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Covenant Logistics Group Announces Quarterly Cash DividendKey nations raced Saturday to salvage UN climate talks after the poorest countries pushed back angrily for more than $300 billion a year in help from historic wealthy emitters. More than a day past the scheduled conclusion of two days of COP29 talks, host Azerbaijan urged bleary-eyed delegates to seek consensus to avoid failure. "I know that none of us want to leave Baku without a good outcome," COP president Mukhtar Babayev told a late-night session, urging all nations to "bridge the remaining divide". Developing power Brazil pleaded for at least some progress and said it would seek to build on it when it leads COP30 next year in the Amazon gateway of Belem. "After the difficult experience that we're having here in Baku, we need to reach some outcome that is minimally acceptable in line with the emergency we're facing," Brazil's environment minister Marina Silva told delegates. A number of nations have accused Azerbaijan, an authoritarian oil and gas exporter, of lacking the experience and will to meet the moment, as the planet again sets record temperatures and faces rising deadly disasters. Small island nations threatened by rising seas and impoverished African states on Saturday angrily stormed out of a meeting with Azerbaijan, saying their concerns had been ignored. The European Union, United States and other wealthy countries met directly with poorer nations to work out final details, with both blocs also concerned at efforts led by Saudi Arabia to water down calls from last year's summit to phase out fossil fuels. "If we don't do it, people at home -- in every home across the world -- would say, why did you not get an agreement? Because I believe we can," Irish climate minister Eamon Ryan told AFP. A draft of the final text seen by AFP proposes that rich nations raise to $300 billion a year by 2035 their commitment to poorer countries to fight climate change. It is up from $100 billion now provided by wealthy nations under a commitment set to expire -- and from $250 billion proposed in a draft Friday. That offer was slammed as offensively low by developing countries, which have demanded at least $500 billion to build resilience against climate change and cut emissions. Sierra Leone's climate minister Jiwoh Abdulai, whose country is among the world's poorest, called the draft "effectively a suicide pact for the rest of the world". As staff at the cavernous and windowless stadium began closing down, diplomats rushed to meetings with one another, some ready with food and water in preparation for another late night. Panama's outspoken negotiator, Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, voiced anger at offers by rich countries but warned not to repeat the failure of COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009. "I'm sad, I'm tired, I'm disheartened, I'm hungry, I'm sleep-deprived, but there is a tiny ray of optimism within me because this cannot become a new Copenhagen," he told reporters. UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the revised offer of $300 billion was "a significant scaling up" of the existing pledge by developed nations, which also count the United States, EU and Japan among their ranks. Climate activists shouted "shame" as US climate envoy John Podesta walked the halls. "Hopefully this is the storm before the calm," he said. Wealthy nations say it is politically unrealistic to expect more in direct government funding. Donald Trump, a sceptic of both climate change and foreign assistance, returns to the White House in January and a number of other Western countries have seen right-wing backlashes against the green agenda. The draft deal posits a larger overall target of $1.3 trillion per year to cope with rising temperatures and disasters, but most would come from private sources. Ali Mohamed, the Kenyan chair of the African Group of Negotiators, told AFP: "No deal is better than a bad deal." South African environment minister Dion George, however, said: "I think being ambitious at this point is not going to be very useful." "What we are not up for is going backwards or standing still," he said. "We might as well just have stayed at home then." The US and EU have wanted newly wealthy emerging economies like China -- the world's largest emitter -- to chip in. China, which remains classified as a developing nation under the UN framework, provides climate assistance but wants to keep doing so on its own voluntary terms. The EU and other countries have also tussled with Saudi Arabia over including strong language on moving away from fossil fuels, which negotiators say the oil-producing country has resisted. "We will not allow the most vulnerable, especially the small island states, to be ripped off by the new, few rich fossil fuel emitters," said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. bur-np-sct/lth/giv
