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By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Andrew Ferguson as the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission . He will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars’ worth of corporate acquisitions and suing Amazon and Meta while alleging anticompetitive behavior . Ferguson is already one of the FTC’s five commissioners, which is currently made up of three Democrats and two Republicans. “Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “Andrew will be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country’s History.” Related Articles National Politics | Biden issues veto threat on bill expanding federal judiciary as partisan split emerges National Politics | Trump lawyers and aide hit with 10 additional felony charges in Wisconsin over 2020 fake electors National Politics | After withdrawing as attorney general nominee, Matt Gaetz lands a talk show on OANN television National Politics | What will happen to Social Security under Trump’s tax plan? National Politics | Republican-led states are rolling out plans that could aid Trump’s mass deportation effort The replacement of Khan likely means that the FTC will operate with a lighter touch when it comes to antitrust enforcement. The new chair is expected to appoint new directors of the FTC’s antitrust and consumer protection divisions. “These changes likely will make the FTC more favorable to business than it has been in recent years, though the extent to which is to be determined,” wrote Anthony DiResta, a consumer protection attorney at Holland & Knight, in a recent analysis . Deals that were blocked by the Biden administration could find new life with Trump in command. For example, the new leadership could be more open to a proposed merger between the country’s two biggest supermarket chains, Kroger and Albertsons, which forged a $24.6 billion deal to combine in 2022. Two judges halted the merger Tuesday night. The FTC had filed a lawsuit in federal court earlier this year to block the merger, claiming the deal would eliminate competition, leading to higher prices and lower wages for workers. The two companies say a merger would help them lower prices and compete against bigger rivals like Walmart. One of the judges said the FTC had shown it was likely to prevail in the administrative hearing. Yet given the widespread public concern over high grocery prices, the Trump administration may not fully abandon the FTC’s efforts to block the deal, some experts have said. And the FTC may continue to scrutinize Big Tech firms for any anticompetitive behavior. Many Republican politicians have accused firms such as Meta of censoring conservative views, and some officials in Trump’s orbit, most notably Vice President-elect JD Vance, have previously expressed support for Khan’s scrutiny of Big Tech firms. In addition to Fergson, Trump also announced Tuesday that he had selected Jacob Helberg as the next undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment.WASHINGTON (AP) — The picture of who will be in charge of executing President-elect Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration and border policies has come into sharper focus after he announced his picks to head Customs and Border Protection and also the agency tasked with deporting immigrants in the country illegally. Trump said late Thursday he was tapping Rodney Scott, a former Border Patrol chief who’s been a vocal supporter of tougher enforcement measures, for CBP commissioner. As acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Trump said he’d nominate Caleb Vitello, a career ICE official with more than 23 years in the agency who most recently has been the assistant director for firearms and tactical programs. They will work with an immigration leadership team that includes South Dakota Gov. ; former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement head ; and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff. Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Scott led during Trump’s first term, and is essentially responsible for protecting the country’s borders while facilitating trade and travel. Scott comes to the job firmly from the Border Patrol side of the house. He became an agent in 1992 and spent much of his career in San Diego. When he joined the agency, San Diego was by far the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. Traffic plummeted after the government dramatically increased enforcement there, but critics note the effort pushed people to remote parts of California and Arizona. San Diego was also where wall construction began in the 1990s, which shaped Scott’s belief that barriers work. He was named San Diego sector chief in 2017. When he was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump’s policies. “He’s well known. He does know these issues and obviously is trusted by the administration,” said Gil Kerlikowske, the CBP commissioner under the Obama administration. Kerlikowske took issue with some of Scott’s past actions, including his refusal to fall in line with a Biden administration directive to stop using terms like “illegal alien” in favor of descriptions like “migrant,” and his decision as San Diego sector chief to fire tear gas into Mexico to disperse protesters. “You don’t launch projectiles into a foreign country,” Kerlikowske said. At the time , saying they were being assaulted by “a hail of rocks.” While much of the focus of Trump’s administration may be on illegal immigration and security along the U.S.-Mexico border, Kerlikowske also stressed the importance of other parts of Customs and Border Protection’s mission. The agency is responsible for securing trade and international travel at airports, ports and land crossings around the country. Whoever runs the agency has to make sure that billions of dollars worth of trade and millions of passengers move swiftly and safely into and out of the country. And if Trump makes good on promises to ratchet up tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada, CBP will play an integral role in enforcing them. “There’s a huge amount of other responsibility on trade, on tourism, on cyber that take a significant amount of time and have a huge impact on the economy if it’s not done right,” Kerlikowske said. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda. He has appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He’s also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In a 2023 interview with The Associated Press, he advocated for a return to Trump-era immigration policies and more pressure on Mexico to enforce immigration on its side of the border.
