PITTSBURGH — The New York Islanders fell behind 2-0 in the second period on a Michael Bunting power play goal. While not ideal, that shouldn’t have been cause for concern, aside from the obvious penalty kill issues. However, Head Coach Patrick Roy took aim and blasted his team’s mentality after the goal, calling them mentally weak. Don’t just take my words for it, take his: “I just felt that, after we gave up that second goal, we were not mentally strong enough. I mean, we have to,” he stopped himself briefly, then continued “It’s just a goal. I mean, we were down two. In this league, two goals, it’s nothing.” Woof. Roy lit the team on fire with that quote. He’s not wrong either, by the way. After going down 2-0, the Islanders completely fell apart. They had two power plays, but nothing came from them either. His verbal barrage didn’t stop there, adding: “You could come back in those games. And sometimes, I feel we don’t believe enough in that.” All season long, the Islanders have struggled with confidence. This issue predates Roy to the Lane Lambert era , but it’s only worsened with time. Their special teams suffer the most, as they cannot consistently win at the special teams game without confidence. They allowed just six shots in the first period. The Penguins registered 21 shots on goal in the second period and 14 more in the third. That is unacceptable by any metric, let alone one in which the Islanders started a goaltender who hadn’t appeared in the NHL since 2021. Roy’s frustration has to be mounting. He blasted the interior defense on the kill, saying, “It’s been an issue all year. We have to protect the net front.” MacLean Takes Ownership: Needing a fast start in the third period, the Islanders started rolling through their lines with no issues, up until Kyle MacLean took an ill-timed penalty, sending the dreadful kill back on the ice. The Penguins used almost the entire two minutes before Phillip Tomasino flung a puck on goal and it banked off Alexander Romanov and in. Sitting in his stall postgame, MacLean wore a thousand-yard stare. He was generous enough to chat with me after a poor ending to the night and said of his penalty: “That’s something I can’t do, and it cost us, so I’m not happy that I did that. It’s my responsibility not to take a penalty like that.” More From Horvat, Roy, and MacLean: Speaking postgame, Bo Horvat illuminated the exasperation at the inability of the team to string together wins all year long. He said, “It’s all about consistency in this league, and that’s why the best teams are at the top. Right now, this win one, lose one thing is not going to do us any favors here.” The Islanders have won back-to-back games just twice this season and have yet to win three in a row. Roy’s frustration at the lack of heart continued in his full breakdown, saying, “I mean, when they scored that (second) goal, I thought that we were affected by it. All we had to do was just focus on scoring the next one and (make a) comeback. We lost the first period. We lost the second. We had to find a way to win that third period and give ourselves a chance to win the game in that third period.” They did win the third period, 2-1. It wasn’t enough, and Roy admitted as much: “I didn’t think we’d compete like we were capable of yesterday.” MacLean pointed to Pittsburgh getting to their game faster while the Islanders struggled to match their intensity. Takeaways: Clearly, Patrick Roy isn’t happy. His quotes tonight are as harsh as any he’s given all year, and that’s just another indictment of this season. Calling his team out for being mentally weak after a goal went in the net is as point-blank as a coach can be. It almost feels like he wants it more than his players at times, and that just cannot ever be the case. An old saying goes, “You can bring the horses to water, but you can’t make them drink.” Roy might just be learning that lesson the hard way this year. Once again, there’s still a way out. But it would require consistent efforts night in and night out, something this Islanders’ team has not proven capable of so far. This article first appeared on NYI Hockey Now and was syndicated with permission.PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter's in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Carter's path, a mix of happenstance and calculation , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That's a very narrow way of assessing them," Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn't suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he'd be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter's tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter's lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the Georgians and their inner circle as “country come to town.” Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. Born Oct. 1, 1924 , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor's race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama's segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival's endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King's daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters' early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to “move to a very liberal program,” lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan's presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan's Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on family property alongside Rosalynn . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as public pilgrimages to Plains became advantageous again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.
