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www.mnl168 Over an evening of discovery and dialogue, Information & Computer Systems Technology students from Camosun College presented their capstone projects Dec. 12 to clients, potential employers and other visitors. The projects ranged in topics from streamlining manufacturing workflows to building a management system for a dance studio. Students also engaged with guest speakers at Fort Tectoria on Fort Street. “We are incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication our students have shown,” noted Saryta Schaerer, program chair of the computer science department at Camosun College, in a news release. “The symposium not only showcases their technical abilities but also their capacity to innovate and solve complex challenges. It’s a testament to the high calibre of education and training they’ve received here at Camosun.” Camosun student Ryan Kim explained that the project involved working with a sponsor to develop a project to address their business needs. Kim, along with two other students, worked with Victoria-based dance studio Raino Dance to create a studio management tool. "They were dissatisfied with their current studio management tool, so we came in, we gathered their requirements, and we determined their use cases and the pain points with their current solution. We prototyped a new solution that can answer those concerns," said Kim. "We get a chance to work in a business setting, in a development setting with a team, and get our feet wet by being professional developers." Now that the team has finished the first phase of the Khoreia Studio Management System, they hope to eventually shop the software to other studios as a solution to management woes. The capstone projects are part of Camosun's strategic plan to offer more students an applied learning opportunity including capstones, service learning, work-integrated learning and apprenticeships.

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Panama President Jose Raul Mulino rallied support from former presidents in defense of the country’s canal following threats from Donald Trump to reimpose U.S. control over the waterway. Mulino met with three Panamanian leaders on Monday, who all signed a statement asserting the country’s independence and autonomy over the canal. “As ex-presidents, we support the the declarations of President Jose Raul Mulino and we unite under the affirmation that the sovereignty and independence of our country and our canal are not negotiable,” the statement said. It was signed by former Presidents Mireya Moscoso, Ernesto Perez Balladares and Martin Torrijos. Former administrators of the Panama Canal Authority also rejected Trump’s remarks and said there is no legal mechanism through which the U.S. could take back the canal. Mulino on Sunday rebuffed Trump’s threat to reassert control of the canal over concerns of Chinese influence and excessive tolls charged for U.S. ships. The feud triggered a selloff of Panama’s bonds Monday. Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, expressed solidarity with Mulino on Monday. Mulino said in a post on X he is grateful for the support from world leaders and reiterated “the canal is and will be Panamanian, fostering world trade.”Categorically, what is the biggest problem with PCIe 5.0 drives? It's the heat. At launch, and even now, those early 5.0 units complete with the Phison E26 controller and Micron 232-layer TLC run seriously hot. To the point it was almost impossible to run one without some form of active cooling baked into it. Corsair wasn't immune to this either, despite its street cred as a storage manufacturer first and foremost, and its MP700 line initially featured the reference Phison cooler, complete with in-built fan, and a touch of yellow branding to try and separate it from the crowd. A lot's changed since then, and we've seen a whole host of non-fan-cooled PCIe 5.0 solutions arrive with us. However, heat has still always been a major concern. That is what the MP700 Elite looks to rectify in its bold and brave quest to become one of the best SSDs out there today. In short, this is an exceptionally cool PCIe 5.0 drive that not only delivers relatively comfortable performance on the sequential front but does so with both a low power draw and radically lower temperatures as a result. I'm not saying you can run this without a dedicated heatsink just yet, but we're getting close. That does however come with some drawbacks. As for the hardware, Corsair's built the MP700 Elite around Kioxia's latest 218-layer BiCS8 TLC NAND, combined with Phison's E321T controller. That does mean it comes without any DRAM cache or buffers, but honestly, that's not a huge concern given the raw throughput that Kioxia's NAND can deliver. Capacity: 2 TB Interface : PCIe 5.0 x4 Memory controller: Phison E321T Flash memory: Kioxia 218-Layer BiCS8 TLC NAND Rated performance: 10,000 MB/s sustained read, 8,500 MB/s sustained write Endurance: 1,200 TBW Warranty: Five years Price: $260 | £235 It's also worth mentioning that this is a single-sided M.2-2280 design, making it pretty ideal for laptops and other consoles, although if you do get the heatsink variant, please do note that it's too large to fit into something like a PS5 Pro (although you can easily disassemble it if you do). On launch, it's a somewhat limited choice for capacity, sadly. You can grab one of these either as a 1 TB or a 2 TB configuration, and that's it. For this specific 2 TB model I've got on test here, it retails relatively respectable at $260 ($265 with the heatsink), or £235 in the UK (£240 with heatsink). Unfortunately, no AUD availability just yet. Right, the big thing I need to cover first is temperatures, because boy, is this quite literally a cool drive. At least compared to other PCIe 5.0 offerings. To be clear, almost always, I try to test all of the SSDs I get in for review underneath the exact same heatsink with the same thermal pads. That's done on an Asus ROG Strix X870E-E motherboard. If the drive comes with a heatsink, if possible, I strip it off and chuck it in the board for the full testing suite. So, for comparison, the Seagate FireCuda 540, a relatively early PCIe 5.0 drive, during its benchmark run, topped out at 83 C. The Crucial T700, which did use its own integrated heatsink, landed at 87°C. The MP700 Elite? 