Nine signs of dementia to watch out in older relatives this ChristmasBefore his death today in hospice care at his home in Georgia , Jimmy Carter defied illness and death for years. When his melanoma spread to his brain in 2015, he drew praise for announcing it publicly. Even as he underwent treatment, he continued to teach Sunday school in his home town's Baptist church. Within months, he announced that he was cancer-free. Four years later, Carter fell at least three times, at one point breaking a hip and at another requiring 14 stitches. Each time he bounced back, even showing up for a Habitat for Humanity home-building project shortly after one stumble. Jimmy Carter's tragic 10-word dying wish as he faces death's door in hospice in Plains, Georgia Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter celebrates her 96th birthday with Jimmy and ice cream But he has slowly retreated from public life lately, making fewer and fewer appearances or statements and was unable to attend President Biden's inauguration in January 2021. However, he lived long enough to outlast two presidents who followed him and his own vice president, Walter Mondale. He became the longest-living president in March 2019 when he passed former President George H.W. Bush, who died four months before. Although Carter, nicknamed Jimmy Cardigan after once wearing a jumper for a televised speech, left the White House after one of the biggest landslide defeats of the modern era, he was one of very few US leaders to be memorialised while still alive. The evolution of his legacy was unusual as he had such a long period between the end of his unpopular presidency and the announcement at the weekend that he would undergo no further treatment to die peacefully at his home. Carter's time in the White House was marred by his struggles to respond to formidable challenges, including a major energy crisis, high inflation, and unemployment. He took office after Gerald Ford left the entire US government in disarray. Carter entered the Oval Office facing mounting challenges - an energy crisis, Soviet aggression and, above all, a deep mistrust of leadership by voters. In foreign affairs, he reopened US relations with China and tried to broker peace in the historic Arab-Israeli conflict, but was damaged late in his term by a hostage crisis in Iran. Carter's diagnosis of America's "crisis of confidence" did little to boost his flagging popularity, and in 1980 he was defeated in the general election by Ronald Reagan. Over the following decades, Carter built a distinguished career as a diplomat, humanitarian and author, pursuing conflict resolution in countries around the globe. He was awarded the Noble Peace Prize in 2002 "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." Born in Plains, Georgia, in October 1924, Carter attended the US Naval Academy graduating in 1946. Already, he had a solid moral compass installed in him by his nurse mother, "Miz" Lillian. She set an example for her son by crossing the strict lines of segregation in 1920s Georgia to counsel poor African American women on health care. Shortly after passing out of the navy, he married Rosalynn Smith, having four children together. But tragedy struck in July 1953 as while he was preparing to serve as an engineering officer on the submarine Seawolf, his father, Earl, died from cancer. Carter returned home and was able to rebuild his family's struggling peanut warehouse business after a crippling drought. Ironically the legume became the symbol of his presidential campaign. Active in community affairs and a deacon at the Plains Baptist Church, he launched his political career with a seat on his local board of education. In 1962, he won the election to the Georgia State Senate as a Democrat, running for the governor's office four years later, finishing a disappointing third. The loss sent Carter into a depression, which he overcame by finding renewed faith as a born-again Christian. He ran again for the governorship in 1970 and won. A year later, Carter was featured on the cover of Time magazine as one of a new breed of young political leaders in the South, known for their moderate racial views and progressive economic and social policies. Initially, Carter was a political phenomenon, a new-generation Democrat who, after a single term as governor of the Peach State, shocked the political world by beating a host of better-known rivals to capture his party's presidential nomination in 1976. A year later, he would oust the incumbent Republican president, Ford. Over four years in office, he sought to restore trust in government following the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, ushering in reforms meant to transform politics. He mediated the historic Camp David Accords, making peace between Israel and Egypt, an agreement that remains the foundation of Middle East relations. But a sour economy, rocketing inflation, and a 444-day hostage crisis in Iran where 52 American diplomats were held captive undercut his public support. Ultimately, it cost him his re-election bid, losing to Ronald Reagan in 1980. Carter spent his post-presidency, however, on a series of philanthropic causes around the world, like building houses for the poor, combating disease, promoting human rights in places of repression, monitoring elections and seeking to end conflicts. His work as a former president in many ways came to eclipse his time in the White House, eventually earning him the Nobel Peace Prize and rehabilitating his image in the eyes of many Americans. "Between the time he left office and entered hospice care, he got to sit back and enjoy the adulation of a grateful nation," Jeffrey Engel, the director for the presidential history centre at Southern Methodist University, said. "The passage of time smoothed out the rough edges of his political career. If Carter had died in 1982, there would be less adulation than he is receiving right now." Joseph Crespino, the Jimmy Carter Professor of History at Emory University, called his resilience "remarkable." "Instead of sulking about not winning the second term, he used his influence and prominence from his position in politics to help millions of people and win the Nobel Peace Prize," he said. When asked about regrets, Carter spoke of his in his autobiography "A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety." The former president said he was upset by how his kiss with the Queen Mother was portrayed. He wrote how he didn't regret puckering up to Her Majesty, describing it as "lightly on the cheek" as the pair said goodnight after dinner at Buckingham Place in May 1977. However, much like his presidency, its impact never left those affected most by his actions. To her dying day, the Queen Mother had two hates, as detailed in her 2009 biography - oysters and being kissed by a US president.