SAN DIEGO, Dec. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Robbins LLP reminds stockholders that a shareholder filed a class action on behalf of all investors who purchased or otherwise acquired The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD) securities between February 29, 2024 and October 9, 2024. TD is an international bank, operating through four segments: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, U.S. Retail, Wealth Management and Insurance, and Wholesale Banking. For more information, submit a form , email attorney Aaron Dumas, Jr., or give us a call at (800) 350-6003. The Allegations: Robbins LLP is Investigating Allegations that The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) Misled Investors Regarding Compliance with its Anti-Money Laundering Program According to the complaint, defendants failed to disclose the issues surrounding TD's anti-money laundering ("AML") program employed to comply with the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA"), the ability for defendants to "fix" those issues, and the punitive and remedial compliance measures likely to be imposed upon TD through the resolution of these investigation. Specifically, defendants concealed or otherwise minimized the significance of the failures of the Company’s AML program and made no indication that the imposition of an asset cap or other punitive or compliance measures would be imposed that would undermine TD’s continued growth for the foreseeable future. On October 10, 2024, TD unveiled the resolutions reached from a previously disclosed investigations related to its Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering compliance programs, which included, in addition to the punitive payment of $3.09 billion, both an asset cap, preventing TD’s U.S. subsidiaries from exceeding a collective $434 billion, a reflection of the Company’s assets as of September 30, 2024, and further subjects TD to more stringent approval processes for its product, service, and market rollouts. Further, the Department of Justice, in their own corresponding release, highlighted the significance of TD’s failures as “the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to Bank Secrecy Act program failures, and the first US bank in history to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.” On this news, the price of TD’s common stock fell from a closing market price of $63.51 per share on October 9, 2024, to $59.44 per share on October 10, 2024, and further to $57.01 on October 11, 2024, a decline of more than 10% in the span of just two days. What Now : You may be eligible to participate in the class action against The Toronto-Dominion Bank. Shareholders who want to serve as lead plaintiff for the class must submit their application to the court by December 23, 2024. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. You do not have to participate in the case to be eligible for a recovery. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. For more information, click here . All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses. About Robbins LLP : Some law firms issuing releases about this matter do not actually litigate securities class actions; Robbins LLP does. A recognized leader in shareholder rights litigation, the attorneys and staff of Robbins LLP have been dedicated to helping shareholders recover losses, improve corporate governance structures, and hold company executives accountable for their wrongdoing since 2002. Since our inception, we have obtained over $1 billion for shareholders. To be notified if a class action against The Toronto-Dominion Bank settles or to receive free alerts when corporate executives engage in wrongdoing, sign up for Stock Watch today. Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Generative AI Market Future Insights to 2031, Synthesis AI, Private, Revery AI Inc, Veesual AI 12-05-2024 10:40 PM CET | IT, New Media & Software Press release from: STATS N DATA Generative AI Market [New York, December 2024] Generative AI stands at the forefront of technological innovation, harnessing advanced algorithms to create new content, solutions, and insights across various industries. This transformative subset of artificial intelligence enables machines to generate human-like text, images, audio, and even video, significantly enhancing productivity and creativity. The significance of generative AI lies in its ability to streamline operations, foster creativity, and elevate user experiences-from generating personalized marketing content to designing unique products. As organizations increasingly realize the game-changing potential of generative AI, its relevance continues to escalate, making it a cornerstone technology across sectors including entertainment, healthcare, finance, and logistics. You can access a sample PDF report here: https://www.statsndata.org/download-sample.php?id=34338 Looking ahead, the generative AI market is poised for remarkable expansion, presenting myriad opportunities for players within the industry. Established companies actively investing in AI technologies will reap substantial rewards as they refine their offerings and explore new applications. Simultaneously, new entrants entering