NoneIn conclusion, the incident on the subway serves as a sobering wake-up call for society to collectively confront and address the pervasive threats to privacy and personal security that exist in our modern world. By standing up against acts of invasion and holding perpetrators accountable, we can strive to create a safer and more respectful environment for all individuals to navigate and coexist in harmony. Let us continue to champion the principles of privacy, consent, and respect, and work towards a future where individuals can move through public spaces without fear or apprehension.
Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a complex disease that arises from the interaction of multiple factors. Chronic inflammation of the stomach lining, known as gastritis, is a key risk factor for stomach cancer development. This inflammation can be caused by infection with Helicobacter pylori bacteria, long-term use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), or autoimmune conditions affecting the stomach.
Social media users are misrepresenting a Vermont Supreme Court ruling , claiming that it gives schools permission to vaccinate children even if their parents do not consent. The ruling addressed a lawsuit filed by Dario and Shujen Politella against Windham Southeast School District and state officials over the mistaken vaccination of their child against COVID-19 in 2021, when he was 6 years old. A lower court had dismissed the original complaint, as well as an amended version. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was filed on Nov. 19. But the ruling by Vermont's high court is not as far-reaching as some online have claimed. In reality, it concluded that anyone protected under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, or PREP, Act is immune to state lawsuits. Here's a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that schools can vaccinate children against their parents' wishes. THE FACTS: The claim stems from a July 26 ruling by the Vermont Supreme Court, which found that anyone protected by the PREP Act is immune to state lawsuits, including the officials named in the Politella's suit. The ruling does not authorize schools to vaccinate children at their discretion. According to the lawsuit, the Politella's son — referred to as L.P. — was given one dose of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic held at Academy School in Brattleboro even though his father, Dario, told the school's assistant principal a few days before that his son was not to receive a vaccination. In what officials described as a mistake, L.P. was removed from class and had a “handwritten label” put on his shirt with the name and date of birth of another student, L.K., who had already been vaccinated that day. L.P. was then vaccinated. Ultimately, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that officials involved in the case could not be sued. “We conclude that the PREP Act immunizes every defendant in this case and this fact alone is enough to dismiss the case,” the Vermont Supreme Court's ruling reads. “We conclude that when the federal PREP Act immunizes a defendant, the PREP Act bars all state-law claims against that defendant as a matter of law.” The PREP Act , enacted by Congress in 2005, authorizes the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to issue a declaration in the event of a public health emergency providing immunity from liability for activities related to medical countermeasures, such as the administration of a vaccine, except in cases of “willful misconduct" that result in “death or serious physical injury.” A declaration against COVID-19 was issued on March 17, 2020. It is set to expire on Dec. 31. Federals suits claiming willful misconduct are filed in Washington. Social media users described the Vermont Supreme Court's ruling as having consequences beyond what it actually says. “The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that schools can force-vaccinate children for Covid against the wishes of their parents,” reads one X post that had been liked and shared approximately 16,600 times as of Tuesday. “The high court ruled on a case involving a 6-year-old boy who was forced to take a Covid mRNA injection by his school. However, his family had explicitly stated that they didn't want their child to receive the ‘vaccines.’” Other users alleged that the ruling gives schools permission to give students any vaccine without parental consent, not just ones for COVID-19. Rod Smolla, president of the Vermont Law and Graduate School and an expert on constitutional law, told The Associated Press that the ruling “merely holds that the federal statute at issue, the PREP Act, preempts state lawsuits in cases in which officials mistakenly administer a vaccination without consent.” “Nothing in the Vermont Supreme Court opinion states that school officials can vaccinate a child against the instructions of the parent,” he wrote in an email. Asked whether the claims spreading online have any merit, Ronald Ferrara, an attorney representing the Politellas, told the AP that although the ruling doesn't say schools can vaccinate students regardless of parental consent, officials could interpret it to mean that they could get away with doing so under the PREP Act, at least when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines. He explained that the U.S. Supreme Court appeal seeks to clarify whether the Vermont Supreme Court interpreted the PREP Act beyond what Congress intended. “The Politella’s fundamental liberty interest to decide whether their son should receive elective medical treatment was denied by agents of the State and School,” he wrote in an email to the AP. “The Vermont Court misconstrues the scope of PREP Act immunity (which is conditioned upon informed consent for medical treatments unapproved by FDA), to cover this denial of rights and its underlying battery.” Ferrara added that he was not aware of the claims spreading online, but that he “can understand how lay people may conflate the court's mistaken grant of immunity for misconduct as tantamount to blessing such misconduct.” — Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck . By Melissa Goldin, The Associated PressIn the end, as the traffic cleared and the drivers went their separate ways, the echo of the car driver's question lingered in the air: "How could you not brake?" Perhaps, in the cacophony of city life, the answer may lie not in blame, but in a shared commitment to safety and mutual respect on the road.We’ve reached the end of the Arizona football season, sooner than anyone had expected or hoped. To help explain why it concluded prematurely, let’s go back to the beginning. Entering the Aug. 31 opener, we asked first-year Wildcats coach Brent Brennan which statistics, in his view, have the greatest impact on the outcomes of games. He settled on three : turnover margin, third downs and red-zone efficiency. How did Arizona fare in those areas? How did the Wildcats’ success (or failure) in those parts of the game affect their overall success? That’s our three-pronged topic for the 2024 finale of “Cats Stats.” Turnover margin As noted in our Territorial Cup preview , Arizona and Arizona State went from one end of the spectrum to the other in turnover margin this year. Unsurprisingly, their records flipped, as well. Arizona coach Brent Brennan, shown vs. Texas Tech on Oct. 5, cited turnover margin, third downs and the red zone as key areas before the season. The Wildcats did not do well enough in any to avoid a sub-.500 record. The Wildcats ranked fourth in the Pac-12 last season with a turnover margin of plus-5; the Sun Devils were last at minus-11. Entering the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday, ASU is tied for first in the new league at plus-11; Arizona is tied for ninth at minus-4. Every team in the Big 12 that has a positive turnover margin has a record of 8-4 or better: Colorado, ASU, BYU, Iowa State, Baylor and Texas Tech. All but one team — outlier TCU — that has a margin of minus-4 or worse has a record of 6-6 or worse. The Horned Frogs bucked the trend by going 8-4 during the regular season despite a turnover margin of minus-7. It’s somewhat skewed because TCU was a combined minus-8 in losses to SMU and Houston. Arizona went 2-1 when it had a positive turnover margin this season; 2-1 when it was even; and 0-6 when it was negative. The only loss the Wildcats suffered with a positive turnover margin came against ... the Horned Frogs. Arizona finished in the black in the turnover table in 2023 for the first time since 2017; those are also the Wildcats’ only winning seasons since 2015. Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita, right, gets spun to the turf by Arizona State defensive lineman Elijah O'Neal (15) for a third-quarter sack in the 98th Territorial Cup on Nov. 30, 2024, at Arizona Stadium. Last year’s final figure requires some context. Arizona was minus-5 through two weeks, mainly because of quarterback Jayden de Laura throwing four interceptions at Mississippi State. The Wildcats got it back to even by the end of the regular season — then took the ball away from Oklahoma six times in the Alamo Bowl while giving it away only once. The 2023 Wildcats’ fortunes changed when de Laura got hurt and Noah Fifita became the starter. Fifita threw only six interceptions in 333 pass attempts, a 1.8% INT rate. Fifita took a step backward in that area this year, throwing 12 interceptions in 430 attempts (2.8%). Those 12 picks tied for the most in the Big 12. One final stat worth noting here: Arizona was plus-7 in “net fumbles” last year, recovering 10 while losing three. The Wildcats were plus-1 this year (eight gained, seven lost). Third downs Arizona had an extremely efficient third-down offense in 2023, less so in 2024. The Wildcats converted 48.8% of their third downs last year, second best in the Pac-12; they converted 42.9% this year, ranking sixth in the Big 12. Far too often, Arizona put itself in third-and-long situations. One way we can illustrate that is by looking at the dispersal of Fifita’s pass attempts. In 2023, Fifita attempted 96 passes on third down, per CFBStats.com . Forty-nine, or 51%, came in situations where Arizona needed 7 or more yards. This year, that figure was 63.6% (70 of 110). The numbers are similar for third-and-10-plus: 28.1% (27 of 96) in 2023, 38.2% (42 of 110) in ’24. Fifita’s extraordinary efficiency in third-and-long situations last year turned out to be unrepeatable. He completed 73.5% of his passes when needing 7 or more yards on third down in 2023; this year, that figure fell to 55.7%. Related: Fifita had only three pass attempts on fourth down last year. (He went 2 of 3.) This year he had nine (4 of 9). Arizona actually improved — significantly — in third-down efficiency down the stretch. The Wildcats converted 50.6% (39 of 77) of their third downs in the final five games vs. 36.6% (34 of 93) in the first seven. The latter included a 0-for-10 performance vs. Northern Arizona — the first sign of real trouble for the UA offense. Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita, shown during the first half against TCU on Nov. 23, threw twice as many interceptions in 2024 as he did in '23. None of that correlated to the win-loss ledger: Arizona went 3-4 in the first seven games, 1-4 in the last five. Defensively, the UA finished with the same third-down rate as last year: Opponents converted 41.5% in both seasons. The Wildcats’ inability to get off the field unquestionably hurt them against Colorado (9 of 18) and West Virginia (7 of 16). The Mountaineers also killed the Cats on fourth down (4 of 4). Speaking of which: In the two Big 12 games they won, the Wildcats held their opponents (Utah and Houston) to a combined 0 of 8 on fourth down. In the other conference games, UA foes converted 11 of 15. Red zone This was a major point of emphasis under the previous staff, and Arizona steadily improved at it during Jedd Fisch’s tenure. They went from a 30.8% touchdown rate in 2021 to 59.3% in ’22 to 66.7% in ’23. The latter ranked sixth in the Pac-12 and tied for 30th nationally. The ’24 Cats were slightly worse, coming in at 62.5%, which ranks 11th in the Big 12 and 62nd nationally (one spot ahead of title-game-bound Iowa State). Arizona running back Quali Conley, right, did not have a single red-zone snap against ASU in the 2024 Territorial Cup game on Nov. 30 at Arizona Stadium. But that doesn’t tell the story of Arizona’s offensive struggles. The 2023 Wildcats reached the red zone 57 times, fifth most in the Pac-12 and tied for 27th nationally. The ’24 team had 24 red-zone possessions — second fewest in the country (ahead of only Kent State, which didn’t win a game). In other words, Arizona’s offense was so dysfunctional that the Wildcats seldom advanced beyond the 20-yard line. The Territorial Cup epitomized that: The UA didn’t have a single red-zone snap. Defensively, Arizona went from allowing a red-zone touchdown rate of 56% in 2023 (fourth