How Crypto Won The 2024 ElectionAs U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher looked ahead to the next Women's World Cup in 2027, she calculated what that would look like at her age. Now 36, she already has a World Cup title and won an Olympic gold medal this year in France. She considered the mental, physical and emotional toll of a new cycle and decided it was time to step away . “Honestly, I think I’ve been somebody that has given everything I’ve had to this team. I don’t do anything halfway. It’s kind of, if you can give 100% to it, then keep going," she said. “With that in mind, I kind of just felt like this was the right time coming off of the Olympics, having the year that we had, entering into a new cycle, a new stage for this team.” Naeher is the latest veteran to announce she's stepping down from the national team as the next generation takes over under coach Emma Hayes. Among those who have wrapped up their soccer careers in the past couple of years include World Cup winners Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Kelley O'Hara and Ali Krieger. Naeher will be with the team for two more matches in the coming week. The Americans play England at Wembley Stadium on Saturday and then the Netherlands in The Hague on Tuesday. Naeher said she's excited about the next generation of goalkeepers. In addition to Naeher, Mandy Haught of the Utah Royals and Phallon Tullis-Joyce of Manchester United are on the roster for the upcoming matches. Other goalkeepers who have been on recent rosters include Casey Murphy and Jane Campbell. “I think the beauty of goalkeeping is that it’s not really a one-size-fits-all kind of position," she said. "The more that you can understand — that's going to be the challenge any young goalkeeper coming up, is really taking the time to understand what your strengths are and make them really, really elite and separate yourself.” Naeher spoke on Wednesday from London after announcing her retirement on social media Monday . Naeher made her senior debut with the national team in 2014 and was a backup to Hope Solo at the 2015 World Cup, which the United States won. She became the team’s regular starter following the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and was on the squad that repeated as World Cup winners in 2019. Naeher won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 before the U.S. earned gold this year in Paris. She made a key one-handed save in stoppage time to preserve the Americans’ 1-0 victory over Brazil in the Olympic final. For her career, Naeher has appeared 113 games with 110 starts, 88 wins and 68 shutouts. She had four shutouts over the course of the Olympic tournament in France. While she's leaving the national team, she'll play one more year for her club team, the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women's Soccer League. “I hope that I can be remembered as a good teammate, as a competitor, as somebody that was looked on as someone that could be relied upon on the field and supported those players around me,” she said. “I think it’s just been a really special team to be a part of. And I’m very proud of what we have been able to accomplish over the years.” AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerIt's long been my view that the United Nations buildings in New York City should be transformed into Trump hotels and a giant Chick-fil-A, and the more Antonio Guterres talks the stronger my opinion on that gets. First off though I'll share one of my favorite quotes, and you might have seen it before, but Michael Crichton had the best rebuttal to anybody who talks about "a consensus of scientists" like the climate cultists do: I want to pause here and talk about this notion of consensus, and the rise of what has been called consensus science. I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you’re being had. Let’s be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus. There is no such thing as consensus science. If it’s consensus, it isn’t science. If it’s science, it isn’t consensus. Period. And yet "consensus of scientists" is considered a scientific argument from the Left, but last year John Stossel pointed out how that "consensus" is manufactured and meaningless: World leaders gather in Dubai for #COP28 , the UN climate summit. Expect the usual doom and gloom. It would be more productive if they all watched this video with climate scientist Judith Curry. She reveals the “manufactured consensus” about climate change: pic.twitter.com/D8OSQYsjxn Earlier this month the election of Donald Trump caused a panic on the Left, not just in the U.S. but around the world. Among those who's afraid the money spigot is going to be turned off is U.N. Secretary General Guterres, who laughably calls the transfer of wealth ostensibly to fight man-made global warming "climate finance." It couldn't get more Orwellian. Climate finance is not a hand-out. It’s an investment against the devastation that unchecked climate chaos will inflict on us all. It’s a downpayment on a safer, more prosperous future for every nation on Earth. #COP29 "Give us all your money and we'll make the weather better" is as culty as it can get. The fact that so many people fall for it is disturbing, but at least the U.S. woke up on election day. "A surge in climate finance is essential": We need a major push to get discussions at the climate conference in Baku over the finishing line. We need #COP29 to deliver an ambitious and balanced package on all pending issues, with a new finance goal at its heart. A surge in climate finance is essential. This guy needs to be told to eff off in the strongest possible terms. Some European countries and maybe some in the Western Hemisphere will agree to be fleeced as usual but at least the U.S. has an incoming president who won't perpetuate the scam. Honest question. Does anyone at all trust this guy? https://t.co/iS4Yyc0mzQ The only people who do are already in on the sham or clueless dupes. This is pretty much my view as well: Ha, good one DEFUND THESE BITCHES https://t.co/rhbj7kbl9h When they're not focused on giving aid and comfort to terrorists, the U.N. is pushing climate change shams.