this dynamic space can tap into emerging niche markets to develop innovative solutions that address current challenges. The proliferation of cloud computing and enhanced data processing capabilities further amplifies the possibilities for scaling generative AI applications. Industry players who embrace this transformative technology can expect to lead the charge, thus positioning themselves favorably in an increasingly competitive market landscape.The evolution of the generative AI market has been a fascinating journey, marked by rapid advancements and a surge in interest. From early applications in text generation and image synthesis, the market has transformed, with leading companies consistently pushing the envelope of what's possible. Current trends highlight a greater focus on ethical AI frameworks and collaborative applications, which further validate the need for responsible innovation. Although some market restraints, such as ethical concerns and computational costs, present challenges, they also serve as catalysts for innovation and improvement. Major players have successfully navigated these hurdles, leading to robust growth and market leadership. For new investors, this fertile landscape encourages exploration and investment in generative AI, promising substantial payoffs as the technology gains mainstream traction. In today's dynamic business landscape, staying in sync with market trends is essential for companies to remain competitive. STATS N DATA's Global Generative AI Market Report provides a detailed analysis of the current market landscape and projects future growth through 2031. With expert insights and forecasts, this comprehensive report enables businesses and investors to make well-informed, strategic decisions that support sustainable growth. Get 30% Discount On Full Report: https://www.statsndata.org/ask-for-discount.php?id=34338 This report offers a clear view of market conditions today and outlines key factors that will shape growth in the years ahead. Through expert guidance, it helps companies align their strategies with upcoming trends to sharpen their competitive edge. The Global Generative AI Market has shown consistent growth, driven by technological advancements and increasing demand across industries. STATS N DATA's report examines these trends and the factors fueling this momentum. Primary Drivers and Potential Challenges The report identifies major growth drivers like tech innovation and evolving consumer preferences, alongside challenges such as regulatory changes and economic shifts. This balanced view allows businesses to craft strategies that take advantage of growth opportunities while managing risks, promoting resilience and long-term success. Detailed Market Segmentation The Global Generative AI Market is divided into important segments to offer precise insights: Market Segmentation: By Type •Healthcare •Generative Intelligence •Media and Entertainment •Others Market Segmentation: By Application •Autoencoders •Generative Adversarial Networks •Others Each segment is thoroughly examined, revealing market size, growth potential, and emerging trends. This segmentation guides businesses to focus on high-growth areas and allocate resources efficiently. Additionally, the report includes an attractiveness analysis, evaluating each segment's potential in terms of competition and market opportunities. Global and Regional Insights The report provides a complete regional analysis of the Global Generative AI Market, including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. This regional insight is essential for businesses targeting expansion or adapting strategies to specific regions. High-growth areas are highlighted to uncover fresh opportunities and meet specific market demands. Competitive Landscape and Innovation. As the Generative AI Market expands, competition intensifies. This report profiles the leading players, analyzing their strategies, including mergers, acquisitions, and new product developments. Key players include: • AI • Mostly AI • Synthesis AI • Private • Revery AI Inc • Veesual AI The report also explores the latest technology trends driving the market forward, providing companies with insights on how to leverage innovation to maintain their competitive position. Regulatory and Economic Insights Regulations significantly impact the Generative AI Market. This report reviews essential regulatory guidelines affecting the industry and explores economic factors like GDP growth, inflation, and employment trends. These insights enable companies to create adaptive strategies that withstand regulatory and economic shifts. In summary, STATS N DATA's Global Generative AI Market Report is a valuable resource that provides businesses with a deep understanding of market trends, competitive insights, and growth prospects. By leveraging this information, companies and investors can make well-informed choices, driving success in a competitive and evolving market. For customization requests, please visit: https://www.statsndata.org/request-customization.php?id=34338 John Jones Sales & Marketing Head | Stats N Data Phone: +1 (315) 642-4324 Email: sales@statsndata.org Website: www.statsndata.org STATS N DATA is a trusted provider of industry intelligence and market research, delivering actionable insights to businesses across diverse sectors. We specialize in helping organizations navigate complex markets with advanced