best in the Pac-12) to 67.9% in 2024 (14th in the 16-team Big 12). UA opponents reached the red zone 53 times. Only seven FBS teams faced more such possessions, and only one, Mississippi State, plays in a power conference. Each week throughout the season, we share data compiled by our colleagues at Pro Football Focus, who grade every snap taken by every player across college football. Here are some notable figures from Arizona’s season-ending loss to ASU and the 2024 campaign overall: ASU GAME Highest-graded offensive players (max grade 100; minimum 10 snaps) : C Josh Baker 71.8, OG Alex Doost 70.5, OG Wendell Moe Jr. 69.2 Highest-graded defensive players : DE Lane Keneley 72.9, DE Tre Smith 72.1, CB Johno Price 68.0 Most snaps played on offense (out of 61) : Doost 61, OT Michael Wooten 61, Baker 58, Moe 58 Most snaps played on offense (non-QB/OL) : TE Sam Olson 54, WR Chris Hunter 51, WR Tetairoa McMillan 44 Most snaps played on defense (out of 65) : DB Genesis Smith 65, S Owen Goss 65, LB Taye Brown 62, CB Marquis Groves-Killebrew 62, S/LB Dalton Johnson 62 Noah Fifita passing depth : Behind LOS (2 of 5, 8 yards), 0-9 yards (10 of 14, 78 yards), 10-19 yards (1 of 4, 12 yards), 20-plus yards (1 of 3, 28 yards, 1 TD) Highest OL run-blocking grades : Doost 70.4, Moe 65.6, Baker 65.2 Highest OL pass-blocking grades : Baker 86.4, Moe 84.7, Wooten 79.4 Most defensive stops (tackles that constitute failure by offense) : DE Dominic Lolesio 3, Tre Smith 3, Johnson 2 Most QB pressures : DL Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei 4, Tre Smith 2, Lance Keneley 2 Highest tackling grades : CB Tacario Davis 81.3, Tre Smith 77.8, Uiagalelei 77.6 Most special-teams snaps : Brown 21, Kamuela Ka’aihue 18, Gavin Hunter 16 Team QB pressures/hits : Arizona 11/0 (29 dropbacks), ASU 11/6 (35 dropbacks) Team missed tackles : Arizona 11, ASU 14 SEASON OVERALL Highest-graded offensive players (max grade 100; minimum 120 snaps) : McMillan 84.1, Fifita 76.0, OT Jonah Savaiinaea 74.2 Highest-graded defensive players : Genesis Smith 71.9, DB Treydan Stukes 70.7, Tre Smith 70.2 Most snaps played on offense (out of 805) : Fifita 782, Moe 760, Savaiinaea 738 Most snaps played on offense (non-QB/OL) : McMillan 713, RB Quali Conley 542, TE Sam Olson 507 Most snaps played on defense (out of 807) : Genesis Smith 749, Brown 704, Davis 684 Fifita with clean pocket : 205 of 310 (66.1%), 2,101 yards, 10 TD, 7 INT Fifita under pressure : 55 of 120 (45.8%), 854 yards, 8 TD, 5 INT Most pass targets : McMillan 130, Chris Hunter 52, Conley 42 Highest OL run-blocking grades : Doost 64.5, Savaiinaea 62.8, Moe 60.1 Highest OL pass-blocking grades : Moe 87.0, Baker 85.7, Savaiinaea 83.4 Most defensive stops (tackles that constitute failure by offense) : Johnson 33, Tre Smith 29, Brown 28 Most QB pressures : Tre Smith 37, Uiagalelei 23, DE Chase Kennedy 20 Lowest missed-tackle percentage (minimum 45 tackle attempts) : Davis 6.7%, Johnson 11.8%, Brown 13.7% Lowest reception percentage against (minimum 35 targets) : CB Emmanuel Karnley 51.2% (22 of 43), Davis 54% (27 of 50), Genesis Smith 62.5% (25 of 40) Most special-teams snaps : Ka’aihue 177, Jack Luttrell 154, Gavin Hunter 141 Contact sports reporter/columnist Michael Lev at mlev@tucson.com . On X (Twitter): @michaeljlev. On Bluesky: @ michaeljlev.bsky.social Respond: Write a letter to the editor | Write a guest opinion Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sports Reporter/Columnist
S&P Global downgrades Intel's credit rating on slow recovery, management changes
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Pioneering model Dayle Haddon dies after suspected carbon monoxide leak$HAREHOLDER INVESTIGATION: The M&A Class Action Firm Continues to Investigate the Mergers of ARCH, USAP, CFB, and BRKHOne of the most exciting features of the New Year set is the ability to trigger firework easter eggs for New Year's greetings. By interacting with certain in-game objects or completing specific tasks, players can activate a special animation where their character sets off colorful fireworks in celebration of the New Year. This dynamic and interactive element adds an extra layer of immersion to the game, creating a sense of camaraderie and festivity among players as they engage in the virtual festivities together.
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