All Blacks farewell Cane, Perenara with ugly victory
MARK Labbett was beaming as he spent a second day with his ex-wife, Katie. The couple, who married in 2014 but split in 2020 , have been treating their son, Lawrence, for a weekend in London. 4 Mark and Katie looked incredible as they spent a day out with their son Credit: Instagram/@markthebeastlabbett 4 The pair have both undergone body transformations since their split Credit: Getty Navigating co-parenting like pros, Mark shared pictures from their two big days out, which started on Saturday with a trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in Watford. Today, they shared another photo, showing off their shared transformations as Mark wrote on the pic: "Co-parenting in London part two - Natural History Museum. "Little Monster LOVED the T-Rex in a Christmas jumper." Both Mark, 58, and Katie , 31, looked unrecognisable from their time being married, having both lost weight and switching up their looks. READ MORE MARK LABBETT gorg Glow-up The Chase star Mark Labbett's ex-wife unrecognisable as they reunite CHASE IS OVER The Chase’s Mark Labbett breaks silence on split from TV star girlfriend Mark looked slender in a grey jumper and black trousers next to Katie, who cuddled up beside him in a black skirt and maroon jumper. The new pic comes a day after the family spent a day at Warner Bros Studios to take in the Harry Potter tour with their son. While keeping "Little Monster" Lawrence away from his social media, Mark and Katie snapped a selfie together which he shared on his Instagram Stories. Mark and Katie, who are also second cousins, were together for seven years, but split when their attempts at an open marriage failed. Most read in TV BACK ON AIR BBC star reveals all clear from cancer & will return to work next week BABY JOY Georgia Kousoulou gives birth to baby daughter with co-star husband Tommy Mallett family fall out I'm A Celeb's Danny Jones' estranged dad reveals what caused family rift oh chlo Inside Love Island star Chloe Burrows’ £164 a night lavish trip to Dubai They first started speaking on Facebook in 2010, unaware of their familial connection. Mark, best known as The Beast on the ITV quiz show, later admitted that Covid lockdown had a detrimental effect on his mental health, and amplified the pair's 27-year age gap. Watch the moment The Chase's Mark Labbett furiously slams desk and shouts as team scoops humongous £80k prize Despite the break-up, they are yet to officially get divorced, though both have gone on to other relationships. Mark split from Hayley Palmer this year just a week after their one-year anniversary, with Hayley later claiming Mark had no intention of officially divorcing Katie. Speaking exclusively to The Sun about his break-up this week, Mark said: "She's [Hayley's] a lovely lady and I was very lucky to date her for a year, and as I said...it's me, I got old." "There's been no one since Hayley, I'm not saying there won't be another one. But I'm certainly not looking." Opening up about being content as a single man, Mark said: "I joke I am a shed man - a guy of a certain age that's quite content being in or out of a relationship - but loves to be spending time on their own. "It's primal, I think it goes all the way back to the hunter-gatherers where the man would go off a lot of time on their own. "To be fair it's not just men, there are people who actually like their own company." 4 The pair have spent the weekend together in order to 'co-parent' their son Credit: Instagram/@markthebeastlabbett 4 The duo, who are also second cousins, split in 2020 after a seven-year marriage Credit: Splash News
Dr Disrespect Rumble deal has fans divided over joining “banned” platformAs a smooth-talking media and political pundit, Colman Domingo ’s Muncie Daniels is used to commenting on politics and the news — not becoming the news — in The Madness . However, his fate will quickly change for the worse when we meet him in the new series. When the CNN personality discovers the dead body of a white supremacist in the woods near where he’s staying in the Poconos, he winds up in the crosshairs of law enforcement and possibly framed for murder — and even his lawyer friend Kwesi (Deon Cole) warns the silver-tongued Muncie, “You’re not going to be able to talk your way out of this.... They are going to pin all this on you.” In this paranoia-inducing Netflix thriller, Daniels finds himself in the middle of a sprawling conspiracy that delves into the darkest corners of society and explores the intersections between the wealthy and powerful, the alt-right, and other fringe movements. “[The series] is examining the climate we’re in right now,” Domingo teased to TV Insider. “Who sows those seeds of disinformation? Who’s puppeteering all of this?” ‘Euphoria’ Star Colman Domingo Explains Season 3 Delay To clear his name, Muncie must figure out whether to trust FBI agent Franco Quiñones (John Ortiz) and reconnect with his working-class, activist roots in Philadelphia while reuniting with his family, which includes teenage son Demetrius (Thaddeus J. Mixson), estranged wife Elena (Marsha Stephanie Blake), and daughter Kallie (Gabrielle Graham) from a previous relationship. “He’s trying to solve a crime,” creator Stephen Belber previews, “but at the same time he’s trying to solve something inside of himself.” To find out what else we should know about the new thrill ride, we spoke to The Color Purple and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom star Colman Domingo — who played Victor Strand on Fear the Walking Dead for eight seasons, won an Emmy for Euphoria , and was nominated for a 2024 Oscar for the civil rights drama Rustin — about the bind in which Muncie finds himself in The Madness , the similarities he shares with the character, and the resonance of a story that speaks to our age of online disinformation and conspiracy theories. Why were you drawn to this series and this character? What about it made you say yes to it? Colman Domingo: There’s so much about it that is raising questions about who are we in America right now. What do you believe in? And what are you believing? What’s being fed to you? These are questions that I have deep in my heart, and the series is bringing out those thoughts I have in the back of my head. Like who is manipulating all of us? I do believe there’s people feeding the public misinformation, but it benefits people with money, power, and position. Are there similarities you share with Muncie? Wildly enough, he’s from my neighborhood, from West Philly. He’s a college professor. So am I. There’s a lot