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nice88 slot Following his meeting Monday with Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville told reporters Hegseth would be "great" for the position. Tuberville said he didn't talk with Hegseth about his "personal" life on Monday, but later clarified that they indeed spoke on the phone about the misconduct allegations against Hegseth. "I'm gonna leave the personal stuff between y'all and him whenever he has an opportunity to sit down with you and explain, you know, the allegations that you're all pushing out," Tuberville told reporters. MORE: New details of Hegseth sexual assault claim documented in police report In 2017, Hegseth paid a settlement agreement to a woman who accused him of sexual assault, Tim Parlatore, an attorney for Hegseth, previously confirmed. Parlatore claimed Hegseth was the victim of "blackmail" and "false claims of sexual assault," and said he paid the settlement only because he feared his career would suffer if her allegations were made public. According to a 22-page police report obtained by ABC News, Hegseth's accuser told police that he took her phone and blocked her from leaving his hotel room on the night of the incident. On Sunday, the New Yorker published an investigation into Hegseth that alleged that "a trail of documents, corroborated by the accounts of former colleagues, indicates that Hegseth was forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran -- Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America -- in the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct." The New York Times published an email Friday that Hegseth's mother, Penelope Hegseth, sent him in 2018, saying he had routinely mistreated women for years. Penelope Hegseth confirmed the contents of the email to the New York Times in a phone interview, but said in the interview to the Times that she regretted her original sentiments expressed in the email and sent her son an immediate follow-up email expressing regret for what she had said. ABC News has not independently confirmed the New Yorker or New York Times' reporting. MORE: Hegseth says he's 'completely cleared' in sex assault case. The police report doesn't say that. Speaking to reporters after their meeting, Tuberville praised Hegseth and sidestepped questions about his alleged pattern of misconduct. "I've known him for a while. Pete's the type of guy that he's going to work. He's got a great work ethic. He's very, very smart. He understands the business side as well as the military side." Tuberville said. "He's actually fought in wars. He is a good age too. Somebody that can relate to the young men and women that we need to recruit in the military." Asked if any of the allegations in the New Yorker article concerned him, Tuberville left the explanation up to Hegseth. MORE: Trump defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth was flagged as potential military 'insider threat' because of 'Deus Vult' tattoo "Well, I'm gonna leave that to his explanation of all that. I can't comment on that," he said. "Obviously, if it's to a certain degree, people are not going to vote to confirm it, but what I know when I talk to him about what I've read, what I've studied and been around him, I'll vote for him." As Tuberville took question after question on Hegseth's allegations, he was asked if Hegseth needed to defend himself forcefully and provide an explanation to the American people. "That's up to him," Tuberville said. "Eventually he's gonna have to come out and start visiting with the media. I think, right now, his number one objective is to go out and and sell himself to you know, at least 51 or 52 Senators. That's the job he needs to do to get confirmed." Tuberville mentioned a dozen of senators are meeting with Hegseth as a group Monday night, but he did not elaborate further.By Keith Laing | Bloomberg California Governor Gavin Newsom is promising to step in with a state electric-car tax credit if US President-elect Donald Trump repeals a federal subsidy after he takes office next year. Newsom, a prominent Democrat and frequent critic of Republican politics, said in a statement Monday that he will propose rebooting a program California phased out in 2023 to provide EV buyers relief in lieu of a $7,500 tax credit targeted by Trump. Trump has long criticized President Joe Biden administration’s efforts to subsidize electric vehicles in a bid to boost adoption of cleaner cars. His transition team is now looking to slash fuel-efficiency requirements for new cars and light trucks as part of plans to unwind Biden policies the president-elect has blasted as an “EV mandate,” Bloomberg News reported last week. California clashed with Trump frequently on auto emission regulations during the incoming president’s first term, and the state’s leaders have made clear they are now girding for another fight. Newsom already has sought to shield the state’s policies on issues including reproductive rights, climate and immigration from potential threats under a Trump administration. California, as well as states including Oregon and Colorado, currently are exempt from rules that preempt them from enacting their own emissions standards for new vehicles. More than a dozen states representing more than a third of the US auto market now have formally opted to follow California’s rules. Trump in his first term targeted California’s right to set tougher gas mileage rules than the federal government. He is expected to make another attempt to roll back the California carve out under the 1970 Clean Air Act after taking office in January. Tesla settling technology theft suit against Rivian Tesla said last week it’s reached a “conditional” settlement in its 2020 lawsuit accusing Irvine-based Rivian Automotive of poaching employees to steal electric-vehicle