55°C. Ambient room temperature at the time of those tests was 24°C across all three SSDs. That is just a staggering drop in overall heat, and if we're generous and compare it only to the FireCuda 540, there's a 33.7% difference between them. This is all thanks to Phison's latest E31T controller. In short, it's basically a pseudo-evolution of the E26 found in the bulk of most 5.0 drives to date ( Teamgroup's Z540 a good example of that). Although it lacks any DRAM and features half the channels and bandwidth, it's wildly more efficient than the original controllers. That's thanks to Phison moving the manufacturing process from a 12nm FinFET solution to TSMC's 7 nm N7 process instead. It also has half the number of channels, and because of that power draw, equally has been cut significantly as well. What that leads to is a significant drop in overall temps as a result. Certainly compared to drives like Crucial's T700 or Gigabyte's Aorus Gen5 12000. As for the numbers game, general sequential speeds are about what we saw with the initial PCIe 5.0 launch, albeit with one exception. Crystal Disk manages 10,197 MB/s, respectively, on the read, but 8,608 on the write (the latter quite a bit slower than the FireCuda 540 and Crucial's T700). Where the MP700 Elite picks its head up, however, is in the random 4Ks. It dominates that field, with 88 MB/s on the read and a whopping 336 MB/s on the write, pipping both of our other PCIe 5.0 drives to the post. As for in-game performance, it basically sat in the middle of the pack, landing a load time of 7.426 seconds in Final Fantasy's Shadowbringers benchmark. PC Gamer test bench CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9900X | RAM: 64 GB (2x32GB) Team Group T-Create Expert DDR5 @ 6000 C34 | GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super | Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WiFi | CPU Cooler: Asus ROG Ryujin III 360 ARGB Extreme | PSU: 1200W NZXT C1200 (2024) 80+ Gold | Chassis: Geometric Future Model 5 The real kicker is the price. There's a lot of tech and hardware featured here that's relatively new to the playing field. Whether that's Phison's E31T controller, which landed with us in September 2024, or Kioxia's latest 218-layer BiCS8 NAND, it all costs money up front to bring this together to the table, and despite this drive being pitched as sort of a "mid-range" entry-level option, it's got some tough competition from older hardware that right now, just kind of works. ✅ Random 4K performance and cooling are everything: The MP700 Elite delivers impressively potent random 4K performance, along with some phenomenally low temperatures due to improved power efficiency. That should translate well in game. ❌ You're looking for the fastest sequential drive around: With 8 GB/s on the write and 10 GB/s on the write, it lacks the sequential grunt of other older, and cheaper PCIe 5.0 drives. Crucial's T700 is a fine example of this (and it's not alone either). If you go for the non-heatsinked variant, at time of writing, you can pick up 2 TB for just $210, and it's consistently been that price for the last four months (even lower during Black Friday). Corsair's MP700 Elite, on offer right now, is still slightly more expensive, despite dropping in price to $215. And to be fair, you can only grab that deal directly from its webstore. Admittedly, you can get the MP700 Elite with a heatsink for just $5 extra versus the $50 investment needed for the T700 heatsinked, but, in reality, most folk buying this are likely just going to chuck it behind a motherboard M.2 heatsink anyway, negating the issue. Then there's the performance delta between those two drives. Although the random 4K numbers are higher for the MP700 Elite, those sequential numbers, particularly on write performance, are awkwardly lower by contrast. Depending on your workloads, that could be a real deal breaker. Similar to graphics cards and CPUs, it feels like at this point that excess heat generated by most modern, less-efficient PCIe 5.0 drives has already been accounted for and designed around. Whether that's through better motherboard heatsinks or standard ones included with the drives themselves, it's no longer an issue. Although Phison's latest controller is impressive, it's technology that really should be utilized to better improve the performance of the next generation of PCIe 6.0 SSDs instead. Combine those facts with just how limited that extra performance is for gamers, and well it's a real tough sell. Still, the MP700 Elite is a solid all-round performer. If you're looking for something a little cheaper and budget is a factor, if you can get this thing on offer, it'll deliver on its promise, and then some, all without breaking the bank.Russ Vought, the hard-driving budget director from President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration, will be nominated for a second stint in the job. An unapologetic fiscal and social conservative, Vought is an aggressive advocate of cutting nondefense spending — but not what he calls the earned entitlements, Social Security and Medicare — and using presidential powers to shape government spending during Trump’s first term. Vought is “an aggressive cost cutter and deregulator who will help us implement our America First Agenda across all Agencies,” Trump posted Friday on Truth Social, his social media platform. “Russ knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State and end Weaponized Government, and he will help us return Self Governance to the People.” Vought has stressed the need for a president to exert control over the bureaucracies in agencies and departments, which he said have gotten used to pursuing their own agendas. In a chapter he contributed to “Project 2025,” a Heritage Foundation-sponsored report to help the next president to “deconstruct the administrative state,” Vought wrote that the “great challenge confronting a conservative president is the existential need for aggressive use of the vast powers of the executive branch to return power — including power currently held by the executive branch — to the American people.” He said success in doing this requires “boldness to bend or break the bureaucracy to the presidential will and self-denial to use the bureaucratic machine to send power away from Washington and back to America’s families, faith communities, local governments, and states.” And during a recent interview with Tucker Carlson posted on X, he said the Office of Management and Budget has a central role to play in this effort. OMB is “the president’s most important tool to dealing with the bureaucracy, administrative state,” he said. “And the nice thing about President Trump is he knows that and he knows how to use it effectively.” Among the ways to achieve this, Vought said, are to make clear that federal agencies are accountable to the president and not “independent,” and to restore “impoundment” authority , allowing the president to spend less than appropriated by Congress. Laying the groundwork Since Trump lost his reelection bid in 2020, Vought has been laying the groundwork for a second Trump term. He founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank populated by former administration officials. And he served as policy director of the committee that wrote the 2024 GOP convention platform. In a fiscal 2023 budget blueprint put out by the center and dubbed “A Commitment to End Woke and Weaponized Government,” Vought challenged the view that the projected exhaustion of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds is the most serious fiscal priority. His plan has no cuts for Social Security or to Medicare beneficiaries. Instead, Vought proposed cutting nondefense discretionary programs by $3.5 trillion over a decade, trimming Medicaid by more than $2 trillion and repealing the 2010 health care law’s insurance subsidies, among other reductions. He argued that Americans “are simply not going to buy the notion that their earned entitlements must be tweaked while the federal government is funding Bob Dylan statues in Mozambique or gay pride parades in Prague.” Partisan past Vought joined OMB early in the Trump administration, rising to deputy director and then acting director before he was confirmed as director in a party-line 51-45 Senate vote in July 2020. No Senate Democrat voted to confirm him for either post. Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., charged during a Budget Committee confirmation hearing in 2020 that he was “unfit and unqualified to lead” OMB “or any office.” She cited Vought’s role in temporarily withholding $400 million in aid to Ukraine, an action that led to Trump’s impeachment by the House and later acquittal in the Senate. In a 2017 confirmation hearing for deputy director, Democrats questioned whether he would comply with oversight requests from minority Democrats on committees. And they faulted him for writing in a conservative blog in 2016 that Islam was a “deficient theology.” Democrats cut him off before he could answer their questions about his religious views. Then-Colorado GOP Sen. Cory Gardner warned Democrats not to question Vought’s faith. He has been under a microscope lately, with news organizations releasing video of speeches and conversations in which he said, among other things, that he wants to put bureaucrats “in trauma.” “We want their funding to be shut down so that the EPA can’t do all of the rules against our energy industry because they have no bandwidth financially to do so,” he said in speech obtained by ProPublica. “We want to put them in trauma.” In the Carlson interview, Vought acknowledged the “trauma” comments. But he added that “there’s a lot of people there who have come to serve and do great public service” in the agencies, “and we want to affirm that.” ‘Shadow offices’ In speeches and conversations, Vought said his think tank has been drafting potential executive actions and building “shadow offices” of OMB, the Office of Legal Counsel and National Security Council. “We’re trying to build a shadow Office of Legal Counsel so that when a future president says, ‘What legal authorities do I need to shut down the riots?,’ we want to be able to shut down the riots and not have the legal community or the defense community come in and say that’s an inappropriate use of what you’re trying to do,” he said in a speech obtained by ProPublica. Before going to work for OMB, Vought was a vice president at Heritage Action. Earlier, he had served as policy director for the House Republican Conference under then Indiana Rep. and later Trump Vice President Mike Pence. Vought also worked as executive director of the conservative Republican Study Committee and as an aide to former Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas.

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NoneMackenzie Tulloch, 22, told the court that he came in from his home in Hamilton to attend the bush bash off of Pack Road in southwest London on July 30, 2021, with his girlfriend at the time Lina Latef. She was friends with Emily Altmann. He said when they got there, a verbal fight broke out with Altmann in the middle of it with others at the party. He said their group was being escorted out of the area, "She (Altmann) made a phone call on the way out." Tulloch said the call was to the accused, in this case Carlos Guerra Guerra, 23, who was described in court as Altmann’s boyfriend. Tulloch spoke with Guerra Guerra at the time, "I said there was an altercation between Emily, and we were planning to leave." However, minutes later, Tulloch said two masked men appeared at the gathering and one of them was Guerra Guerra, saying, "Obviously something being up to no good covering his face." He said he saw the accused with a firearm at the time saying, "I saw the butt of the gun in his pants...I'm confused, and a little bit concerned as to why there's a weapon." Tulloch said moments later, two males came out of the bushes and there was a wrestling match , "From what I saw it was just people on top of each other...I hear a loud bang." He said as people took off from the scene, he feared the accused, “I was scared, feared retribution, retaliation from snitching. I was terrified that I was going to get killed." Emergency crews would eventually arrive to the area to find 18-year-old Josue Silva suffering from a gunshot wound to the stomach. He would later be pronounced dead in hospital. Days later, Guerra Guerra would be arrested and charged. He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and assault with a weapon. Last week, the jury was told that Altmann had been excused from the trial and that they were not to speculate. Later, under cross-examination from defence lawyer Ricardo Golec, Tulloch was questioned about why he was not being completely honest and forthcoming with police in his first statement to them, and he replied, "I was an 18-year-old kid in a world of emotions. I was concerned for everybody." The trial resumes on Wednesday. Shopping Trends The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us. 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Process around Ontario Place redevelopment was 'unfair' and didn't follow rules: AG Ontario's auditor general is slamming the Ford government for failing to follow proper process around the redevelopment of Ontario Place, including a revelation that senior staff communicated directly with Therme Canada and other applicants while proposals were still being accepted. Montreal Despite devastating poll, Quebec Premier Legault confident he’s here to stay Despite a devastating poll, Premier François Legault is confident that he will lead the CAQ troops into the next electoral battle in two years' time. Quebec doctors who refuse to stay in public system for 5 years face $200K fine per day Quebec's health minister has tabled a bill that would force new doctors trained in the province to spend the first five years of their careers working in Quebec's public health network. 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State memorial planned for former B.C. premier John Horgan A provincial state memorial service for former British Columbia premier John Horgan will be held later this month in Colwood, west of Victoria. Vancouver Canucks defenceman Hronek out 8 weeks with lower-body injury Vancouver Canucks defenceman Filip Hronek is expected to be out until the end of January as he recovers from a lower-body injury. Vancouver Island Giving Tuesday campaign targets support for Victoria health centre A Greater Victoria non-profit has launched a $1.5-million fundraising campaign to build a health centre on the main floor of its Crosstown development. Bad blood? Taylor Swift ticket dispute settled by B.C. tribunal A B.C. woman and her daughter will be attending one of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour shows in Vancouver – but only after a tribunal intervened and settled a dispute among friends over tickets. Comox Valley RCMP seek suspect who tried to climb woman's deck wearing a gas mask Mounties on Vancouver Island are seeking witnesses after a woman reported that a man wearing a gas mask tried to climb onto the deck of her home near Courtenay, B.C. Stay Connected

