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Final regular-season games loom large in determining conference championship matchupsReal Life Don't miss out on the headlines from Real Life. Followed categories will be added to My News. Warning: Distressing The mother of a young girl brutally killed by her father and stepmother has blasted the pair for killing her 10-year-old daughter Sara Sharif, stating: “It is not human to do this to your own child.” Olga Domin, 38, lost custody of Sara in 2019 , despite accusing her ex-husband Urfan Sharif of abuse following their separation four years earlier. Sara then moved in with him and his new wife, Beinash Batool, where she suffered a campaign of abuse that ultimately led to her death last year, The Sun reports. The pair have just been found guilty of Sara’s murder after her body was found by police in her bunk bed on August 10, 2023. A post mortem uncovered she had 25 fractures and 71 external injuries , including six human bite marks, and burns from a domestic iron. Taxi driver Sharif, 43, beat Sara with a cricket bat and metal pole, sometimes tying her hands and legs together with tape. She was made to wear makeshift hoods during attacks and Sharif urged another child to hit her like a punchbag as if it was a game in what was described in court as a “daily living hell” for the 10-year-old. Sara Sharif, 10, was murdered by her father and stepmother in August last year. Picture: AFP / Surrey Police Batool, 30, often called Sharif back from work saying Sara was being naughty, knowing he would beat her up, the court heard. Meanwhile, Sara’s uncle 29-year-old Faisal Malik – who lived with them in an apartment then a cramped three-bedroom house in Woking, Surrey – failed to raise the alarm whenever Sara was attacked. Sharif hit Sara twice on the abdomen when she lay dying because he thought she was pretending to be ill. He refused to call for medical help and investigators suspect the three jet-washed Sara’s body before fleeing to Pakistan, leaving her in the bottom bunk, The Sun added. She had started wearing a hijab to school to conceal injuries to her face and head. A jury at London’s Old Bailey – the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales – found Sharif and Batool guilty of murder on Thursday following an eight-week trial. Malik was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child. Her dad Urfan Sharif throttled Sara and beat her with a cricket bat and metal pole. Picture: AFP / Surrey Police His new wife, Beinash Batool, would call Sharif back from work saying Sara was being naughty, knowing he would beat her up. Picture: AFP / Surrey Police Ms Domin, a Polish national, said she still cannot believe what happened to her child while in the custody of her father. “I still can’t believe what is going on, this situation,” she said. “It’s not human to do this stuff to your own child. “I can’t believe he was hitting her belly when she was dying. I still can’t manage that. They should all get the same for what they were doing. Monster is too nice word for him anyway. “I hope he will be dying in jail.” Paying tribute to “angelic” Sara, who dreamt of being on The X Factor , Ms Domin said: “She was always laughing, smiling. “She loved all the kids. She was always helping, and making videos. She was an amazing child. She was saying ‘I’ll be a model’. “I just don’t get why she is where she is.” Sara had 25 fractures and 71 external injuries – including human bite marks – at the time of her death. Picture: Surrey Police Sara was living with Ms Domin from 2015, when they fled to a domestic refuge to escape Sharif’s violence. He was having supervised contact at a Government-run children’s centre in Reading before a family court hearing in 2019 which ruled Sara should live with Sharif. It is understood Ms Domin did not contest the ruling at the time. Friends say Sharif took accusations made against him and threw them back at Ms Domin — and used the same tactic in his trial by blaming Batool for Sara’s murder, before admitting he too beat her up. Ms Domin was allowed contact with Sara, supervised by Batool, but she said the couple blocked this a few years before Sara’s death. The youngster has been laid to rest in Poland in a grave bearing her mum’s surname and adorned with flowers. Ms Domin visits daily. Sara’s mum had fled her marriage to Sharif over claims of abuse. Picture: Surrey Police But a court awarded Sharif custody in 2019. Picture: AFP / Surrey Police Ms Domin also said in a statement released through Surrey Police: “My dear Sara, I ask God to please take care of my little girl, she was taken too soon. “Sara had beautiful brown eyes and an angelic voice. Sara’s smile could brighten up the darkest room. “Everyone who knew Sara will know her unique character, her beautiful smile and loud laugh. “She will always be in our hearts, her laughter will bring warmth to our lives. We miss Sara very much. Love you Princess.” Sharif also dished out horrific abuse to Ms Domin, who said he did it all with “really evil eyes”. She said: “He choked me with a belt, he tried to set me on fire, he beat me with his fists. He was putting the oil on my body. His friend stopped him. He already had the lighter in his hand.” Sara’s body was left in her bed while Sharif, Batool fled to Pakistan. Picture: Surrey Police Ms Domin said Sharif would sleep with money all the time and she had to plead for cash for food for the children. She added: “He told me that he dressed me and no one would help me if I left him because I don’t know the language and I have never worked here. “He said he didn’t like my friend. I wasn’t allowed to meet her. I went to pick up something from the shop and he wouldn’t let me out. I was working nights cleaning the pubs. “They kicked him out of McDonald’s (where he was a shift manager) because he was stealing money. He didn’t have a job. He took all the money from me. “I took £100 (about $AU200) to buy clothes for my kids and he hit me because I took the money. “He would be cunning and would take my phone and he locked me out around three times. “When he did this he had evil eyes, really evil eyes. I was alone in a foreign country, without a language, without a family, until I finally realised that this was not the life I had and left.” Ms Domin was taken to a domestic violence refuge in 2015 and their divorce was completed in 2017. During the trial, Sharif spent six days lying to Old Bailey jurors, claiming Batool was an “evil psycho” and the “true villain of the piece”. On his seventh day in the witness box, Sharif dramatically confessed to beating Sara with a cricket bat and pole and ultimately killing her. But the self-confessed coward could never bring himself to admit he had murdered Sara, The Sun reported. Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child. Picture: AFP / Surrey Police Sara’s family forced her to wear a hijab to hide her injuries. Picture: Surrey Police At one point he told the court he beat her repeatedly and intended to cause her “really serious harm” — but he then went back on his testimony insisting he had never meant to hurt her ever. Police found a note by her body, written by Sharif, which said: “I legally punished her and she died.” Once he landed in Pakistan, he called emergency services to say: “I’ve killed my daughter. I legally punished her and she died.” Batool and Malik both refused to give evidence. Det Chief Insp Craig Emmerson, of Surrey Police, said the trio only sought to preserve their own interests and showed no remorse. Mr Emerson added: “Sara was a bright and lively little girl who loved singing and dancing. “Sara’s spirit and bravery and resilience in the face of the suffering that she endured has shone through from the vast inquiries that have been undertaken in this case. “Sara’s young life was brought to an end as a result of the brutal abuse and unspeakable violence inflicted on her by Sharif and Batool, which Malik did nothing to prevent.” Meanwhile a friend of Ms Domin asked: “How could social services ever give Sara to that man? “He’s the worst of the worst. He treated her like a dog.” This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission More Coverage Porn star cries after sex act with 100 men Rebekah Scanlan ‘Perfect body’: Brazilian model a straight ‘10’ Eleanor Katelaris Originally published as Father, stepmum of 10-year-old Sara Sharif guilty of her horror murder More related stories Lifestyle ‘Die tonight’: Countless Aussies facing hell This time of year should be a merry one, spent celebrating with loved ones and hopefully enjoying a break. But for many, the next few weeks will be a living hell. Read more Real Life Porn star cries after sex act with 100 men Lily Phillips is “in training” to sleep with 1000 men, but despite insisting she enjoys the sex acts, new footage shows the real toll it takes. Read more
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Front Row Motorsports, one of two teams suing NASCAR in federal court, accused the stock car series Thursday of rejecting the planned purchase of a valuable charter unless the lawsuit was dropped. Front Row made the claim in a court filing and said it involved its proposed purchase of the charter from Stewart-Haas Racing. Front Row said the series would only approve it if Front Row and 23XI Racing dropped their court case. "Specifically, NASCAR informed us that it would not approve the (charter) transfer unless we agreed to drop our current antitrust lawsuit against them," Jerry Freeze, general manager of Front Row, said in an affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court of Western North Carolina. The two teams in September refused to sign NASCAR's "take-it-or-leave-it" final offer on a new revenue sharing agreement. All other 13 teams signed the deal. Front Row and 23XI balked and are now in court. 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan has said he took the fight to court on behalf of all teams competing in the top motorsports series in the United States. NASCAR has argued that the two teams simply do not like the terms of the final charter agreement and asked for the lawsuit be dismissed. Earlier this week, the suit was transferred to a different judge than the one who heard the first round of arguments and ruled against the two teams in their request for a temporary injunction to be recognized in 2025 as chartered teams as the case proceeds. The latest filing is heavily redacted as it lays out alleged retaliatory actions by NASCAR the teams say have caused irreparable harm. Both Front Row and 23XI want to expand from two full-time cars to three, and have agreements with SHR to purchase one charter each as SHR goes from four cars to one for 2025. The teams can still compete next season but would have to do so as "open" teams that don't have the same protections or financial gains that come from holding a charter. Freeze claimed in the affidavit that Front Row signed a purchase agreement with SHR in April and NASCAR President Steve Phelps told Freeze in September the deal had been approved. But when Front Row submitted the paperwork last month, NASCAR began asking for additional information. A Dec. 4 request from NASCAR was "primarily related to our ongoing lawsuit with NASCAR," Freeze said. "NASCAR informed us on December 5, 2024, that it objected to the transfer and would not approve it, in contrast to the previous oral approval for the transfer confirmed by Phelps before we filed the lawsuit," Freeze said. "NASCAR made it clear that the reason it was now changing course and objecting to the transfer is because NASCAR is insisting that we drop the lawsuit and antitrust claims against it as a condition of being approved." A second affidavit from Steve Lauletta, the president of 23XI Racing, claims NASCAR accused 23XI and Front Row of manufacturing "new circumstances" in a renewed motion for an injunction and of a "coordinated effort behind the scenes." "This is completely false," Lauletta said. Front Row is owned by businessman Bob Jenkins, while 23XI is owned by retired NBA Hall of Famer Jordan, three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and longtime Jordan adviser Curtis Polk. NASCAR had been operating with 36 chartered teams and four open spots since the charter agreement began in 2016. NASCAR now says it will move forward in 2025 with 32 chartered teams and eight open spots, with offers on charters for Front Row and 23XI rescinded and the SHR charters in limbo. The teams contend they must be chartered under some of their contractual agreements with current sponsors and drivers, and competing next year as open teams will cause significant losses. "23XI exists to compete at the highest level of stock car racing, striving to become the best team it can be. But that ambition can only be pursued within NASCAR, which has monopolized the market as the sole top-tier circuit for stock car racing," Lauletta said. "Our efforts to expand – purchasing more cars and increasing our presence on the track – are integral to achieving this goal. "It is not hypocritical to operate within the only system available while striving for excellence and contending for championships," he continued. "It is a necessity because NASCAR's monopoly leaves 23XI no alternative circuit, no different terms, and no other viable avenue to compete at this level."
