ESTERO, Fla. (AP) — Kaden Cooper led Louisiana Tech with 16 points, and Daniel Batcho and Amaree Abram made key free throws in the closing seconds as the Bulldogs defeated Richmond 65-62 on Tuesday. Cooper added nine rebounds and four steals for the Bulldogs (6-0). Batcho scored 13 points, going 4 of 6 and 5 of 7 from the free-throw line. Abram shot 3 for 13 (2 for 7 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line to finish with 12 points, while adding six rebounds. Delonnie Hunt finished with 26 points and three steals for the Spiders (3-4). Abram scored eight points in the first half and Louisiana Tech went into halftime trailing 35-27. Sean Newman Jr. scored a team-high 12 points for Louisiana Tech in the second half. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Jimmy Carter, a former peanut farmer who rose from rural Georgia to the White House and went on to a storied post-presidency that included winning the Nobel Peace Prize, died Sunday at his home in Plains, Ga. He was 100. An outsider, free from the baggage of Washington, Carter defeated President Gerald R. Ford in 1976, a victory seen as representing a clean break with the Watergate era. But the 39th president’s solitary term in office was hamstrung by a sluggish economy and crises at home and abroad. His presidency was also an anomaly, sandwiched between a total of two decades of Republican presidents. Carter, who was born on Oct. 1, 1924, was predeceased by his wife, Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19, 2023. The couple was married for more than 77 years. Their son Chip Carter confirmed the former president’s death Sunday to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . The Carter Center announced in February 2023 that the former president had decided to receive hospice care and spend his remaining time at home with family, rather than seek further medical treatment “after a series of short hospital stays.” Years before, Carter had been diagnosed with melanoma, which he announced in August 2015 had extended to his brain. He said at the time that he expected to have a short time to live, but after aggressive treatment he was reported free of the melanoma by December of that year. In what was perhaps the high point of his post-presidency years, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct. 11, 2002, for what the Nobel Foundation called “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.” In his acceptance speech, Carter criticized the very notion of preemptive war as having “catastrophic consequences.” He added: “If we accept the premise that the United Nations is the best avenue for the maintenance of peace, then the carefully considered decisions of the United Nations Security Council must be enforced. All too often, the alternative has proven to be uncontrollable violence and expanding spheres of hostility.” Relationship with Congress Scholars have judged Carter’s dealings with Congress critically. Democrats controlled both the Senate and the House for the entirety of his presidency. But many experts have argued that the former agribusinessman was largely disinterested in working directly with lawmakers. After leaving the White House, Carter tried to reverse the conventional wisdom about his relationship with Congress, arguing that lawmakers mostly supported his initiatives. “Despite the controversial and often unpopular nature of my proposals to the Congress, I had remarkably good success in congressional approval of bills I supported,” he wrote in his 2010 book “White House Diary.” Carter pointed to congressional vote data compiled by CQ, writing that at the time his book was published it showed he ranked third among all presidents, behind Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy, when it came to garnering congressional approval for legislation on which he took a position and was voted on by lawmakers. Congress gave Carter his way 76.6% of the time, according to the CQ Almanac data. But Politifact, an independent fact-checking organization, found the former Georgia governor’s batting average with Congress was “unexceptional.” That’s because few of Carter’s initiatives actually became law; CQ’s methodology handed out successful scores for a positive vote in one chamber, even if a bill never became law. The roots of Carter’s struggles with Congress can be traced to his time in the governor’s mansion, according to scholars at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, which specializes in presidential studies. “As when he was governor, Carter had an abiding dislike for the backroom dealing that is so pervasive in Washington,” Robert Strong, a politics professor at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., wrote for the Miller Center. Strong said lawmakers “found the new president hard to deal with.” Soon after he entered the White House, lawmakers sensed he lacked the support of many Americans — and they pounced. “Congress asserted its power over the president by shooting down (a) consumer-protection bill and (a) labor reform package,” Strong said. “Carter responded by vetoing a public works package in 1978 on the grounds that it was inflationary. A pattern of mutual distrust and contempt had been set.” Energy policy Also complicating his dealings with Congress was his opposition, soon after taking office, to a rivers and harbors bill supported by Democratic leaders that he felt was full of wasteful spending. Perhaps his biggest