******** president to meet with Biden at White House as Netanyahu speaks with Trump
******** president to meet with Biden at White House as Netanyahu speaks with Trump
President Biden will meet with ******** President Isaac Herzog at the White House on Tuesday, U.S. and ******** officials confirmed to CBS News.
The two are expected to discuss the ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon, a statement from the ******** president’s office said on Sunday, according to Reuters.
It is expected that Ron Dermer – a former ******** ambassador to the U.S. and advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – will join Herzog in the meeting with Mr. Biden. The two presidents met at the White House in July 2023 and again in October 2023 in Tel Aviv. Netanyahu and Mr. Biden met in Washington in July 2024.
President Biden meets with the President of ******* Isaac Herzog in the Oval Office at the White House in July 2023.
Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Cease-***** talks mediated by the ******* States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled, as have parallel efforts by the U.S. and others to halt the fighting between ******* and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Qatar, a key mediator with ******, said Saturday it had suspended its efforts and would resume them when “the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war and the ongoing suffering of civilians.”
Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee *********** who served in the first Trump administration, told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday that the “environment is shifting right now” on a ******** deal after President-elect Trump’s victory.
****** wants an agreement that ends the war and a prisoner-for-hostages deal, while Netanyahu has said the war will only stop once ****** is eradicated.
“We will continue to defend our country and our citizens in all arenas, in the face of any threat — especially the Iranian threat,” Netanyahu said Sunday.
How President-elect Trump might handle war in Middle East
02:09
The prime minister also said he has spoken with Trump three times in the last few days.
“These were good and very important conversations — talks designed to further tighten the strong alliance between ******* and the USA,” he said. “We see eye-to-eye, the Iranian threat to all its components, and the danger posed by it. We also see the great opportunities before ******* in the field of peace and its expansion and in other fields.”
Hagerty reiterated on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that Trump is focused on the “root cause” of the war in Gaza — which he said was Iran.
The war in Gaza began when ******-led militants blew holes in the border fence and stormed into southern ******* on Oct. 7, 2023. They ******* some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, and about a third are believed to be *****.
*******’s offensive has ******* more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their count but say more than half the ***** were women and children.
Hezbollah, which is also allied with Iran, began ******* rockets, drones and missiles from Lebanon into ******* in solidarity with ****** immediately after. The yearlong cross-border fighting boiled over to a larger conflict on Oct. 1, when ******** forces launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon for the first time since 2006.
Iran, one of *******’s bitter foes, launched its own *******, unleashing about 180 ballistic missiles at ******* on Oct. 1. ******* retaliated, targeting Iranian military facilities in airstrikes on Oct. 25.
Margaret Brennan and
Camilla Schick
contributed to this report.
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Ukraine attacks Moscow with 34 drones, biggest strike on the Russian capital – National
Ukraine attacks Moscow with 34 drones, biggest strike on the Russian capital – National
Ukraine attacked Moscow on Sunday with at least 34 drones, the biggest drone strike on the Russian capital since the start of the war in 2022, forcing flights to be diverted from three of the city’s major airports and injuring at least five people.
Russian air defences destroyed another 50 drones over other regions of Western Russia on Sunday, the defence ministry said.
“An attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a ********** ******* using airplane-type drones on the territory of the Russian Federation was thwarted,” the ministry said.
Russia’s federal air transport agency said the airports of Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky diverted at least 36 flights, but then resumed operations. Five people were injured in the Moscow region, the defence ministry said.
Moscow and its surrounding region, with a population of at least 21 million, is one of the biggest metropolitan areas in Europe, alongside Istanbul.
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For its part, Russia launched a record 145 drones overnight, Ukraine said. Kyiv said its air defences downed 62 of those. Ukraine also said it attacked an arsenal in the Bryansk region of Russia, which reported 14 drones had been downed in the region.
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Unverified video posted on Russian Telegram channels showed drones buzzing across the skyline.The 2-1/2-year-old war in Ukraine is entering what some officials say could be its final act after Moscow’s forces advanced at the fastest pace since the early days of the war and Donald Trump was elected 47th president of the ******* States.
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Trump, who takes office in January, said during campaigning that he could bring peace in Ukraine within 24 hours, but has given few details on how he would seek to do this.
Kyiv, itself the target of repeated mass drone strikes from Russian forces, has tried to strike back against its vastly larger eastern neighbour with repeated drone strikes against oil refineries, airfields and even Russian strategic early-warning radar stations.
While the 1,000 km (620 mile) front has largely resembled grinding World War One trench and artillery warfare for much of the war, one of the biggest innovations of the conflict has been drone warfare.Moscow and Kyiv have both sought to buy and develop new drones, deploy them in innovative ways, and seek new ways to ******** them – from using farmers’ shotguns to advanced electronic jamming systems.
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Russia has developed a series of electronic “umbrellas” over Moscow, with additional advanced internal layers over strategic buildings, and a complex web of air defences to ****** down the drones before they reach the Kremlin in the heart of the capital.
Both sides have turned cheap commercial drones into deadly weapons while ramping up their own production. Soldiers on both sides have reported a visceral ***** of drones – and both sides have used macabre video footage of fatal drone strikes in their ***********.
Russian President Vladimir ******, who has sought to insulate Moscow from the grinding rigours of the war, has called Ukrainian drone attacks that target civilian infrastructure such as nuclear power plants “terrorism” and has vowed a response.
Moscow, by far Russia’s richest city, has boomed during the war, buoyed by the biggest defence spending splurge since the Cold War.
There was no sign of panic on Moscow’s boulevards. Muscovites walked their dogs while the bells of the onion-domed Russian Orthodox churches rang out across the capital.
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Transcript: Rep. Ro Khanna on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Nov. 10, 2024
Transcript: Rep. Ro Khanna on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Nov. 10, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Nov. 10, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna. He’s in California this morning. Good morning to you. This was a rough week for Democrats. I don’t have to tell you that, but Congressman, I mean, just to level with the ********* people, Democrats and the Harris campaign told them that the fate of democracy itself was at stake. Was that a cynical political tactic, or, if it’s reality, what is the plan now?
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, Margaret, I think what was at stake is the degradation of ********* democracy, the coarseness of political discourse, the idea that you have people who are undocumented, 12 million, who may be subject to a violation of their rights. The issues about climate and the reversal on that. I’ve never said that you weren’t going to have future elections, and I was never one of these people who said you’re not going to have 2026 or 2028 in one or two years, Donald Trump is going to be a lame duck. But I do think that we need to make sure we stand up for people’s rights in this country and are looking forward and what we can do to win back the House and the White House.
MARGARET BRENNAN: When we look at CBS polling, when you compare Harris in 2024 to Biden in 2020 you see clearly that the Democratic coalition lost support among Latino voters, young voters, women. Republicans really made gains here with men of ****** as well. Why do you think there is this fracturing?
REP. RO KHANNA: We did not have a compelling enough economic vision. The Democratic Party should have one simple mission, and that is to address the economic hardships and struggles of many Americans, not just working class Americans, a large slice of Americans who feel the ********* Dream has slipped away for their families and their kids, and you have new voices Congress, people like Pat Ryan, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Chris Deluzio, who are saying, look, we need to have a vision on building new factories, on helping raise minimum wage, on dealing with child care, and emphasize that our party has a better economic story. I think that could unify our party, moderates and progressives. And it transcends race and will help us with Latino voters, ****** voters, white working class voters, and we have a better vision than Donald Trump on that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, it’s interesting in this Monday morning quarterbacking that’s happening to hear from so many Democrats now, who are saying that they think that economic message should have been front and center, but that they felt constrained somehow by this focus on identity politics. Tom Suozzi of New York brought that up talking about Republicans being able to weaponize anarchy on college campuses, defunding the police and gender questions and ****** sports. Do you think this, you know, movement “woke” politics really was incredibly damaging to the left, because a large part of that came from the progressive wing in, of which you are a member.
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, I have always said that we need to be emphasizing the economic issues, but I don’t think we should run away for standing up for trans rights, for standing up for equal rights for people, for teaching ********* history responsibly. You can be true to your values with two things, Margaret. One, if someone disagrees with you, we need to respect that disagreement, not cancel or shame them. Don’t shy away from your convictions, but have a reasonable conversation. I did that with Megyn Kelly on a podcast on trans rights. I stuck to my position, but we had a reasonable conversation. The second thing is, if we emphasize the economic hardships people are facing, I’ve got $12 trillion in my district in Silicon Valley, while towns like Johnstown were hollowed out. Galesburg, Illinois were hollowed out. We can build new factories. We can build new industry. We can create new economic opportunity. We have a vision of how to do that. Biden -President Biden started it. I think we can win over people, even if they may not agree with us on a particular social issue.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me ask you specifically about your district. Since you just mentioned it, Silicon Valley was thought of as reliably blue, but particularly in this election, you saw money going towards Donald Trump. You’ve seen some very prominent tech names, Elon Musk, significantly. And JD Vance, the vice-presidential candidate. He really reached out into that tech community as part of that campaign. What is the thing that Silicon Valley thinks it’s going to get from a Trump administration? Is it, is it no taxes on capital gains? Is it not regulating crypto? What is it that the people in your district think they’re getting from Donald Trump?
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, first of all, Margaret, 70% of Silicon Valley still supported Vice President Harris and Democrats —
MARGARET BRENNAN: – Yes
REP. KHANNA: But you’re right that we had a slippage and probably now 20-30% support Donald Trump. They have different reasons for doing it. Some of them want more free speech. Some of them want deregulation. Some of them want tax cuts. Some of them want AI not to be regulated. Some of them were concerned on crypto. But I think what the Democrats need to remind folks of, and I’ve reminded Elon of this, is that Tesla got funding from President Obama. SpaceX got started because Ash Carter, under President Obama, helped Elon get that facility. The Democrats are the party that has invested in the science and technology to help build Silicon Valley, and we can be the party that helps AI robotics, build new factories, build new industry in different parts of the country. When we argue policy, we have a better vision for how to get Americans prosperity in a modern economy. And if we focus on that, I believe we will win back the majority and win back in 2028.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Former Speaker Pelosi told The New York Times there were messaging errors, yes, but she also said there should have been an open primary system here, and that President Biden’s decision to endorse Vice President Harris immediately made it impossible. Do you agree with her?
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, look, I have a lot of respect for Speaker Pelosi, but I’ve sort of chuckled when people have said this about President Biden, because the day he got out, we had Democrats with the most over the top superlatives comparing him to George Washington, saying he did the most honorable thing. So now to go back and criticize him seems a bit contradictory. I think this was a winnable campaign. Even when he got out, Vice President Harris was five points up in some of the polls. Anyone who is saying now, this was not a winnable campaign, didn’t say that back in August. The reason we didn’t win, ultimately, is we didn’t listen enough to people on the ground, people like Chris Deluzio, Pat Ryan, who were saying, talk about the economy, talk about people’s economic struggles. Have- convince people you have the better policies and better vision. The reason I’m hopeful for the future is we have the substance. We actually- you can’t build new factories just with tariffs and tax cuts. You need federal financing. We have actual investment in apprenticeships. And I think over the long run, the ********* people will see the truth of the policy ideas.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You were a surrogate for Joe Biden. You were then a surrogate for Kamala Harris, and on this program, you defended both. Many times, one place you did create space was on the issue of Gaza. You said, when you were going to college campuses, when you were talking to progressives, when you were talking to voters of ******, not just ****** and Muslims. You heard there was a problem here. Do you think that the numbers you saw, particularly in Michigan, vindicated your point of view, or was there just a greater force at work?