GOP Senators Express Confidence In Pete Hegseth's Confirmation as Pentagon ChiefLea Miller-Tooley hopped off a call to welcome the Baylor women’s basketball team to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, where 80-degree temperatures made it easy for the Bears to settle in on Paradise Island a week before Thanksgiving. About 5,000 miles west of the Caribbean nation, similar climes awaited Maui Invitational men's teams in Hawaii. They’ve often been greeted with leis, the traditional Hawaiian welcome of friendship. College basketball teams and fans look forward to this time of the year. The holiday week tournaments feature buzzworthy matchups and all-day TV coverage, sure, but there is a familiarity about them as they help ward off the November chill. For four decades, these sandy-beach getaways filled with basketball have become a beloved mainstay of the sport itself. “When you see (ESPN’s) ‘Feast Week’ of college basketball on TV, when you see the Battle 4 Atlantis on TV, you know college basketball is back,” said Miller-Tooley, the founder and organizer of the Battle 4 Atlantis men's and women's tournaments. “Because it’s a saturated time of the year with the NFL, college football and the NBA. But when you see these gorgeous events in these beautiful places, you realize, ‘Wow, hoops are back, let’s get excited.’” The Great Alaska Shootout was the trend-setting multiple-team event (MTE) nearly five decades ago. The brainchild of late Alaska-Anchorage coach Bob Rachal sought to raise his program’s profile by bringing in national-power programs, which could take advantage of NCAA rules allowing them to exceed the maximum allotment of regular-season games if they played the three-game tournament outside the contiguous 48 states. The first edition, named the Sea Wolf Classic, saw N.C. State beat Louisville 72-66 for the title on Nov. 26, 1978. The Maui Invitational followed in November 1984, borne from the buzz of NAIA program Chaminade’s shocking upset of top-ranked Virginia and 7-foot-4 star Ralph Sampson in Hawaii two years earlier. Events kept coming, with warm-weather locales getting in on the action. The Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Cancun Challenge in Mexico. The Cayman Islands Classic. The Jamaica Classic. The Myrtle Beach Invitational joining the Charleston Classic in South Carolina. Numerous tournaments in Florida. Some events have faded away like the Puerto Rico Tipoff and the Great Alaska Shootout, the latter in 2017 amid event competition and schools opting for warm-weather locales. Notre Dame takes on Chaminade during the first half of a 2017 game in Lahaina, Hawaii. Miller-Tooley’s push to build an MTE for Atlantis began as a December 2010 doubleheader with Georgia Tech beating Richmond and Virginia Tech beating Mississippi State in a prove-it moment for a tournament’s viability. It also required changing NCAA legislation to permit MTEs in the Bahamas. Approval came in March 2011; the first eight-team Atlantis men’s tournament followed in November. That tournament quickly earned marquee status with big-name fields, with Atlantis champions Villanova (2017) and Virginia (2018) later winning that season’s NCAA title. Games run in a ballroom-turned-arena at the resort, where players also check out massive swimming pools, water slides and inner-tube rapids surrounded by palm trees and the Atlantic Ocean. “It’s just the value of getting your passport stamped, that will never get old,” Miller-Tooley said. “Watching some of these kids, this may be their first and last time – and staff and families – that they ever travel outside the United States. ... You can see through these kids’ eyes that it’s really an unbelievable experience.” ACC Network analyst Luke Hancock knows that firsthand. His Louisville team finished second at Atlantis in 2012 and won that year’s later-vacated NCAA title, with Hancock as the Final Four's most outstanding player. “I remember (then-coach Rick Pitino) saying something to the effect of: ‘Some of you guys might never get this opportunity again. We’re staying in this unbelievable place, you’re doing it with people you love,’” Hancock said. “It was a business trip for us there at Thanksgiving, but he definitely had a tone of ‘We’ve got to enjoy this as well.’” Maui offers similar vibes, though 2024 could be a little different as Lahaina recovers from deadly 2023 wildfires that forced the event's relocation last year. North Carolina assistant coach Sean May played for the Tar Heels’ Maui winner in 2004 and was part of UNC’s staff for the 2016 champion, with both teams later winning the NCAA title. May said “you just feel the peacefulness” of the area — even while focusing on games — and savors memories of the team taking a boat out on the Pacific Ocean after title runs under now-retired Hall of Famer Roy Williams. “Teams like us, Dukes, UConns – you want to go to places that are very well-run,” May said. “Maui, Lea Miller with her group at the Battle 4 Atlantis, that’s what drives teams to come back because you know you’re going to get standard A-quality of not only the preparation but the tournament with the way it’s run. Everything is top-notch. And I think that brings guys back year after year.” That’s why Colorado coach Tad Boyle is so excited for the Buffaloes’ first Maui appearance since 2009. “We’ve been trying to get in the tournament since I got here,” said Boyle, now in his 15th season. And of course, that warm-weather setting sure doesn’t hurt. “If you talk about the Marquettes of the world, St. John’s, Providence – they don’t want that cold weather,” said NBA and college TV analyst Terrence Oglesby, who played for Clemson in the 2007 San Juan Invitational in Puerto Rico. “They’re going to have to deal with that all January and February. You might as well get a taste of what the sun feels like.” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo argues a call during the first half of a Nov. 16 game against Bowling Green in East Lansing, Michigan. Mi zzo is making his fourth trip to Maui. The men’s Baha Mar Championship in Nassau, Bahamas, got things rolling last week with No. 11 Tennessee routing No. 13 Baylor for the title. The week ahead could boast matchups befitting the Final Four, with teams having two weeks of action since any opening-night hiccups. “It’s a special kickoff to the college basketball season,” Oglesby said. “It’s just without the rust.” On the women’s side, Atlantis began its fourth eight-team women’s tournament Saturday with No. 16 North Carolina and No. 18 Baylor, while the nearby Baha Mar resort follows with two four-team women’s brackets that include No. 2 UConn, No. 7 LSU, No. 17 Mississippi and No. 20 N.C. State. Then come the men’s headliners. The Maui Invitational turns 40 as it opens Monday back in Lahaina. It features second-ranked and two-time reigning national champion UConn, No. 4 Auburn, No. 5 Iowa State and No. 10 North Carolina. The Battle 4 Atlantis opens its 13th men’s tournament Wednesday, topped by No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 16 Indiana and No. 17 Arizona. Michigan State Hall of Famer Tom Izzo is making his fourth trip to Maui, where he debuted as Jud Heathcote’s successor at the 1995 tournament. Izzo's Spartans have twice competed at