trade secrets. Tesla didn’t disclose specifics about the agreement in a court filing, but told a California state judge that it expects to seek dismissal of the case by Dec. 24 upon satisfactory completion of the terms. Rivian declined to comment. A lawyer for Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The dispute kicked off more than four years ago when Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker accused Rivian of an “alarming pattern” of poaching its employees and stealing trade secrets. Some workers were “caught red-handed” misappropriating core technology for its next-generation batteries, Tesla later said. Rivian has denied wrongdoing and criticized the lawsuit as an effort to suppress competition in the EV market. Rivian and a group of its employees who defected from Tesla lost bids to get the lawsuit thrown out and a trial was set for March. —Malathi Nayak at Bloomberg contributed to this report.NEW YORK — A Marine veteran who used a chokehold on an agitated subway rider was acquitted on Monday in a death that became a prism for differing views about public safety, valor and vigilantism. A Manhattan jury cleared Daniel Penny of criminally negligent homicide in Jordan Neely’s 2023 killing. A more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed last week because the jury deadlocked on that count. Both applause and anger erupted in the courtroom as the verdict was read, and Neely’s father and two supporters were ushered out after audibly reacting. Another person also left, wailing with tears. “It really, really hurts,” Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, said outside the courthouse. “I had enough of this. The system is rigged.” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the Democrat whose office brought the case, said prosecutors “followed the facts and the evidence from beginning to end” and respect the verdict. There was no immediate comment from lawyers for Penny, who rushed to a waiting car after the verdict. Penny’s attorneys claimed he was protecting himself and other subway passengers from a volatile, mentally ill man who made alarming remarks and gestures. The case amplified many American fault lines, among them race, politics, crime, urban life, mental illness and homelessness. Neely was Black. Penny is white. There were sometimes dueling demonstrations outside the courthouse, including Monday, when chants could be heard through the window ahead of the verdict. Penny, 26, served four years in the Marines and went on to study architecture. Neely, 30, was a sometime subway performer with a tragic life story: His mother was killed and stuffed in a suitcase when he was a teenager. As a younger man, Neely did Michael Jackson tributes on the city’s streets and subways. But Neely also struggled with mental illness after losing his mother, whose boyfriend was convicted of murdering her. He subsequently was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia and was repeatedly hospitalized. Neely told a doctor in 2017 that being homeless, living in poverty and having to “dig through the garbage” for food made him feel so hopeless that he sometimes thought of killing himself, hospital records show. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Make Guest List for Bezos’ Holiday Party

Indrani Mukerjea NEW DELHI: SC on Monday agreed to hear a plea of Indrani Mukerjea , an accused in her daughter Sheena Bora's murder case, seeking its permission to travel abroad and issued notice to CBI . A bench of justices M M Sundresh and Aravind Kumar sought response from the agency on Mukerjea's plea to allow her to visit Britain and Spain to activate her bank account there and also to change her will after divorce. Mukerjea, a British citizen, alleged that her bank account in Spain had been deactivated and her biometric was needed to get it activated. She approached SC through her advocate Sana Raees Khan after Bombay HC quashed the trial court order allowing her to go abroad. She said she needed to get a new Euro Bank account to enable her to pay all her pending taxes and bills in Spain and she was also required to change her will and power of attorney after her divorce. Giving details of work she needed to undertake during her visit, she said she needed 10 days for repairs and maintenance of immovable property and appointing a real estate agent for renting premises for personal income. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday dropped the election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump, seeking a judge’s dismissal of the charges. In a 6-page court filing , Smith’s team argued that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has long argued “that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” referring to Trump’s recent election victory. “ This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant, ” the filing states. His office said that prosecutors have conferred with Trump’s attorneys, who indicated they do not oppose the government’s motion. “ Based on the Department’s interpretation of the Constitution, the Government moves for dismissal without prejudice of the superseding indictment ,” the court documents state. The move marks an end to Smith’s criminal pursuit of Trump over the past two years or so, accusing him of attempting to illegally overturn the 2020 election. Smith also accused Trump of allegedly mishandling classified documents in a separate case, which was dismissed over the summer by a federal judge. The decision was anticipated after Smith’s team said in court filings that it was assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the classified documents case in the wake of Trump’s win on Nov. 5 over Vice President Kamala Harris. According to Smith’s team, the DOJ believes the president-elect can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted. The