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The use of artificial intelligence has grown across industries globally, but there is still some confusion over how to properly use the technology at work. In Singapore, 52% of employees are using artificial intelligence in their jobs, according to Slack's Workforce Index , which in August surveyed over 17,000 workers across 15 countries, including 1,008 in Singapore. > Philadelphia news 24/7: Watch NBC10 free wherever you are The demand for AI talent in the country has grown. There has been a 4.6x increase in generative AI-related job postings in the city-state between September 2023 and September 2024, according to Indeed . But despite the fact that demand for AI talent has surged in Singapore, 45% of the employees in the country report feeling uncomfortable admitting to managers that they are using the technology for workplace tasks. For those who reported feeling that way, top reasons included the fear of being seen as "incompetent," "lazy" or "cheating," according to Slack's report. "Workers are excited about AI, but they're uncertain about how to use it in the workplace, and this uncertainty is standing in the way of broader AI adoption," Christina Janzer, senior vice president of research and analytics at Slack, told CNBC Make It . "Too much of the burden today has been put on workers to figure out AI. It's important that leaders not only train workers to use AI, but encourage employees to talk about it and experiment with AI out in the open," said Janzer. Businesses should also create the time and space necessary for this experimentation, and encourage employees to share what they learned with colleagues for inspiration, she said. They can also lead by example by openly demonstrating how they are using the technology in their own jobs. Additionally, employers should provide guidance on which AI tools are "approved and trusted" to be used within their businesses, and which tasks these tools can be used for, Janzer told CNBC Make It. "Without clear guidance, workers are confused about when it is socially and professionally acceptable to use AI at work — and are keeping their usage under wraps," according to Slack's report. Despite the uncertainty, employees in Singapore still seek to improve their AI skills. In fact, 88% "feel an urgency to become an AI expert," according to the report. However, the majority (63%) of workers in the country have spent less than five hours in total learning how to use artificial intelligence. Ultimately, "employers will need to solve the gap in training and get clear about AI guidelines, as current employees and new professionals entering the workforce will gravitate to more supportive workplaces," according to Slack's research. Want to make extra money outside of your day job? Sign up for CNBC's online course How to Earn Passive Income Online to learn about common passive income streams, tips to get started and real-life success stories. Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.Prairie premiers urge action on security amid Trump's tariff threats
Team claims NASCAR rescinded approval to buy charter
WASHINGTON (AP) — She’s an Iraq War combat veteran and sexual assault survivor who has advocated for years to improve how the military handles claims of sexual misconduct. But when Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, appeared initially cool to the nomination of President-elect Donald Trump ’s choice of Pete Hegseth to serve as defense secretary — a man who once said women should not serve in combat and who has himself been accused of sexual assault — she faced an onslaught of criticism from within her own party, including threats of a potential primary challenge in 2026. “The American people spoke,” said Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of the Family Leader and a conservative activist in Ernst’s home state. “When you sign up for this job, it’s a big boy and big girl job, and she’s feeling the pressure of people vocalizing their disappointment, their concern with how she’s handling this.” The pressure campaign against Ernst, once a rising member of the GOP leadership, shows there is little room in Trump’s party for those who can’t get to yes on Hegseth or any of his other picks for his incoming administration It underscores the power Trump is expected to wield on Capitol Hill in a second term and serves as a warning to other lawmakers who may be harboring their own concerns about other Trump selections, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary and Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence. “If the king wants a different senator from Iowa, we’ll have one. If he doesn’t, we won’t,” said Iowa talk show host Steve Deace, suggesting on his show Monday that he would be willing to jump in against Ernst if Trump wanted a challenger. “I think someone’s got to be made an example out of, whether it’s Joni or someone else.” People close to Ernst, a retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel, stress her mettle and say her eventual decision will depend on her assessment of Hegseth, a former “Fox & Friends Weekend” host and veteran, and nothing else. “Has there been Twitter pressure? Sure. But Joni’s a combat veteran. She’s not easily pressured,” said David Kochel, an Iowa Republican strategist and longtime Ernst friend and adviser. Ernst has worked steadily to shore up her relationship with Trump after declining to endorse him before the Iowa caucuses that kicked off this year’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. During a recent visit to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida club, she met with Trump and billionaire Elon Musk with ideas for their budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency. She heads up a newly formed DOGE caucus in the Senate. Trump has not tried personallty to pressure Ernst to back Hegseth, according to a person familiar with their conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose them. And he has not targeted her — or any potential holdouts — publicly in social media posts. He also hasn’t had to. The response to Ernst built quickly, first in whispers following her initially cool remarks after meeting with Hegseth, then into a pile-on from powerful figures in the “Make America Great Again” movement. Only about 2 in 10 Americans approve of Hegseth’s nomination, according to Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs polling . About one-third of Republicans approve of him as a pick, and 16% disapprove. Another 1 in 10 Republicans, roughly, are neutral and say they neither approve nor disapprove. Trump allies had been concerned that a successful effort to derail Hegseth’s candidacy would empower opposition to other nominees, undermining his projections of complete dominance of the party. In the narrowly held Senate, with a 53-47 GOP majority in the new year, any Trump nominee can only afford a few Republican “no” votes if all Democrats are opposed. Those piling on included Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who warned that Ernst’s political career was “in serious jeopardy” and that primary challengers stood at the ready. One social media post from the CEO of The Federalist featured side-by-side photos comparing Ernst to ousted Rep. Liz Cheney , R-Wyo., whom Trump recently said deserves to be jailed, along with other members of the House committee that investigated the Capitol riot. Building America’s Future, a conservative nonprofit, announced plans to spend half a million dollars supporting Trump’s pick of Hegseth, the Daily Caller first reported . The group has already spent thousands on Facebook and Instagram ads featuring Ernst’s photo and is running a commercial urging viewers to call their senators to back him. Criticism mounted at home, too. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, who quickly endeared herself to Trump when she became the highest-ranking state official to endorse him ahead of this year’s caucuses, wrote an op-ed for the conservative Breitbart news site that was seen as a not-so-subtle warning. “What we’re witnessing in Washington right now is a Deep State attempt to undermine the will of the people,” she wrote. Local Republican groups also encouraged Iowans to call Ernst’s office and urged her to back Trump’s picks. While incumbents have particular staying power in Iowa, Trump has a track record of ending the careers of those who cross him. Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller defended the tactics. “Right now, this is President Trump’s party,” he said Tuesday at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit in Washington. “I think voters want to see the president being able to put in his people.” Ernst has gradually appeared to soften on Hegseth. By Monday, after meeting with him once again, she issued a statement saying they had had “encouraging conversations.” Ernst said Hegseth committed “to completing a full audit of the Pentagon” and to hire a senior official who will “prioritize and strengthen my work to prevent sexual assault within the ranks.” “As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources,” she said. But for many Republican senators who have found themselves on the wrong side of Trump, it was hard not to see the campaign against Ernst as a warning. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican who also met with Hegseth this week, said the attacks seemed “a little more intense than usual,” while acknowledging that she is “no stranger” to similar MAGA-led campaigns. She was reelected in 2022 after beating a Trump-endorsed challenger. Murkowski said the potential attacks don’t weigh into her decision-making, but added, “I’m sure that it factors into Sen. Ernst’s.”Recognizing the brilliance of British director Lucy Walker , both as a filmmaker and as an advocate for the documentary format, Shekhar Kapur hurriedly arranged an additional masterclass on Saturday at the International Film Festival of India , where he is festival director. And hosted the session himself. Their conversation ranged from technology and technique through to the filmmaker’s responsibility towards the subject. In particular, it dug deep into how and where to find a story. After an era of editing with film stock, Walker said that around the time she went to film school computer editing came in and changed the game. “You could start to be able to build stories in the editing room. And do some of the writing later. You [still] have to choose good enough ingredients for your recipe. But I felt like the tools [offered] different options, allowing you to create a proper movie that audiences would find really satisfying, even if at the beginning you didn’t know where you’re going. It is exciting, letting life be your co-writer. It is [also] risky like a high wire.” “[Sometimes] it feels like observing, almost like sneaking up on life and catching it, watching life happen on camera, and then sharing with people,” Walker said. But Walker denied that documentary is free-form or can escape the necessities of storytelling. “Having a beginning, middle and end is really important in documentary. I’m always thinking about those ingredients even if I don’t know what the end will be,” she said. “For example, I’ve made two films now about climbing a mountain. At the beginning, when you go to climb a mountain, you don’t know if it’s a difficult mountain, like Mount Everest in my recent film [‘Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lakhpa Sherpa’], or in my first mountain film, where I was making a film about blind people climbing [2006’s ‘Blindsight’]. We didn’t know if they would get to the top, if someone might get hurt, we didn’t know what was going to happen. But I did know that I wanted to know.” Kapur quizzed her about the responsibility of taking a dozen blind people on a tricky climb. But her answer reflected equally on the art of storytelling. “Sometimes I think people think making documentaries is easy, because [we know that] it’s very difficult to make a scripted movie with actors and sets and costumes. But it’s also very difficult to make a documentary, for exactly this reason, because people are real. This is their life and you are asking people to share their secrets. I have been with people in these most vulnerable and sometimes really scary moments in their lives. Everest is one example. But I’ve also been filming with people when they get medical results and it might be a terminal diagnosis.” But having embarked on the journey Walker has frequently found multiple different answers and a story that was not the one she had imagined. “[In ‘Blindsight’ the story started to bubble up and become [a series of] more interesting question. Like, why does the American guy want to stand on top of the mountain? Tibetan people naturally walk around a mountain, and they appreciate the beauty of the mountain by looking up. They don’t need to stand on top. What is it with Americans wanting to kill themselves by standing on top? The teacher of the blind students was a German blind woman. She had a different idea. She’s like, ‘I don’t want to stand on top. I want just to have a nice time together.’ “So sometimes, you can find a story that has even more meaning. But when things don’t go according to the plan, it can be a little bit scary for the movie’s investors.” Part of her taking responsibility in “Mountain Queen” involved knowing when to get out of the way and not become either a burden to the climbers or cause an accident. Instead, she delegated and trained the sherpas to become camera operators. “The key is teamwork. This is not a solo sport,” she said. It was unclear if the comment was about climbing or filmmaking.