Atlantis, last in 2021. “They’re important because they give you something in November or December that is exciting,” Izzo said. Any drawbacks? “It’s a 10-hour flight,” he said of Hawaii. Mike Tyson, left, slaps Jake Paul during a weigh-in ahead of their heavyweight bout, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Irving, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, Spain's tennis player Rafael Nadal serves during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) A fan takes a picture of the moon prior to a qualifying soccer match for the FIFA World Cup 2026 between Uruguay and Colombia in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Santiago Mazzarovich) Rasmus Højgaard of Denmark reacts after missing a shot on the 18th hole in the final round of World Tour Golf Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Taylor Fritz of the United States reacts during the final match of the ATP World Tour Finals against Italy's Jannik Sinner at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Tolbert (1) fails to pull in a pass against Atlanta Falcons cornerback Dee Alford (20) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/ Brynn Anderson) Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love, top right, scores a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) India's Tilak Varma jumps in the air as he celebrates after scoring a century during the third T20 International cricket match between South Africa and India, at Centurion Park in Centurion, South Africa, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski warms up before facing the Seattle Kraken in an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Kansas State players run onto the field before an NCAA college football game against Arizona State Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Manhattan, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) A fan rapped in an Uruguay flag arrives to the stands for a qualifying soccer match against Colombia for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) People practice folding a giant United States flag before an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Brazil's Marquinhos attempts to stop the sprinklers that were turned on during a FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying soccer match against Venezuela at Monumental stadium in Maturin, Venezuela, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) Georgia's Georges Mikautadze celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the UEFA Nations League, group B1 soccer match between Georgia and Ukraine at the AdjaraBet Arena in Batumi, Georgia, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Tamuna Kulumbegashvili) Dallas Stars center Mavrik Bourque, right, attempts to score while Minnesota Wild right wing Ryan Hartman (38) and Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) keep the puck out of the net during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt) Mike Tyson, left, fights Jake Paul during their heavyweight boxing match, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Italy goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario misses the third goal during the Nations League soccer match between Italy and France, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki (88) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second half of an NFL football game in Cincinnati, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) President-elect Donald Trump attends UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Fans argue in stands during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between France and Israel at the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Thursday Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova hits a return against Danielle Collins, of the United States, during a tennis match at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Malaga, southern Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) St. John's guard RJ Luis Jr. (12) falls after driving to the basket during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against New Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith) England's Anthony Gordon celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between England and the Republic of Ireland at Wembley stadium in London, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Katie Taylor, left, lands a right to Amanda Serrano during their undisputed super lightweight title bout, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver DJ Turner, right, tackles Miami Dolphins wide receiver Malik Washington, left, on a punt return during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) UConn's Paige Bueckers (5) battles North Carolina's Laila Hull, right, for a loose ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Greensboro, N.C., Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown) Get local news delivered to your inbox!

As a former deputy state underwater archaeologist, Mark Wilde-Ramsing can’t help but look down. While rowing around North Carolina’s Eagles Island, at the tip of the Gullah Geechee corridor, he noticed signs of human-made structures, visible at low tide. Though he’d retired, he was still active in the field and knew his former agency hadn’t recorded the structures – which meant he had come across something previously undocumented. The next step was figuring out exactly what he’d found. Wilde-Ramsing knew the area had once been full of rice fields. His neighbor, Joni “Osku” Backstrom, was an assistant professor in the department of environmental sciences at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington whose specialty was shallow-water sonar, and he had the skills and technology to explore the area. Using a sonar device, the duo detected 45 wooden structures in the river, and the remote sensing tool allowed Backstrom and Wilde-Ramsing to acoustically map the canal beds. “The side-scan sonar system that Mark and I put together and put on these vessels has been really important in finding these artifacts because if you went diving, you wouldn’t be able to see anything,” Backstrom said. “That’s really the advantage of this custom, shallow sonar system and being able to go up through these known rice canals and irrigation areas.” Spanning 2,000 acres (809 hectares) of the northern end of Eagles Island, the 45 irrigation devices were developed by enslaved people, who would later come to be known as the Gullah Geechee. The devices were used to control water flow for the rice fields in conjunction with earthen dams and levees, Wilde-Ramsing said. Their existence provides further evidence of the engineering and technological skills that Gullah Geechee people used for rice cultivation, beginning in the late 1700s at the latest. Backstrom and Wilde-Ramsing documented their findings in a study published earlier this year. “The use of the island for this endeavor prior to the Civil War, in large part rested on the shoulders of transplanted and enslaved Africans and their descendant Gullah Geechee tradition,” the study reads. The team’s discoveries, which came after two years of research in and around Eagles Island, have helped further shed light on