All Nippon Airways to Launch Operations at JFK’s Innovative Terminal 6 in 2026The New York Rangers are still desperately seeking answers following their blockbuster trade of captain Jacob Trouba earlier this month. They'll try to regain some stability when they visit the Florida Panthers on Monday evening in Sunrise, Fla. New York is 3-8-0 since trading Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 6 in a roster shakeup that hasn't ignited anybody. They've dropped three in a row and six of seven, most recently losing at the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 on Saturday. "Right now, it's just frustrating," New York coach Peter Laviolette said. "We're in the business of winning hockey games and we're not getting it done right now, so it's tough to sit here and tell you good things. We're losing hockey games. We need to win hockey games and we're not getting that done." New York had high expectations after reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the second time in three years last season. Hopes of getting past that hurdle and reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2014 were heightened after the Rangers improved to 12-4-1 with a 4-3 win at the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 19. They haven't won two games in a row since. "Result-wise, this is not what we wanted," Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. "We can talk about a reset, we can talk about whatever, but if the result is not there, it's not going to matter." In the loss to the Lightning, special teams once again played a big role. The Rangers went 0-for-4 on the power play while Tampa Bay went 2-for-5. "We don't score on our power play, we let in two goals, we put ourselves in a bad spot," Zibanejad said. "I don't think that's the effort. I don't think that's the team itself or how we came out, how we started. I don't think that's why we lose a game. We had (44) shots, we've got to get in front of a few more and get some quality chances, but I thought we did. It's frustrating." The Rangers will face a hungry Florida team that has been shut out the past two games, the second time that's happened this month. "Yeah, there is something to that. We are playing the perimeter game for the most part," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "That has a lot to do with it." The Panthers most recently fell to the visiting Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Saturday afternoon, failing to get one past a goalie making his NHL debut in Jakub Dobes. "I don't think we are going to dwell on this one, just kind of move on," Florida forward Sam Bennett said. "Mistakes are going to be made. It's about how you help each other and fix them. We are just going to move on from this game." Sergei Bobrovsky will start in goal for the Panthers. He's 5-2 in seven starts this month with a 2.24 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. He made 24 saves in a 3-1 win against the Rangers on Oct. 24. Overall, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner is 15-12-3 in 31 career starts against New York with a 2.83 GAA, a .908 save percentage and one of his 45 career shutouts. Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was pulled after giving up five goals on 13 shots in 28:08 against the Lightning. He took the loss against Florida in October while making 26 saves and is 4-3-0 with a 2.87 GAA and a .915 save percentage against the Panthers all-time. This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.
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Like most presidencies, Jimmy Carter 's will face history's judgment in determining whether its fiascos—rampant inflation, gas shortages, the failed U.S. military efforts to rescue Americans held in Iran by Islamic radicals—resulted from sheer misfortune or Carter's miscalculations. One fact about the 39th presidency, however, falls unquestionably into the unlucky category. Carter will go down in history as one of only four presidents (including William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Andrew Johnson) who did not have an opportunity to appoint a member of the U.S. Supreme Court . Yet, indirectly, he is responsible for one of the high tribunal's most consequential members: Ruth Bader Ginsburg . In addition, his approach to populating the lower federal courts with diverse judges reshaped the country's bench. Carter's upbringing in rural southern Georgia impressed upon him life-long lessons about race and gender. His mother's independence as a nurse who ignored many of the Jim Crow South's racial segregation customs, and his exposure to Black playmates, clerics and, neighboring sharecroppers, formed his eventual embrace of equal opportunity for all Americans. Carter's career in the nuclear Navy coincided with President Harry Truman's abolition of racial segregation in the American military. By the early 1970s, he had fully embraced the modern civil rights agenda. Standing for office in the Peach State, rife with traditional white segregationist politicians, Carter ultimately represented the more progressive New South. As his political career expanded, Carter's wife, Rosalynn, embraced an equal role with him in running their peanut farming business. Once in the governor's office, the future president quickly changed the complexion of the state workforce, placing Blacks in 40 percent of influential positions, including boosting their number on Georgia boards from three to 53 and appointing the first Black state patrolman. African Americans rewarded him by casting their votes for Carter in 1976, catapulting him from "Jimmy Who?" to the Democratic presidential nomination and then on to the White House, with 83 percent of their ballots in the general election. Carter's commitment to egalitarianism on matters of race and gender manifested itself in his approach to federal court nominations. He developed an affirmative action plan for the trial courts and courts of appeals. Long a bastion of white males, the 94 district courts and 13 courts of appeals form the core of the federal judicial structure. Distributed among 12 geographic clusters of states and the District of Columbia, plus one national circuit, the courts of appeals hear the vast majority of cases from the federal trial courts. All litigants have the right to appeal a loss from the district courts, and, because the Supreme Court's docket is discretionary and contains fewer than 100 cases a term, the courts of appeals are the last stop for all but a few cases. Thus, Carter's 262 nominations to the federal benches, a record number at the time, guided by an effort to balance the representative characteristics of appointees, especially in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender, gave him an influential role in shaping the national judiciary. His first year in office (1977), Carter established his Circuit Court Nominating Commissions and met with them in the White House to gather names of qualified women and minorities for the federal benches. This unprecedented process