analytics, detailed market segmentation, and strategic guidance. Our expertise spans industries including technology, healthcare, telecommunications, energy, food & beverages, and more. Committed to accuracy and innovation, we provide tailored reports that empower clients to make informed decisions, identify emerging opportunities, and achieve sustainable growth. Our team of skilled analysts leverages cutting-edge methodologies to ensure every report addresses the unique challenges of our clients. At STATS N DATA, we transform data into knowledge and insights into success. Partner with us to gain a competitive edge in today's fast-paced business environment. For more information, visit https://www.statsndata.org or contact us today at sales@statsndata.org This release was published on openPR.NoneAir Electrode Battery Market Dynamics by 2031, Hitachi Maxell, Volkswagen Ag, AMPTRAN motor Corporation, Sanyo Electric, BASF Global
Julianne Hough reached out to ex-husband Brooks Laich after he and Katrín Tanja Davíðsdóttir announced their engagement. “12.16.24 💍🤍♾️ Forever feels just right with you!” Davíðsdóttir captioned a joint Instagram post on Friday, December 27. Within half an hour, Hough, 36, commented on the post with her well wishes. “Congratulations 💍 I’m so happy for you both as you step into this beautiful new chapter together,” she wrote. “Wishing you both a lifetime of love, laughter, and endless adventures! ❤️✨.” Laich, 41, was quick to reply, writing, “Thank you for the kinds words, much love Jules!” Laich’s romance with Davíðsdóttir, 31, was confirmed in summer 2021, more than one year after Laich and Hough announced in May 2020 that they split following nearly three years of marriage . The former Los Angeles Kings player and the Dancing With the Stars cohost tied in the knot in June 2017 , but by December 2019, they had sparked breakup speculation after Hough was spotted without her wedding ring. Us Weekly exclusively confirmed in January 2020 that the duo were “ having problems .” Hough filed divorce papers in November 2020, and they finalized their split in June 2022. Despite the breakup, Julianne’s brother Derek Hough has maintained a friendship with Laich. Days after their initial split, an insider told Us Derek did “ not have any animosity ” toward his sister’s ex, noting that he “saw that they were figuring out themselves as individuals and that they weren’t a match as a couple, but that doesn’t take away their love for Brooks as a person.” In August 2023, Laich was a groomsmen in Derek’s wedding party. Hayley Erbert , Derek’s wife , also shared her excitement for the couple, writing, “🥹🥹🥹 So happy for you two 🤍🤍.” In a September podcast interview with Jamie Kern Lima , Julianne said it was “so beautiful” to run into Laich and Davíðsdóttir at a wedding. In another part of the podcast, Julianne noted that her marriage was “greatest thing that could have happened to me at that time of my life” and helped her begin a healing journey. You have successfully subscribed. By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from Us Weekly Check our latest news in Google News Check our latest news in Apple News Laich confirmed his romance with Davíðsdóttir in August 2021 after he was spotted cheering her on at the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games in Madison, Wisconsin, that month. “You continue to inspire and amaze, and it was an absolute joy to watch you in your element last night! #SledDog🇮🇸🐺,” Laich wrote via Instagram after watching her compete. The duo then jetted off to Hawaii following the games, documenting their romantic getaway on social media. They’ve been traveling the globe together ever since with recent destinations including Botswana and Indonesia.
World News | Trump Wants to Turn the Clock on Daylight Saving TimeNYC officials want answers from NYPD, FBI about disconcerting drone sightings
Britain is not properly prepared to defend itself in a war with Russia and cannot rely on the United States and Nato, a retired senior general has warned. Writing in The Independent , Sir Richard Shirreff, who served as Nato’s deputy supreme allied commander in Europe from 2011 to 2014, said another global conflict will only be prevented if there is a “band of deterrent steel from the Baltic to the Black Sea" – something he said the UK may have to be prepared to help realise without the support of Washington. His dramatic intervention comes alongside warnings from former defence secretary Ben Wallace and Labour peer Admiral Lord West that a failure to prioritise defence would be a grave error for the prime minister. Lord West’s warning follows a foreboding speech by Nato general secretary Mark Rutte who said the West is not ready to deal with the threat of war from Russia, declaring it is “time to shift to a wartime mindset and turbocharge our defence production”. Mr Rutte said: “Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation, with Ukraine and with us,” adding: “We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years.” There is growing concern about the strength of Donald Trump’s commitment to Nato, following repeated threats to pull out of the alliance if member states do not spend more on defence. Sir Richard warned that Britain can make “no assumptions that Trump would honour Nato’s doctrine of collective defence”, adding: “If we are to deter a third world war, Europe must step up to the mark.” A number of