president-elect has often criticized the two cases that were brought by Smith, named as the special counsel by now-outgoing Attorney General Merrick Garland, describing them as attempts to use the DOJ to target a political opponent. Earlier this year, Trump told a radio host that if he were elected, he would move to remove Smith as special counsel. Over the summer, the election case triggered a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said presidents can enjoy some immunity from prosecution for their official acts and duties. Months later, Smith filed a superseding indictment that argued Trump acted on his own accord and not within his presidential duties when he allegedly broke the law. Trump had pleaded not guilty to those charges. Trump also faced similar, election-related charges in Fulton County, Georgia. However, that case is in limbo after a co-defendant accused the prosecutor, Fani Willis, of being in a relationship with her special counsel, Nathan Wade, who resigned earlier this year after a judge issued an order. That Fulton County judge, however, allowed Willis, an elected Democrat, to remain on the case. But Trump and several co-defendants petitioned the Georgia Court of Appeals to reject the judge’s ruling, effectively pausing the case. In his business records case in New York, sentencing for Trump was postponed indefinitely last week by a judge after his election win. On May 30, Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to payments he made during the 2016 presidential campaign, which he had denied were illegal. Sentencing in that case was initially scheduled for July but was postponed until Nov. 26. In a ruling on Nov. 22, Judge Juan Merchan wrote that he was granting a request to adjourn that sentencing date.

NoneAs open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans continues through Jan. 15, you’re likely seeing fewer social media ads promising monthly cash cards worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars that you can use for groceries, medical bills, rent and other expenses. But don’t worry. You haven’t missed out on any windfalls. Clicking on one of those ads would not have provided you with a cash card — at least not worth hundreds or thousands. But you might have found yourself switched to a health insurance plan you did not authorize, unable to afford treatment for an unforeseen medical emergency, and owing thousands of dollars to the IRS, according to an ongoing lawsuit against companies and individuals who plaintiffs say masterminded the ads and alleged scams committed against millions of people who responded to them. The absence of those once-ubiquitous ads are likely a result of the federal government suspending access to the ACA marketplace for two companies that market health insurance out of South Florida offices, amid accusations they used “fraudulent” ads to lure customers and then switched their insurance plans and agents without their knowledge. In its suspension letter, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) cited “credible allegations of misconduct” in the agency’s decision to suspend the abilities of two companies — TrueCoverage (doing business as Inshura) and BenefitAlign — to transact information with the marketplace. CMS licenses and monitors agencies that use their own websites and information technology platforms to enroll health insurance customers in ACA plans offered in the federal marketplace. The alleged scheme affected millions of consumers, according to a lawsuit winding its way through U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale that seeks class-action status. An amended version of the suit, filed in August, increased the number of defendants from six to 12: — TrueCoverage LLC, an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based health insurance agency with large offices in Miami, Miramar and Deerfield Beach. TrueCoverage is a sub-tenant of the South Florida Sun Sentinel in a building leased by the newspaper in Deerfield Beach. — Enhance Health LLC, a Sunrise-based health insurance agency that the lawsuit says was founded by Matthew Herman, also named as a defendant, with a $150 million investment from hedge fund Bain Capital’s insurance division. Bain Capital Insurance Fund LP is also a defendant. — Speridian Technologies LLC, accused in the lawsuit of establishing two direct enrollment platforms that provided TrueCoverage and other agencies access to the ACA marketplace. — Benefitalign LLC, identified in the suit as one of the direct enrollment platforms created by Speridian. Like Speridian and TrueCoverage, the company is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. — Number One Prospecting LLC, doing business as Minerva Marketing, based in Fort Lauderdale, and its founder, Brandon Bowsky, accused of developing the social media ads that drove customers — or “leads” — to the health insurance agencies. — Digital Media Solutions LLC, doing business as Protect Health, a Miami-based agency that the suit says bought Minerva’s “fraudulent” ads. In September, the company filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in United States Bankruptcy Court in Texas, which automatically suspended claims filed against the company. — Net Health Affiliates Inc., an Aventura-based agency the lawsuit says was associated with Enhance Health and like it, bought leads from Minerva. — Garish Panicker, identified in the lawsuit as half-owner of Speridian Global Holdings and day-to-day controller of companies under its umbrella, including TrueCoverage, Benefitalign and Speridian Technologies. — Matthew Goldfuss, accused by the suit of overseeing and directing TrueCoverage’s ACA enrollment efforts. All of the defendants have filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit. The motions deny the allegations