resulted in his naming 57 minority judges and 41 female jurists, numbers that exceeded the total of all previous presidents' minority and women nominees. He appointed nine Black people to the circuit courts (including Amalya Kearse, the first female African-American federal appellate court judge) and 28 Black jurists to the district courts. The 1978 Omnibus Judgeship Act , which created 152 new federal judgeships, aided Carter's record performance in Black appointments. His most lasting impact resulted from his 1980 nomination of Ginsburg to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a proving ground for Supreme Court justices. Ginsburg had served as the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Women's Rights Project, during which she argued a half-dozen gender-equity cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and won all but one. Her scholarship as a tenured Columbia Law School professor and her successful advocacy for equality between the sexes caught Carter's attention. Likewise, her compelling life story captured President Bill Clinton 's imagination in 1993 when Justice Byron White retired from the nation's highest tribunal. In announcing her nomination, Clinton declared that Ginsburg was "to the women's movement what Thurgood Marshall was to the movement for the rights of African Americans." If Carter had secured a second term in the 1980 election, it is likely that he would have had the distinction of placing the first woman on the high court. But that landmark belongs to President Ronald Reagan. Joining Sandra Day O'Connor as only the second woman to become a member of the court, Ginsburg played a historic role, especially in continuing her crusade for gender equity. She penned the court's opinion in the decision requiring Virginia Military Institute to admit women. Her dissent in the Lilly Ledbetter case successfully encouraged Congress to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act's limits on when the victims of wage discrimination could challenge their employers in federal court. Until her 2020 death, Ginsburg continued to fulfill the egalitarian agenda of Carter's post-Watergate presidency. She provided votes and authored opinions upholding access to abortion, allowing universities to maintain affirmative action policies in college and law school admissions, advocating marriage equality, and bolstering sexual privacy. And RBG might never have made history on the nation's highest court without the 39th president's nomination of her to the second most powerful tribunal in the nation. Barbara A. Perry ( @BarbaraPerryUVA ) is the J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance and co-chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia's Miller Center . She was a 1994-95 Supreme Court Fellow. The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.Hours until new tool connects Americans with $1.6t in lost money – you may not even know it’s missing from your accountJERUSALEM — Israel approved a United States-brokered cease-fire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Israeli warplanes meanwhile carried out the most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 24 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities, as Israel signaled it aims to keep pummeling Hezbollah before the cease-fire is set to take hold at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday. Another huge airstrike shook Beirut shortly after the cease-fire was announced. Israel's security Cabinet approved the cease-fire agreement late Tuesday after it was presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office said. U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement “good news” and said his administration would make a renewed push for a cease-fire in Gaza. An Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza, where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East without saying how. The Biden administration spent much of this year trying to broker a cease-fire and hostage release in Gaza but the talks repeatedly sputtered to a halt. Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year. Israel says it will ‘attack with might’ if Hezbollah breaks truce Netanyahu presented the cease-fire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed a series of accomplishments against Israel’s enemies across the region. He said a cease-fire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran, which backs both groups. “If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” he said. “For every violation, we will attack with might.” The cease-fire deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troopsand U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides’ compliance. But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Biden said Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce, but that the deal "was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” Netanyahu’s office said Israel appreciated the U.S. efforts in securing the deal but “reserves the right to act against every threat to its security.” Hezbollah has said it accepts the proposal, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday that it had not seen the agreement in its final form. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state.” of Lebanon, he said. “Any violation of sovereignty is refused.” Warplanes bombard Beirut and its southern suburbs Even as Israeli, U.S, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a cease-fire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah’s military capabilities. An Israeli strike on Tuesday leveled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city’s downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs killed at least one person and wounded 13, it said. Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure. Israel also struck a building in Beirut's bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site that is around 400 meters (yards) from Lebanon’s Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli military said it struck targets in Beirut and other areas linked to Hezbollah's financial arm. The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a cease-fire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead. Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, is headquartered. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate. Israeli forces reach Litani River in southern Lebanon The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometers (miles) from the Israeli border. Under the cease-fire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border. Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since. Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes. More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country’s north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon. Chehayeb and Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press reporters Lujain Jo and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut, and Aamer Madhani in Washington, contributed.