Nato member states do not yet meet the 2 per cent of GDP threshold for defence spending. Meanwhile, there are also concerns over the failure of Keir Starmer to specify a timescale in relation to his pledge to increase UK spending to 2.5 per cent. Sir Richard said the West will “only achieve peace for ourselves, our children and grandchildren and prevent a third world war between Nato and Russia with a band of deterrent steel from the Baltic to the Black Sea”. “This is something that we now have to be ready to do without the US lead and it means gearing up to be ready for war in every respect,” he said. Sir Richard said the UK must demonstrate “moral courage and exemplary leadership” to “make the necessary sacrifices to preserve peace by deterring war”. “We have to fight a second cold war to avoid a third world war,” he warned. “If we fail to do this the costs, in terms of blood and treasure will be appalling.” So far, he said, the new government’s approach to defence is falling far short of what is required. “While the new UK government talks of defence being the first priority, notably it did not figure in the prime minister’s recent ‘top six’ priorities,” he said. Last month, Sir Keir unveiled six milestones to measure the government’s progress – but the targets did not include defence or security. Former defence secretary Ben Wallace told The Independent that the UK has become “overdependent on the US which has limited our choices and left us vulnerable”, calling for Britain to commit to spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence. “The world is sadly getting more insecure and more anxious. Technology has enabled enemies to compete in a way that was impossible to do in the past. “Now is the time to commit to 3 per cent GDP by 2030. For Starmer to not invest in our security would be a dereliction of duty”, he warned. Lord West of Spithead, a former security adviser to Gordon Brown and a retired admiral of the Royal Navy, said Sir Keir had made a “terrible political error” in not including defence in his six milestones, saying the decision was worrying and “beyond belief”. While he expressed doubt that Mr Trump would abandon Nato, he called for European nations to spend more on defence. “There is absolutely no doubt from anyone who knows anything about the military and about defence that our forces are underfunded. “I think the fact that defence wasn’t mentioned in that list is a political error, and it’s a terrible error, full stop. It is beyond belief, really. With the world as dangerous as it is, knowing how underfunded we are, that he’s not willing to mention that as one of the priorities – I find that very worrying”, he told The Independent. Lord West added: “I don’t believe that even Trump will just suddenly pull out of Nato. But should European nations be pulling more weight in defence terms? Yes, absolutely they should.” Colonel Tim Collins, a former army officer who gave a stirring eve-of-battle speech at the start of the Iraq War, expressed concern that Labour is not taking the defence of Britain seriously enough, warning that the UK is facing a situation similar to that of the mid-1930s in the lead-up to the Second World War. While he dismissed some of Mr Trump’s remarks about Nato as rhetoric, he admitted that the UK has “very little leverage over the United States”. Speaking about the new government’s commitment to defence, he said: “I don’t think it is taken particularly seriously by Labour. To the extent that they’re threatening to pull funding from the Tempest programme.” Withdrawing from the Tempest programme, he said, would be comparable to cancelling the Spitfire programme just before the Second World War. The Tempest project, part of the Global Combat Air Programme alongside Italy and Japan, is designed to replace the ageing Eurofighter Typhoons by the mid-2030s. But its budget was slashed by 10 per cent this year. Shadow armed forces minister Mark Francois warned that Russia will not be deterred by “empty platitudes from the chancellor and the Treasury”, and called for the UK to urgently increase defence spending. “During the 1980s, at the height of the Cold War, Mrs Thatcher’s government spent around 5 per cent of GDP on defence, which helped keep the peace in Europe until the Berlin Wall fell. “With Putin’s Russia now at war in Ukraine and threatening further expansion, for instance into Nato’s Baltic states, we urgently need to increase defence spending to deter the Russians again – which we won’t do with empty platitudes from the chancellor and HM Treasury”, he said. A government spokesperson said: “This government will always do what it takes to defend this country, with threats increasing, the world becoming more volatile and technology changing the nature of warfare. “That is why the Budget increased defence spending by £2.9bn for next year and we are committed to setting a path to 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence in spring. The Strategic Defence Review is working at pace to look at the threats we face and the capabilities we need to meet the challenges, threats and opportunities of the 21st century."