the ingenious, skilled work of the Gullah Geechee people. Though Gullah Geechee people have been studied for centuries, Backstrom and Wilde-Ramsing’s research is the first to focus on their irrigation systems. The research couldn’t come soon enough: Eagles Island is environmentally vulnerable, both because of climate change and ongoing development. The duo registered their sites with the state, making development more difficult as a means to ensure the protection of cultural artifacts. “The whole area was originally swamp. It was cleared mostly in the post-colonial, early 1800s period for tidal rights cultivation because that area was freshwater,” Wilde-Ramsing said. “They were able to actually use, regulate, introduce the water and drain it with the tides instead of having these big ponds and using the traditional way.” The work the Gullah Geechee people did would have been exhaustive. Wilde-Ramsing says it required removing the cypress forests, then building dams and levees. Growing rice necessitated the use of water, so they created long wooden boxes, or “trunks”, with gates on either side, that allowed them to let the water in by opening the gates. The area, Wilde-Ramsing said, is desolate, difficult swamp terrain, which makes it good for rice cultivation, but hot, buggy and humid – “really not a nice place to work in the summer”. Everyone got around via boat, and most of the boat drivers were enslaved Africans. The enslaved populations throughout the Gullah Geechee corridor – which spans the coasts of North Carolina to upper Florida – were isolated in such a way that they developed and maintained a culture different from that of most plantations. “Originally, they were sought out as slaves from coastal regions of west Africa, an area that had similar environs to those along the southern Atlantic seaboard centering on Georgia and the Carolinas, where rice agriculture was a mainstay of the economy,” the study reads. “Traditional knowledge and skills, as well as the ability to tolerate humid, mosquito-infested conditions, made this group critical to the success of rice cultivation in the Americas.” Eagles Island has a long history of slavery: formerly known as Cranes Island, it was featured on John Ogilby’s 1672 map of Carolina, and around 1737, King George II granted much of the “ ” opposite Wilmington to Richard Eagles, an attorney and plantation owner from Bristol, England, for whom the island is named. The Eagles plantation was one of many on the island. Via Wilmington, a port city founded in 1739 that developed in large part , Eagles Island was used for shipping cotton, shipbuilding and rice cultivation. That rice cultivation made Wilmington wealthy, at the expense of the enslaved Gullah Geechee, who received no wages for their labor. “I didn’t quite realize the role that rice played. It rivaled cotton during the 1840s and 50s,” Backstrom said. “It was all over Europe and the US and it was all run by African Americans. A lot of it was developed based on their skills. I’m just happy that it’s coming to light and they’re getting their – I won’t say new – but recognition that this was an amazing thing, amazing work.” Even though Wilde-Ramsing and Backstrom’s discovery likely won’t permanently stop either development or climate change, not least because the island is owned by multiple private entities, the existence of historic, cultural artifacts can ensure that the Gullah Geechee structures are at least documented instead of simply being razed and forgotten. The researchers have been in communication with East Carolina University’s maritime program, and the school plans to send a contingent to the site to study some of the characteristic types. People from the school will be able to work on noting the various structures, trying to figure out how they operated and taking samples. Backstrom said that they’ve also been in contact with researchers at George Mason University in Fairfax county, Virginia, including a professor who had ancestors in Wilmington. In terms of further discovery, a mix of approaches best suits the complicated terrain. “We’re thinking about using drone imagery,” Backstrom said. “We have some preliminary drone footage, which gives us access to these areas at dead low tide, areas that we had a lot of difficulty with, even with a very small vessel.” The area is remote, full of tight nooks and crannies. It’s “particularly challenging because of the tides and the timing”, he said. The different combinations of drone imagery and sonar mean the researchers aren’t limited by turbidity in the water. Backstrom hopes to go to west Africa, specifically to Senegal or the Senegambia region, where many Gullah Geechee people were from, to learn about the history of rice farming, including the roles women and children played. Children, for instance, tasted the water to ensure too much saltwater wasn’t being let in, and women helped in the actual , using skills from their home countries that were passed down throughout generations. The methods that the researchers used for Eagles Island can be transferred elsewhere, and Wilde-Ramsing and Backstrom will apply their discovery techniques to finding other such sites in the area. They anticipate finding others around Cape Fear, a nearby , and in places farther south in the Gullah Geechee corridor. “South Carolina was kind of the center of rice cultivation compared to here, so we’re hoping to link up with the Gullah Geechee researchers, [maybe] down in South Carolina or even Georgia,” Backstrom said. Their work will continue to expand knowledge around historic Gullah Geechee practices for generations to come.Reader Opinion: Outside money runs contrary to democracy, by Terrence McMahon

New York State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan has issued an indefinite delay in the sentencing of Donald Trump , who was found guilty in a criminal trial and convicted on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to influence the outcome of the 2016 election, in the so-called "hush money" case. In response, incoming Trump White House communications director Steven Cheung issued a statement whitewashing Trump's record. Trump's attorneys have asked for the case to be dismissed, or for the judge to overturn the verdict, ABC News reports, adding: "If Judge Merchan tosses the conviction, he could order a new trial -- which would be delayed for at least four years until Trump leaves office -- or dismiss the indictment altogether." In that same order, Judge Merchan also allowed Trump's legal team to submit a motion to dismiss, as Law.com reports. Merchan did not schedule a new sentencing date. READ MORE: ‘Prosecutors Will Be Prosecuted’: Pam Bondi Vowed DOJ ‘Deep State’ Will Be ‘Cleaned Out’ Professor of Law and former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance observed : "Sad day for the rule of law." "Understand that the Judge hasn't ruled yet & the DA maintains the conviction is proper. But the delay in sentencing is just another chink in the armor of justice," she noted . U.S. Senator-elect Adam Schiff (D-CA), posting the judge's order, remarked, "If anyone ever wanted to see what “justice delayed is justice denied” looks like in legal form, this is