and argue that the plaintiffs failed to properly state their claims and lack the standing to file the complaints. The Sun Sentinel sent requests for comment and lists of questions about the cases to four separate law firms representing separate groups of defendants. Three of the law firms — one representing Brandon Bowsky and Number One Prospecting LLC d/b/a Minerva Marketing, and two others representing Net Health Affiliates Inc. and Bain Capital Insurance Fund — did not respond to the requests. A representative of Enhance Health LLC and Matthew Herman, Olga M. Vieira of the Miami-based firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, responded with a short message saying she was glad the newspaper knew a motion to dismiss the charges had been filed by the defendants. She also said that, “Enhance has denied all the allegations as reported previously in the media.” Catherine Riedel, a communications specialist representing TrueCoverage LLC, Benefitalign LLC, Speridian Technologies LLC, Girish Panicker and Matthew Goldfuss, issued the following statement: “TrueCoverage takes these allegations very seriously and is responding appropriately. While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, we strongly believe that the allegations are baseless and without merit. “Compliance is our business. The TrueCoverage team records and reviews every call with a customer, including during Open Enrollment when roughly 500 agents handle nearly 30,000 calls a day. No customer is enrolled into any policy without a formal verbal consent given by the customer. If any customer calls in as a result of misleading content presented by third-party marketing vendors, agents are trained to correct such misinformation and action is taken against such third-party vendors.” Through Riedel, the defendants declined to answer follow-up questions, including whether the company remains in business, whether it continues to enroll Affordable Care Act clients, and whether it is still operating its New Mexico call center using another affiliated technology platform. The suspension notification from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services letter cites several factors, including the histories of noncompliance and previous suspensions. The letter noted suspicion that TrueCoverage and Benefitalign were storing consumers’ personally identifiable information in databases located in India and possibly other overseas locations in violation of the centers’ rules. The letter also notes allegations against the companies in the pending lawsuit that “they engaged in a variety of illegal practices, including violations of the (Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations, or RICO Act), misuse of consumer (personal identifiable information) and insurance fraud.” The amended lawsuit filed in August names as plaintiffs five individuals who say their insurance plans were changed and two agencies who say they lost money when they were replaced as agents. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of 55 counts of wrongdoing, ranging from running ads offering thousands of dollars in cash that they knew would never be provided directly to consumers, switching millions of consumers into different insurance policies without their authorization, misstating their household incomes to make them eligible for $0 premium coverage, and “stealing” commissions by switching the agents listed in their accounts. TrueCoverage, Enhance Health, Protect Health, and some of their associates “engaged in hundreds of thousands of agent-of-record swaps to steal other agents’ commissions,” the suit states. “Using the Benefitalign and Inshura platforms, they created large spreadsheet lists of consumer names, dates of birth and zip codes.” They provided those spreadsheets to agents, it says, and instructed them to access platforms linked to the ACA marketplace and change the customers’ agents of record “without telling the client or providing informed consent.” “In doing so, they immediately captured the monthly commissions of agents ... who had originally worked with the consumers directly to sign them up,” the lawsuit asserts. TrueCoverage employees who complained about dealing with prospects who called looking for cash cards were routinely chided by supervisors who told them to be vague and keep making money, the suit says. When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began contacting the company in January about customer complaints, the suit says TrueCoverage enrollment supervisor Matthew Goldfuss sent an email instructing agents “do not respond.” The lawsuit states the “scheme” was made possible in 2021 when Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act in the wake of the COVID pandemic. The act made it possible for Americans with household incomes between 100% and 150% of the federal poverty level to pay zero in premiums and it enabled those consumers to enroll in ACA plans all year round, instead of during the three-month open enrollment period from November to January. Experienced health insurance brokers recognized the opportunity presented by the changes, the lawsuit says. More than 40 million Americans live within 100% and 150% of the federal poverty level, while only 15 million had ACA insurance at the time. The defendants developed or benefited from online ads, the lawsuit says, which falsely promised “hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars per month in cash benefits such as subsidy cards to pay for common expenses like rent, groceries, and gas.” Consumers who clicked on the ads were brought to a landing page that asked a few qualifying questions, and if their answers suggested that they might qualify for a low-cost or no-cost plan, they were provided a phone number to a health insurance agency. There was a major problem with the