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I’m A Celeb fans left sobbing as Danny Jones says Barry McGuigan has replaced his dad who no longer speaks to himHOUSTON (AP) — Tyler Herro scored 27 points before being one of six people ejected after a fight in the final minute of the Miami Heat's 104-100 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night. Herro was thrown to the ground by the Rockets' Amen Thompson with 35 seconds left and the Heat leading 99-94. Players and coaches from both benches then came onto the court. Both players were thrown out along with Rockets guard Jalen Green, coach Ime Udoka and assistant coach Ben Sullivan. Terry Rozier was also ejected for Miami. Houston led 92-85 after Fred VanVleet's layup with 8:10 to play, but the Rockets missed their next 11 shots, allowing Miami to tie the game when Herro found Haywood Highsmith for a 3-pointer with 4:47 to play. Herro’s jumper with 1:56 to play put the Heat on top for good. Takeaways Heat: Playing the second night of a back-to-back and missing Jimmy Butler for a fifth straight game, Nikola Jovic finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, and six assists for the Heat. Highsmith added 15 points. Rockets: After blowing a 15-point, fourth-quarter lead against the Wolves, Houston struggled offensively in the fourth quarter, shooting just 6 for 24 from the field. Dillon Brooks scored 22 points after missing the last three games with a right ankle effusion. Key moment Jovic’s 3 with 47 seconds left put Miami up 98-94. Key Stat Miami outscored Houston, the NBA’s best offensive rebounding team, 15-9 in second-chance points. Up Next The Rockets host Dallas on Wednesday and the Heat host New Orleans on Wednesday. The Associated Press
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When President Donald Trump was searching for a new FBI Director after firing James Comey in 2017, he wanted among other things someone who looked the part of America’s top law enforcement official. Christopher Wray, a 50-year-old Yale-trained lawyer, was at the top of the list thanks to his conservative credentials as a leading partner at one of the nation’s biggest law firms and experience running the criminal division in George W. Bush’s Justice Department. For Trump, who has always placed emphasis on people looking the part for their jobs, Wray’s square-jawed serious demeanor helped seal the deal, people close to the process told CNN at the time. Soon after he became director, however, Trump began grousing that Wray wasn’t doing enough TV, people briefed on the matter said. Trump’s view was that the FBI director should be seen publicly supporting the president, who was in the middle of the Russia investigation into his campaign. Years later, in the spring of 2022, Trump sent Wray a handwritten letter, according to one person familiar with the note, congratulating him on his recent appearance on “60 Minutes” in which Wray discussed Chinese espionage efforts directed at the US. What Trump didn’t know at the time was that the FBI was beginning a criminal investigation, based on a referral from the National Archives, into his decision to hoard classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The FBI court-authorized search of Mar-a-Lago that August led to a grand jury indictment against Trump — and ended any chance of Wray keeping his job in Trump’s second term. “He invaded my home,” Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this week, lambasting the director he chose . “He invaded Mar-a-Lago.” As Trump prepares to replace Wray with Kash Patel, a MAGA acolyte who has joined the president-elect in vowing to use the Justice Department to target political adversaries, Wray’s departure marks a clear end to a decadeslong era of independence for the FBI. When he first hired Wray, Trump’s expectations of unbridled fealty, a loyalty standard that Comey has said Trump also asked him to meet, were a sharp departure from the culture of the modern FBI, which has assiduously cultivated its independence since the Watergate scandal and the abuses of the 48-year reign of J. Edgar Hoover. It’s an independence that has irritated almost every president through the years. A tenure filled with tension Compared to Comey, whose frequent media appearances caused some of the bureau’s problems, Wray preferred to keep a lower profile and avoided the press. That was not the type of director Trump was anticipating, according to senior administration officials. That mismatch in expectations helped create a tightrope Wray tried to walk during Trump’s first term, as he limited his direct interactions with Trump while focusing on priorities that were important to the administration. Wray is “an ideal person to run the FBI because he recognizes it’s a non-partisan job and he has the respect of the troops,” said a former Justice Department official who helped push for Wray’s hiring. While Trump and Republicans rail against the so-called weaponization of the bureau, the former official said, “Kash Patel is exactly what Trump says he doesn’t want in an FBI director: someone who is going to weaponize the FBI.” Wray’s tenure under Trump was punctuated by periods of significant tension. Unhappy about the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and eventually their failure to support his claims of fraud in the 2020 election, Trump would often lash out at Justice officials, including at times at Wray. At least twice, Wray told aides that he was prepared to resign over Trump’s demands, according to a former US official briefed on the matter. “A couple times, it got to where he said ‘I’m not going to do that,’ and he was persuaded to stay,” the former US official said. A current senior FBI