it." Meanwhile, Trump communications director Steven Cheung made several controversial claims in a statement reported by The Guardian's Hugo Lowell: "In a decisive win for President Trump, the hoax Manhattan Case is now fully stayed and sentencing is adjourned. President Trump won a landslide victory as the American People have issued a mandate to return him to office and dispose of all remnants of the Witch Hunt cases. All of the sham lawfare attacks against President Trump are now destroyed and we are focused on Making America Great Again." The case was not a "hoax." A grand jury indicted Trump and a New York jury convicted him on all counts. Sentencing is not "adjourned," but delayed. Trump did not win in a "landslide victory," nor does he have a "mandate," political pundits and experts say. READ MORE: Top Trump Advisor Threatens Republicans to Support Nominees or Face a Primary: Report Earlier this week MSNBC's Chris Hayes wrote , "The final 2024 election tally is almost in. It should end the MAGA mandate myth." Trump won less than 50% of the popular vote, meaning he did not win a majority. His popular vote margin, according to Cook Political Report's vote tracker , is now at a slim 1.62 percentage points, or just less than 2.5 million votes. Some states are still counting, including California which has over 350,000 ballots left to count . Four days ago, CNN's Harry Enten reported Trump's popular vote victory ranks him near the bottom: 44th out of 51. The legal cases are not all destroyed. The Georgia case has not been dismissed . The New York case that Cheung mentions is not finished. Even the classified documents case that was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is being appealed , at least for now. READ MORE: Byron Donalds ‘Not Surprised’ at Snub from Trump’s Nearly-All White AdministrationNone

By KATE BRUMBACK ATLANTA (AP) — A judge is weighing whether a Georgia state Senate committee has the right to subpoena testimony and documents from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as it looks into whether she has engaged in misconduct during her prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump. The Republican-led committee sent subpoenas to Willis in August seeking to compel her to testify at its September meeting and to produce scores of documents. The committee was formed earlier this year to examine allegations of “various forms of misconduct” by Willis, an elected Democrat, during her prosecution of Trump and others over their efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 election loss in Georgia. Willis’ attorney, former Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes, told Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram during a hearing Tuesday that although the Georgia General Assembly has subpoena power, that power is not automatically conferred on a single legislative chamber or its committees. Even if the committee did have such power, he argued, the subpoenas in question are overly broad and not related to a legitimate legislative need. Barnes said the focus on Willis and her investigation into Trump shows that the committee was politically motivated and not a legitimate inquiry into the practices of district attorneys’ offices: “What they were trying to do is chill the prosecution of Donald Trump and find out what they had.” Josh Belinfante, a lawyer representing the lawmakers, said there is nothing in the Georgia Constitution that prohibits the Senate from issuing a subpoena. The duly formed interim committee is looking into whether new legislation is needed to regulate the practices of district attorneys’ offices in the state, he argued. “They are investigating and making an inquiry into these allegations that may show that existing state laws, including those establishing the processes for selecting, hiring and compensating special assistant district attorneys, are inadequate,” Belinfante said. The resolution creating the committee focused in particular on Willis’ hiring of special prosecutor Nathan Wade , with whom she had a romantic relationship , to lead the prosecution against Trump and others. It says the relationship amounted to a “clear conflict of interest and a fraud upon the taxpayers” of the county and state. One of the committee’s subpoenas orders Wills to produce documents related to Wade, including documents related to his hiring and payment, documents related to money or items of value that Wade and Willis may have exchanged, text messages and emails between the two, and their phone records. The committee also requested any documents her office sent in response to requests from the U.S. House, as well as communications Willis and her office had with the White House, the U.S. Justice Department and the House relating to the 2020 presidential election. And they asked for documents related to federal grant money Willis’ office has received. Before the deadlines in the subpoenas, Willis challenged them in court. Willis’ challenge was pending in mid-September when she skipped a hearing during which the committee members had hoped to question her. In October, the committee asked Ingram to require Willis to comply with the subpoenas. The committee’s lawyers wrote in a court filing that Willis’ failure to do so had delayed its ability to finish its inquiry and to provide recommendations for any legislation or changes in appropriations that might result. Barnes also argued that once the regular legislative session has adjourned, which happened in March this year, legislative committees can meet to study issues and come up with recommendations but do not have the power to compel someone to appear or produce documents. Belinfante rejected that, saying the state Constitution expressly permits the creation of interim committees and allows them to make their rules. Even if these subpoenas were validly issued, Barnes argued, they ask for too much, including private and personal information that is not a legitimate target of a legislative subpoena. Belinfante said the lawmakers are simply trying to do their jobs. He asked that Willis be ordered to appear before the committee in early January. He also asked that she be ordered to provide the requested documents and explain what privilege justifies any that are excluded. With a glaring lack of state case law on the issue of the General Assembly’s subpoena power, that’s one issue Ingram will have to address. She said she will consider the arguments and release her order as soon as she can. Willis and Wade have acknowledged that they had a relationship but have said it began after he was hired and ended before the indictment against Trump was filed. Trump and other defendants argued that the relationship created a conflict of interest that should disqualify Willis and her office from continuing with her prosecution of the case. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that Willis’ actions showed a “tremendous lapse in judgment,” but he did not find a conflict of interest that would disqualify Willis. He said she could continue her prosecution as long as Wade stepped aside, which he did. Trump and others have appealed that ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals, and that appeal remains pending.Stock up on these popular board games for your next get-togetherThe Role of ESG in port operations: A focus on Sabah Ports