REP. RO KHANNA: I think she would have certainly won Michigan if there was more of a reckoning with the failures of policy on Gaza. That wasn’t my point of view. That was the point of view of a lot of people I was hearing on the ground. I also think beyond Michigan, this really was a concern for a lot of young people and a lot of progressives. Now my hope is because President Trump got some of the votes for the ******* and ***** community. I was just on a bipartisan CODEL in Saudi Arabia. They have said that if the President wants a deal with Saudi Arabia, that the ************ state and a two state solution has to be front and center. And I hope we can work towards actually doing that after the war.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Ro Khanna, Congressman, thank you very much for your time today. We’ll be right back.
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Man Utd nail Leicester in last game before Amorim reign
Man Utd nail Leicester in last game before Amorim reign
Over to you, Ruben Amorim.
Manchester *******’s incoming head coach will take over a team on the up after they beat Leicester 3-0 in the Premier League on Sunday to make it four games unbeaten in all competitions under interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Amorim officially starts on Monday after serving out his notice ******* at Sporting Lisbon and comes into a club that seems to be in a much healthier position than it was when Erik ten Hag was fired at the end of last month.
Much of that is down to van Nistelrooy, ten Hag’s former assistant and an iconic striker for the club in his playing days.
The Dutchman has secured three wins and a draw during his four-game temporary reign, with Sunday’s victory provisionally moving ******* to within four points of the Champions League qualifying places.
On his 250th appearance for the club Bruno Fernandes scored with a brilliant curling shot from the edge of the area in the 17th minute at Old Trafford.
His effort in the 38th then saw Victor Kristiansen divert the ball past Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen to double *******’s lead before the break.
Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored an even more spectacular goal than Fernandes’ effort in the 82nd when sweeping the ball into the top corner from outside the box.
Also on Sunday, Ange Postecoglou suffered another setback in Spurs’ roller-coaster of a season, as they went down 2-1 at home to Ipswich, who celebrated their first Premier League victory in 22 years.
First-half goals from Sammie Szmodics and Liam Delap fired Ipswich to their landmark win.
The promoted Tractor Boys had been denied a maiden league success this season by a stoppage-time leveller against Leicester last weekend, but finally got off the mark at the 11th attempt.
Szmodics’ acrobatic effort put Ipswich ahead in the 31st minute and Delap made it 2-0 in the 43rd to set Kieran McKenna’s side halfway towards a long-awaited result.
Rodrigo Bentancur reduced the deficit for Spurs with 69 minutes played, but they could not muster a grand finale and missed out on the chance to rise to third in the table after having won their previous six home matches.
Third-place Nottingham Forest are four points ahead of Manchester ******* despite their 3-1 home loss against Newcastle.
Forest led 1-0 at halftime through Murillo, but Alexander Isak, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes completed Newcastle’s comeback.
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Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review | TheSixthAxis
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review | TheSixthAxis
TSA writes: A return to form for the series and BioWare, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is an enjoyable characterful action RPG.
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The ****** of the internet: why the future is terrifying, and how we fix it
The ****** of the internet: why the future is terrifying, and how we fix it
The internet is in a precarious place. It’s assaulted from all sides – not by technological problems, but by social ones. Misinformation is rife, marketing and advertising covers every facet of the web, and armies of politicized and automated bots roam the wilds of its social media landscapes, all of which are filtered down to you through carefully curated algorithmic posts designed to induce endorphin kicks and keep you on your platform of choice. Right now, everything is changing, and not necessarily for the better.
For many of us, looking back 10 or 20 years, the ‘world wide web’ looked radically different in that golden age. The social media platforms, the communities, the gaming landscape, the knowledge and accessibility, the shopping – all of it felt different, and it was different. This goes beyond rose-tinted glasses. The companies that joined into the foray were incredible, almost revolutionary. Spotify, Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and Uber: all remarkably impressive, market-upsetting ideas that broke the mold. They drew in masses of customers, users, and consumers with awesome features and affordable pricing.
Yet over time, those same features and costs have gotten predominantly worse for the average Joe, as the companies have scooped out the investment in the middle for the sake of greater margins. This usually occurs once they become publicly-traded entities; driven by shares, investors, and board members clamoring for greater profits rather than the ideals and concepts that founded them.
A digital world in decline
The same sadly goes for the scientific endeavors too. Educational tools and access to information are equally falling apart. So much of the information out there has now been muddied and diluted by TikTok Reels and YouTube Shorts in their thousands, spewing forth all manner of falsehoods from anyone who can pick up a phone and film a 60-second clip. Flat-earthers, fitness and diet influencers, climate-change deniers, moon-landing hoaxers, political “activists” on both sides of the spectrum, so-called journalists pandering to clickbait, you name it. It’s increasingly difficult to identify what’s real and what’s not, what’s true fact and what isn’t. It’s partly why Google changes its search ranking algorithms so often, as it continually tries to promote correct and accurate information over AI-regurgitated content and misinformation.
Millions of people filming themselves dancing probably isn’t what the founding fathers of the internet had in mind. (Image credit: Nattakorn_Maneerat via Shutterstock)
We’re in a world of demagogues and social media personalities, where your reach and the number of views on your content dictate whether you’re taken seriously or not. Whether your facts and statements are taken as truth. We saw it during COVID, we saw it during the US elections, we saw it with the war in Ukraine, and the recent *** riots. It isn’t slowing down either, and the impact it has is arguably getting worse.
We even have services now that capitalize on that too. Ground news, collating all the media together to give you the full spectrum of political opinion on any one given event, fact-checkers covering masses of social media platforms, and Community Notes pointing out when folks with lots of clout spout utter nonsense. *****, there are even entire divisions of scientists out there now making a living out of debunking the empirically-incorrect insanity spewed by other social media influencers. It’s absolutely wild.
Algorithmic Echo Chambers
The problem is systemic. It started in social media, with algorithms delivering ‘curated’ content rather than just showing you a historical timeline of those you follow. Your likes and dislikes, what you spend time watching, reading, listening to, it all became fuel for the *****. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter – all of them feed you content in that manner. If that’s right or left-wing politics, or 9/11 *********** theories, or cute ****** labradors, it didn’t matter: as long as you stay on the platform and consume more ads. In fact, it’s become so prevalent that it’s hard to find a feed system on any social media platform today that doesn’t do that.
The problem with this is that it has effectively stifled creative debate. No longer are your opinions challenged or questioned, no longer do you have meaningful conversation and discussion, but instead you’re fed more and more of the same content. That in turn reinforces and influences your beliefs as a consequence, as you sit in an echo chamber of like-minded people repeating the same things. It’s not difficult to see how this actively leads to an increase in extremist beliefs and views.
How can your opinion change or evolve if there’s no one there to challenge it? It’s part of the reason why so many in the last few elections across the planet are almost in utter disbelief when their political candidate of choice doesn’t win. Because to them, all they see is a deluge of support online for their chosen party and nothing else.
Hope for the hopeless?
It’s a ******* mess: a relatively free market, held back only by the sparsest amount of regulation. 31 years—that’s how long it’s been since the World Wide Web made its first foray into the public arena. It’s hard to imagine what Sir Tim Berners Lee envisioned; it’d be like this far into the future. I doubt this is what he imagined (although Tim, if you’re reading this and are free for a chat: hit me up, I’m so up for that).
The man who started it all, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. No, you can’t blame him for all the TikTok dances. (Image credit: Paul Clarke)
That said, there’s still hope. The amount of good that’s come out of the WWW since its conception, and even today, is still far greater than the net negatives (no pun intended). Even if in ten years it’s just filled with AI-generated articles and gradually degrading memes while Amazon charges you $90 a month for next-week delivery, as long as people are still using it to actively and openly communicate with one another, it’ll be a net positive.
We don’t hear about the number of scientific breakthroughs that have been accelerated by the internet, the discoveries, the health conditions cured, or the humanitarian aid organized; we don’t hear about any of that because that’s not what makes the news. It’s not interesting. That’s not included in the scientific journals or the papers. We don’t hear about the relationships formed or how integral it is to our modern society’s infrastructure as a whole.
How do you fix it, then? Well, it’s not so simple as slapping a band-aid on something. By its very definition, the World Wide Web is exactly that: global. To get some form of consensus on how to improve the current cesspool that it is requires collective effort. We’ve seen that happen before in the tech industry. There’s a reason JEDEC exists, and standards like USB and DDR are a thing; we need one for the internet, one with teeth on a much larger scale. One with smart minds behind it, looking at the monopolization of segments of the internet and pushing governments to act on it. Suggesting legislation. Looking at patterns and predicting what might occur. One that can react rapidly without necessarily being hindered by bureaucratic nonsense.
The USB Implementers Forum incorporates many major players in the tech industry, including Apple, Intel, and Microsoft. (Image credit: ShutterStock / kontrymphoto)
Then there’s education, and I’m not talking just about kids and young adults, but for all ages. In a similar manner to how we strive for complete ****** literacy, we need to have a big push to make each nation-state computer literate as well, beyond talking about “how to turn on the PC” and “this is the internet,” but how to identify fake posts, how to fact-check statements, how to find multiple sources, and the legality behind what you post and how you post online. So much of that is just not available, or not known to the public, of all ages.
Learning new critical skills as a global society is hard. But we did it for the threat of nuclear annihilation in the Cold War; we did it with the introduction of the seat belt in cars; we did it for reading; it needs to be done again, but for the digital age. Is it a challenge? Yes, but this isn’t the first time we’ve faced technological turmoil, nor will it be the last.
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Transcript: Sen. Bill Hagerty on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Nov. 10, 2024
Transcript: Sen. Bill Hagerty on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Nov. 10, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with Sen. Bill Hagerty, *********** of Tennessee, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Nov. 10, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And we turn now to Tennessee *********** Senator Bill Hagerty, who also served as US Ambassador to Japan–
SEN. BILL HAGERTY: –Yes Margaret
MARGARET BRENNAN: During the first Trump administration. It’s good to have you here.
SEN. HAGERTY: It’s good to be with you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, Donald Trump has this sweeping mandate, as do Republicans. Do you see this as an unrestrained presidency?