of similarities. He’s a public-facing person. Even some of his ideology, where he believes that if you just get people at the table to sit and have a civil conversation, things will get better. I do believe that. I actively do that in my life. And I thought, “Oh, I understand Muncie. I understand what he’s trying to do.” But then the series takes him on another journey to actually go more full-throttle and understand all the dynamics he’s been espousing but not really having to get in the mud with. Is Muncie’s journey in the series a metaphor for how we’re all trying to make sense of this firehose of facts and information, along with disinformation, conspiracy-mongering, and lies that are coming at us 24/7? Yeah. It’s your modern-day North By Northwest, your modern-day Three Days of the Condor. He’s an everyman who has to go on this journey that he’s not ready to go on. He didn’t even know he’s been preparing for it. He was just living his best life, has a great position at CNN, and has been studying jujitsu for his own health. But he didn’t know that he’d need all that to go down the rabbit hole for real. What’s Muncie’s relationship like with his estranged wife, son Demetrius, and his older daughter Kallie from another relationship? All of it is precarious. What’s going on between he and his wife, we made it a gray area. Maybe they both started out as young activists, and the other one moved into celebrity, and the other one is a college professor, and they’re just not meeting [each other] where they used to be. It was more about having a crisis of faith in each other. Then with his daughter [Kallie], he made choices when he was younger, in a relationship he was in before he went to an Ivy League school. So he’s sort of been a deadbeat dad in that way. Then with his younger son, he’s sort of an absentee father. He believes he’s doing the best that he can by providing financially and showing up when he can. But I think he’s been a bit selfish. So this whole crisis is helping him examine not only who he is, but who has he been—and not been—to his family. Now he’s got to do some relationship repair; at the same time, he’s trying to advocate and save his own life and protect his family. Has he lost himself a bit over the years in pursuit of success and ambition? More from this section I think so. But I think if you asked Muncie, he wouldn’t say that. I think he believed, no, it’s okay to change. It’s OK to have access and agency. But I think at some point he didn’t realize even in the position that he had, he was just all talk. He was just a talking head. He wasn’t actually doing anything but adding to the noise of the media circuit business. In the crisis that he goes through, how does his family help him to survive? I think he didn’t realize how much he needed them. When we meet him, he’s in a place of stasis. He’s been trying to write this book for years. So he decided to go to the Pocono mountains to try and start writing something. Then he goes on this journey. I think it’s a beautiful hero’s journey. He didn’t know he needed all these things. He didn’t know he needed a heart. He didn’t know he needed a brain...It is ‘no place like home.’ But he realized that his home was attached to other things like celebrity, clothing, and having access. But all of that became more superficial than he even imagined. Amanda Matlovich / Netflix Muncie was a housing activist in his youth, and he reconnects with his West Philly roots and the people in his life from that time. How does he change during the course of the series? I think it’s about helping him to bridge the two parts of himself. It’s one of the first arguments that my character has with the fantastic Eisa Davis, who plays Renee, while hosting a show on CNN. And it’s at the core of the problem. For me, it’s a question of, “What’s the best way?” He’s like, “I am Black and I don’t have to actually be out on the streets anymore. I have more access here on television where I can affect a lot of more people.” And so for me, it’s raising the question of, “Is that right or is that wrong? Or is there a balance of both?” How do race and systemic racism factor into the story of a Black man who gets blamed for the death of a white supremacist? How do you think that will be eye-opening for some viewers? Race plays into it a great deal. Muncie is someone who is probably very adept at code-switching [adjusting one’s style of speech, appearance, and expression to conform to a given community and reduce the potential for discrimination]. When you have celebrity and access, you live more in a bubble where you’re probably not perceived in certain ways. But when all of that goes away, once Muncie has to let go of his Range Rover, his Tom Ford suits, and his position at CNN, he’s perceived as just another ordinary Black man on the street. So even when he goes into that New York shop and changes into a T-shirt, baseball cap, and hoodie [to disguise himself], he’s trying to normalize. Before, he believed was a bit more elevated in some way. I love the question that [his estranged wife] Elena asked him: “What were you doing going over to this white man’s house out in the woods? You felt like you had the privilege to do that? You have to always be careful. You don’t know what’s on the other side. You’re a Black man in America.” He forgot for a moment. What does the title, The Madness , refer to? I think it’s about the madness that we’re all living in when it comes to the 24-hour news cycle and trying to download and sift through information. It’s maddening! And also, I think the madness is also internal, that internal struggle of like, “Who are you, and what do you believe in? Who is real, and who is not?” I think that’s the madness. The Madness , Series Premiere, Thursday, November 28, Netflix More Headlines: ‘The Price Is Right’ Player Injures Hand Before Punch-A-Bunch Win — See Drew Carey’s Reaction Colman Domingo Details Why ‘The Madness’ Is a Drama for Today’s Era of Media Feeding Frenzies ‘DWTS’ Season 33 Finalist Chandler Kinney Reveals What She Would Have Changed About Her Journey Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2024: How to Watch, New Floats, Who’s Performing & More! ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Blame Ryan Seacrest After Contestant’s Epic FailHealth director promises a better St. Louis County animal shelter despite volunteer pause
World Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News. Russian President Vladimir Putin the conflict in Ukraine had characteristics of a “global” war and did not rule out strikes on Western countries such as the UK and the US.. The Kremlin strongman spoke out after a day of frayed nerves, with Russia test-firing a new generation intermediate-range missile at Ukraine -- which Putin hinted was capable of unleashing a nuclear payload. Ukraine had earlier on Thursday accused Russia of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time in history at the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, while the UN Secretary-General branded the new missile’s use “worrying”. Ukraine’s key backer the United States played down suggestions that Russia had launched an ICBM, echoing Putin’s description of the “experimental” weapon. Yet while stopping short of calling it “intercontinental”, Britain warned the weapon had “a range of several thousand kilometres” -- enough to make good on Putin’s threat of striking the West. A grab taken from footage released online on November 21, 2024 by the Ukrainian charity "Come Back Alive" shows flashes over the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Kyiv accused Russia of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile attack at Ukraine for the first time on November 21, 2024 but without a nuclear warhead in a new escalation of the conflict. (AFP) Ukrainian firefighters work on a burning building after air-attack, in Dnipro, where they claim Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile overnight. (AFP) In a defiant address to the nation, Russia’s president railed at Ukraine’s allies granting permission for Kyiv to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets on Russian territory, warning of retaliation. In recent days Ukraine has fired US and UK-supplied missiles at Russian territory for the first time, escalating already sky-high tensions in the brutal nearly three-year-long conflict. “We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities,” Putin said. He said the US-sent Army Tactical Missile System and British Storm Shadow payloads were shot down by Moscow’s air defences, adding: “The goals that the enemy obviously set were not achieved”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov did however say Russia was doing everything to avoid a nuclear conflict, having updated its nuclear doctrine this week. Russia's President Vladimir Putin. (Photo by Vyacheslav PROKOFYEV / POOL / AFP) ‘Crazy neighbour’ The Ukrainian air force said Moscow had launched the missile as part of a barrage towards Dnipro, where local authorities said an infrastructure facility was hit and two civilians were wounded. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said experts were examining evidence before confirming an intercontinental ballistic missile had been fired by “our crazy neighbour”. He said that the attack bore “all the characteristics” of an ICBM attack and accused the Kremlin of “using Ukraine as a testing ground”. Putin said that Russia had carried out “testing in combat conditions of one of the newest Russian mid-range missile systems... Our engineers named it ‘Oreshnik’,” meaning “Hazel”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shakes hands with US President Joe Biden. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) The attack on Dnipro comes just days after several foreign embassies shuttered temporarily in the Ukrainian capital, citing the threat of a large-scale strike. “It is another example of reckless behaviour from Russia, which only serves to strengthen our resolve in terms of standing by Ukraine for as long as it takes,” a spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters. The spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, said the new missile’s deployment was “another concerning and worrying development,” warning the war was “going in the wrong direction”. Yet a US official played down the threat, saying on condition of anonymity that the missile used was not an ICBM but an “experimental medium-range ballistic missile” -- seemingly confirmed by Putin’s address. Russia “likely possesses only a handful of these”, the official added. A Ukrainian serviceman of the 24 Separate Mechanized Brigade prepares to fire mortar towards Russian positions near the town of Chasiv Yar, in the Donetsk region. (AFP) Ukrainian firefighters work to extinguish flames after an air-attack, in Dnipro. (AFP) ‘Political value’ Ukraine’s air force said it had downed missiles launched on the industrial city, without elaborating on whether the new missile was among those downed. The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region where the city of Dnipro is located said the Russian aerial bombardment damaged a rehabilitation centre and several homes, as well as an industrial enterprise. “Two people were wounded -- a 57-year-old man was treated on the scene and a 42-year-old woman was hospitalised,” said the official, Sergiy Lysak. Fabian Hoffmann, a research fellow at the University of Oslo, who specialises in missile technology, said Russia had nothing to gain militarily by using an ICBM in such an attack. “This is all about the political effect. This is not about the military value,” Hoffmann told AFP. Firefighters survey the damage after a building is gutted by fire following a missile strike in Ukraine. (AFP) Russia and Ukraine have escalated their use of long-range missiles in recent days since Washington gave Kyiv permission to use its ATACMS against military targets inside Russia -- a long-standing Ukrainian request. British media meanwhile reported on Wednesday that Kyiv had launched UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia after being given the green light from London. Russia’s envoy to London on Thursday said that meant Britain was “now directly involved” in the Ukraine war, with Andrei Kelin telling Sky News “this firing cannot happen” without UK and NATO support. The defence ministry in Moscow said Thursday its air-defence systems had downed two Storm Shadows, without saying whether they had come down on Russian territory or in occupied Ukraine. The missile escalation is coming at a critical moment on the ground for Ukraine, as its defences buckle under Russian pressure across the sprawling front line. Russia claimed deeper advances in the war-battered Donetsk region, announcing on Thursday that its forces had captured another village close to Kurakhove, closing in on the town after months of steady advances. Moscow’s defence ministry said Russian forces had taken the small village of Dalne, five kilometres (three miles) south of Kurakhove. Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said that 26 people had been wounded in another strike on the town of Kryvyi Rig, where Zelensky was born. - with AFP More Coverage Troubling claims about seedy Laos bar Sean Combs accused of raping man Eileen Reslen - Page Six Originally published as Russia ‘fired intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine’ More related stories World Trump hit by shock withdrawal Donald Trump’s transition has been hit by its first major setback with one of the President-elect’s most controversial cabinet picks withdrawing his name. Read more World ‘Extreme’: US plan to tear Google apart Google has furiously responded to “extreme” calls from the US to shatter its monopoly over the tech world. Read moreRetiring Naeher is proud of her achievements and looking forward to USWNT's next generationTrump’s tariffs in his first term did little to alter the economy, but this time could be different
Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas announced she had won the District 5 seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors race despite it being too close to call. In a social media post, Bas told her supporters that her opponent, Emeryville Council Member John Bauters, called her and said he was conceding the race. However, according to the latest figures from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, only 415 votes separate the pair. Watch NBC Bay Area News 📺 Streaming free 24/7 Bauters has not publicly conceded the race or responded to NBC Bay Area's request for comment on Saturday. "Please join me in thanking John for his years of public service and a hard-fought campaign," Bas said. In these challenging times, we should all continue to welcome ideas, visions, and solutions for our communities to consider and rally around." Join me in thanking John Bauters for his years of public service and a hard-fought campaign. The issues and needs facing our beloved East Bay are complex, dynamic, and challenging. It will take all of our hard work, together — and I will be a Supervisor for all of us. pic.twitter.com/0Py80yEawO Bas initially declared she had won on Wednesday and said it appeared the county's voters selected her. "I will bring an unflagging commitment and engage the community to serve every resident by expanding affordable housing and effective solutions to homelessness, accessible healthcare, good jobs, and safe communities," Bas wrote on social media platform X. One year ago, I answered the call from community-based advocates and Labor leaders to advance a vision of an equitable, prosperous and healthy future for every Alameda County family. pic.twitter.com/ipB3369umY Bas' potential win would see her take the board seat held by Keith Carson since 1992. Carson announced earlier this year that he would retire. A final vote update from the registrar is expected on Dec. 3. The county must certify all election results by Dec. 5. If Bas wins the supervisorial seat, it will have major implications for Oakland after voters recalled embattled Mayor Sheng Thao. Thao had served less than two years in her first term, and organizers for her recall have blamed the mayor for the city's crime spikes and financial instability. Thao announced earlier this month that she accepted voters decided to recall he r, but she touted and defended her record. According to city policies, Bas would be next in line to be interim mayor as Oakland Council president. However, if Bas wins the District 5 seat, the city council will have to elect a new president. Whoever is chosen as president of the council will also have to serve as interim mayor until a special election is held to find a permanent replacement for Thao. Although Thao was recalled, there is no ban on her running again for mayor in the special election of 2025 or in 2026. Currently, Bas also holds the District 2 seat and would have to give it up if selected to represent District 5. "The issues and needs facing our beloved East Bay are complex, dynamic, and challenging," Bas said. It will take all of our hard work together -- and I will be a Supervisor for all of us."
Emerging tight end Noah Gray gives Mahomes and the Chiefs another option in passing game
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the two weeks since Donald Trump won the presidency, he’s tried to demonstrate his dominance by naming loyalists for top administration positions, even though many lack expertise and some face sexual misconduct accusations. It often seems like he’s daring Congress to oppose his decisions. But on Thursday, Trump’s attempt to act with impunity showed a crack as , his choice for attorney general, Trump had named Gaetz, a Florida congressman, to be the country’s top law enforcement official even though he was widely disliked by his colleagues, has little legal experience and was accused of having sex with an underage girl, an allegation he denied. After being plagued by investigations during his first presidency, Trump wanted a devoted ally during his second. However, it was never obvious that Gaetz could win enough support from lawmakers to get confirmed. Now the question is whether Gaetz was uniquely unpalatable, or if Trump’s other picks might exceed his party’s willingness to overlook concerns that would have sunk nominees in a prior political era. The next test will likely be Pete Hegseth, who Trump wants to lead the Pentagon despite an allegation of sexual assault that he’s denied. So far, Republicans are , an Army veteran and former Fox News host. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the controversy over Gaetz would have little bearing on Trump’s other choices. He said they would be considered “one at a time.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, suggested otherwise, claiming “the dominoes are falling.” “The drip drip of evidence and truth is going to eventually doom some others,” he said. Trump’s election victory was a sign that there may not be many red lines left in American politics. He won the presidential race despite authoritarian, racist and misogynist rhetoric, not to mention years of lies about election fraud and his role in sparking the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was also of falsifying business records to pay hush money, and he was in a civil case. Empowered by voters who looked past his misconduct and saw him as a powerful agent of change, Trump has shown no deference to Washington norms while . The transition team hasn’t pursued for Trump’s personnel choices. While some of his selections have extensive experience in the areas they’ve been chosen to lead, others are who have impressed and flattered Trump over the years. Several have faced . Hegseth is facing the