The Tar Heels (5-1) play Indiana in the championship game on Monday. The Hoosiers upset No. 18 Baylor 73-65 in Sunday's first semifinal. Ustby made 6 of 8 shots from the floor with a 3-pointer for North Carolina on the way to her first double-double of the season. Donarski hit 6 of 10 shots with a pair of 3-pointers. Maddie Webber led the Wildcats (4-2) with 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Lara Edmanson pitched in with 11 points and seven rebounds. The Tar Heels held Villonova's leading scorer Jasmine Bascoe to two points after she came in averaging 16.6 per game. Bascoe missed all seven of her shots — three from distance — and made 2 of 4 at the free-throw line. Ustby had seven points and Donarski scored five to guide the Tar Heels to a 17-7 lead after one quarter. Donarski scored five more in the third quarter to help North Carolina turn a 30-18 lead at halftime into a 44-23 advantage heading to the final period. North Carolina shot 40% from the floor, made 5 of 17 from beyond the arc (29.4%) and 4 of 6 at the foul line. Villanova shot 23.5% overall but made 5 of 18 from distance (27.8%) and 7 of 10 free throws. The Tar Heels scored 15 points off of 21 Villanova turnovers. They turned it over 14 times but it led to only three points for the Wildcats. North Carolina outscored Villanova 30-14 in the paint and never trailed. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketballSustainable Sanitation Innovation: Vacuum Toilet Systems Market Poised for Significant Growth by 2030 12-21-2024 12:57 PM CET | Advertising, Media Consulting, Marketing Research Press release from: Valuates Reports Vacuum Toilet Systems Market Vacuum toilets are flush toilets that use suction for the removal of faeces and urine resulting in a minimal requirement of water (0.5 to 1.5 litres). The global Vacuum Toilet Systems market was valued at US$ million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach US$ million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of % during the forecast period 2024-2030. Get Free Sample: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-37J12543/Global_Vacuum_Toilet_Systems_Industry_Research_Report_Growth_Trends_and_Competitive_Analysis_2022_2028 North American market for Vacuum Toilet Systems is estimated to increase from $ million in 2023 to reach $ million by 2030, at a CAGR of % during the forecast period of 2024 through 2030. Asia-Pacific market for Vacuum Toilet Systems is estimated to increase from $ million in 2023 to reach $ million by 2030, at a CAGR of % during the forecast period of 2024 through 2030. The major global manufacturers of Vacuum Toilet Systems include A-1 AccuTech Inc, Jetvac, Inc, Evac North America Inc, Envirodyne Systems Inc, Fox, Red Environmental Services, NauticEXPO and Trainvac, etc. In 2023, the world's top three vendors accounted for approximately % of the revenue. This report aims to provide a comprehensive presentation of the global market for Vacuum Toilet Systems, with both quantitative and qualitative analysis, to help readers develop business/growth strategies, assess the market competitive situation, analyze their position in the current marketplace, and make informed business decisions regarding Vacuum Toilet Systems. Report Scope The Vacuum Toilet Systems market size, estimations, and forecasts are provided in terms of output/shipments (K Units) and revenue ($ millions), considering 2023 as the base year, with history and forecast data for the period from 2019 to 2030. This report segments the global Vacuum Toilet Systems market comprehensively. Regional market sizes, concerning products by Type, by Application, and by players, are also provided. For a more in-depth understanding of the market, the report provides profiles of the competitive landscape, key competitors, and their respective market ranks. The report also discusses technological trends and new product developments. The report will help the Vacuum Toilet Systems manufacturers, new entrants, and industry chain related companies in this market with information on the revenues, production, and average price for the overall market and the sub-segments across the different segments, by company, by Type, by Application, and by regions. By Type •Plastic Vacuum Toilet •Steel Vacuum Toilet By Application •Public Transit •Civil Housing •Mobile Facility Key Companies A-1 AccuTech Inc, Jetvac, Inc, Evac North America Inc, Envirodyne Systems Inc, Fox, Red Environmental Services, NauticEXPO, Trainvac View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-37J12543/global-vacuum-toilet-systems Please reach us at sales@valuates.com Address: Valuates, 4th Floor, Balaraj's Arcade, Whitefield Main road, Bangalore 560066 Valuates offers an extensive collection of market research reports that helps companies to take intelligent strategical decisions based on current and forecasted Market trends. This release was published on openPR.

Lottery will decide which aspiring Minnesota cannabis businesses will be preapproved for a license

Judge weighs whether to order Fani Willis to comply with lawmakers’ subpoenas over Trump caseUS stocks were mostly higher on Tuesday, led by the tech sector. Today marks the start of the Santa Claus trading window, a historically bullish 7-day stretch. The stock market will close at 1 p.m. for a shortened trading session due to Christmas Eve. US stocks were mostly higher on Tuesday led by gains in technology stocks. The bump comes amid a shortened trading session for Christmas Eve, which also happens to mark the official start of the Santa Claus trading window — a historically bullish period for stocks during the last five trading days of the year and the first two trading days of the new year. The stock market is set to close at 1 p.m. and will be closed on Wednesday for Christmas. The bond market, which is also closed on Wednesday, will wrap up at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. Investors have no economic data to analyze on Tuesday, but they will be watching for the release of initial jobless claims on Thursday morning. Economists expect 225,000 initial jobless claims, slightly higher than last week's reading of 220,000. Historical data dating back to 1950 shows that the S&P 500 has posted an average return of 1.3% and is positive 79% of the time during the Santa Claus trading window. The average gain during the Santa Claus trading window is even stronger, at 1.6%, when including stock returns going back to 1928, according to data from Bank of America. Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Tuesday: S&P 500 : 5,982.87, up 0.14% Dow Jones Industrial Average : 42,892.81, down 0.03% (-10 points) Nasdaq composite : 19,838..09, up 0.40% Here's what else is going on: American Airlines briefly grounded all of its flights on Tuesday due to a technical glitch. The probability of a US recession in 2025 is 0%, according to a top economist. Consumer confidence dropped to near-recession levels ahead of Donald Trump's second administration. Here is a complete rundown of Wall Street's 2025 S&P 500 targets.