SEN. HAGERTY: I think this is a presidency that has a mandate like we haven’t seen, as you mentioned, in 36 years. The ********* public has spoken loud and clear. And I think if you go back to your interview with Bob, there are a number of places where Washington has been out of touch with the ********* people. You mentioned Ukraine, I think that’s a great example. The ********* people want sovereignty protected here in America before we spend our funds and resources protecting the sovereignty of another nation. You think about it, we’ve sent $175 billion of U.S. aid to Ukraine. That’s more than three times the entire annual budget of the U.S. Marine Corps. I’ve been one of the few senators in the ******* States Senate who has voted and has opposed every cent of this Ukraine aid. I’ve been listening to the ********* people. We need to focus on our own issues first. And I’ve taken a lot of heat over it, from Mitch McConnell from the Wall Street Journal, but this is what the ********* people spoke up and want us to do. We should never have been in Ukraine. It’s a result of ******* policies, ******* energy policies, the ******** in Afghanistan–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –there’s no U.S. presence in Ukraine
SEN. HAGERTY: No but our funds. I’m talking about the vast amount of funds, again, $175 billion. That’s a tremendous amount, as I said, more than three times the budget of the U.S. Marine Corps. The ********* people want to focus on fixing our problems here, and with the borders collapse, with ****** in the cities, we’ve got to pay attention to America.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So does that mean just cuts to U.S. military aid to all countries?
SEN. HAGERTY: What it means is that we need to take a very deliberate focus on America first. But we need to be leading from a position of strength, Margaret. As I said, we would not be in this position. Now what we have is an administration that’s allowing Russia to sell at a $60 a barrel cap. The argument they make that reduces Russia’s profits. What it does actually, is it subsidizes China to compete again, unfairly against us, with an energy cost advantage. And we keep Vladimir ****** fully funding this war in Ukraine. We need to stop that. We need to go back to producing our own energy and take Russia out. Interestingly, interestingly, I’ll call this the Trump effect. But just in the past 72 hours, what we’ve seen is the EU say, “Maybe we should replace Russian LNG with U.S. LNG. You’ve seen in New York City–
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Well that’s been talked about for some time–
SEN. HAGERTY: We’re not going to issue debit cards to ******** immigrants anymore. Migrant caravans are being broken up below the border and turned around. The *** has said we’re going to step our defense budget up to about 2.5% all since President Trump was elected
MARGARET BRENNAN: Some of that was- was in process already, but let me ask you specifically on Ukraine. So Hungary’s Prime Minister has said that Donald Trump has told him he will cut off support to Ukraine. You are saying here, I think, in the new Congress, there will be no more aid to Ukraine.
SEN. HAGERTY: I’ve certainly not voted for any aid.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I know you haven’t, but is that the mandate?
SEN. HAGARTY: And I think President Trump will find- President Trump will find a way to deal with this. I’m not going to get ahead of him. I’m certain that he’s going to find a way to navigate this that’s in the interest of the ********* people and will stop the carnage. Look what’s happened in Ukraine is terrible. People are dying. They continue to ****. But we need to stop this.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But here’s the thing, we also are seeing this alignment of like an axis of adversaries, right? You have Iranian equipment, you have ******** equipment–
SEN. HAGARTY: — Deeply concerning, yes–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. You have North Korean personnel on the battlefield. So this idea that Ukraine is somehow divorced from the rest of geopolitics doesn’t seem to be bearing out. It’s of deep concern to some of our ****** allies, Japan, South Korea. So how are you going to be able to do this without complicating the chess board?
SEN. HAGARTY: Well, I think it’s become complicated because America has not been standing in a position of strength. The reason is that Russia has been fully funded because of the policies that allow them to sell energy–
MARGARET BRENNAN: – on Russia whether or not they’re–
SEN. HAGARTY: Iran we had them shut down. Iran was broke, whether or not they’re now they’re able to fund ******* all over the world, we had a maximum pressure –
MARGARET BRENNAN: – In part because they have all these other adversaries that they’re doing business with, right? China –
SEN. HAGERTY: They were not able to do that under the Trump administration. That’s why we saw peace breaking out in the Middle East. Without Iran being shut down, which is what we did under the maximum pressure campaign. President Trump led this. We’re able to move our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Everybody said it couldn’t happen. It did the Abraham Accords. Peace was breaking out in the Middle East because Iran could not fund *******. As soon as the Biden administration came in, they stopped enforcing–
MARGARET BRENNAN: — There were attacks by Iran during the Trump administration–
SEN. HAGERTY: — Nothing to the level that we’ve seen here–
MARGARET BRENNAN: And the ************** of Qasem Soleimani, but on the Middle East. *******’s Prime Minister said this morning that he spoke to President Trump three times in recent days, and they discussed Iran and they discussed a peace plan. Do you know what the content of those conversations was?
SEN. HAGERTY: No, and if I did, I wouldn’t discuss them here, because that has to be navigated very carefully.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, one of the reasons I ask is we do have this this mid-November deadline that the State Department- the Pentagon have set for ******* to improve the flow of aid to Gaza’s two million residents. The UN says there is famine already, or on the verge of famine. If it is found that ******* is indeed violating. U.S. law, would you hold them accountable? Should there be consequences? Because they are recipients of U.S. aid.
SEN. HAGERTY: Well I’ve had huge disagreements with this administration in terms of how they’ve administered their entire policy –
MARGARET BRENNAN: But this is U.S. law, it’s not just this administration. It’s humanitarian law.
SEN. HAGERTY: I think what we’ve seen just break out again in the past 70 plus hours since President Trump won the election, ****** is now looking for total peace. So I think the environment has totally changed.
MARGARET BRENNAN: What do you mean?
SEN. HAGERTY: They’ve announced they’d like to see peace. They like to see peace in Gaza. Let’s see where that–
MARGARET BRENNAN: You believe- you believe that there will be a ******** deal negotiated under President Trump?
SEN. HAGERTY: I’d like to see what, I’d like to see what ****** means by this statement. But it seems that the entire environment is shifting right now–
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Yeah–
SEN. HAGERTY: — Because they see new leadership coming in. And I’m encouraged by that, and I think we’ll have new opportunities to, again, President Trump was able to deliver peace through strength. I think that’s on the way, and I’m optimistic what it might lead to.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, one of the interesting dynamics we saw in this election was that Mr. Trump was able to, in some ways, successfully campaign and peel off ******* voters, ***** voters, certainly in the state of Michigan, you saw some of that. Do you think- and they were frustrated by the carnage in Gaza. As a result, do you think Mr. Trump ends up with more wiggle room here to perhaps hold the ******** prime minister to account, or does he just give a green light?
SEN. HAGERTY: I think what President Trump is going to do is focus on the root cause. To borrow a term that was used a great deal in the last administration. He’s going to focus on Iran because the cause of this is the Iranian funding and training of ******, of Hezbollah, of the Houthis. That would have never happened–
MARGARET BRENNAN: — but in terms of —
SEN. HAGERTY: — Except for the fact that they released- the enforcement of sanctions.
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Upholding international law and U.S. legal standards to recipients of US military aid, do you think he will stick by that?
SEN. HAGERTY: President Trump is certainly going to uphold U.S. law, but he is also going to make certain that our allies are properly cared for and that our adversaries are dealt with accordingly.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, I don’t have to tell you this, because you know Asia really well, but five of America’s seven treaty commitments are in that Asia-Pacific. The U.S. has exposure there in a tremendous way. The last time Donald Trump was president, he talked about pulling US troops out of Japan, pulling them out of South Korea. Is that a priority now, reducing the military footprint in Asia?
SEN. HAGERTY: I think that comes back again to the ******** of the elite here in Washington, Margaret, to understand how a business person negotiates. Everybody has got to sit down and talk about what the options are. We have been supporting military presence in that area ever since World War Two, ever since the Korean War. A significant investment on behalf of the ********* people. Those investments were made at a time when these economies were collapsed. They were developing countries today. They are fully developed countries. It’s entirely relevant, and I think appropriate for President Trump to discuss within the level of support–
MARGARET BRENNAN: — But in terms of signaling strength, saying we might ditch our allies isn’t exactly a positive message, right?
SEN. HAGERTY: I think the message should be that our allies can and should step up to the extent possible. To strengthen their own capabilities. We’re seeing it happen. We’re seeing it happen in Japan, they’ve agreed to double their defense budget from 1% to 2% of GDP. That’s a positive development. They’re trying to work more closely with us. I think in President Trump’s administration, they definitely will. This is the direction that we need to go. Same for South Korea.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Before I let you go. You are on a number of powerful Senate Committees. Do you think you’re more useful to Mr. Trump in the Senate, or would you join his cabinet if asked?
SEN. HAGERTY: I’ll just say this, I was privileged to have a tremendous career in business, but one of the greatest honors in my life was to represent the ******* States, the greatest country in the world, in President Trump’s administration overseas. It’s also been one of the greatest honors in my life to represent the people of Tennessee, serving the ******* States Senate. In whatever role I hold going- going forward, it’s going to be advanced. It’s going to be advancing the positions that President Trump has articulated, that the ********* people overwhelmingly supported, and I’ll do that in whatever role necessary, but we are going to see America strong again.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator Hagerty, thank you for your time.
SEN. HAGERTY: Thank you so much, Margaret.
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Young ****** and Latino men say they chose Trump because of the economy and jobs. Here’s how and why
Young ****** and Latino men say they chose Trump because of the economy and jobs. Here’s how and why
WASHINGTON (AP) — Brian Leija, a 31-year-old small-business owner from Belton, Texas, was not surprised that a growing number of Latino men of his generation voted for Donald Trump for president this year. Leija had voted for the *********** in 2016 and 2020.
Leija’s rationale was simple: He said he has benefited from Trump’s economic policies, especially tax cuts.
“I am a blue-collar worker,” Leija said. “So, tax breaks for small businesses are ideal for what I do.”
For DaSean Gallishaw, a consultant in Fairfax, Virginia, a vote for Trump was rooted in what he saw as Democrats’ rhetoric not matching their actions. “It’s been a very long time since the Democrats ever really kept their promises to what they’re going to do for the ********* communities,” he said.
Gallishaw, 25, who is ******, also voted for Trump twice before. This year, he said, he thought the former president’s “********* community outreach really showed up.”
Trump gained a larger share of ****** and Latino voters than he did in 2020, when he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, and most notably among men under age 45, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of more than 120,000 voters.
Even as Democrat Kamala Harris won majorities of ****** and Latino voters, it wasn’t enough to give the vice president the White House, because of the gains Trump made.
Economy and jobs made men under age 45 more open to Trump
Voters overall cited the economy and jobs as the most important issue the country faced. That was true for ****** and Hispanic voters as well.
About 3 in 10 ****** men under age 45 went for Trump, roughly double the share he got in 2020. Young Latinos, particularly young Latino men, also were more open to Trump than in 2020. Roughly half of young Latino men voted for Harris, compared with about 6 in 10 who went for Biden.
Juan Proaño, CEO of LULAC, the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights organization for Hispanic Americans, said the election results make it clear that Trump’s messaging on the economy resonated with Latinos.
“I think it’s important to say that Latinos have a significant impact in deciding who the next president was going to be and reelected Donald Trump,” Proaño said. “(Latino) men certainly responded to the populist message of the president and focused primarily on economic issues, inflation, wages and even support of immigration reform.”