Are ring girls like Sydney Thomas about to get knocked out by AI?The Rediscover Recovery Community Center announced Tuesday the launch of the Nurturing Parenting Program for Families in Substance Use Treatment and Recovery. “We are excited to bring this transformative program to our community,” RRCC executive director Dominic Capella said. “Thanks to the generous support of the Better Health Foundation, we can equip families with the tools they need to thrive during recovery and beyond.” The 17-week program is an evidence-based initiative designed to strengthen parenting skills and improve parenting competence, improve family dynamics through stronger relationships, and support long-term addiction recovery with increased engagement in recovery-focused activities, according to Cappella By creating a sustainable support network for families, the intent of the initiative is also to help reduce social and economic impacts of substance use disorders in the Clinton area, creating healthier homes and more resilient communities. Funded by the Better Health Foundation in the Greater Quad Cities region, the program is recognized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Recruitment for participants is to begin in January 2025, with sessions set to commence shortly thereafter. The nonprofit RRCC, located at 232 Fifth Ave. South, is dedicated to supporting individuals and families affected by substance use disorders and empowering individuals in recovery to achieve lasting success through evidence-based programs, community partnerships, and compassionate care. For more information, contact Capella at (563) 206-1479. More information is also available online at rediscoverrcc.org
The son of the Hong Kong democracy activist Jimmy Lai said Tuesday that his father’s trial in the Chinese territory was a “sham” but that he was “proud” of how he was handling himself in court. The 76-year-old media tycoon has been testifying for three days in Hong Kong about claims that he colluded with foreign forces, an offence carrying up to life in prison under the sweeping national security law Beijing imposed on the financial hub in mid-2020. The founder of the now-shuttered tabloid Apple Daily is also accused of “conspiracy to publish seditious publications”. His son Sebastien, who has been travelling the world to denounce his father’s arrest since he was detained in 2020, is following in real time the media coverage of his father’s testimony. “The trial is one of the first times in the last four years where I have any indication of how he’s doing,” Sebastien Lai told AFP in an interview in London. “He’s been kept in solitary confinement for the last four years. His health obviously has gotten quite a bit worse but from his statements, his spirit’s still strong and his mind’s still sharp.” On Tuesday, Jimmy Lai told the court he had advocated “peaceful resistance” against China’s erosion of the city’s freedoms and tried to “reduce violence” during huge democracy protests in 2019. “It’s quite heartbreaking seeing my father being dragged to court with all these sham allegations. But I’m also incredibly proud of him”,” Sebastien Lai said. “They’ve been trying to break him for four years but he’s unbroken.” – Hong Kong ‘on trial’ – Sebastien Lai, who has not set foot in Hong Kong for four years because of his fight to defend his father, said he had little hope of seeing him judged impartially. “It’s a complete show trial,” he said, noting that the three judges hearing the case were appointed by the government and there is no jury. United Nations human rights experts have called for the release of Lai, as have major Western governments including Britain. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised Lai’s case with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil this month. “My father at every turn, at every crossroad, chose to do the right thing. And Hong Kong is showing you what the cost is of doing the right thing,” Lai said. Last week, a Hong Kong court sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists to up to 10 years in prison for subversion. Lai says his father’s trial demonstrates “a very clear decision by the government to criminalise everything that my father stands for, which is campaigning for democracy, the free press, free speech, freedom of assembly”. “Symbolically, they’re putting my father on trial, but also these freedoms that made Hong Kong great on trial,” he said. Lai said statements by Starmer and foreign minister David Lammy calling for his father’s release were “incredibly important” but did not go far enough. “The United Kingdom can decide whether they are a place that protects citizens from being arbitrarily detained or not,” he said, adding that the fact his father will turn 77 next month makes his case “very urgent”. “My father could die at any point given his age. It’s not just about freeing him now. It’s about saving his life.” With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
Women’s Top 25 roundup: No. 6 Notre Dame stuffs LafayetteLauren Betts recorded 18 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and four blocks as No. 5 UCLA held off No. 17 Louisville 66-59 on Monday in Paris, France. UCLA led the game 32-29 at halftime and 50-46 after three quarters. Isla Juffermans made a jumper to cut the deficit to 50-48 before the Bruins rattled off 11 of the next 14 points. Betts had the final four points of that surge. Her layup gave UCLA its largest lead at 61-51 with 4:02 to play. Oregon State transfer Timea Gardiner put up 15 points in her team debut and Londynn Jones had 13 for the Bruins. Tajianna Roberts finished with 21 points for Louisville to lead all scorers, while Jaleah Williams had 11 points, nine assists and four steals. --Field Level Media