achievement was on energy policy, which Carter pushed at a time when U.S. oil imports had risen 65% in the four years before he became president. Carter’s advocacy also came when America was heavily reliant on imports from the OPEC cartel. He convinced lawmakers to pass several measures credited with increasing oil and natural gas supplies and generally lowering prices, as well as others that reshaped mileage standards for cars and American companies’ use of fuel. Carter faced an economy besieged by so-called stagflation, a combination of high inflation, high unemployment and plodding growth. His often-troubled presidency was a drag on congressional Democrats — and his own reelection effort — in 1980. Former California Gov. Ronald Reagan walloped Carter, taking 489 of 538 Electoral College votes. Carter won just six states, including Georgia, as well as the District of Columbia. Republicans picked up 34 House seats and 12 in the Senate, enough to take control of that chamber. After the presidency Carter revealed during an August 2015 press conference that the Iranian hostage crisis, in which an attempted military rescue of embassy employees ended in the deaths of eight American servicemembers, was among his biggest regrets. “I wish I had sent one more helicopter to get the hostages, and we would’ve rescued them,” Carter said, “and I would’ve been reelected.” The New York Times reported in March 2023 that allies of Reagan went on a mission to the Middle East seeking to stop the Iranians from releasing 52 American hostages before Election Day in 1980. After leaving the White House, Carter was among the most active former presidents of the modern era. He participated in election monitoring around the globe, and regularly worked with Habitat for Humanity. What’s more, the Carter Center in Atlanta studied issues such as mental health and fought lesser-known problems, including Guinea-worm disease. Before leaving office in 2001, then-President Bill Clinton reportedly told confidants that the Carter Center was the model for the kind of post-presidency pursuits he envisioned. ©2024 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Visit cqrollcall.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 26, 2024 / The RENN Fund, Inc. (NYSE American:RCG) (the "Fund") announced today a record date for the Fund's year-end distribution. The record date will be December 16, 2024 and Pay-Date of December 27, 2024. The Fund will make an announcement on or about December 23, 2024 with the distribution rate per share. As the per share rate will not be available prior to the record date, the Fund will trade with due bills beginning December 16, 2024, and up through and including the last business day prior to the New York Stock Exchange established Ex-Date. The New York Stock Exchange will set the Ex-Date once the per share rate has been announced. Disclosures:A court in China has sentenced a man to death for killing 35 people last month by driving into a crowd, in an attack that raised national concern about mass killings. Fan Weiqiu was venting his anger because he was unhappy with his divorce settlement, the court in the southern city of Zhuhai said in handing down the sentence on Friday. The victims were exercising at a sports center. Fan pleaded guilty to endangering public safety by dangerous means, a court statement said. Fan’s “criminal motive was extremely despicable, the nature of the crime was extremely vile, the means of the crime were particularly cruel, and the consequences of the crime were particularly severe, resulting in great social harm,” the court said. The attack was one of several in China in late October and November and spurred Chinese leader Xi Jinping to order local governments to take steps to prevent future “extreme cases.” His order prompted vows from local leaders to examine personal disputes that could trigger aggression, from marital troubles to disagreements over inheritance. Fan’s sentence was the second one handed down in quick succession just weeks after the recent attacks, much faster than court cases normally take in China. A court last week gave a suspended death sentence with a two-year reprieve to a driver who injured 30 people when he drove into elementary school students and parents in Hunan province. Such sentences are usually commuted to life in prison. The court in the city of Changde said the driver was taking out his frustrations after losing money he had invested. Such attacks on crowds, with a vehicle or a knife, are not new in China, but the spate this fall and the high number of victims in the Zhuhai attack renewed the focus on the issue. The attackers are often taking out their anger and frustration over a personal matter in what are known as “revenge on society” crimes. Chinese authorities keep a tight lid on any reports about the attacks. The death toll in Zhuhai wasn’t announced until 24 hours after the attack. In addition to the 35 people killed, another 43 were injured, police said. The driver, Fan, who was 62 years old, was found in his vehicle trying to stab himself with a knife, a police statement said. Police set up barricades the day after the attack and barred people from entering the sports complex. Members of the public left bouquets of flowers by an adjacent square instead. KEN MORITSUGU, BEIJING, MDT/AP