The Rev. Derrick Harkins, a minister who has served Abyssinian ******** ******* in New York, has overseen outreach to ****** ********* religious communities for more than a decade. He said that Trump’s hypermasculine appeal worked to win over some younger men of ******.
“I think that Trump with this bogus machismo has been effective amongst the young men, ******, white, Hispanic,” Harkins said. “And I think unfortunately, even if it’s a very small percentage, you know, when you’re talking about an election like we just had it can be very impactful.”
****** and Latino voters’ priorities changed from 2020
While about 4 in 10 young voters under 45 across ******* and ******* groups identified the economy as the top issue facing the country, older white and Latino voters were likely to also cite immigration, with about one-quarter of each saying that was the top issue.
A clear majority of young ****** voters described the economy as “not so good” or “poor,” compared with about half of older ****** voters. Majorities of Latino voters, regardless of age, said the economy is in bad shape.
That belief made it more difficult for Harris to highlight the actual numbers in the economy, which show that inflation has receded dramatically, unemployment ******** low and wages have risen. These voters simply did not feel that progress.
This is the first time Alexis Uscanga, a 20-year-old college student from Brownville, Texas, voted in a presidential election. The economy and immigration are the issues that drove him to vote for Trump, he said.
“Everything just got a lot more expensive than it once was for me,” Uscanga said. “Gas, grocery shopping even as a college student, everything has gone up in price and that is a big concern for me and other issues like immigration.”
Having grown up selling tamales and used cars, and washing cars, Uscanga knows how hard it can be to make a living. When Trump was president, he said, it did not feel that way, he said.
“Under the Trump presidency more opportunities were abound,” Uscanga said. “I was not very fond of President Trump because of his rhetoric in 2016 but I look aside from that and how we were living in 2018, 2019, I just felt that we lived a good life no matter what the media was saying and that’s why I started supporting him after that.”
Though the shift of votes to Trump from ****** and Latino men was impactful, Trump could not have won without the support of a majority of white voters.
“Men of ****** are really beginning to emerge as the new swing voters,” said Terrance Woodbury, co-founder of HIT Strategies, a polling and research firm that conducted studies for the Harris campaign.
“For a long time, we talked about suburban women and soccer moms who can swing the outcome of elections. Now men of ****** are really beginning to emerge as that, especially younger men of ******, who are less ideological, less tied to a single party, and more likely to swing either between parties or in and out of the electorate,” Woodbury said.
******* for strong leadership made Trump more appealing
A majority of voters nationally said Trump was a strong leader; slightly fewer than half said the same about Harris. Among Hispanic voters, even more saw Trump as strong in this election. Roughly 6 in 10 Hispanic men described Trump as a strong leader, compared with 43% who said that in 2020. About half of Hispanic women said Trump was a strong leader, up from 37%.
****** men and women were about twice as likely as in 2020 to describe Trump as a strong leader.
David Means, a purchasing manager in Atlanta who is ******, abstained from voting in the election because he did not feel either Harris or Trump was making the right appeals to ****** men. But the results of the election did not disappoint him.
“I’m satisfied with the result. I don’t feel slighted. I wasn’t let down. I wasn’t pulling for Trump or Kamala, but I did not want a woman in that position, he said. And if it were to be a woman, Means said, “I’d rather have a really strong and smart woman, for example, like Judge Judy.”
___
Figueroa reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press writers Deepti Hajela in New York, Sharon Johnson in Atlanta and Darren Sands contributed to this report.
_____
The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Transcript: Neel Kashkari on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Nov. 10, 2024
Transcript: Neel Kashkari on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Nov. 10, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with Neel Kashkari, Minneapolis Federal Reserve president, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Nov. 10, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to the economy and Minneapolis Federal Reserve President, Neel Kashkari, he joins us now. Neel, good morning to you.
NEEL KASHKARI: Good morning. Margaret,
MARGARET BRENNAN: So right after the election, another big event was the Federal Reserve moving on interest rates, cutting them for the second time so far this year. That seems to indicate that you believe inflation is being defeated here. Can you tell us your assessment of how stable the economy is and how confident you are that we are on a glide path that will avoid recession?
NEEL KASHKARI: Well, we’ve made a lot of progress in bringing inflation down, and the economy has remained remarkably strong. We keep getting revisions to GDP that are- show that the economy is growing even faster than we had appreciated, and the unemployment rate is 4.1% so right now, the economy is in a good place. Inflation is still running around 2.5% or so, so we’re not all the way home. We need to finish the job, but so far so good. I mean, I don’t want to declare victory yet. We need to finish the job, but we’re on a good path right now.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Finish the job. It sounds like you’re expecting another rate cut.
NEEL KASHKARI: Well, we want to have confidence that inflation is going to go all the way back down to our 2% target. So if you look at the what we call the summary of economic projections, which are the forecast that my colleagues and I put out. The expectation is that we would do another interest rate cut in December. We need to actually see what the data looks like before reaching any conclusions, and that’s six weeks from now. But I think another rate cut is certainly possible. But ultimately, if the economy continues to perform well, a strong economy, a strong labor market that’s going to that’s the outcome that we’re all trying to achieve. And I don’t think that that’s a partisan view. I think everybody’s on board with trying to achieve that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The Fed is apolitical but we are looking at promises of major changes in this new administration. One of them is mass deportations. When you were last here in June, we talked about the impact of immigration on inflation, you said, in some ways, it helps lower it by filling jobs. At the same time, you said it may contribute to it because it creates more demand for goods. How long before we would see the economic impact of, say, a mass deportation plan?
NEEL KASHKARI: Well, it’s a great question. Margaret, I mean, I think if you just assume that people are working, either working in farms or working in factories, and then those businesses now lose employees, that would probably cause some disruption for those businesses as they try to respond to that. And so the implications for inflation are not entirely clear to me. I think ultimately it’s going to be between the business community and Congress and the executive branch to figure out what you know, how they would adjust to that, and how, how long it would take, and how disruptive it would be. I don’t have any insight into that. I’m not sure what the inflation implications would be. I think it’s a big question of how long it would take, how many new immigrants were coming in. There’s just so much uncertainty about what the actual policies will be, what will get passed through the Congress, how it will be implemented. We at the Fed will simply wait. We have to wait and see what the rest of the government decides to do before we analyze what it means for the economy going forward.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And I know you don’t control fiscal policy, but the President Elect has unveiled a plan that estimates say would add 8 trillion to the deficit. How concerned are you about rising deficits?
NEEL KASHKARI: Well if you look over the long term, if you look at, for example, at the Congressional Budget Office forecast of debts and deficits, they grow to the moon. They grow unsustainably, so at some point, those have to be addressed, and that is purely the domain of the Congress and the executive branch to negotiate how to do that. At some point they have to be addressed. And so our focus is whatever Congress and the administration decide to do, we have our goals. Our goals are 2% inflation and a strong labor market, maximum employment, and we will adjust our monetary policies to try to achieve that, but you’re right. Over the long run, it’s clear that the deficit needs to be addressed, but that is also, as I said, the domain of Congress and the executive branch to sort out.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Goldman Sachs analysts were out this week with a report saying that the last time we saw Trump tariffs, the cost was passed along to consumers. They estimate every 5% increase in the tariff rate would reduce corporate earnings per share by one to two percent because it would pull back consumer spending, possibly trigger retaliatory tariffs and increased uncertainty. How much of a downside risk is there if we get into this business of tariffs?
NEEL KASHKARI: Well, from an inflation perspective, it’s pretty easy to model a one time tariff, so if somebody imposed a 1% tariff or a 10% tariff, you would think that that would increase prices of those goods either 1% or 10%. That’s pretty easy to model, and it shouldn’t have an effect long run on inflation. The challenge becomes, if there’s a **** for tat. And it’s one country imposing tariffs and then responses, and it’s escalating, that’s where it becomes more concerning, and, frankly, a lot more uncertain. So I think again, with, as is with fiscal policy, we’ll have to wait and see what actually gets implemented, and then how other countries might respond to that. It’s just right now we’re just all guessing what will actually happen.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But it’s safe to say that the new president will take office with what appears to be the economy trending upwards?
NEEL KASHKARI: The economy is strong. You know, when I reach out to businesses and labor unions all around my region, it’s one of cautious optimism that the economy is doing well. There are jobs available, and we want to keep the economy doing well. We want to keep that growth going while we get inflation all the way back down to 2% and so right now, I would say we have a strong economy, and that’s a really good thing, and our objective is to keep it there.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Chair Powell was asked this week at a press conference if he would resign if asked, he made clear he does not think that the law would require that, and in fact, it would violate the law. But there is a broader conversation right now about political influence on the Fed. Are you concerned about it?
NEEL KASHKARI: I’m not. My colleagues and I at the Federal Reserve are totally committed to the dual mandate goals of 2% inflation and maximum employment that Congress has assigned us. That’s what’s driving the decisions that we’ve been making, and that will continue to do so. And there are also structural elements that are designed by Congress to provide continuity. So the governors at the Board of Governors in Washington serve up to 14 year terms. The presidents of the Reserve Banks are independent. These are structures that Congress put in place to provide continuity between that and I think, bipartisan support that we all want to get inflation back down to 2% and we want to keep the economy strong. I’m confident that we will continue to focus on our economic jobs, and that’s what should be dictating what we’re doing, and that is what’s dictating what we’re doing.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Neel Kashkari, thank you for your time today. We’ll be back in a moment.
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Map: 5.9-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Near Cuba
Map: 5.9-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Near Cuba
Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 4 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “light,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown. The New York Times
A moderately strong, 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck in the Caribbean Sea near Cuba on Sunday, according to the ******* States Geological Survey.
The temblor happened at 10:50 a.m. Cuba time about 22 miles south of Bartolomé Masó, Cuba, data from the agency shows.
As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.
Aftershocks in the region
An aftershock is usually a smaller earthquake that follows a larger one in the same general area. Aftershocks are typically minor adjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the initial earthquake.
Quakes and aftershocks within 100 miles
Aftershocks can occur days, weeks or even years after the first earthquake. These events can be of equal or larger magnitude to the initial earthquake, and they can continue to affect already damaged locations.
Source: ******* States Geological Survey | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Cuba time. Shake data is as of Sunday, Nov. 10 at 11:05 a.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Sunday, Nov. 10 at 11:20 a.m. Eastern.
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Transcript: Karen Pierce on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Nov. 10, 2024
Transcript: Karen Pierce on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Nov. 10, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with Karen Pierce, British ambassador to the U.S., on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Nov. 10, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re now joined by Dame Karen Pierce, the ***’s ambassador to the ******* States. Welcome back to Face The Nation.
AMBASSADOR DAME KAREN PIERCE: Thank you very much. Margaret, nice to be here.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So Ambassador, after this election, there was a lot of chatter in Europe about Europe needing to act alone, or at least without as much of an ********* support mechanism there. The French president said “Europe needs to take back control.” Italy’s Prime Minister said, “Don’t ask what the US can do for you, ask what Europe should do for itself.” What do you think Trump’s return will mean for Europe?