Top 25 roundup: Olivia Miles (triple-double), No. 6 Notre Dame rollWhat role will the Gulf states play in shaping the new Syria?Canadian activist accuses Hong Kong of meddling, but is proud of reward for arrest VANCOUVER — A Vancouver-based activist is accusing Hong Kong authorities of meddling in Canada’s internal affairs after police in the Chinese territory issued a warrant for his arrest. Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press Dec 24, 2024 3:20 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Journalist Victor Ho poses for a photograph in Richmond, B.C., Wednesday, Aug, 24, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck VANCOUVER — A Vancouver-based activist is accusing Hong Kong authorities of meddling in Canada’s internal affairs after police in the Chinese territory issued a warrant for his arrest. Victor Ho and fellow Canadian Joe Tay are among six overseas activists targeted by Hong Kong police who announced rewards of HK$1 million, equivalent to about C$180,000, for information leading to their arrests. The warrants announced on Tuesday say the six are wanted for national security offences such as secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces. Ho said in a Chinese-language post on Facebook that he's proud of the arrest warrant, joking that it's the "best Christmas present." "A Canadian citizen like me ... has the protection of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and exercised his right to the freedom of speech," he said. Ho is the former editor-in-chief of the Sing Tao Daily newspaper, and helped launched a plan in Canada to elect an unofficial “Hong Kong parliament” in 2022. Only “patriots” are eligible for election to Hong Kong's true Legislative Council, under a 2021 law passed by China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, and pro-democracy protesters have been the subject of mass arrests. When plans for the unofficial parliament were announced, Hong Kong’s Security Bureau said Ho and others were being investigated for subversion, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment under the National Security Law. In the Facebook post Ho said Canadian authorities have not arrested the organizers of the parliament. "But now it’s actually the Hong Kong communist authorities meddling in Canada’s internal affairs, repeatedly issuing wanted notices for this Canadian citizen. Are they trying for another cross-border arrest? Does Beijing want Canada to become their client/subordinate state?" He said the first elections for the unofficial parliament are set for March 2025. "It’s the first time in the world a referendum will be held using mobile apps to allow for an anonymous, one-person one-vote vote. It's easy for overseas Hong Kongers to participate, to show dictators and authoritarian regimes of Hong Kongers’ desire for self-determination," the post says. Tay is the founder of Canada-based activist group HongKonger Station and is seeking the Conservative Party nomination in Markham Unionville in Ontario. The Hong Kong Police say in a statement the six wanted activists have "absconded overseas." The Hong Kong government had previously issued two rounds of arrest warrants and bounties for other prominent activists, including former members of the Legislative Council. In his Facebook post, Ho joked that the reward being issued had allowed him to recover some "fugitive dignity." "So I’m worth something after all, and it’s hard for me to hide my pride as we enter 2025," he said. Neither Ho nor Tay immediately responded to requests for comment. — With files from Associated Press and Chuck Chiang This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 24, 2024 Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message More National News Wild Christmas: BC Ferries cancels many sailings over 'severe' forecast Dec 24, 2024 3:49 PM Dismiss Trump taunts, expert says after 'churlish' social media posts about Canada Dec 24, 2024 2:49 PM Court hits pause on global streamers’ upcoming Canadian content payments Dec 24, 2024 1:59 PM Featured Flyer
NoneIs Comcast’s Cable Spinoff a Buyer or a Seller?From revisiting the political scandal that sparked a cultural reckoning in Canberra to a rich-lister’s unravelling, there were no shortage of court battles being waged — or defended — by the top end of town in 2024. We revisit some of the cases that dominated headlines and left us shocked, perplexed, and — at times — even entertained. Brittany Higgins defended a defamation action launched by Senator Linda Reynolds. Credit: Composite image/Holly Thompson Villain or victim? Reynolds v Higgins It was a story of an alleged rape in the halls of Parliament House and a covert political cover-up, and like all “fairytales”, it needed a villain. That was how WA Senator Linda Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett began the five-week-long trial in her defamation suit against former staffer Brittany Higgins and her husband David Sharaz, the most high-profile case to go before WA’s civil courts in 2024. The former defence minister sued Higgins over social media posts accusing her of mishandling the former staffer’s alleged rape by Bruce Lehrmann in March 2019 — a claim that was later aired by the media and created a storm that led to Reynolds’ political demise. Loading Higgins fiercely defended the action on the basis her posts were true, but opted against taking the stand at the eleventh hour amid concerns for her health. The trial, which the pair mortgaged and sold their homes to pursue, pored over the events of 2019 in excruciating detail, dragged in high-profile figures — from former prime minister Scott Morrison to broadcaster Peta Credlin — and threw private texts into the public arena we imagine the parties would have preferred to remain private.