The choice of a policy adviser for artificial intelligence (AI) in the next Trump administration has sparked widespread debate online over the H-1B visa program, which conservatives are calling out as “abusive” and designed precisely to undercut wages of white-collar Americans. “Sriram Krishnan will serve as Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,” President-elect Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social this week: Working closely with David Sacks, Sriram will focus on ensuring continued American leadership in A.I., and help shape and coordinate A.I. policy across Government, including working with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Sriram started his career at Microsoft as a founding member of Windows Azure. [Emphasis added] Krishnan’s appointment has sparked a widespread online debate over the H-1B visa program and employment-based green cards. For years, Breitbart News has chronicled the abuses against white-collar American professionals as a result of the H-1B visa program. There are about 650,000 H-1B visa foreign workers in the U.S. at any given moment. Americans are often laid off in the process and forced to train their foreign replacements, as highlighted by Breitbart News. One such major effort that Krishnan has backed is a green card giveaway, primarily to Indian nationals, where country caps for employment-based green cards would be eliminated. As a result, tech corporations would be massively rewarded for having imported mostly Indian nationals on H-1B visas to take white-collar American jobs. The push to end country caps has failed over and over again in Congress. Last month, in response to billionaire Elon Musk’s X post regarding the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Krishnan replied that “anything to remove country caps for green cards / unlock skilled immigration would be huge.” In a clip from Krishnan’s podcast, he is seen laughing as a guest suggests that Indian nationals ought to “just get married to a U.S. citizen, just make that happen” to secure green cards. Vivek Ramaswamy chimed in on the debate, suggesting that American companies like hiring foreign visa workers over college-educated Americans because “American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long...” In March Ramaswamy appeared on Krishnan’s podcast where he said legal immigration ought to center on filling “labor gaps” and “skills gaps.” “The sole objective of U.S. immigration policy should be to advance the interests of the U.S. citizens who are already here ... against that backdrop, what immigration policy makes sense?” Ramaswamy said: Great. Now, it becomes easy to implement — Where do we have labor gaps? Where do we have skills gaps? Where do we have people who can add to the productivity of the United States? People who bring a civic love of this country combined with skills and a work ethic and perhaps money and investment to be able to make that happen? That, I think, sets us up for a more rational path here. [Emphasis added] Conservatives and other dissenters online have fought back on the issue for days now. “The H-1B visa program is loved by tech companies because it helps hold down salaries of ultra high paid engineering jobs and foreign workers on these visas are way less likely to unionize or agitate for better work conditions,” journalist Lee Fang posted. “Both parties enable the abuse of the program.” Mike Cernovich and others have used online databases to debunk claims that the H-1B visa program brings only the “best and brightest” of geniuses to the United States to take jobs: As part of the online debate, many X users are reposting a Breitbart News interview with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance from 2022 when he was running for the open U.S. Senate seat for Ohio. In the interview, Vance made clear that Congress ought to prioritize overhauling the H-1B visa program to prevent corporations from enacting an outsourcing-offshoring scheme where Americans are laid off, forced to train their foreign replacements, and then those jobs eventually sent to countries like India altogether. “Generally speaking, a lot of the H-1B abuse we see is in the interests of the people hiring the [foreign visa] worker, who can undercut the wages of Americans, but is it in the interest of the 700 Ohioans who lost their jobs? Absolutely not,” Vance told Breitbart News at the time. “This is one of these issues where you actually need public policy to solve this problem because they’re taking advantage of a visa system that’s meant to ensure that American companies have the workers that they need — it’s not meant to undercut the wages of American workers in this country,” Vance said. “Unfortunately, that’s what the H-1B visa is just being used to do right now.” John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here .Jon Moxley is driving change by force on All Elite Wrestling programming. Moxley and the Death Riders are deep into a hostile takeover of AEW. It's a storyline that draws attention to the wider scope of AEW's legitimate past, present and future. "I spent about two months thinking, reading books and walking around downtown Cincinnati at three o'clock in the morning," Moxley told CBS Sports ahead of AEW Full Gear on Saturday. "I had a vision of a future that could be ours. A vision that could belong to everybody. A world where everyone can be successful. A world where everyone's strengths are brought to the forefront. A vision of a world that is inhospitable to bullshit." Moxley speaks partially in character but, as with most works of fiction, there's truth at the core of his message. The Moxley character's goals come at an interesting time in AEW's existence. The promotion looks radically different than it did five years ago. Depending on what's most important to you as a consumer, that could be for better or worse. AEW signed a lucrative new media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery last month, securing its future for several years. It was a major win for the company. At the same time, total viewership and ticket sales have generally declined since 2023. Some longtime faces of the promotion like Moxley have endured while an influx of new stars replace absent fan favorites. "It's only five years old. You start with two hours of TV, that's one thing. Then three, then five. Now it's a different thing," Moxley said. "If you don't have the infrastructure to support it, you fall to the level of your systems. If the branch pops out of the dirt before it's ready, it will not have the structural integrity to hold the fruit it bears. I think we've maybe gotten things out of order. "Crawl, walk, run. Maybe we went from a certain cadence of walk and tried to jump into a run and things got a little out of balance and split the differential. It's just about getting into the right gear for the speed you're attempting to drive. We're going to do that. I'm actually quite excited about it." Moxley describes the growing pains of an upstart promotion. The professional wrestling landscape was very different when AEW launched in January 2019. Fans were starving for a major alternative to WWE and AEW forced the winds of change. AEW debuted with a two-hour television show and four to five annual pay-per-views. From 2023 onwards, the company produced five hours of TV and seven to eight PPVs annually. Another recurring challenge AEW faced was keeping peace in the locker room. Multiple physical altercations have reportedly broken out behind the scenes. Moxley did not acknowledge those incidents -- none of which involved him -- but they might point to his desire to facilitate a fruitful environment in AEW. "I found it