DAME KAREN PIERCE: I think in all my experience Margaret, when America and Europe work together, that’s when you get success. That’s when you get coherence in policy. We saw that in the Balkans. We’ve seen it at every conflict since the 1990s. It’s great that Europe wants to do more. We want to be a part of that. We’ve got a lot of burden sharing going on in Europe on Ukraine, I think perhaps it’s not well understood in America, if I may say so, quite how much Europe is doing for Ukraine, and we want to talk about that with the incoming administration, as well as work with the Biden team to help Ukraine even further.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The ******* Kingdom, of course, has- has provided a tremendous amount of weaponry and support to Ukraine.
DAME KAREN PIERCE: That’s exactly right. I think we’re over $16 billion all-in. We provided the first tanks. We provided the first anti-tank weapons. We have trained Ukrainian pilots. We’re going to go on supporting Ukraine for as long as they need us.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Will you do that if the ******* States cuts off financial and military aid to Ukraine?
DAME KAREN PIERCE: Well, we obviously hope that doesn’t happen, and we’re going to be wanting to have lots of conversations with the outgoing and incoming administrations on just how best to support Ukraine. I think we all want the same thing. We want a stable, secure, peaceful, Euro-Atlantic area. And if ****** is allowed to succeed in Ukraine, that threatens all of us, including the US, and it certainly emboldens China, and I don’t think anyone in the US wants to see that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So on Friday, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is a problematic NATO ally. He’s friends with Vladimir ****** and Donald Trump, he said “The situation on the front is obvious. There’s been a military defeat. The Americans are going to pull out of this war.” He’s talking about Ukraine. Do you think Mr. Trump is persuadable on this issue?
DAME KAREN PIERCE: Well, I don’t think it’s for any single ********* leader to say what President Trump might do. I think we need to hear from President Trump after inauguration on what the new administration’s plans are. But certainly I know they share our goal of wanting to have security and stability, and we’ll be talking to them and the outgoing Biden administration to see how best we can support Ukraine.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Mr. Orban does speak with Donald Trump, but you don’t get the sense that he is reflecting–
DAME KAREN PIERCE: — We speak to Donald Trump, the Prime Minister spoke to him very recently, on the Wednesday after- the day after the election. In my experience, President Trump is his own person. He’ll listen to a lot of advice, some of it solicited, some of it unsolicited, and he’ll weigh the ***** and *****, and he’ll come to his own decision. But I have always found him and his team very willing to listen to our point of view.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So on the trade front, there’s also concern in Europe, as I understand it, about what may be coming with tariffs. The Trump campaign has proposed a 10% across the board tariff on Europe. Goldman Sachs projects it will be perhaps a little bit more limited and focused on auto exports. Do you have a sense that the *** may be able to avoid this kind of financial penalty, essentially?
DAME KAREN PIERCE: We would very much hope so. As- as the ***, you know, we’ve got free trade in our DNA, as it were. We don’t believe in tariffs as an instrument of trade. We have a slightly different approach from many ********* trade specialists on that. And I think the last thing the world needs at the moment is a tariff war. That doesn’t help anybody. Trade and investments are hugely important part of what we do with America, something like a trillion dollars goes backwards and forwards across the Atlantic in trade and investment each year. Let’s not put that at risk. Let’s try and find out how we can work together to increase investment and trade. And there’s also the really important issue of economic security that’s now come onto the agenda, and we’ll be wanting to talk to the incoming administration about that also.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you served here in Washington during the first Trump administration. You know many of these players. The current *** Government is a different one, of course, from that ******* of time with the Labor Party in charge. I have to ask you about that direct relationship, because the top diplomat, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, years ago, and you know this quote, wrote “Trump is not only a woman hating neo-***** sympathizing sociopath, he’s a profound threat to the international order.” Are you concerned that those past statements and the ideological differences will be a problem in what has been a special relationship?
DAME KAREN PIERCE: I don’t think the past statements will be a problem, to be absolutely honest, Margaret. Politicians say a lot of things on both sides. And even in America, some people who are now in the Trump administration, or will be in the Trump administration, like the Vice President-Elect, have also said critical things about President Trump. In my experience, politicians kind of absorb those sorts of comments as part of the wear and tear of political life. What’s important is the relationship now. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer, had a very warm dinner with President Trump in September. He very graciously invited them to his private home in Trump Tower. We discussed a huge range of issues. You’re right that they come from different political philosophies. I wouldn’t call them ideological. I don’t think Keir Starmer is ideological, and I don’t think President Trump is. It’s about finding out how we can work together. What they do have in common is this ******* to get the economies moving, to get growth for the ordinary citizen, to make sure things are better for the ordinary citizen. And we had a very good conversation about that with President Trump in September.
MARGARET BRENNAN: One of the *** politicians who was at Mar-a-Lago and celebrating on election night was Nigel Farage. He’s known for his anti-immigrant stance. There has been, not just in the US, but also in Europe, around the world, this backlash against immigrants and migration, and that has really impacted a lot of politics here. I’m wondering what your thoughts are, more broadly, about what kind of political force and factor that is in the world we’re in now? It’s a big question, but it does seem like there’s something global happening.
DAME KAREN PIERCE: I’d agree with you, Margaret, there’s something very important for a lot of electorates ’round the world about the subject of immigration. But I don’t want to give the impression that in the west or in the *** we are not generous to people in need. We took a lot of Syrians, a lot of Afghans, a lot of Ukrainians. Economic migration is the thing we’re all very worried about. And although the problem manifests itself differently in the *** from in the US, I think you’re right. It is something that voters care about. It is something that the British Government is committed to tackling. The Prime Minister is very interested in how you act against the ********* gangs who foster this sort of migration, and actually are the ones exploiting people who come across in small boats or whatever conveyance they use. It’s about stopping the gangs and stopping the traffickers, and we’ll need a lot of international coordination to make that happen.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Ambassador Pierce, thank you for your time today.
DAME KAREN PIERCE: Thank you very much.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll be right back.
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Inglis amped for Test call-up, but T20s await first
Inglis amped for Test call-up, but T20s await first
Josh Inglis says he’s pumped to be in the Test squad, but it’s T20 success against Pakistan that’s first on his agenda.
Inglis’s debut as captain of the national side got off to a rocky start on Sunday when Australia crashed to an eight-wicket ODI loss to Pakistan in Perth.
Australia were skittled for 140 in 31.5 overs, with Pakistan chasing down the victory target with a whopping 139 ****** to spare.
It marked Pakistan’s first ODI series win in Australia since 2002, and gave the tourists a huge confidence boost ahead of the three-match T20 series starting on Thursday at the Gabba.
Inglis was on a high before a ball was even bowled in Sunday’s match after being named as part of Australia’s 13-man squad for the upcoming five-match Test series against India.
Although Alex Carey will start the series as the first-choice wicketkeeper and Nathan McSweeney is set to be handed the opener’s slot, Inglis’s inclusion as a back-up wicketkeeper or batter shows how close he is to a call-up.
“I’m just pumped to be there to be honest,” Inglis said.
“I’m really enjoying my red-ball cricket this year. I feel like I’m playing well in that form of the game, so really excited for that Test series coming up.
“Alex is playing really well at minute and I guess we’ll just see what the selectors come up with in the next week or so.”
Australia’s Test stars are already in red-ball mode ahead of the first Test in Perth, but Inglis will captain the T20 team for the three-match series against Pakistan before linking up with the Test squad.Inglis wants to help Australia rebound from their ODI series flop.
“It’s a totally different format and you don’t want this sort of disappointing feeling to linger,” Inglis said.
“So we’ll debrief, we’ll talk about the game where we can improve.
“I think everyone will probably have a look at how they went about it and see if they need to make any changes.
“But again, it’s a bit of a new group. So we’ve just got to brush ourselves down and come back again.”
Rising star Cooper Connolly will miss the T20 series after fracturing his left hand while batting against Pakistan on Sunday.
Australia struggled with the bat throughout the ODI series, and their aggressive approach has been roundly criticised.
Inglis defended the team’s tactics.
“I think the way we’ve played our one-day cricket over the last few years is really ******* those first 10 overs, and we found that it puts a lot of pressure on the (opposition) bowlers,” Inglis said.
“And then it makes it easier for the guys in the middle to sort of build those partnerships.
“But I think when you lose too many wickets early, it’s quite hard to be able to put pressure back onto the bowlers and really explode at that back end.
“When you’re six wickets down after 20-odd overs, it’s really tough to do that.”
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What we learned about the CFP in Week 11: Mizzou’s ‘Playoff hunt’? One-bid ACC? Assume nothing
What we learned about the CFP in Week 11: Mizzou’s ‘Playoff hunt’? One-bid ACC? Assume nothing
The 12-team College Football Playoff has made it challenging to pinpoint just how big the fall’s biggest games are. For decades, the result of a regular-season game could feel definitive. Even if it wasn’t quite so, it could be pretty ***** close.
That’s not the case anymore.
After the number of unbeaten teams shrunk to four in Week 11, we’ve learned that using the phrase “If they win out” is fraught with peril and the SEC seems to be headed for a massive logjam.
Magnificent 7
After Missouri beat Oklahoma 30-23 in a bonkers game that included five touchdowns in the fourth quarter — four in the final 3:18 — Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz proclaimed his team still alive in the Playoff race.
Coach Drinkwitz says tonight’s win was big because it keeps Mizzou in the playoff hunt pic.twitter.com/AG0nL3bW6K
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) November 10, 2024
“That’s right. I said it. Playoff hunt,” Drinkwitz said.
Really?
Well, put it this way: Mizzou is now one of seven SEC teams that could finish the regular season 10-2, along with — in alphabetical order — Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas and Texas A&M. Those six all landed in the CFP selection committee’s top 16 last week.
Only two SEC games are remaining matching any of those seven teams. Next week, Georgia tries to bounce back from its second loss of the season against Tennessee in Athens. On Thanksgiving weekend, Texas goes to Texas A&M.
Georgia had a chance to vote Ole Miss off the island, but Rebels coach Lane Kiffin finally broke through with a top-five victory to remain very much alive. Now the Bulldogs, preseason No. 1 and the favorites to win the national championship, are in danger of missing out on a 12-team bracket.
Unthinkable.
The Crimson Tide rolled past LSU 42-13 to unofficially, but undeniably, eliminate the Tigers from Playoff contention. Tennessee and the winner of Texas-Texas A&M control their paths to the SEC title game, which is better than the alternative, but control feels like an illusion this season.
As for Mizzou and Drinkwitz, nobody should apologize for going 7-2, especially a program that does not regularly churn out double-digit-victory seasons. The reality is Missouri, which was ranked 25th by the selection committee last week, clearly sits seventh in the SEC’s Playoff pecking order.
The Athletic’s projections model gives Missouri a 0.3 percent chance of making the Playoff. So, you’re saying there’s a chance?