most scrutiny after Gaetz. Once Trump announced Hegseth as his nominee for Pentagon chief, allegations emerged that he sexually assaulted a woman in California in 2017. The woman said he took her phone, blocked the door to the hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing, the report said. However, he paid the woman in 2023. Hegseth’s lawyer said the payment was made to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit. Trump’s choice for secretary of health and human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has faced allegations of misconduct too. A woman who babysat for him and his second wife told Vanity Fair magazine that Kennedy groped her in the late 1990s, when she was 23. Kennedy did not deny the allegation and texted an apology to the woman after the article was published. That isn’t the only hurdle for Kennedy; he’s spent years spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccines, raising fears about making him a top health official in the new administration. Linda McMahon, chosen by Trump to be education secretary, is fighting a lawsuit connected to her former company, World Wrestling Entertainment. She’s accused of knowingly enabling sexual exploitation of children by an employee as early as the 1980s, and she denies the allegations. Tulsi Gabbard is another person who could face a difficult confirmation battle, but for very different reasons. The former Democratic representative from Hawaii has been a vocal Trump ally, and he chose her to be national intelligence director. But there’s grave concern by lawmakers and national security officials over Gabbard’s history of Critics said she would endanger relationships with U.S. allies. Gaetz was investigated by federal law enforcement for sex trafficking, but the case was closed without charges and Republicans have of a related report from the House Ethics Committee. However, some allegations leaked out, including that Gaetz paid women for sex. One of the women testified to the committee that she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl, according to a lawyer for the woman. As Gaetz met with senators this week, it became clear that he would face stubborn resistance from lawmakers who were concerned about his behavior and believed he was unqualified to run the Justice Department. “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction,” Gaetz wrote on social media when announcing his withdrawal. Sen. Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican, said he believed there were four to six members of the caucus who would have voted against Gaetz, likely dooming his nomination, and “the math got too hard.” He said some of the issues and allegations around Gaetz were “maybe beyond the pale.” “I think there were just too many things, it was like a leaky dike, and you know, it broke,” Braun said. Trump thanked Gaetz in a post on Truth Social, his social media website, without addressing the substance of the allegations against him. “He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect,” Trump wrote. ____ Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Stephen Groves and Lisa Macaro contributed from Washington. Jill Colvin in New York and Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, also contributed.
The Sweden midfielder hailed Saturday’s 4-0 thrashing of the champions as the best game of his career. The 24-year-old delivered an outstanding performance as Spurs shattered the champions’ 52-game unbeaten home run, helping start the rout with a superb cross for James Maddison’s opening goal. Kulusevski said: “I believed (we would win) this because in the past years, we’ve come here and played really well. “So this is the game I look forward to most in the year and, once again, it happened – glory to God. “I’d say it’s the best result ever in my career. It’s a big night for the whole club, for the coach, for the players. “Because City have a lot of the ball sometimes, we can rest when we defend. There’s also so much space up there, we play one against one and then it’s always dangerous because we have a lot of quality. “It’s always great to play great teams because they always want to play football. When you play lower teams, sometimes it’s not. There’s not much football played because they are a lot of fouls, a lot of injuries and it’s slow going.” Maddison stole the show with two goals in quick succession in the first half while Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson later got on the scoresheet. Kulu-chef-ski cooked 👨🍳 📊 @KumhoTyreUK pic.twitter.com/CsrTh5oUgn — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) November 24, 2024 Yet Kulusevski’s performance was also eye-catching and the player himself believes there is plenty more to come from him. Asked if his form made him feel “unstoppable”, Kulusevski said: “I feel like that. I feel very good and I’m trying to keep this way. I’m very happy, I’m trying to improve. “I started the season good but there is over half of the season left and I hope I can do much better. “I think I have something that no other player has. With my engine, with my heart – I don’t get tired – I feel like I can do a lot still in my career.” Spurs have won more matches against Pep Guardiola's Man City than any other side 👀 pic.twitter.com/BHLZqde9sP — Premier League (@premierleague) November 23, 2024 Tottenham’s scintillating performance marked a spectacular return to form after their dismal loss to Ipswich in their previous Premier League outing. Kulusevski said: “We have to be much more consistent. It’s not a turning point. We just have to be better in other games. “This game suited us perfectly but we have a lot of improvement to make in the other games.”None