challenging to find anyone who would take responsibility for anything," Moxley said of AEW in the past. "'It's not my fault' was something I'd hear bouncing around the hallways of AEW quite ubiquitously. Essentially what it boils down to is that I'll take responsibility for everything." The cult leader notes of Moxley's on-screen personality is a departure from his past character work. It's also some of his most satisfying. Moxley is using the platform of his record-setting fourth AEW world championship reign to help mold AEW's future. It's fulfilling work for a man who's overcome much, including a self-imposed 2021 stint in an alcohol rehabilitation program. "I've been through a lot. The last couple of years have been a very strange, rough and personal couple of years," Moxley said. "I feel like I've gone through a personal transformation recently. Things are very clear in my head. I'm still slowly, over time evolving into the person I think I'm meant to be. I think this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. "I'm very optimistic about everything... I don't think there's a more polite way to say this. I don't give a single f---. I have not one single f--- to give. That is the attitude that I'm moving forward with. That is the attitude my group has. Everything I'm trying to achieve now is very much the hill I'm prepared to die on." Moxley defends his AEW world championship against Orange Cassidy in the main event of AEW Full Gear on Saturday. Cassidy, an AEW original, leads the charge against Moxley and his Death Riders. But if Moxley is correct, it's in AEW's best interest to welcome his change.
Dec 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to make tariffs and tax cuts the key elements of his economic agenda when he takes office in January. His November election victory was fueled largely by voter concern about the economy. Several prominent budget forecasters have estimated Trump's tax-cut plans would add $3.6 trillion to $6.6 trillion to federal deficits over a decade, depending on which proposals are included. Here are Trump's tariff and tax proposals: After the election, one of Trump's first acts was to threaten Canada and Mexico with blanket tariffs of 25% on imports unless they step up efforts to stop the flow of illegal drugs such as fentanyl and of migrants without documentation across their borders. Mexico's government responded by saying the tariff could result in the loss of 400,000 U.S. jobs. The president-elect has also floated plans for blanket tariffs of 10% to 20% on virtually all imports from every country, as well as tariffs of 60% or more on goods from China, to boost U.S. manufacturing. Trump has said he would impose a 200% tariff on John Deere 's (DE.N) , opens new tab imports into the U.S. if the company moved production to Mexico as planned, comments that hit the agricultural equipment manufacturer's share price. Trump has frequently said he would hit automakers that move production to Mexico with a 200% tariff. The duties would likely violate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade that he signed into law in 2020. He also has said he would reward U.S.-based manufacturers with research and development tax credits. The National Retail Federation, which represents Walmart (WMT.N) , opens new tab and other companies that account for almost half of container shipping volume, is among the industry groups opposed to Trump's proposed tariffs . Economists say tariffs would reignite inflation. Trump has said he will formally notify Mexico and Canada of his intent to renegotiate a North American free trade deal to address concerns about Chinese vehicles. Trump has pledged to reduce the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15% for companies that make their products in the U.S. He slashed the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35% during his 2017-2021 presidency. Trump wants to extend all individual tax cuts he pushed through Congress in 2017, including for the wealthiest Americans, which tax and budget experts estimate would reduce revenue over a decade by about $3.3 trillion to $4 trillion. Some Republicans, however, are wary of enacting another round of tax relief without offsetting it with major spending cuts , which could include slashing benefit programs. Concerns over adding to the federal debt have made the U.S. bond market jittery , which could slow Trump's tax-cut push. Trump says he will end all taxes on overtime pay as part of a wider tax-cut package. Trump has also said he would seek legislation to end taxation of tips. Current law requires employees to report tips as taxable income. He has vowed to exempt Social Security income from taxes. Trump has pledged to lower taxes on U.S. citizens living abroad, without providing specifics. Americans living or traveling outside the U.S. are required to file income-tax returns, estate-tax returns, and gift-tax returns and "pay estimated tax in the same way as those residing in the United States," according to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Trump has vowed to “get SALT back” – a reference to the state and local tax deduction available to federal taxpayers. He has also said he would be “restoring the SALT deduction.” Trump’s 2017 tax cuts imposed a $10,000 cap on the amount of state and local tax that taxpayers can deduct. It is unclear whether Trump intends to remove the $10,000 cap, which predominantly affects high-tax, Democratic-leaning states such as New York. After Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck the Southeast, Trump said he would allow the cost of home generators purchased in states hit by natural disasters between Sept. 1, 2024, and Aug. 31, 2025, to be tax-deductible. Beyond tax cuts and tariffs, Trump has promised he would support the oil and gas industry by backing new pipelines and restoring fracking on federal land in a bid to boost the economy. He said he would put Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - where the Biden administration canceled oil and gas drilling leases - "back into play." Trump has pledged to create a National Energy Council to coordinate policies to boost U.S. energy production that will be led by his pick for interior secretary, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. He has also said he would consider ending a $7,500 tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases. During his first term, Trump sought to repeal the EV tax credit, which was later expanded by President Joe Biden in 2022. Trump said he would propose making interest on car loans tax-deductible. He has pledged to put a temporary cap on credit card interest rates of “around 10%.” Trump has said he will “support a tax credit for family caregivers who take care of a parent or a loved one,” without offering specifics. In December, Trump said as president he will give "fully expedited" approvals and permits, including environmental approvals, to any person or business that invests at least $1 billion in the U.S., but he didn't provide further details. Sign up here. Reporting by Helen Coster; Additional reporting by David Lawder and James Oliphant; Editing by Ross Colvin, Daniel Wallis, Jonathan Oatis and Rod Nickel Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab Thomson Reuters Helen Coster is a U.S. Presidential Election Correspondent at Reuters, where she writes a mix of spot news, enterprise and analysis stories, with a focus on the Republican Party and conservative media. Prior to 2024 she covered the media industry for Reuters, and was also a Senior Editor on Reuters’ Commentary team. A graduate of Princeton University, she has reported from six countries, including Pakistan, India, and Greece.