SEC CFP and title odds
Team
CFP bid
SEC title
Record
78%
42%
8-1
75%
9%
7-2
68%
10%
7-2
62%
10%
8-2
39%
13
8-1
12%
12
7-2
4%
4
6-3
0.3%
0.3%
7-2
Hurricane warning
No. 4 Miami had been tempting fate and hoping for quarterback Cam Ward to pull it out of precarious situations for most of the last month and a half. Four times in the previous five games, the Hurricanes fell behind only to have Ward and their potent offense bail them out and keep them unbeaten.
Ward ran out of second-half magic against Georgia Tech, and now the Canes’ path to the Playoff has narrowed. SMU, 13th in the committee’s initial rankings, had a productive off week. The Mustangs are now alone atop the ACC standings.
Miami’s loss was the 10th this season by an AP top-10 team against an unranked team. That means the rankings at the time of the games, which means Georgia Tech has two of those victories after starting the season by beating preseason No. 10 Florida State in Ireland. Yes, sometimes early-season upsets are not what they appear to be.
Still, that list includes Kentucky over Ole Mis, Arkansas over Tennessee and, of course, Northern Illinois over Notre Dame. It almost added Utah over No. 9 BYU later Saturday night.
It has been a fun season.
Thanks to Pitt’s loss to Virginia, Miami is still in control of its ACC championship hopes heading into an off week. The Canes conclude the season with games against Syracuse and Boston College — both very winnable. Then again, so was Georgia Tech.
“We have a bye week with everything in front of us to play for,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said.
The Yellow Jackets ran for 271 yards and held the ball for nearly 35 minutes. Two ******* fourth-down conversions by Miami in Georgia Tech territory were essentially the difference in a 28-23 loss.
The ******* issue for Miami is that the prospect of getting into the Playoff just by reaching the ACC Championship Game just went down. Look at all those SEC teams potentially sitting there with two losses. Then take a peek at the Big Ten, where the odds continue to rise that its four CFP contenders (Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana, Penn State) all will win at least 10 regular-season games.
If the Hurricanes reach the ACC title game, they are likely to do so having beaten only one ranked team (Louisville).
That measurement can be a little deceiving and random. Is there that much difference between team No. 25 and team No. 30? Not really.
Still, the ACC moved closer to being a one-bid league Saturday.
ACC CFP and title odds
Team
CFP bid
ACC title
Record
70%
36%
9-1
42%
26%
8-1
38%
36%
7-2
1%
2%
6-3
GO DEEPER
College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Indiana up to 92 percent chance to make field
2024 BYU = 2022 TCU
BYU’s unbeaten season appeared to be over when quarterback Jake Retzlaff was sacked near his goal line on a fourth down with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Cougars have dodged a few losses on the way 9-0, but no escape was greater than Saturday night’s against rival Utah.
A holding penalty on the Utes wiped out what likely would have been a decisive sack, and the Cougars took their second chance and drove to set up a game-winning field goal in the waning seconds. The 11-point halftime deficit was the largest BYU has overcome to win since 2002 against Utah State.
“We won this game. Someone else stole it from us,” Utah athletic director Mark Harlan told reporters. “This was not fair to our team. I’m disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight.”
Utah Athletic Director Mark Harlan Post Game pic.twitter.com/eKjy4PpedU
— Elijah Grayson Murray (@elijahgmurray) November 10, 2024
OK, then.
The Cougars remain alone in first in the Big 12, a mere game ahead of Colorado, which had its own come-from-behind victory on Saturday night.
Indiana already has locked up this season’s best turnaround, the perennial Big Ten doormat now in contention for a conference title after going 3-9 last season. BYU is not quite that, but the Cougars went 5-7 in their first season in the Big 12 last year and were picked to finish near the bottom of the conference again.
Sound familiar?
TCU took a similar path to the Playoff in 2022. These Cougars are no Hypnotoads, but they are most definitely a vibes-based operation.
Big 12 spoiler
Kansas has had one of the most disappointing years in the country, starting the season ranked and losing its first five FBS games, none by more than 11 points.
The Jayhawks now have won two of three, with only a two-point loss to Kansas State preventing a three-game winning streak. Quarterback Jalon Daniels and company pretty much eliminated Iowa State from the CFP race with a 45-36 victory Saturday.
Kansas can continue to play spoiler for the next two weeks. The Jayhawks visit BYU next week and host Colorado after that.
Keeping BYU out of the Big 12 Championship Game at this point is going to take at least two losses by the Cougars. Avoiding that is not going to be as easy as it might have looked a few weeks ago.
BYU goes to Arizona State in two weeks. As good as the turnaround in Provo has been, Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham’s has been even better in Tempe. Arizona State (7-2, 4-2) is also still in contention for a spot in the Big 12 title game.
And BYU closes its regular season at home against Houston, which has won three of its last four.
Big 12 CFP and title odds
Team
CFP bid
Big 12 title
Record
59%
32%
9-0
41%
42%
7-2
14%
11%
7-2
8%
7%
7-2
3%
3%
7-2
Tested Hoosiers
It took 10 games, but finally somebody made Indiana work deep into the fourth quarter.
Indiana is 10-0 for the first time after beating defending national champion Michigan 20-15 in what was by far the Hoosiers’ worst offensive game of the season.
“I’m glad we won,” coach Curt Cignetti said. “I don’t like the way we played.”
10 games, 10 wins. pic.twitter.com/OU9Bi4I8Xi
— Indiana Football (@IndianaFootball) November 10, 2024
Considering Indiana improved to 11-62 all-time against Michigan, I’m pretty confident that sentence never had been uttered by a Hoosiers coach after beating the Wolverines.
Indiana gets a week off before playing at Ohio State. It would seem that the Hoosiers have built up enough credit to sustain a loss to the Buckeyes and get into the Playoff, but the strength of schedule metric is still hanging around Indiana like an anchor. The Wolverines are now 5-5.
Big Ten CFP and title odds
Team
CFP bid
B1G title
Record
99%
63%
10-0
99%
20%
8-1
95%
8%
8-1
92%
9%
10-0
(Photo: Ed Zurga / Getty Images)
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The Best $20 I Ever Invested and How It Changed My Life
The Best $20 I Ever Invested and How It Changed My Life
We all have to start from somewhere, and for many, that’s close to zero. How do successful investors make their riches and start their businesses? Usually they take a small amount of money and put it towards a company, product or stock, then wait for it to grow. Others might find they use the money to invest in education, property or themselves to get the start-up energy flowing — even with as little as $20.
How To Get a 10% Return on Investment (ROI): 10 Proven Ways
Find Out: 9 Things You Must Do To Grow Your Wealth in 2024
GOBankingRates spoke with several successful investors who shared the best $20 they ever invested and how it changed their lives.
Trending Now:
Mike Wilson, founder and president at MILE Wealth Management recalled, “I was working as a computer programmer, doing well with no intention of doing anything else professionally. Then, my mother was sold a high-commission annuity by her tax preparer. I knew it was not a good investment for my mother, but I had no idea what investment strategy/products made more sense.”
Wilson then went on to buy two books: Peter ******’s “What Works on Wall Street” (a “you can pick stocks” book) and Burton Malkiel’s “Random Walk Down Wall Street” (a “buy index funds” book) — paperbacks costing around $10 each.
“These books were both very convincing to me, and had almost completely different advice. I was hooked!” Wilson exclaimed. “Those books sent me on the path to learn more about the world of investing, which eventually led me to take an investment class in the local CFP program, which led to me taking all of the CFP classes, which gave me the wonderful opportunity to intern at a fee-only planning firm… It’s been almost 30 years since I bought those books and I’m still hooked.”
Read More: Making This Common Investing Mistake? Experts Share the Easy (but Urgent) Fix
Tim Hastings, general manager of Top Rated Law, recounted his best $20 investment, which was along similar lines: “Well, the best $20 I ever invested that changed my life, was on an online course on the fundamentals of negotiation, and what makes this the most outstanding of all the investments I have made, is the fact that this investment has continued to generate profitable results both in professional career, and in my personal interactions.”
“The essential of effective communication is also another bonus that came with this $20 dollar self-improvement investment,” he continued. “What makes this a huge plus both in my career and personal journey, is the fact that this life skill has helped me better navigate negotiations in a way that better guarantees success, and this has helped improve the quality of my relationship with those I come in contact with.”
Story Continues
Steven Kibbel, a financial planner, entrepreneur and Chief Editorial Advisor at Gold IRA Companies, noted, “The best $20 I ever spent was on a finance book I found back in college.”
“That book was ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ by George S. Clason,” Kibbel elaborated. “It might sound simple, but it broke down things in a way that just clicked, even if it was just about putting aside a bit of cash or not piling on debt.”
Kibbel also noted that purchasing the book was completely unplanned — something he merely grabbed on a whim. “But that small choice turned out to be huge,” he went on. “This book wasn’t just about investing or getting rich — it talked about how to save early, avoid debt traps and make your money work for you instead of the other way around. I realized that small steps can lead to big results, even if they’re slow.”
“That $20 investment didn’t instantly make me wealthy, but it changed how I looked at money,” Kibbel admitted. “Right after reading it, I opened a basic savings account and put away whatever I could — maybe $20 a week. It was small, but I saw it grow bit by bit. Later, I started with index funds, investing tiny amounts and watching the balance slowly build. I wasn’t taking huge risks, but I felt confident that I was building a strong foundation.”
All of these investments in one’s self may seem small in the grand scheme, but they just go to show that even $20 spent effectively can go a long ways toward improving your financial life and future.
More From GOBankingRates
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: I’m a Successful Investor: The Best $20 I Ever Invested and How It Changed My Life
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NFL Week 10 scores and live updates: Panthers lead Giants in Munich, schedule, inactives, predictions, odds
NFL Week 10 scores and live updates: Panthers lead Giants in Munich, schedule, inactives, predictions, odds
The Steelers and Commanders both reset at quarterback this offseason. The Steelers acquired veteran Russell Wilson hoping the nine-time Pro Bowl selection could help them win their first playoff game since the 2016 season. The Commanders, meanwhile, drafted Jayden Daniels second overall, praying he could rescue them from years of dysfunction and ineptitude.
Wilson’s Steelers tenure got off to a slow start thanks to a calf strain that sidelined him for five weeks while Justin Fields helped Pittsburgh to a 3-2 start. But now in the starting role, Wilson has looked like the difference-maker Mike Tomlin envisioned this offseason, going 2-0 and directing the offense to two of its best outings of the year.
Daniels, meanwhile, has shined as a passer and rusher for one of the most prolific offenses in the league and as a result is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year honors. Midway through the season, not only are these teams winning thanks largely to the sparks their new quarterbacks have provided, but they’re both leading their respective divisions. Pittsburgh (6-2) is first in the AFC North and Washington (7-2) leads the NFC East.