plan, according to the lawsuit. “Customers believe they are being routed to someone who will send them a free cash card, not enroll them in health insurance.” By law, the federal government sends subsidies for ACA plans to insurance companies, and not to individual consumers. Scripts were developed requiring agents not to mention a cash card, and if a customer mentions a cash card, “be vague” and tell the caller that only the insurance carrier can provide that information, the lawsuit alleges. In September, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the claims. In addition to denying the charges, they argued that the class plaintiffs lacked the standing to make the accusations and failed to demonstrate that they suffered harm. The motion also argued that the lawsuit’s accusations failed to meet requirements necessary to claim civil violations of the RICO Act. Miami-based attorney Jason Kellogg, representing the plaintiffs, said he doesn’t expect a ruling on the motion to dismiss the case for several months. The complaint also lists nearly 50 companies, not named as defendants, that it says fed business to TrueCoverage and Enhance Health. Known in the industry as “downlines,” most operate in office parks throughout South Florida, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit quotes former TrueCoverage employees complaining about having to work with customers lured by false cash promises in the online ads. A former employee who worked in the company’s Deerfield Beach office was quoted in the lawsuit as saying that senior TrueCoverage and Speridian executives “knew that consumers were calling in response to the false advertisements promising cash cards and they pressured agents to use them to enroll consumers into ACA plans.” A former human resources manager for TrueCoverage said sales agents frequently complained “that they did not feel comfortable having to mislead consumers,” the lawsuit said. Over two dozen agents “came to me with these complaints and showed me the false advertisements that consumers who called in were showing them,” the lawsuit quoted the former manager as saying. For much of the time the companies operated, the ACA marketplace enabled agents to easily access customer accounts using their names and Social Security numbers, change their insurance plans and switch their agents of record without their knowledge or authorization, the lawsuit says. This resulted in customers’ original agents losing their commissions and many of the policyholders finding out they suddenly owed far more for health care services than their original plans had required, the suit states. It says that one of the co-plaintiffs’ health plans was changed at least 22 times without her consent. She first discovered that she had lost her original plan when she sought to renew a prescription for her heart condition and her doctor told her she did not have health insurance, the suit states. Another co-plaintiff’s policy was switched after her husband responded to one of the cash card advertisements, the lawsuit says. That couple’s insurance plan was switched multiple times after a TrueCoverage agent excluded the wife’s income from an application so the couple would qualify. Later, they received bills from the IRS for $4,300 to cover tax credits issued to pay for the plans. CMS barred TrueCoverage and BenefitAlign from accessing the ACA marketplace. It said it received more than 90,000 complaints about unauthorized plan switches and more than 183,500 complaints about unauthorized enrollments, but the agency did not attribute all of the complaints to activities by the two companies. In addition, CMS restricted all agents’ abilities to alter policyholders’ enrollment information, the lawsuit says. Now access is allowed only for agents that already represent policyholders or if the policyholder participates in a three-way call with an agent and a marketplace employee. Between June and October, the agency barred 850 agents and brokers from accessing the marketplace “for reasonable suspicion of fraudulent or abusive conduct related to unauthorized enrollments or unauthorized plan switches,” according to an October CMS news release . The changes resulted in a “dramatic and sustained drop” in unauthorized activity, including a nearly 70% decrease in plan changes associated with an agent or broker and a nearly 90% decrease in changes to agent or broker commission information, the release said. It added that while consumers were often unaware of such changes, the opportunity to make them provided “significant financial incentive for non-compliant agents and brokers.” But CMS’ restrictions might be having unintended consequences for law-abiding agents and brokers. A story published by Insurance News Net on Nov. 11 quoted the president of the Health Agents for America (HAFA) trade group as saying agents are being suspended by CMS after being flagged by a mysterious algorithm that no one can figure out. The story quotes HAFA president Ronnell Nolan as surmising, “maybe they wrote too many policies on the same day for people who have the same income or they’re writing too many policies on people of a certain occupation.” Nolan continued, “We have members who have thousands of ACA clients. They can’t update or renew their clients. So those consumers have lost access to their professional agent, which is simply unfair.” Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.AP Sports SummaryBrief at 5:31 p.m. EST