Beyoncé Mocks Netflix’s Live Streaming Fiascos as Halftime Show Hype Explodes
The defendant was 15 years of age when he and three of his peers set upon their victim Stock image A teenager who joined in meting out a form of rough justice to someone he believed had sexually assaulted a girl appeared before Wexford Circuit Court. The defendant was 15 years of age when he and three of his peers set upon their victim on the banks of the River Slaney in Enniscorthy. The accused – too young to have his name published – pleaded guilty to assault causing harm on a date in 2022. The court heard how, around that time, rumours were swirling around Enniscorthy after a girl complained that a male had put his hand up her skirt. She invited this male to meet her for a talk near the Country Walk, where her alleged molester found himself at the mercy of four youths. Two of the four, though not the accused, were wearing balaclavas as he was knocked into the river and repeatedly hit. During the course of the attack he was held under the water and he also received an eye injury when his head knocked off a beam under a bridge. The beating stopped after fishermen who happened to be in the area intervened. Garda Cristian Dorneanu confirmed that the defendant’s three accomplices were dealt with through the juvenile diversion scheme. However, the fourth member of the team was not eligible for the scheme and he was prosecuted through the courts for assault. His mother was in court to hear Judge James McCourt describe what happened as “a row among a bunch of unruly teenagers”. An order requiring the young man to carry out 20 hours of community service was handed down. The judge felt it would not serve the interests of society to put him behind bars.
-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email “Why do you draw?” A seemingly innocuous question that in truth carries immense weight. It’s the kind of question that you can brush off with a casual wave of the hand, or it can leave you speechless, unable to even find the words. Art isn’t numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s life itself. In “Look Back,” the film based on Tatsuki Fujimoto’s one-shot manga, two teenage girls bond over their love of creating manga. Fujino handles the characters and story, while Kyomoto takes care of the background art. They make a powerful team. When Kyomoto asks Fujino why she draws, we don’t get an explanation. We don’t need it. We’ve seen it. Every moment the pair shares with each other is why. Seasons change outside Fujino’s window as she and Kyomoto work on their first manga together. The duo quietly scribbles away, creating in the presence of one another, as pages of manuscript pile up. We see that life and art are intimately linked. That creation is born out of the wonder, the mystery and of course, the tragedy of life. This is not a review of “Look Back.” Enough beautiful words have already been said about the film, and it is most certainly one that any fan of anime, manga, cinema or art in general should see. But it is that simple-but-not question, “Why do you draw?” asked by Kyomoto to Fujino, that echoed in my head, clanging and clattering in the space between my ears in the days and weeks after I saw “Look Back.” I think it struck a chord because it increasingly feels like the creative process, and deeper and more troubling than that, humanity itself, is under attack . Related The 12 biggest moments in animation in 2023 There is a contingent of craven capitalists who have slowly turned the entertainment industry into just another financial market. Moving into senior positions at major studios in film, television and video games, these ghouls seek only to maximize profit. The art at the center of these industries is, to many of these bigwigs, a means to an end. That end being stock prices and shareholder satisfaction. It’s why we got “ Inside Out 2” and “ Moana 2” this year. Unnecessary sequels that a bunch of suits knew would rake in the dough. Although talented people worked on both, when art is kept within the confines of a giant, soulless corporation, art (and the people creating it) is held captive by the profit motive. Money becomes the mantra. When someone’s life’s work, their passion, their expression of creativity, is diminished to merely being seen as content, as numbers on an earnings report, it is an attack on art. This year, “Coyote vs. Acme” was shelved and seems destined to become lost media , buried before even being given a chance for audiences to see it. The hard work of hundreds of people, a mere tax write-off under the mighty pen of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav . One of my favorite shows from last year , “Scavengers Reign,” was unable to avoid the axe. Despite winning an Emmy (for background design) and being nominated for outstanding animated program, the show didn’t bring in the viewer hours so it was unceremoniously thrown on the heap. Critical acclaim or simply letting art exist in the world and be received by the people (with no concern for the size of the audience) aren’t things that Zaslav and his ilk consider. Imagine if “Mad Men” or "The Sopranos" was cut after its first season because target demos, algorithm data and KPIs just didn’t support renewal. In 2024, the only concern is that the numbers look good, so that CEOs can line their pockets with millions in compensation. And if recent reaction to UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder is anything to go by, the people are getting a little fed up with the unfettered greed of the C-suite. Art isn’t numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s life itself. We need your help to stay independent Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism “Look Back” implores the viewer to see how art and life are intertwined. Every adventure that Fujino and Kyomoto go on becomes the inspiration for another manga. They visit the ocean, and that leads to the duo writing “The Sea Cities.” Looking for bugs in summer turns into “The Cicada Humans.” A trip to the aquarium yields “The Man Who Ate the Crab.” The pair experiences life, and their art echoes those experiences. Reverberating through the creative process, those echoes twist and distort just enough to give the art they produce a fantastical fiction, but at its core, their art is quite literally their lives. The works of Dickens capture Victorian London so well because he lived it; he worked in the warehouses, and his worldview was shaped by these formative experiences. Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto explored forests and hunted for bugs as a child, and wanted to recreate that feeling in a video game, eventually leading to the creation of “The Legend of Zelda.” Hayao Miyazaki ’s works are tinged with autobiographical moments, such as his mother’s hospitalization with tuberculosis — an element of both “My Neighbor Totoro” and “The Wind Rises” — or his father building rudders for fighter planes during World War II, a piece of his own history we see alluded to in the Oscar-winning “The Boy and The Heron.” And for Miyazaki in particular, art and life are nearly one and the same as we come to learn in this year’s documentary that sneakily landed on Max this summer, “Hayao Miyazaki and The Heron.” The documentary chronicles the entire production timeline for “The Boy and The Heron,” starting with Miyazaki announcing his retirement in 2013 through to the film’s Oscar win this year. The iconic director has been the subject of a few documentaries in the past, but in those, Miyazaki always remained guarded, never really letting the viewer understand the man we have so endlessly mythologized. His politics are evident in the films he has made over the past 40 years, but what motivates this man, now nearly 84 years old, to create the worlds of “Nausicaa,” “Castle in the Sky” or the Great Uncle’s tower in “The Boy and The Heron”? Much like Fujino in “Look Back,” the answer seems to be human connection. Throughout “Hayao Miyazaki and The Heron” there is an urgency to Miyazaki’s work. People close to him are passing away; there is guilt and there is sadness. “Why am I still here? Why am I the one that lived?” he wonders aloud. Miyazaki “reeks of death” like Mahito the titular boy of the film. But he storyboards furiously, creating characters based on the people he has lost. Michiyo Yasuda, the color designer on Miyazaki’s films at Studio Ghibli, passed away in 2016, but she appears in the documentary’s footage like a ghost, a vision of the past that haunts the present day Miyazaki. She was the one who told him to make another film, and he felt a sense of obligation to do it. He creates Kiriko in “The Boy and The Heron” based on Yasuda. But no one looms larger than Isao Takahata, Studio Ghibli co-founder and director, who passed away in 2018. And it's in their relationship where it becomes clear that nearly everything Miyazaki has ever made has been driven by the man he affectionately calls Pak-san. Pak-san, Pak-san, Pak-san. A clap of thunder rumbles in the distance while on a walk. “That’s Pak-san.” When Miyazaki is asked if he ever dreams, he responds “Only about Pak-san.” A missing eraser is Pak-san playing a trick on him. Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki says that “Miyazaki idolized Takahata, but it was always one-sided.” The Boy and the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli) Miyazaki agonizes over the character of the Great Uncle who has built the fantastical world of the tower in “The Boy and The Heron.” The character is Pak-san. In this one-sided relationship, made even more so by the divide between the living and the dead, Miyazaki is determined to show the world who Takahata was. He wants people to know what this man meant to him. The man who was his idol, his rival, his friend. The documentary cuts to a particularly powerful quote from Takahata back in the ‘80s, talking about Miyazaki, where he says, “I’d like to see him make all kinds of films. There are things he hasn’t shown me. I hope to see them one day.” The interview cuts to a wide shot showing Miyazaki beside him with a beaming smile, “Really?” he asks Takahata gleefully. This is how art comes to be. For Miyazaki. For Fujino in “Look Back.” It is driven by the desire for human connection, by wanting to express one’s self to someone, to honor someone who has passed to ensure that they are remembered. Which is why when AI software is used to generate an image , or write a story, it is so revolting . You can’t tell AI to create the Great Uncle. You can’t tell it to create an old man who kinda looks like a wizard who was the whole world to me and everything I did was for him and all I wanted was for him to see my films and enjoy them and I want people to know that. It can’t convey that level of emotional depth, or any emotional depth. AI is mere facsimile (and poorly done at that), and yet, it has been integrated