Both teams enter Sunday’s contest in Landover, Md., riding three-game win streaks but needing victories to hold off divisional foes (Baltimore for Pittsburgh, Philadelphia for Washington). The game is a reunion for Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and the Commanders’ Dan Quinn. In 1994, Tomlin played defensive back for William & Mary while Quinn served as the Tribe’s defensive line coach. The following season, they both landed jobs on Virginia Military Institute’s coaching staff. Now they’ll try to lead their teams to victory and maintain the momentum built during the first half of the season.
GO FURTHER
NFL Week 10 top storylines: Russell Wilson vs. Commanders, Broncos-Chiefs, can Lions stay hot?
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LOTR: War of the Rohirrim – Return to greatness
LOTR: War of the Rohirrim – Return to greatness
In less than two months, on December 13, 2024, Lord of the Rings fans will be treated to a brand new movie hitting cinemas. The film, which will be a ********* anime-style movie, is set two hundred years before the events of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is an origins tale of Helm Hammerhand, the namesake of Rohan’s Helm’s Deep (which appears in the second movie of the original trilogy). The film will focus on a war that occurred between Rohan and the Dunlendings (a tribe of “wildmen” that exist in the Lord of the Rings universe), with a huge battle occurring at Helm’s Deep. We have a trailer for the movie that has recently been released. It has generated a lot of debate.
Characters, lore, and creative license
The trailer seems to point toward the character Hera, the daughter of Helm Hammerhand, being the main character of the movie. While Tolkien only mentions Hera a few times in the Lord of the Rings and his other writings, she seems like a good character for the creators of War of the Rohirrim. The developers of War of the Rohirrim will have built storylines around her, and there is a lot that they can draw from, considering how many references we have to characters and culture from Rohan. Hera, being a woman of nobility from Rohan, has a few similarities to the beloved character Eowyn, from the original Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Hera is a red-haired, young woman who seems to be both articulate and physically strong, meaning that she could be a good person to rely on when battle is the only option left. However, because of how terribly Galadriel has turned out as a character in Amazon’s Rings of Power, there seems to be some doubt as to using Hera as a main character in War of the Rohirrim among the Lord of the Rings fan base. Will Hera just be a stereotypical female protagonist whose inclusion panders to the ‘woke’ brigade?
The trailer looks epic and Hera seems to fit the Anime warrior princess role quite well. Galadriel was a terrible character for a few reasons. One, she was never believable as a warrior. Two, her snarls and anger didn’t seem to garner attention or respect. Three, her dialogue was never that great. I feel that with Hera, the anime style will mean that she is believable and an aesthetically attractive character. Some commentators have labeled her design (from what we can see from the trailer) as too anime-like and generic. However, I disagree with this and feel she fits in with the Lord of the Rings universe. Furthermore, with great legacy actors like Miranda Otto being involved (even though I know she doesn’t play Hera), I have hope that Hera will manage to capture some of the classic Lord of the Rings magic.
Style
The trailer uses some footage from the original trilogy. I’d like to think that the reason for that, is because they want to highlight the connection between the two productions, rather than it being because they haven’t got anything better from the new production to show. I thought the trailer was atmospheric and awe-inspiring. The watcher-in-the-water style creature was particularly impressive, and in this version of Lord of the Rings, we might be getting a more intimate look at the relationships between some of the lesser tribes of Lord of the Rings (the Dunlendings have never really been shown in any of the movies). Hera seems to be in a difficult position, in that those around her are arranging a marriage for her that she isn’t too keen on. It will be fascinating to see how this plays out, and whether a third agent becomes involved in the politics of Rohan (apart from the Dunlendings and people of Rohan).
The art style looks reminiscent of a lot of anime. I can see similarities to the Castlevania series, although, the War of the Rohirrim appears to be a lot less dark. The acclaimed Kenji Kamiyama is directing. He directed Anime such as Ghost in the Shell. Peter Jackson has been named as a producer. However, I’ve heard that he might not have been that involved in the project. His name might just be attached to the production to give it more credibility as a Lord of the Rings production, which I don’t think it needs since Philipa Boyens (of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy) is one of the writers.
A future cult classic?
This story lays out the legacy of the legendary Helm Hammerhand and has the potential to go down as a Lord of the Rings classic. It could unite the East and West through its art (considering the origins of the series is in the West, but the art form of anime is from the East). Miranda Otto, will return as Eowyn to narrate the story (presumably through a flashback) and with names like Boyens and Kamiyama being attached to the project it will hopefully do well at the box office. I enjoyed the trailer and can see how the film could be both epic and insightful into parts of Lord of the Rings lore that we don’t often hear about. Let’s hope the film doesn’t make the same mistakes as Amazon’s recent Lord of the Rings adaptation and that Hera is a thematically multi-dimensional character with good dialogue, unlike Rings of Power’s Galadriel.
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Strong market conditions
see new listings rise
Strong market conditions
see new listings rise
New listings of Perth properties are at their highest levels in more than three years, with sellers motivated by the strong market conditions.
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Roki Sasaki’s contract situation, signing process and suitors, explained
Roki Sasaki’s contract situation, signing process and suitors, explained
The first bombshell of Major League Baseball’s offseason landed Saturday when the Chiba Lotte Marines announced 23-year-old pitching phenom Roki Sasaki will be able to sign with an MLB club this winter.
“I will do my best to climb up from a minor-league contract and become the best player in the world,” Sasaki said in a statement translated by Yakyu Cosmopolitan, “so I have no regrets about my one and only baseball career and can live up to the expectations of everyone who has supported me so far.”
Here’s all you need to know about Sasaki, his contract situation and his electrifying stuff.
Is ‘best player in the world’ really in the range of outcomes?
So long as his countryman Shohei Ohtani is active, Sasaki will have a hard time claiming that title. But there’s no question he has one of the best right arms in baseball. Major-league evaluators have scouted Sasaki since he was a teen in Ofunato, Japan, possessing a triple-digit fastball, a vanishing splitter and an incredible nickname: the Monster of the Reiwa Era.
In 2022, Sasaki threw a 19-strikeout perfect game for Chiba Lotte in which he registered 13 consecutive strikeouts. In his next start, Sasaki tossed eight perfect innings with 14 strikeouts before being pulled.
Once Sasaki began blowing the doors off ****** Arozarena and Alex Verdugo in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, much of the wider baseball world started counting down to his eventual arrival stateside.
Sasaki, who stands a lanky 6 feet 2, is not yet a finished product. “But there’s not many people in the world who are more talented,” an MLB club official said. Sasaki had a 2.10 ERA over four seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. This year, injuries and declines in velocity, stuff and strikeout rate raised questions, but Sasaki ******** immensely desirable. Not only because of his youth (only six months older than Paul Skenes) and arm talent (“He reminds me of Jacob deGrom,” an industry source said.) but also because he’s the only top-five free agent all 30 MLB teams can afford to sign.
How much will signing Sasaki cost?
Shockingly little, in modern-day baseball figures.
Most ********* stars who jump to the majors do so after turning 25, when they still must go through a posting system — in which their NPB club receives a release fee from the signing MLB club — but can sign a big-money major-league deal. Yoshinobu Yamamoto did this last offseason, signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $325 million over 12 years while the Dodgers paid his former club, the Orix Buffaloes, about $50 million.
Sasaki’s situation is far more like Ohtani’s than Yamamoto’s.
A player leaving NPB before 25 is considered an international ******** free agent and permitted only to sign a minor-league deal with a bonus paid from the team’s international bonus pool. (For 2025, those pools range from $5.1 million to $7.6 million.) Ohtani was 23 when he signed with the Los Angeles Angels for $2.3 million. The Angels received six years of contractual control for Ohtani — three years of minimum salary, three years of arbitration — before he reached free agency. Had Ohtani played two more years in Japan, his initial MLB contract would have been much more like Yamamoto’s. The same is true for Sasaki.
Why wouldn’t Sasaki wait until he can sign a megadeal?
The simplest answer is he’s ready to prove himself against big leaguers.
When The Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes visited Japan earlier this year, Chiba Lotte outfielder and former Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect Gregory Polanco said of Sasaki, “He asks me about (the big leagues) every day. I go in there, and he’s joking around: ‘I’m going to this (MLB) team, I’m going to that (MLB) team!’ He’s so ready to go.”
Sasaki might also anticipate the endorsements he’ll get playing in the majors will make up for his effectively delaying his first true MLB free agency until the 2030-31 offseason, when he’ll be newly 29.
Sasaki reportedly asked Chiba Lotte to post him last year, after he had a 1.78 ERA in 91 innings. The club chose to hold on to him for another season. Now, they are willing to make him available to MLB clubs. Chiba Lotte leaves tens of millions of dollars on the table by letting Sasaki depart now rather than in 2026. When Ohtani signed in 2017, NPB clubs could set their release fee as high as $20 million — the number the Angels paid the Nippon-Ham Fighters. But the release fee is now determined as a percentage of the guaranteed value of the contract; for minor-league contracts, the signing team will pay the NPB club just 25 percent of the signing bonus.
Why is Chiba Lotte letting Sasaki go now when the release fee is so small?
It does not make financial sense. The way Chiba Lotte officials explained it Saturday, it was a matter of respecting Sasaki’s wishes to pitch in the majors.
Club executive Naoki Matsumoto told reporters, including baseball writer Jim Allen, that the financial implications were not part of their conversations with Sasaki: “He’s a representative of Japan and Lotte, so I want him to do his best on the world stage.”
As Allen wrote Thursday in a detailed explanation of Sasaki’s unprecedented situation, some believe Sasaki, the No. 1 selection in the NPB’s 2019 draft, struck an agreement with Chiba Lotte upon signing that the club would post him at his discretion. There is no public proof of such an accord, and Matsumoto denied the existence of one Saturday.
Which teams are expected to be front-runners?
There’s already a lot of hand-wringing about the Dodgers, the reigning World Series champs, landing Sasaki a year after signing Ohtani and Yamamoto. The Dodgers have tracked Sasaki for years, and they will try to be first in line when his recruitment opens. But the truth is, because every team’s financial offer will essentially be equal, there’s no way to compile a list of favorites without first knowing Sasaki’s preferences.
Maybe he’d rather not be in Ohtani and Yamamoto’s wake.
Maybe he wants to pitch with his pal Yu Darvish in San Diego.
Maybe he wants to be an ace in a small pond. Maybe he wants to be on the East Coast or South Beach or Sacramento. Maybe he saw “Rookie of the Year” and always dreamed of pitching for the Chicago Cubs.
League sources told The Athletic’s Will Sammon that among Sasaki’s priorities are stability, lifestyle, comfort and a team’s track record with player development. (That last one should send the Tampa Bay Rays front office into a frenzy.) Sammon named several candidates for Sasaki’s services — the Dodgers, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Cubs — and more will surely surface soon. We’ll learn more once Sasaki’s camp starts meeting with some MLB teams — and not others.