official said that employees are frustrated that some of the attacks against the bureau and Wray were for decisions by their bosses at the Justice Department, which the FBI sometimes disagreed with. Early in the Biden administration, for example, the Justice Department issued a memo suggesting parents protesting at school boards over Covid measures could be investigated if they made threats. The FBI distanced itself from the memo, which never produced any actual investigations. But the damage was done, and Republican lawmakers continue to cite the issue as an example of overreach. FBI command center in 2020 The pressures on Wray came into clear view in June 2020, days after riots erupted across the country following the police killing of George Floyd. Wray, along with Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Bill Barr, stood in the FBI’s command center in downtown Washington, DC. After riots swelled around the city, a few blocks away a fire was set in the basement of historic St. John’s Church as protesters gathered in Lafayette Square outside the White House. Barr took charge of the law enforcement response and ordered 150 FBI agents into the square to clear protestors that night, according to a person present, despite some agents raising concerns that FBI agents aren’t trained to do crowd control, noting the risk that an agent or a protester could be killed. The decision was made and agents were deployed to patrol the streets of Washington. Wray later apologized to agents, noting that orders weren’t coming from him or even Barr, but from Trump, according to the person present at the command post. Days later Wray spoke at a press conference alongside Barr and for the first time appeared to endorse the idea that Antifa was behind the violence, something Trump had been insistent on despite a lack of evidence to support his claims. “We’re seeing people who are exploiting this situation to pursue violent extremist agendas,” Wray said. “Anarchists like Antifa and other agitators. These individuals have set out to sow discord and upheaval rather than join in the righteous pursuit of equality and justice.” Inside the bureau, some officials were surprised that Wray had come to echo Trump and Barr’s claims about Antifa. But Wray’s words, temporarily at least, served to help bolster Trump’s confidence that Wray and the FBI were doing what he wanted. Months later at a congressional hearing, Wray told lawmakers that Antifa was an ideology, not a group, prompting criticism from Republicans. A more understated director At the bureau, where Comey was well-liked as director, Wray’s arrival in 2017 was a sharp turn. But it was a welcome one for employees who hoped that a more understated director would lower the political heat on the bureau and refocus attention on its national security and criminal enforcement missions. Visibly uncomfortable in large crowds, Wray has a political gift in smaller gatherings, particularly rank-and-file employees who rarely get face time with the director, current and former FBI officials said. When he spoke to graduating classes of new agents at the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia, Wray often compared the teamwork aspect of being an FBI agent to being on a rowing team, invoking his own time as a Yale crew team member. For each graduating class, Wray would eat lunch at the cafeteria with six to eight students who were viewed as leaders of their class, a former FBI agent who admires Wray told CNN. Like he did for all his meetings or when he was a trial attorney, Wray was known to prepare before even small gatherings at the academy. “He’s not a guy who works on emotion, he is very tactical, very prepared,” the former agent said. Former senior FBI officials said that while Wray didn’t like to speak publicly in the media, he was good at building relationships with local law enforcement agencies and with private sector companies that the FBI needs for its national security and counter-terrorism efforts. He often insisted to speak directly to current and former employees struggling with bereavement or health issues, notably former FBI employees suffering from post-9-11 illnesses. Every time a police officer was killed on duty anywhere in the US, Wray made calls to their family or police chiefs. “I cannot tell you how many deathbed calls he has made,” the former US official said. Decision to step down After Trump announced his intention last month to replace Wray with Patel, Wray wrestled with how to leave the bureau he had helmed for nearly eight years. He struggled with whether it was better for the FBI and its tradition of independence to stay and be fired, or to leave before Trump’s arrival to save the bureau from further attacks, people close to his thinking said. Ultimately Wray decided to announce his plans to resign to hundreds of FBI employees at the Washington, DC, headquarters, saying he would leave before Trump took office. His speech tacitly acknowledged the political headwinds the FBI will face under the new presidency. Wray also took the time during the speech to highlight the accomplishments by his agents throughout his years there, from thwarting terror plots to stopping cyber-attacks on US infrastructure and hospitals, fentanyl seizures and rescuing children from predators. “An awful lot of people are alive today because of your tireless efforts ,” Way told the audience. “As daunting as all that may