A strict vegetarian diet, alcohol abstinence and behavioural training are among the steps the Uttar Pradesh Police is taking to ensure its personnel act as "servants of faith" and create a pleasant experience for the devotees gathering in this holy city for the Maha Kumbh. The Maha Kumbh will commence on 13 January on the occasion of Paush Purnima and conclude on 26 February on Mahashivratri. Senior superintendent of police (Kumbh) Rajesh Dwivedi emphasised that the primary focus of the police, alongside maintaining security, would be to foster a welcoming environment for the pilgrims. He said, "Our aim is to ensure that the devotees have a pleasant experience, and the police behave with warmth -- not just as enforcers of the law but as servants of faith." Police personnel to be deployed for the Maha Kumbh are undergoing behaviour-focused training at a designated facility within the mela area. External trainers are also being invited to impart lessons in etiquette and public service. So far, 1,500 police personnel have completed the training. By the time the mela commences, 40,000 personnel will have completed the exercise. Atul Kumar Singh, the training programme in-charge, said 700 police personnel were receiving training at a time, following a 21-day module. The duration will gradually come down to 14 days as the mela draws closer, he added. Also Read: Ensure minimum sewage discharge in Ganga, Yamuna before Kumbh Mela: NGT tells UP Personnel such as Satish Kumar Yadav, a head constable from Mathura who will be deployed during the mela, expressed appreciation for the training. "I have learned the importance of courteous behaviour and how to assist the devotees during times of distress. The training also covered topics such as cybercrime prevention," he said. The force is also receiving expert instruction from the National Police Academy. Personnel trained there are now preparing trainers who, in turn, are equipping the larger police contingent for their role at the mela. In addition to behavioural training, the police are also being instructed to maintain the Maha Kumbh's sanctity. District police chief Dwivedi reaffirmed the Maha Kumbh's strict policies regarding food and drink and said non-vegetarian food or alcohol would not be permitted in the mela ground. "The food in the police mess is entirely vegetarian and we have instructed all personnel to act in a manner that respects the devotees' faith," he said. New technologies will also be deployed at the Maha Kumbh this time. An AI chatbot -- Kumbh Sahayak -- is being developed to assist the devotees with information in more than 10 languages via the Bhashini app. This initiative is designed to bridge language barriers and provide instant support to the vast number of devotees. The police will also deploy bilingual personnel and translators to assist non-Hindi speaking devotees. Mounted police on 160-170 horses will assist in crowd control, ensuring safety while maintaining a harmonious atmosphere. With cybercrime on the rise, the personnel were also briefed by domain expert Pawan Kumar. Security measures, including the use of cutting-edge technologies, are being incorporated to ensure both safety and a positive experience for the devotees. In preparing for the Maha Kumbh, the authorities are combining tradition with modern technology, ensuring that this once-in-a-lifetime gathering will be as safe, respectful and efficient as possible. Follow us on: Facebook , Twitter , Google News , Instagram Join our official telegram channel ( @nationalherald ) and stay updated with the latest headlinesHR Ratings has become the second agency to downgrade Mexico’s economic outlook in November. The Mexican ratings agency changed its outlook for Mexico’s sovereign rating from stable to negative on Monday. “The change in the outlook from stable to negative is the result of the deterioration in our estimates of economic growth in 2024 and 2025 for Mexico, as well as our expectation of a slower reduction in the fiscal deficit for 2025, compared to that estimated by the Finance Ministry, which could put pressure on net debt as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” said HR Ratings in a press release. The rating agency expects economic growth in Mexico of 1.4% in 2024 and 1.1% in 2025, lower than the Finance Ministry’s forecast of 2.1% and 2.3%, respectively. HR cited the industrial sector’s negative performance over the last year as a reason for the downgrade, “especially due to the lower dynamism of the construction sector, in addition to a slowdown in the manufacturing sector and lower external demand.” Although Mexico aims to reduce its fiscal deficit in 2025, it is difficult to maintain low capital expenditure in the long term without negative consequences for economic performance, said HR. The agency also stressed the potentially negative impact that the coming change in U.S. political leadership could have on Mexico’s trade. President-elect Donald Trump will take office in the United States in January 2025. The New York-based credit rating agency Moody’s Ratings recently downgraded its Mexico outlook from stable to negative but maintained the country’s long-term ratings at the second lowest investment grade level. It said the decision was “driven by our view of a weakening in the policymaking and institutional settings that risks undermining fiscal and economic outcomes.” The Finance Ministry responded to HR’s downgrade in a press release . “The growth outlook for Mexico is positive, given that supply shocks have started to decrease, and industrial production has shown greater dynamism during the second half of the year,” it stated. “Our growth forecast, presented in the Economic Package for 2025, remains between 2% and 3%, supported by the strength of domestic demand, the support of social programs and investment in strategic sectors,” the ministry added. It also said that the U.S. continues to be Mexico’s main trading partner and highlighted the importance of the USMCA free trade agreement. “Mexico has the necessary fiscal buffers to mitigate possible adverse scenarios in the global environment,” the ministry stressed. Eight rating agencies that evaluate Mexico’s debt have maintained Mexico’s sovereign debt rating in 2024, the press release stated, which is “a reflection of the confidence in the country’s macroeconomic stability.” With reports from Expansion , Forbes and El Universal