Google on Monday showed off a new quantum computing chip that it said was a major breakthrough that could bring practical quantum computing closer to reality. A custom chip called "Willow" does in minutes what it would take leading supercomputers 10 septillion years to complete, according to Google Quantum AI founder Hartmut Neven. "Written out, there is a 1 with 25 zeros," Neven said of the time span while briefing journalists. "A mind-boggling number." Neven's team of about 300 people at Google is on a mission to build quantum computing capable of handling otherwise unsolvable problems like safe fusion power and stopping climate change. "We see Willow as an important step in our journey to build a useful quantum computer with practical applications in areas like drug discovery, fusion energy, battery design and more," said Google CEO Sundar Pichai on X. A quantum computer that can tackle these challenges is still years away, but Willow marks a significant step in that direction, according to Neven and members of his team. While still in its early stages, scientists believe that superfast quantum computing will eventually be able to power innovation in a range of fields. Quantum research is seen as a critical field and both the United States and China have been investing heavily in the area, while Washington has also placed restrictions on the export of the sensitive technology. Olivier Ezratty, an independent expert in quantum technologies, told AFP in October that private and public investment in the field has totaled around $20 billion worldwide over the past five years. Regular computers function in binary fashion: they carry out tasks using tiny fragments of data known as bits that are only ever either expressed as 1 or 0. But fragments of data on a quantum computer, known as qubits, can be both 1 and 0 at the same time -- allowing them to crunch an enormous number of potential outcomes simultaneously. Crucially, Google's chip demonstrated the ability to reduce computational errors exponentially as it scales up -- a feat that has eluded researchers for nearly 30 years. The breakthrough in error correction, published in leading science journal Nature, showed that adding more qubits to the system actually reduced errors rather than increasing them -- a fundamental requirement for building practical quantum computers. Error correction is the "end game" in quantum computing and Google is "confidently progressing" along the path, according to Google director of quantum hardware Julian Kelly. gc/arp/bjtSEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to implement the “toughest” anti-U.S. policy, state media reported Sunday, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president. Trump’s return to the White House raises prospects for high-profile diplomacy with North Korea. During his first term, Trump met Kim three times for talks on the North's nuclear program. Many experts however say a quick resumption of Kim-Trump summitry is unlikely as Trump would first focus on conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. North Korea's support for Russia's war against Ukraine also poses a challenge to efforts to revive diplomacy, experts say. During a five-day plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party that ended Friday, Kim called the U.S. “the most reactionary state that regards anti-communism as its invariable state policy.” Kim said that the U.S.-South Korea-Japan security partnership is expanding into “a nuclear military bloc for aggression." “This reality clearly shows to which direction we should advance and what we should do and how,” Kim said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. It said Kim's speech “clarified the strategy for the toughest anti-U.S. counteraction to be launched aggressively” by North Korea for its long-term national interests and security. KCNA didn't elaborate on the anti-U.S. strategy. But it said Kim set forth tasks to bolster military capability through defense technology advancements and stressed the need to improve the mental toughness of North Korean soldiers. The previous meetings between Trump and Kim had not only put an end to their exchanges of fiery rhetoric and threats of destruction, but they developed personal connections. Trump once famously said he and Kim “fell in love.” But their talks eventually collapsed in 2019, as they wrangled over U.S.-led sanctions on the North. North Korea has since sharply increased the pace of its weapons testing activities to build more reliable nuclear missiles targeting the U.S. and its allies. The U.S. and South Korea have responded by expanding their military bilateral drills and also trilateral ones involving Japan, drawing strong rebukes from the North, which views such U.S.-led exercises as invasion rehearsals. Further complicating efforts to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons in return for economic and political benefits is its deepening military cooperation with Russia. According to U.S., Ukrainian and South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops and conventional weapons systems to support Moscow's war against Ukraine. There are concerns that Russia could give North Korea advanced weapons technology in return, including help to build more powerful nuclear missiles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that 3,000 North Korean troops have been killed and wounded in the fighting in Russia's Kursk region. It was the first significant estimate by Ukraine of North Korean casualties since the North Korean troop deployment to Russia began in October. Russia and China, locked in separate disputes with the U.S., have repeatedly blocked U.S.-led pushes to levy more U.N. sanctions on North Korea despite its repeated missile tests in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Last month, Kim said that his past negotiations with the United States only confirmed Washington’s “unchangeable” hostility toward his country and described his nuclear buildup as the only way to counter external threats.

Michigan's defense of national title fell short, aims to cap lost season with win against Ohio StateJimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100