Customers who don’t update their energy plans are paying about $317 more a year than those who shop around, according to an electricity price report released by the competition watchdog on Monday. Energy bills have been reduced nationwide, chiefly through federal and state subsidies, but the annual survey from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found that households prepared to switch providers were saving 17 per cent more than their loyal counterparts. ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey says customers who have not changed electricity plans in the past 12 months are probably paying more than they need to. Credit: Oscar Colman The gap was biggest in Victoria, where loyal customers paid about 19 per cent, or $291, more on their annual energy bills than those who switched providers. In NSW, the difference was 15 per cent, or $297, while South Australians saw the largest dollar-value difference at $334. Flat-rate offers in these states and South East Queensland dropped in the year to August, sliding 4 per cent on average. The cost of “time-of-use” offers, which charge different rates based on when customers use electricity, decreased by 5.5 per cent, while those on demand offers – pricing plans that charge customers based on the maximum amount of power they use during peak times – saw the least benefit. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) commissioner Anna Brakey urged customers to contact their electricity provider to ask if a cheaper electricity plan was available. “If you haven’t changed electricity plans in the past 12 months, chances are you are paying more for your electricity than you need to,” she said. Loading Federal energy bill relief and rebates in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania also cut power bills. Electricity prices dropped 17 per cent in the three months to September, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The reduction in power bills, along with lower fuel prices, were major reasons for the fall in overall inflation to 2.8 per cent in the September quarter . Excluding the rebates, electricity prices would have risen by 0.7 per cent.Kim vows toughest anti-US policy before Trump takes office
OTTAWA — Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says Canada didn't live up to its values on immigration over the last few years as it allowed more people into the country than it could absorb. Carney, who is currently a special adviser to the Liberal party, made those comments during an event in Ottawa held by Cardus, a Christian think tank. Carney says Canada let newcomers down by admitting more workers and students than it could provide for, including with housing, health care and social services. Earlier this fall, the Liberal government announced a plan to significantly reduced its immigration target for permanent residents and to dramatically scale back the number of temporary residents in Canada. Those changes came about after a period of strong population growth that led to mounting criticism of the Liberal government's immigration policies. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged that the federal government did not get the balance right on immigration after the COVID-19 pandemic. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2024. Nojoud Al Mallees, The Canadian Press
Saquon Barkley rushed for 167 yards to join the 2,000-yard club and the Philadelphia Eagles clinched the NFC East title with a lopsided 41-7 victory against the visiting Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. The Eagles (13-3) swept the rival Cowboys (7-9) for the first time since 2011 and locked up at least the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. With his 11th 100-yard game of the year, Barkley became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. Sitting on 2,005 yards, he needs 101 to break Eric Dickerson's NFL single-season record of 2,105 set in 16 games in 1984. Starting for Philadelphia with Jalen Hurts in the concussion protocol, Kenny Pickett tallied a touchdown pass and a touchdown run before exiting early in the third quarter with a rib injury. Tanner McKee, making his NFL debut, replaced Pickett and threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown to put the Eagles up 34-7 with 2:44 left in the third quarter. McKee added a 25-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter to DeVonta Smith, who finished with six catches for 120 yards and two scores. The Cowboys turned the ball over four times. Cooper Rush threw two interceptions and one touchdown pass and Rico Dowdle rushed for 104 yards to notch his first 1,000-yard season (1,007). Philadelphia built a 24-7 halftime lead by scoring 17 points off three Dallas turnovers. The Cowboys' opening drive ended in a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown by C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Rush shook off the pick-6 and fired a game-tying 4-yard TD pass to Jalen Tolbert with 5:38 left in the first quarter. Pickett's 22-yard strike to Smith put Philadelphia ahead for good at 14-7 midway through the second quarter. Jake Elliott's 31-yard field goal made it 17-7 after Jordan Davis recovered a fumble by the Cowboys' Jake Ferguson. Gardner-Johnson's second interception gave Philadelphia the ball back with 36 seconds left in the half. Smith's 49-yard catch got the Eagles to the doorstep and Pickett punched it in. Elliott's 26-yarder extended the lead to 27-7 on the first drive of the third quarter, but Pickett's day was over after absorbing a hit from Micah Parsons. --Field Level MediaNone