Rising price of paying national debt is risk for Trump’s promises on growth and inflationJimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. He was 100 years old . The Carter Center said the 39th president died Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, lived most of their lives. A moderate Democrat, Carter ran for president in 1976 as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad grin, effusive Baptist faith and technocratic plans for efficient government. His promise to never deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter said. Carter’s victory over Republican Gerald Ford, whose fortunes fell after pardoning Nixon, came amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over race, women’s rights and America’s role in the world. His achievements included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David for 13 days in 1978. But his coalition splintered under double-digit inflation and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His negotiations ultimately brought all the hostages home alive, but in a final insult, Iran didn’t release them until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who had trounced him in the 1980 election. Humbled and back home in Georgia, Carter said his faith demanded that he keep doing whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference. He and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, human rights advocates and champions of democracy and public health. Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia. pic.twitter.com/aqYmcE9tXi Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiate cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, the center had monitored at least 113 elections around the world. Carter was determined to eradicate guinea worm infections as one of many health initiatives. Swinging hammers into their 90s, the Carters built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The common observation that he was better as an ex-president rankled Carter. His allies were pleased that he lived long enough to see biographers and historians revisit his presidency and declare it more impactful than many understood at the time. Propelled in 1976 by voters in Iowa and then across the South, Carter ran a no-frills campaign. Americans were captivated by the earnest engineer, and while an election-year Playboy interview drew snickers when he said he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times,” voters tired of political cynicism found it endearing. The first family set an informal tone in the White House, carrying their own luggage, trying to silence the Marine Band’s traditional “Hail to the Chief” and enrolling daughter, Amy, in public schools. Carter was lampooned for wearing a cardigan and urging Americans to turn down their thermostats. But Carter set the stage for an economic revival and sharply reduced America’s dependence on foreign oil by deregulating the energy industry along with airlines, trains and trucking. He established the departments of Energy and Education, appointed record numbers of women and nonwhites to federal posts, preserved millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness and pardoned most Vietnam draft evaders. Emphasizing human rights , he ended most support for military dictators and took on bribery by multinational corporations by signing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He persuaded the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties and normalized relations with China, an outgrowth of Nixon’s outreach to Beijing. But crippling turns in foreign affairs took their toll. When OPEC hiked crude prices, making drivers line up for gasoline as inflation spiked to 11%, Carter tried to encourage Americans to overcome “a crisis of confidence.” Many voters lost confidence in Carter instead after the infamous address that media dubbed his “malaise” speech, even though he never used that word. READ MORE: Rosalynn Carter, outspoken former first lady, dies at 96 After Carter reluctantly agreed to admit the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979. Negotiations to quickly free the hostages broke down, and then eight Americans died when a top-secret military rescue attempt failed. Carter also had to reverse course on the SALT II nuclear arms treaty after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Though historians would later credit Carter’s diplomatic efforts for hastening the end of the Cold war, Republicans labeled his soft power weak. Reagan’s “make America great again” appeals resonated, and he beat Carter in all but six states. Born Oct. 1, 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. married fellow Plains native Rosalynn Smith in 1946, the year he graduated from the Naval Academy. He brought his young family back to Plains after his father died, abandoning his Navy career, and they soon turned their ambitions to politics . Carter reached the state Senate in 1962. After rural white and Black voters elected him governor in 1970, he drew national attention by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Carter published more than 30 books and remained influential as his center turned its democracy advocacy onto U.S. politics, monitoring an audit of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results. After a 2015 cancer diagnosis, Carter said he felt “perfectly at ease with whatever comes.” “I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said. “I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” ___ Contributors include former AP staffer Alex Sanz in Atlanta. Bill Barrow, The Associated PressKings head to San Jose looking to build off strong defensive homestand
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