Sasaki’s representation is expected to include Joel Wolfe of the Wasserman agency, which counts Yamamoto, Darvish, Kodai Senga and Seiya Suzuki among its clients. Those four signed all over the map: Darvish with the Texas Rangers, Senga with the Mets, Suzuki with the Cubs, Yamamoto with the Dodgers. In all of those free agencies, clubs could buy better odds by simply offering the biggest contract. Sasaki’s bonus is capped. (Teams are not permitted to discuss long-term extensions while negotiating with a posted player, per MLB.com.) This is the rare free agency on a level playing field, as far as resources go. It comes down to where Sasaki wants to be.
Make your best pitch.
When will Sasaki sign?
The deadline for NPB players to be posted is Dec. 15. After that, there’s a 45-day window in which the player can negotiate with all 30 MLB clubs.
MLB’s international signing ******* also closes Dec. 15, with a new one opening Jan. 15. MLB teams have already blown through most of their international signing pool for this year. (The Dodgers have the most international bonus pool money available, with $2.5 million, according to MLB.com, followed by the Baltimore Orioles’ $2.1 million.) If Sasaki signs after Jan. 15, though, those pools will be replenished — even if much of the money already is earmarked for specific international prospects.
Bottom line: If Sasaki is posted in December and signs after Jan. 15, he — and Chiba Lotte — will make more money and ensure all 30 teams have bonus pool capacity to offer him. But it still won’t be more than a few million dollars, well short of a top draft pick’s signing bonus.
What can we expect from Sasaki in 2025?
Though it’s perfectly plausible Sasaki will pitch like an ace from his first start in April, he’ll likely have some workload restrictions — such as lower pitch counts or extra rest — as an MLB rookie.
Chiba Lotte was careful with Sasaki’s golden right arm. He did not pitch in 2020, and over the next four seasons, he exceeded 100 innings just twice as injuries limited his availability. Sasaki topped out at 129 1/3 innings in 2022, the year his 173 strikeouts ranked second to Yamamoto’s (205 in 193 innings).
If Sasaki ******** healthy, 150 innings are a reasonable estimate for 2025.
GO DEEPER
Roki Sasaki has top-shelf stuff. How would it translate to Major League Baseball?
(Photo: Eric Espada / Getty Images)
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It’s not over. The resistance is about to ignite
It’s not over. The resistance is about to ignite
Unlike the sudden slide into authoritarianism seen in other countries, the ******* States benefits from a decentralized government that can serve as a strong counterweight to Trump’s authoritarian ambitions. It’s within this space — the system of checks and balances — that the resistance will emerge, argues Harvard’s Professor Laurence Tribe, one of the foremost constitutional law experts in the country. The Constitution is not just a “remarkable piece of prose,” says Tribe, and he underscores the prominent role that state legislatures will play in resisting Trump. Civil society, like journalists and educators, will also play a crucial role in creating a cultural- political resistance to any attempts to erase democratic norms. “It’s not over,” says Tribe. “We are about to see all of the institutions activated in a way that we haven’t had to see before.” The law is “an area where reality bites,” says Tribe.
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Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns is unapologetically New York
Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns is unapologetically New York
It was like a wrestling promo interrupted.
Friday night, following New York’s 116-94 thumping of the Milwaukee Bucks, Knicks star Jalen Brunson had his back to his locker and a herd of reporters in his face. The guard was talking about everything New York did right when, between answers, music hit abruptly from the doorway — a song by the late MF *****, an underground British-********* rapper raised in New York. Reporters’ necks naturally turned and in came Karl-Anthony Towns, the four-time All-Star big man who was traded to the Knicks last month.
From Towns’ phone boomed a series of New York rap staples, like “Whoa” by the late ****** Rob, and then he had a side conversation about Yonkers native Jadakiss, a favorite of Towns’ who was in attendance for the Knicks’ victory.
Towns is from nearby Edison, N.J., which is less than an hour drive from Manhattan on a good traffic day, and since returning to the city on the biggest stage in his profession, everything about him has been unapologetically New York. He has loudly embraced the city, and his roots — from the music he chooses to share publicly, to his wardrobe, which often features vintage modern or vintage Knicks gear, to his Dominican heritage and obsession with the Yankees. Following Knicks games, whether at home or on the road, Towns was in the locker room, glued in front of a television and watching New York’s most famous baseball team in the World Series.
Playing so close to home holds special appeal.
“My mom’s family … the Dominicans are very excited,” said Towns, who is half Dominican. “My dad, my mom, immigrating over here from the Dominican Republic, Madison Square Garden, to her, was the Mecca. And to our family, it’s always been the Mecca. To be able to play in a place that was so revered by her. Obviously, it strikes a different emotion.”
Since he’s arrived, the New York-centric nicknames “The Big Bodega” and “Bodega KAT” have been tossed around as possible alternative monickers to his typical “KAT,” and he’s fine with either. “I’ll let the people decide,” Towns said.
“I don’t think he really likes being called, ‘Meow,’” Knicks swingman Josh Hart said when asked if he’s learned anything about Towns over the last month. “I learned that. I haven’t called him that in a while.”
Towns is embracing his roots off the floor and, in turn, it’s allowed him to embrace them on the court. There’s both emotion and showmanship following many buckets. There’s nothing more New York than that. He tries to dunk on opponents. Hard. And he’s succeeded a few times. He’s one of the league’s best rebounders through the early part of the season and, per NBA.com, no player has been better at getting rebounds in traffic. No one should question his toughness.
Many players would come into a new situation and be timid to start. Many players joining an already successful team would try to conform to try to fit in. Yet, Towns has come to New York and stood out. He’s been one of the best offensive players in basketball, averaging 24.3 points on 53/56/90 ********* splits. He’s still one of the best big men ever to ****** a basketball.
Towns, in New York, has been, well, Towns.
“The guys in this locker room have welcomed me with open arms and made me feel comfortable,” Towns said. “They want me to play my game. Obviously, there are going to be times when we’re going to have to find the cohesiveness because we’re still not used to play with each other, but I think, you know, every single day we’re getting better and every single day we’re working on ourselves and as a team.
“My teammates have been a key part in the transition and the coaching staff has done an amazing job, but it’s the guys in this locker room, with the jerseys, who have made it very easy for (my game) to translate.”
One of those teammates is Brunson, who Towns only ever refers to as “Cap,” which is short for “Captain.” The two are in the early stages of forming a partnership that, with more time, should present of one of the deadliest pick-and-roll/pop combos in hoops. The two are still searching for consistency, that perfect balance, the one where both get to do what makes them special while joining forces and creating something unstoppable. That’ll come with time.
“We can still get a lot better,” Brunson said.
GO DEEPER
Edwards: The ***** and ***** of the Knicks’ up-and-down start
In getting traded to the Knicks, Towns reunited with his old coach Tom Thibodeau, who coached the big man in Minnesota and helped him reach heights hadn’t yet previously achieved as a player. The rockiness of their relationship back then has been well-documented, but when the opportunity to join forces presented itself just before the start of the regular season, both men were eager to give it another go. After all, both are committed to winning, and Towns was well aware that his first taste of success as a professional, both individually and in a team capacity, came under Thibodeau’s watch. Thibodeau, meanwhile, is more than aware of the special dynamic that Towns can bring to a basketball team offensively.
Thibodeau has as track record of maximizing his centers. Isaiah Hartenstein earned himself a hefty contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder this summer because of how he performed under Thibodeau in New York last season. Thibodeau also has helped turn Mitchell Robinson into one of the more feared rim protectors in basketball. Thibodeau’s success with big men can be traced all the way back to Taj Gibson in Chicago.
During the second go-round with Thibodeau, Towns could very well have the best season of his career. Offensively, the coach has put Towns in positions to get downhill, be a hub at the top of the key and empowered him to unleash his lethal 3-point shot with even more regularity. The Knicks are a better team when Towns shoots more. Prior to this weekend, New York is 3-1 in games where Towns shoots at least five 3s in a game.
“We’re fourth in offensive rating, we’re top five in field-goal percentage, we’re No. 1 in 3-point percentage and free-throw percentage, but we need more,” Thibodeau said. “We need to get the volume up.”
Towns can do that, and with each passing game, he has been.
The 28-year-old big man has adjusted well to life in New York, even if the personal whirlwind of getting traded just before training camp from Minnesota, the only place he’s called home as an ******, took a while to slow down, even if he’s still looking for a physical home.
In New York, Towns is embracing who he is, as both a player and person, and what’s important to him. Part of that embrace is acknowledging those around him while still carrying what makes him special. This is New York after all, where everyone feels like an individual but things can’t get done without everyone working in unison.
The Knicks will be better because of how Towns is approaching this opportunity. It’ll just take time, as all great things tend to do.
(Top photo: Evan Bernstein/Getty Images)
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8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard gets full size 108 key version —numpad devotees can also choose between NES and Famicom colorways
8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard gets full size 108 key version —numpad devotees can also choose between NES and Famicom colorways
Noted peripherals manufacturer 8BitDo has opened up pre-orders for its Retro 108 Mechanical Keyboard on Amazon. This new keyboard builds on its prior NES and Famicom-themed TKL mechanical keyboard designs by integrating a numpad instead of selling them separately. Both the “N Edition” and “Fami Edition” models cost $119.99, utilize N-key rollover, boast Kailh Box White V2 mechanical switches, and come with a pair of 8BitDo’s giant programmable buttons. Compared to the prior trimmed-down “8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard”, which is nearly identical in every way besides numpad inclusion and a $99.99 price point, the Retro 108 Mechanical Keyboard only costs $20 more.
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8BitDo Retro 108 Mechanical Keyboard Fami Edition(Image credit: 8BitDo)
8BitDo Retro 108 Mechanical Keyboard N Edition(Image credit: 8BitDo)
Like prior 8BitDo keyboards and keypads, the 8Bitdo Retro 108 is built on an aluminum plate with PBT keycaps. Like the 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard, Retro 108 also supports swappable PCBs to allow for a full replacement of all the underlying key switches, not just keycaps up above. So if you ultimately decide that the key switch feel or sound aren’t to your liking, you can replace the switches using your ideal PCB replacement and then place the original keycaps back on like nothing happened.
Other nifty features of the 8BitDo Retro 108 carried over from the Retro include a tri-mode toggle between Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, or USB connectivity in the top-left corner. There is also a volume control dial here. Over on the top-right above the new numpad, there are dedicated shortcuts and function key shortcuts, including a Screen Lock key.
If you’re looking for worthwhile gaming keyboards in general and don’t necessarily need a swappable PCB or 8BitDo’s retro aesthetics, you may be better-served by one of our existing Best Gaming Keyboards picks.
At a price of $119.99 for a mechanical keyboard without any lighting features, some users may be deterred. But for those who enjoy the retro aesthetic and are attracted by the premium build quality, wireless features, or even swappable keyswitch friendly PCB on offer, the 8BitDo Retro 108 Mechanical Keyboard could end up being a fairly good option. Bonus points if your PC setup is already themed around retro hardware in other ways, of course.
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New land price reflects shortages
New land price reflects shortages
As Western Australia’s housing supply shortage continues, the latest figures from UDIA WA show Perth’s affordability is being impacted.
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