sound, I’ve got enormous confidence in you and your ability to continue to meet the threats coming over the horizon.” Under Wray, the FBI stopped numerous foreign hacking operations from countries like China and Russia, alleged Iranian plots to kill current and former government officials, and opened up the largest investigation in FBI history, charging more than 1500 people in connection to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack. Still, none of it was enough to save Wray, whose tenure ends the same way as Comey’s – with Trump angry about being investigated by what he sees as his own FBI.Bucks, even without stars, look for another win against BullsIn Chongqing, China, an innovative restaurant is grabbing global attention for its unique dining experience, combining cutting-edge aesthetics with traditional food service. Ms. Qin , the 26-year-old entrepreneur behind this hot pot establishment, offers her patrons a mesmerizing performance where her smooth movements emulate those of a humanoid robot. At first glance, diners might be tempted to believe they are witnessing a technological marvel with the restaurant’s staff appearing mechanical. However, this extraordinary illusion is the product of Ms. Qin’s dedication to her craft, seamlessly blending dance and dining service. Her expert choreography, marked by precise movements and a focused gaze, transforms each dining experience into a theatrical display. This exceptional fusion of art and service has captivated audiences, both in the vibrant restaurant and online, as videos of Ms. Qin’s mesmerizing performances spread widely. Her ability to effortlessly embody the characteristics of a machine while retaining the grace of a dancer underscores the harmony between human creativity and mechanical precision. Alongside running her restaurant, Ms. Qin also showcases her talent as a professional dancer, performing both within her establishment and in public spaces. Her unique talents continue to attract visitors from around the globe, eager to witness this fusion of innovation and artistry firsthand. Experience a dining revolution that combines performance and cuisine at Ms. Qin’s extraordinary restaurant, where every meal is served with a touch of futuristic allure. Experience the Future of Dining: A Fusion of Art and Technology In the bustling city of Chongqing, China, a groundbreaking restaurant concept is turning heads worldwide, offering an unprecedented dining experience that melds artistic performance with culinary excellence. The brainchild of 26-year-old entrepreneur and professional dancer, Ms. Qin, this hot pot restaurant delivers not just meals but an immersive spectacle. Features of the Revolutionary Dining Experience Ms. Qin’s establishment is at the forefront of integrating performance art into traditional food service. Her remarkable ability to simulate robotic movements while serving food captivates diners, creating an engaging atmosphere where every service moment becomes part of a choreographed act. This innovative approach has set her apart in the culinary industry, redefining what it means to dine out. Insights into the Artistry Behind the Illusion The heart of this mesmerizing experience lies in Ms. Qin’s background as a professional dancer. Her rigorous training allows her to execute fluid and precise movements that mimic a humanoid robot. This dedication not only enhances the dining experience but also highlights the potential synergy between human creativity and technological influence. Pros and Cons of This Unique Dining Concept Pros: – Entertainment Value: Combines dining with live performance, providing a unique storytelling element to meals. – Cultural Fusion: Blends modern aesthetics with traditional hot pot cuisine, offering a fresh take on a classic culinary style. – Global Appeal: Attracts international visitors eager to experience this hybrid of art and dining. Cons: – Scalability Challenges: The concept relies heavily on Ms. Qin’s personal talents, which could be difficult to replicate on a larger scale. – Misinterpretation: Diners unfamiliar with the concept might initially mistake the performance for traditional robotic service, potentially overshadowing the artistic elements. A Look at Global Trends in Dining Innovation This innovative approach resonates with a growing global trend where traditional industries, like dining, are increasingly integrating artistic and technological elements to elevate customer experiences. Such trends point to a future where boundary-pushing concepts are more commonplace, suggesting that the fusion of art and service could inspire new dining formats worldwide. Market Predictions and Consumer Interest With increasing demand for unique and experiential dining, Ms. Qin’s restaurant could pave the way for similar innovations in other markets. As consumers seek experiences beyond mere culinary satisfaction, future dining establishments might explore integrating performance art and technology more deeply into their service offerings. Conclusion Ms. Qin’s inventive hot pot restaurant offers a glimpse into the future of dining, where art and technology harmonize to create memorable experiences. As her concept continues to gain traction, it sets a new standard for what is possible in the culinary world, challenging restaurateurs to think beyond traditional service models. For more insights into innovative dining experiences, visit China Highlights .