into nearly every piece of technology creating nothing but slop. Related "It's going to destroy jobs": When an AI image won a photo contest, its human refused the award AI is a threat to art, a threat to culture, a threat to humanity itself. How far are we willing to go to utterly dehumanize ourselves? Late capitalism is already turning us away from one another, with the convenience of technology isolating us, keeping us from making a connection to someone. Companies like Disney are fully on board with AI , where acting in a “responsible way” means, “How much can we get away with and not pay people for?” So don’t be surprised when a round of layoffs is announced, so more money can be funneled up to executives at the top. Companies like X are training their AI by using (read: stealing) art uploaded to the platform by artists. And it would be easy to write a whole thesis on how the demands of AI usage and development is causing emissions at companies like Microsoft to rise at a staggering rate, decimating any plans of reaching previously set carbon-neutrality goals. This AI slop, this soulless mimicry of human life, is accelerating the planet’s demise. AI is anti-human in all facets. How far are we willing to go to utterly dehumanize ourselves? 2024 felt like a year where, more than ever before, art was under attack. From corporate fat cats cutting jobs to AI software to humanities programs getting slashed in higher education, the assault on engaging with our world, and on engaging with art is in full effect. It is deeply distressing. But 2024 also produced a film that tells us why art needs to exist, why it is so special, and what it means to be human. “Look Back” yells from the rooftops that art is tough, it is work, but the reward is it connects us like nothing else can. Look Back (Tatsuki Fujimoto/Shueisha Art is beautiful because of the humanity it contains within it. There is energy in a work of art that cannot be quantified, cannot be calculated, cannot be replicated by a machine. It reflects us, it connects us, it bears all of our tragedy, all of our joy. I’m hardly the best writer out here. There are people who write much more eloquently than I do. I admire these writers greatly. But I just want to connect. I want someone to read my words. Someone. Anyone. Even if it just ends up being my family or friends. I have entire worlds inside my head that I want others to experience the way I see them in my mind’s eye. No AI program can scrape these worlds accurately out of my head. There are so many thoughts and ideas in here that I want to share. I hope that my words make someone feel something. I just have to do the work to get them onto the page. That, to me, is something very worth the effort. Art is what makes us human, so why would we want a robot to do it for us? I just want to connect. To prove that I’m alive. I’m not a machine. Read more about this topic The ethics of eating monsters "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" is another barrel-scraping twist on Tolkien "Blue Eye Samurai" addresses multiracial shame, "to be ostracized from both sides," in Edo-era Japan "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is beyond subtitles — and the white gaze By Michael Lee Michael Lee is a writer who might take anime and video games a little too seriously. For more musings on animation, fandom and game worlds, follow him on X @kousatender . MORE FROM Michael Lee Related Topics ------------------------------------------ Ai Animation Anime Artificial Intelligence Best Of 2024 Commentary Hayao Miyazaki Look Back The Bird And The Heron Related Articles Advertisement:
Coal baby, not cool?Kolkata, Dec 29 (PTI) The Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), India on Sunday proposed the introduction of a “faceless” GST audit system to boost ease of doing business in the country. The apex engineering exports promotion body’s proposal comes following the successful implementation of ‘faceless assessment’ by the Income Tax department. “The faceless GST audit system, by using technology and ensuring anonymity, will reduce compliance costs. A faceless system will streamline procedures allowing MSMEs to focus on growth and innovation,” said Pankaj Chadha, chairman of EEPC India. The proposal is a part of EEPC India’s Budget 2025 recommendation. By introducing a “faceless” GST audit system, India can further improve its ranking in the Ease of Doing Business index, making it a more attractive destination for foreign investors, it said. It also proposed that Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM) related liabilities should be eligible for the ‘Amnesty Scheme’ to address challenges faced by exporters, who may be unaware of foreign bank charges and foreign business services. PTI BSM RBT This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content. var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.removeEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);lazyloadmyframes();};document.addEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);window.addEventListener('scroll', function() {if (ytflag == 0) {lazyloadmyframes();ytflag = 1;}});function lazyloadmyframes() {var ytv = document.getElementsByClassName("klazyiframe");for (var i = 0; i < ytv.length; i++) {ytv[i].src = ytv[i].getAttribute('data-src');}} Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );‘Slack’: Dire warning on Albo’s future
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