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Trump has promised again to release the last JFK files. But experts say don’t expect big revelations DALLAS (AP) — The nation is set to mark 61 years since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as his motorcade passed through downtown Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Even after over six decades, conspiracy theories about what happened that day still swirl and the desire to follow every thread of information hasn’t waned. President-elect Donald Trump made promises over the summer that if reelected he would declassify the remaining records. At this point, only a few thousand of millions of pages of governmental records related to the assassination have yet to be fully released. And those who have studied what's been released so far say that the public shouldn’t anticipate any earth-shattering revelations even if the remaining files are declassified. Bitcoin is at the doorstep of $100,000 as post-election rally rolls on NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin is jumping again, rising above $98,000 for the first time Thursday. The cryptocurrency has been shattering records almost daily since the U.S. presidential election, and has rocketed more than 40% higher in just two weeks. It's now at the doorstep of $100,000. Cryptocurrencies and related investments like crypto exchange-traded funds have rallied because the incoming Trump administration is expected to be more “crypto-friendly.” Still, as with everything in the volatile cryptoverse, the future is hard to predict. And while some are bullish, other experts continue to warn of investment risks. NFL issues security alert to teams and the players' union following recent burglaries The NFL has issued a security alert to teams and the players’ union following recent burglaries involving the homes of Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, the league says homes of professional athletes across multiple sports have become “increasingly targeted for burglaries by organized and skilled groups.” Law enforcement officials noted these groups target the homes on days the athletes have games. Players were told to take precautions and implement home security measures to reduce the risk of being targeted. Some of the burglary groups have conducted extensive surveillance on targets. Penn State wins trademark case over retailer's use of vintage logos, images PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Penn State has won a closely watched trademark fight over an online retailer’s use of its vintage logos and images. A Pennsylvania jury awarded Penn State $28,000 in damages earlier this week over products made and sold by the firms Vintage Brand and Sportswear Inc. Penn State accused them of selling “counterfeit” clothing and accessories. The defendants said their website makes clear they are not affiliated with Penn State. At least a dozen other schools have sued the defendants on similar grounds, but the Pennsylvania case was the first to go to trial. Has a waltz written by composer Frederic Chopin been discovered in an NYC museum? NEW YORK (AP) — A previously unknown musical work written by composer Frederic Chopin appears to have been found in a library in New York City. The Morgan Library & Museum says the untitled and unsigned piece is the first new manuscript of the Romantic era virtuoso to be discovered in nearly a century. Robinson McClellan, the museum’s curator, says he stumbled across the work in May while going through a collection brought to the Manhattan museum years earlier. He worked with outside experts to verify the document's authenticity. But there’s debate whether the waltz is an original Chopin work or merely one written in his hand. Volcano on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula erupts for the 7th time in a year GRINDAVIK, Iceland (AP) — A volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland is spewing lava from a fissure in its seventh eruption since December. Iceland's seismic monitors said the eruption started with little warning late Wednesday and created a long fissure but looked to be smaller than eruptions in August and May. Around 50 houses were evacuated after the Civil Protection agency issued the alert, along with guests at the famous Blue Lagoon resort, according to the national broadcaster. The repeated eruptions over the past year have caused damage to the town of Grindavík and forced people to relocate. Australian teen and British woman who drank tainted alcohol in Laos have died, bringing toll to 5 VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — An Australian teenager and a British woman have died after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos in what Australia’s prime minister said was every parent’s nightmare. Officials earlier said an American and two Danish tourists also had died following reports that multiple people had been sickened in town popular with backpackers. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Parliament that 19-year-old Bianca Jones had died after being evacuated from Vang Vieng, Laos, for treatment in a Thai hospital. Her friend, also 19, remains hospitalized in Thailand. Later Thursday, Britain said a British woman also died and the media in the U.K. identified her as 28-year-old Simone White. US ahead in AI innovation, easily surpassing China in Stanford's new ranking The U.S. leads the world in developing artificial intelligence technology, surpassing China in research and other important measures of AI innovation, according to a newly released Stanford University index. There’s no surefire way to rank global AI leadership but Stanford researchers have made an attempt by measuring the “vibrancy” of the AI industry across a variety of dimensions, from how much research and investment is happening to how responsibly the technology is being pursued to prevent harm. Following the U.S. and China were the United Kingdom, India and the United Arab Emirates. Pop star Ed Sheeran helps favorite soccer team sign player before getting on stage with Taylor Swift It turns out British pop star Ed Sheeran is also good at recruiting soccer players. Sheeran is a minority shareholder at English soccer team Ipswich Town and it needed his help over the summer to get a player to join the club. Ipswich CEO Mark Ashton tells a Soccerex industry event in Miami: “Ed jumped on a Zoom call with him at the training ground, just before he stepped on stage with Taylor Swift. Hopefully that was a key part in getting the player across the line.” Ashton didn’t disclose the player in question, saying only: “He’s certainly scoring a few goals.” Chris Stapleton wins 4 CMA Awards, but Morgan Wallen gets entertainer of the year It was mostly Chris Stapleton’s night at the Country Music Association Awards. Stapleton won four times and took the stage to perform three times Wednesday night at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. But an absent Morgan Wallen won the biggest award, entertainer of the year. Stapleton's wins included single of the year and song of the year for “White Horse,” and his eighth trophy as male vocalist of the year. Best female vocalist of the year went to Laney Johnson. An all-star ensemble including both Stapleton and Johnson performed in tribute to George Strait, who won the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.Retiring Naeher is proud of her achievements and looking forward to USWNT's next generation