding @KemiBadenoch apologises. — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) December 27, 2024 On why Mrs Badenoch had reacted as she did, Mr Farage said: “I would imagine she was at home without anybody advising her and was just angry.” Mr Farage, in a statement issued on social media site X, also said: “The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful. “Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News and FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct. “I am now demanding Kemi Badenoch apologises.” A Conservative Party source claimed Mr Farage was “rattled” that his Boxing Day “publicity stunt is facing serious questions”. They added: “Like most normal people around the UK, Kemi is enjoying Christmas with her family and looking forward to taking on the challenges of renewing the Conservative Party in the New Year.” Mrs Badenoch, in a series of messages posted on X on Thursday, said: “Farage doesn’t understand the digital age. This kind of fakery gets found out pretty quickly, although not before many are fooled.” There were 131,680 Conservative members eligible to vote during the party’s leadership election to replace Rishi Sunak in the autumn. Mrs Badenoch claimed in her thread that “the Conservative Party has gained thousands of new members since the leadership election”. Elsewhere, Mr Farage described Elon Musk as a “bloody hero” and said he believes the US billionaire can help attract younger voters to Reform. Tech entrepreneur Mr Musk met Mr Farage earlier this month at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, amid rumours of a possible donation to either Mr Farage or Reform. Mr Farage told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: “The shades, the bomber jacket, the whole vibe. Elon makes us cool – Elon is a huge help to us with the young generation, and that will be the case going on and, frankly, that’s only just starting. “Reform only wins the next election if it gets the youth vote. The youth vote is the key. Of course, you need voters of all ages, but if you get a wave of youth enthusiasm you can change everything. “And I think we’re beginning to get into that zone – we were anyway, but Elon makes the whole task much, much easier. And the idea that politics can be cool, politics can be fun, politics can be real – Elon helps us with that mission enormously.”None
Farage: Badenoch must apologise for ‘crazy conspiracy theory’ on Reform numbers
Farage: Badenoch must apologise for ‘crazy conspiracy theory’ on Reform numbers‘Failure is not an option’: Fire-torn Jasper entering new year with hope, anxietyRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina election officials won't order another recount in a close state Supreme Court race after a partial hand recount failed to suggest the trailing Republican candidate could overtake the Democratic incumbent. Following the completion of a machine recount of over 5.5 million ballots last week, Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs maintained a 734-vote lead over Republican Jefferson Griffin, who is currently a state Court of Appeals judge. Griffin then requested a partial hand recount in which randomly chosen ballots from 3% of the voting sites in all 100 counties were reexamined. The law says a statewide hand recount would have been required if the sample results differed enough so that the result would be reversed if the difference were extrapolated to all ballots. But the sample tabulations, which finished Tuesday, showed Riggs actually picking up more votes than Griffin. As a result, the State Board of Elections said a total recount won't be ordered. The election, however, has not been fully resolved. The five-member state board was scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday on protests previously filed by Griffin and three GOP legislative candidates who also are in very close elections. Riggs, one of two Democrats on the seven-member court, declared victory again on Tuesday, and her campaign renewed calls for Griffin to concede. Griffin didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The protests going before the state board, which question if well over 60,000 ballots should have been counted, cover three categories of voting. They include votes cast by people with voter registration records that lack driver’s licenses or partial Social Security numbers; overseas voters who have never lived in North Carolina but whose parents were deemed state residents; and military or overseas voters who did not provide copies of photo identification with their ballots. Separately Tuesday, a Court of Appeals panel unanimously declined Griffin's request to order the state board to rule on the protests before Wednesday's meeting to accelerate the process. The board could dismiss the protests or — if problems are found — order corrected ballot tallies, more recounts or new elections. Decisions by the board — with a 3-2 Democratic majority — can be appealed to state courts. Other protests filed by Griffin and the legislative candidates are being first considered by county boards. The state Democratic Party filed a federal lawsuit last week seeking to block the State Board of Elections from ruling in any way to throw out the disputed ballots. The Democrats' lawyers say federal law prohibits such systematic challenges to voter eligibility for an election that has already passed. Some of the protests focus on activities that Republicans already sued over before the November election. Democratic officials and their allies held a news conference early Tuesday outside the state Supreme Court building and strongly criticized Griffin and other Republicans for initiating claims they say would disenfranchise legal voters. North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said she fears the state Supreme Court could ultimately side with Republicans and remove the challenged ballots. “We are trying to make sure that people are raising their voices, that we are filing lawsuits where we can,” Clayton said. “And we are also trusting the process of our board of elections officials to do their job and to count every single vote.” Griffin led Riggs by about 10,000 votes on election night, but that lead dwindled and flipped to Riggs as qualifying provisional and absentee ballots were added to the totals. Other types of protests filed by Griffin and the legislators are being considered by county boards. The Associated Press has not called the Supreme Court race and two of the three legislative races highlighted in the protests. In one of the two, Republican state Rep. Frank Sossamon trails Democratic challenger Bryan Cohn. A Cohn victory would mean Republicans fall one seat short of retaining their current veto-proof majority starting next month.Players Era Festival organizers betting big NIL is future of college tourneys
Jimmy Carter, Longest-Living Former US President, Dies Aged 100
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